Produced by Duncan Harold, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. [Illustration: Henry E. Dixey in "The Man on the Box."] THE MAN ON THE BOX by HAROLD MACGRATH Author of The Grey Cloak, The Puppet Crown Illustrated by scenes from Walter N. Lawrence's beautiful production of the play as seen for 123 nights at the Madison Square Theatre, New York To Miss Louise Everts CONTENTS CHAPTER I Introduces My Hero II Introduces My Heroine III The Adventure Begins IV A Family Reunion V The Plot Thickens VI The Man on the Box VII A Police Affair VIII Another Salad Idea IX The Heroine Hires a Groom X Pirate XI The First Ride XII A Ticklish Business XIII A Runaway XIV An Ordeal or Two XV Retrospective XVI The Previous Affair XVII Dinner is Served XVIII Caught! XIX "Oh, Mister Butler" XX The Episode of the Stove Pipe XXI The Rose XXII The Drama Unrolls XXIII Something About Heroes XXIV A Fine Lover XXV A Fine Heroine, Too XXVI The Castle of Romance _He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, Who dares not put it to the touch To win or lose it all._ _Dramatis Personae_ _Colonel George Annesley_ A retired Army Officer _Miss Betty Annesley_ His daughter _Lieutenant Robert Warburton_ Lately resigned _Mr. John Warburton_ His elder brother, of the War Department _Mrs. John Warburton_ The elder brother's wife _Miss Nancy Warburton_ The lieutenant's sister _Mr. Charles Henderson_ Her fiance _Count Karloff_ An unattached diplomat _Colonel Frank Raleigh_ The Lieutenant's Regimental Colonel _Mrs. Chadwick_ A product of Washington life _Monsieur Pierre_ A chef _Mademoiselle Celeste_ A lady's maid _Jane_ Mrs. Warburton's maid _The Hopeful_ A baby _William_ A stable-boy _Fashionable People_ Necessary for a dinner party _Celebrities_ Also necessary for a dinner party _Unfashionables_ Police, cabbies, grooms, clerks, etc. TIME--Within the past ten years. SCENE--Washington, D.C., and its environs. I INTRODUCES MY HERO