"Say, Mr. Handy, me name is plain Bill Cullen for every-day work, but for professional purposes in the music line I discovered that it pays to put on a bit of style, and that's how I came to ring in the Collenso." "Quite right, my dear fellow! All artists of more or less great ability, especially in the musical line, make such alterations. For instance, Lizzie Norton is twisted into Mme. Nordica; Pat Foley changed into Signor Foli; and when Ellen Mitchell became great, she dropped the old name and Italianized it into Melba. Oh, that's all right." "Yes, sir; I know all that, and there are others. But when you and I are talking, let us give the Italian cognomen a rest. Now, what do you want me to do?" "What can you do?" "Oh, something of everything--classic and otherwise." "What can you do in the classics, for example?" "Selections from Mendelssohn, Paganini, Schumann, Rubinstein----" "Say, my friend," asked Handy, in some surprise, "do you play such music?" "Oh, yes, whenever I get a chance in public; but when alone they are my favorites. But, then, for encores I give them 'Killarney,' 'Molly Bawn,' 'The Swanee River,' 'Mr. Dooley,' 'Harrigan'--anything that's popular and what they call up to date." "All right, Cullen. I'm busy just now. Will you call around to the hotel to-night and we'll have a chat, and fix things up?" "Sure. I'll be on hand. About eight o'clock." Handy then returned to the prompt table. "Where were we, Smith? Oh, yes! I remember; we were giving Miss De Vere a dance. Well, after Daisey's dance will come Senor Collenso's violin solo, selection from Paganini. Then will follow the talented young Gotown lawyer in a dissertation on Shakespeare, and also inform them about the mill between _Richard_ and _Richmond_. Smith, have you all that down?" "Every word of it." "And then will come the fight between Richard and _Richmond_ with broadswords, in which you will have the opportunity of your life. The curtain will drop here, and then there will follow the intermission." "Are you going to have much of an intermission?" inquired Smith. "Oh, ten or fifteen minutes or so. You know we must give Big Ed, the proprietor of the emporium, as well as of the Academy, a chance to do a little bit of business. Besides, it's awfully dry work listening to good music, fine songs, and strong acting without something to help you to thoroughly enjoy them." "That's true. That's a great first part, Mr. Handy. Music, song, vocal and instrumental; dance, oratory, and tragedy. Great, great!" "Miss De Vere will start in after the intermission with that beautiful and thrilling song, 'Down in a Coal Mine.' Some member of the company, whoever knows it, can recite 'Shamus O'Brien,' or some other equally popular recitation." "These two numbers will be sure to catch 'em," remarked Smith, with a broad grin of appreciation.