The bull's head that was formed while Adelaide was forming her opinions was shaped like a veritable bull's head and outlined with stars of small magnitude. From its mouth and nostrils issued great streams of different colored fires. The bellowings were effectively but mysteriously produced. "I can't see faw the life of me, Mr. Bombs, just how you could have compassed all that," Miss Drawling was saying, when something in the nature of a revelation cut short her sentence. The bellowings suddenly ceased and loud oaths and grumblings and groanings took their place. Mr. Bombs rushed behind the scenes and saw the man whom he had engaged to do the bellowing, lying in a collapsed condition on the floor of the stage with a whiskey bottle in his hand. "Confound you!" exclaimed Bombs, "what does all this mean?" "It means that the lungs av me have been giving out with the dress rehearsal and the play on top av it and I am sthriving to reinforce them." "Allow me to say that your efforts are not successful. You can be excused until further notice, and you," he added turning to the chief Pyro, "will oblige me by winding up the spectacle without any more swearing." The spectacle of Johnny Bull's Bellows was wound up according to order and Mr. Bombs appeared on the stage and gave a humorous account of the complication behind the scenes which had cut off the spectacle rather prematurely, and added that it was not quite so bad as the thing that had happened to Mr. Pang on his first presentation of the burning of Rome. He related the incident and the guests were greatly amused--almost as much, perhaps, as they would have been if "Johnny Bull's Bellowings" had been carried out to the full extent. And so, Mr. Bombs fancied he had not failed after all. If he had done nothing more he had proved himself to have the proper personality for the making of a successful Pyro-King. He could fascinate and mystify the public. "You see," he said to Adelaide the next morning, "I might better have such accidents and experiences now than when I get about my larger piece--'The Battle of the Wilderness.'" "The Battle of the Wilderness!" exclaimed Adelaide. "Is it possible you are going to try making an amusement out of that dreadful battle?" "Yes, it's a possibility," laughed Bombs, "and I know of another possibility, that will match it beautifully." "What is it, Mr. Bombs?" "That Miss Adelaide Schwarmer will not be so scrupulous about such matters when I return from Europe as she is now." "Why do you think so, Mr. Bombs? Have you changed that way since you were my age?" "No, Miss Adelaide, but I was a boy and you are a girl." "What difference could that make, Mr. Bombs." "A mighty sight of difference, Miss Adelaide. You were not educated or expected to have anything to do with business concerns. I was and with the very biggest kind, and they all mean war, more or less." "O dear, how dreadful! I can't understand it at all, Mr. Bombs."