THE LITTLE COUNTRY THEATER FOUNDED FEBRUARY TENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN, BY ALFRED G. ARVOLD [Illustration] THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO [Illustration: The Quaint Cottage, the Snow-White Capped Mountain, the Tumbling Waterfall Were Painted in a Manner Which Brought Many Favorable Comments] THE LITTLE COUNTRY THEATER BY ALFRED G. ARVOLD NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Fargo, North Dakota New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922 _All rights reserved_ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA COPYRIGHT, 1922 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1922 TO MY MOTHER WHOSE VISION CAUSED ME TO SEE BIG THINGS “THE THEATER IS A CRUCIBLE OF CIVILIZATION. IT IS A PLACE OF HUMAN COMMUNION. IT IS IN THE THEATER THAT THE PUBLIC SOUL IS FORMED.” _Victor Hugo._ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Raindrops 1 II. Country Folks 17 III. The Land of the Dacotahs 33 IV. The Little Country Theater 41 V. The Heart of a Prairie 59 VI. Characteristic Incidents 67 VII. A Bee in a Drone’s Hive 95 VIII. Larimore 153 IX. Forty Towns 167 X. Cold Spring Hollow 179 Appendices 187 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Scene—“The Raindrops” _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE “Perhaps we will meet again like the raindrops” 4 Social Stagnancy is a Characteristic Trait of the Small Town and the Country 22 An Old Dingy, Dull-Grey Chapel on the Second Floor of the Administration Building was remodeled into what is now known as The Little Country Theater 45