When I once began to look about me it was not long before the something else turned up. I followed the railroad track, to make sure of good walking, and on the ties one morning I fell in with a couple of actors, whose finances were even at a lower ebb than mine. They were all-round variety people, and had their musical instruments with them, but there was not a cent of money in the whole outfit. It did not take long for us to fraternize, especially as I carried a store of cold victuals which, at a pinch, might serve as a lunch for all of us. At noon we stopped at a spring in the shade of the woods, and, after making a moderate meal, put our heads together in a consultation as to the future. The men were somewhat acquainted with this part of the country, and spoke of a small town a short distance ahead, where a hall could be obtained at a very moderate expense. We decided, if possible, to arrange for the use of this hall on sharing terms, and give a grand, free entertainment, to be interspersed with a collection. We all “managed” the venture. By this time I had rubbed off quite a large percentage of the moss with which I was ornamented when first making my entrance into public life, and had wit enough to conceal a total ignorance of the show business and its possibilities. We arranged for the hall, on the percentage plan, and advertised ourselves by a little playing and singing on the street, an occasional blast from the horn that one of the party could really use in a rather creditable manner, and an announcement which I made at the top of my voice, and as near after the manner of a side-show “blower,” as I knew how: “Free entertainment this evening at eight thirty, at Bixley’s Hall. Fun by the barrel and music by the cord. Singing and dancing by the world renowned Milton Brothers, and an afterpiece that will split your side. Leave your buttons at home if you don’t want them busted; and don’t get your measure taken for a new suit of clothes until the show is over. You are bound to laugh and grow fat.” This, and other nonsense, I howled out at the top of my voice, and before I had been at it a quarter of an hour “the Milton Brothers” wanted to know with what show I had last been hitting the road. They had a curiosity to know who else was stranded. You may be certain I did not give myself away, and yet I returned a fairly satisfactory answer. Had we charged even a nickel I doubt if we could have drummed up the skeleton of an audience; but for a free entertainment—it was immense. The people came in crowds, and responded nobly when the “deacon” passed the hat.