MESSRS. TREAT, JONES, WESTON & DOWD.
The particular circle of society in which Ben and Johnny moved was
shaken to its very centre by the news which was whispered from one to
the other on the day after those young gentlemen and Paul had taken up
their abode at Mrs. Green's.
Early that morning the most exciting topic of conversation had been
Master Spry's misfortune and Tim Dooley's perfidy; and that had hardly
begun to be commented upon when the news spread that Ben and Johnny,
since the coming of their guest, who was evidently a suspicious sort
of a person, as was shown by his clothes and his entire ignorance of
the slang of the street, were no longer proud of their neat little bit
of real estate, but had made a change which would probably be the
means of their financial ruin. That they had been so extravagant as to
engage rooms at a regular boarding-house, where they were to spend
their substance on three square meals each day, seemed like a reckless
disregard of money; and the price which they were to pay for board
was stated at various sums from five to ten dollars per week. But that
was not the only bit of wonderful news.
Jimmy Sullivan stated--and he was supported by several others as the
time wore on--that Johnny himself had told him that they were to start
a regular theatre, and had already engaged a hall, which would be
converted into a first-class place of amusement as soon as possible.
This would have been regarded simply as a rumor started for the
purpose of injuring the credit of these young gentlemen, had it not
come so directly from one of the parties concerned, and must therefore
be true.
Business was in a great measure suspended for that day, and little
knots of boys gathered at the street corners, eagerly discussing the
news which threatened to destroy the credit, for a time at least, of
two merchants who were well known in boot-blackening and news-selling
circles.
It was fully understood by the majority of those who discussed this
startling intelligence, that it was only three weeks since the firm of
Treat & Jones had bought a house on credit, and that there was still a
mortgage of twenty cents upon it in favor of the now bankrupt
merchant, Mr. Dickey Spry. To be sure, Messrs. Treat & Jones had taken
in a new partner very recently; but there were those who knew that
this new boy had only brought to the firm three cents and two tops,
which could not bring in any very large amount of money, even though a
cash customer was found for them at once. It was very clear that this
new partner was more of a drawback than a help to the firm, and the
mystery seemed greater than ever.
Dickey Spry, on being interviewed on the subject, assumed a wise air
and shook his head gravely; which was very much as if he had said that
he was sorry to see two promising boys ruining themselves as rapidly
as these two were. Regarding the mortgage which he held on the
hogshead home he refused to say anything, save that he had bought it
back; and those who were better informed regarding transactions in
real estate at once came to the conclusion that, having foreseen the
coming ruin of his debtors, he had foreclosed the mortgage in order to
save what he could.
Owing to the possibility of his becoming a boarder at Mrs. Green's,
and a partner in the theatrical enterprise, Mopsey Dowd refused to
express any opinion on the matter; but it was said by those who called
upon him that he turned the handle of his pea-nut roaster nervously
and quickly whenever the subject was mentioned.
Meanwhile those who had caused all these speculations and doubts were
doing their best to sell their goods, and reaping almost as rich a
harvest as they had the day previous. They could not fail to notice
the singular actions of their friends, and also that whenever they
approached three or four who were talking earnestly, the conversation
would cease entirely, the boys either walking away or maintaining a
positive silence until they had passed.
It caused them no little surprise, this singular behavior on the part
of their friends; but there was too much money to be made for them to
try to understand it then, and they continued the sale of their
papers, while the others speculated gloomily as to the future of the
rash youths who would change their positions in life by such hazardous
ventures.
As a matter of fact, Johnny was the one who was responsible for all
this excitement, since it was he who had told of the theatrical
enterprise. He had been in such a state of mental excitement since he
had first thought of the scheme, that it was almost an impossibility
for him to get along ten minutes without speaking of it to some one;
and when he told the story he was more apt to speak of the theatre as
he hoped they could arrange it than as it would probably be. But it
must not be supposed that either Ben or Paul were indifferent to the
matter; they were almost as much excited about it as Johnny was,
though they were not as eager to consult others regarding it.
As has been said, trade was very good that morning, and when they
went home for a lunch, which, by-the-way, they thought was much better
than any of the regular dinners they had been buying down town, even
Mrs. Green was disposed to think that there might possibly be some
chance that they could do as Johnny had proposed.
It had been their intention to call on Dickey Spry that evening, for
the purpose of trying to cheer him a little in his troubles; but they
were too eager to accomplish their new scheme to think of spending
their time anywhere but in that famous attic, which was to afford an
opportunity for the display of their histrionic talents as well as to
bring in so much wealth.
It was just as well that they did not adhere to their original plan,
for when Ben explained to Master Spry the reason why they could not
keep their engagement with him, he gruffly told them that it was just
as well, for he had already made up his mind to go to Jersey City in
search of the defaulter, Tim Dooley. Therefore they were not troubled
with any pangs of conscience because they were leaving Dickey to mourn
alone while they planned the transformation of the attic, and their
dinner was eaten with a celerity that astonished their landlady.
Johnny took upon himself the duties of architect, and, considering the
difficulties in the way of such labor, the others were not unwilling
that he should hold the office.
Master Jones found that there was a vast deal of difference between
thinking of what he would like to do in the way of making
improvements, and actually planning how to make them. He knew that he
wanted a stage at one end of the attic, but when the others waited to
hear how he could go to work to build it with the limited amount of
capital at his disposal, he was almost at a loss to know what to say
or do.
In order that they might set about their work understandingly, Nelly
produced what had originally been a tape-measure one foot in length.
It had seen such hard usage, however, that only about eight inches
remained. With this the amateur architect set about a portion of his
work, which was to him very painful.
He decided first that it would be a useless waste of material to build
a stage entirely across one end of the attic, since they would not be
crowded from lack of room, owing to the small number of performers,
and after a great amount of pacing back and forth, as well as mental
calculation, he drew two chalk lines at supposed equal distances from
the walls. Between these lines he measured with his fragment of a
tape-measure, and found that it was exactly thirty times the length of
the tape. Thirty times eight inches was, therefore, the length of his
proposed stage, or, more properly speaking, his platform, and he
seated himself, with a look of perplexity on his face and a
remarkably small piece of lead-pencil in his mouth, to figure up the
grand total of inches. He could multiply the cipher easily enough, for
he was positive that the answer would be the same, however large the
multiplier might be; but the question of how much eight times three
was troubled him greatly.
After trying in vain to arrive at the correct result by the process of
multiplication, he, in his despair, was about to resort to the
tiresome expedient of counting the number of inches on the
tape-measure thirty times over, when Paul astonished him considerably
by giving the result without even using the pencil and paper.
"How nice that is!" said Johnny, with a sigh of relief, as he wiped
from his brow the perspiration that had been forced out by his mental
exertions, and he began to realize that a knowledge of the
multiplication table was very useful to a person in any line of
business.
Paul further informed him that two hundred and forty inches were
twenty feet; and then he proceeded with greater confidence to
calculate the width, which he at first decided should be twelve feet,
but afterwards changed to six when Ben suggested that they would
require too much lumber if they had it so wide.
[Illustration: "MULTIPLICATION IS VEXATION."]
After it was settled that the platform should be raised two feet
from the floor, and Paul had figured up the exact number of square
feet of lumber which would be necessary to cover the proposed space,
they commenced a serious discussion as to where the material could be
procured.
Ben concluded, finally, that he would call upon a carpenter whom he
knew, from having slept in his shop on the shavings several cold
nights in the winter when he could find no other shelter, and thus
that question was put aside for the time being.
It would be necessary to have some scenery, and that Johnny had
already arranged for in his mind. He had decided that it could be made
by pasting old newspapers together, hanging them on strings, and
coloring them with red, green, and black crayons. For this purpose
stout cord was necessary, and Ben went out and bought some, thereby
giving tangible form to their enterprise, for this cord was really the
only thing they had purchased towards effecting the desired
transformation.
Their next step was to gather up all the old newspapers they could
find in the house, and Nelly set about making some flour paste, while
Johnny went in search of the crayons. Thus they made considerable
progress in their enterprise that night; but it yet lacked a system,
and, what was more important, capital. In order to remedy this, Johnny
called for a strict account of the cash on hand, since they had been
too busy to reckon up that day's sales.
By common consent Paul was chosen book-keeper, so far as figuring up
the different amounts, whether of money or material desired, was
concerned, and, thanks to his knowledge of arithmetic, it was not many
minutes before he informed them that the capital of eighty-three cents
with which they had commenced that day's business had been increased
to three dollars and ninety-five cents--a clear profit of three
dollars and twelve cents. Out of this, one dollar and a half was given
to Mrs. Green towards the payment of the balance that would be due on
their board bill, one dollar was set apart as the working capital of
the theatre, and sixty-two cents was to be used in business the
following day.
They had hardly settled these financial questions when Mrs. Green's
voice from the floor below announced that Master Mopsey Dowd had
called to see them, and was already on his way up-stairs.
If Master Dowd had had any doubts as to the desirability of becoming
one of Mrs. Green's boarders, they were all dispelled when he saw that
attic, every timber of which seemed to be begging to be converted into
a theatre. In fact Master Dowd was so impressed with the advantages of
that place as a theatre that he did not even speak to his friends
until he had paced up and down the room, dreaming of the fame that
might be achieved there.
Already the pea-nut merchant seemed to have put all thoughts of his
roaster and his wares far from him, and to fancy that he was before an
audience of his particular and critical friends, welcomed by them as
an artist of whom all the world might be proud.
He was recalled from these pleasant dreams by stepping on a tack that
penetrated his shoe at a place where a patch was much needed, and then
he appeared to see for the first time his friends, who were anxiously
waiting for him to complete his survey of the room.
"It's a stunner!" he said, patronizingly, to Ben, as he seated himself
on the floor with easy grace, to remove the tack from his foot--"it's
a stunner! an' we can jest set the boys wild if we can play somethin'
with plenty of murder in it."
"Then you'll come in with us?" asked Johnny, delighted at the praise
of this boy, whom he was anxious to have for a partner because of the
influence he wielded, and also because it had been whispered among
their immediate circle of friends, not many months before, that Master
Dowd had fixed up a play that "laid all over" anything that the world
had ever yet seen at the Bowery theatre.
"Yes, I'll join yer," said Mopsey, impressively, looking around as if
he expected to see every face light up with joy at his decision--"I'll
join yer, an' I'll come here to board to-morrow."
Then, as was perfectly proper, this new partner was informed of the
amount of cash capital on hand; and after Paul had ascertained that
their dollar represented thirty-three and one-third cents as the share
of each one, Mopsey generously counted out thirty-four cents,
disdaining any credit for the extra two-thirds of a cent. Thus it was
that the firm of Treat, Jones, Weston & Dowd sprang into existence.