"All places that the eye of Heaven visits
Are to the wise man ports and happy havens."
--RICHARD II.
By midday the _Gem of the Ocean_, aided by a favoring wind, made good
time and Handy determined to run in to a convenient little cove near
Oyster Bay. He knew the locality and felt satisfied that if he had his
usual share of luck he could make good and therefore add something to
the company's treasury. By one o'clock the anchor was dropped and he and
Smith made a landing and both started to do the usual prospecting. They
were successful beyond their expectations. The little town which they
proposed to honor with a visit was not far from the water. A small grove
and a hill shut it out from a view of the Sound. The main road ran down
to a narrow inlet which served as a kind of harbor for fishing boats,
oyster sloops and clammers. Handy's well-trained eye lighted on an
eligible site for the tent. It was a nice level plot with a fence about
it. A good-natured Irishman named McGuiness owned the property, and
Handy lost no time in opening negotiations and getting on his right
side.
"An' yez want the use of the lot for a concert minstrel entertainment?"
inquired the proprietor.
"Yes," replied Handy, "and for to-morrow night."
"An' yez are going to give the show under the cover of a tint?"
"That's about the size of it."
"Have yez got the tint?"
"We have, and the show that goes with it, and what's more, after you
have witnessed the performance you'll say it is the best that ever
struck the town. Moreover, I want you to bring your whole family with
you and have seats in the first row for all of them."
"Well," said McGuiness, "I don't mind lettin' yez have the use of the
lot, an' I'll do all I kin, in a quiet way, to help yez along, but
there's one thing I want to be afther tellin' yez, an' it is this, that
I'm thinkin' there will be the divil to pay whin Mr. Dandelion finds out
there's going to be a minstrel entertainment here."
"How's that?" inquired Handy, "and who is Mr. Dandelion?"
"He's a very dacint kind of man, as min run at present," replied
McGuiness, "even if he is a Methodist preacher, but he hates showmin
like snakes. He don't seem to want the young people to have any fun or
amusement at all, at all, shure. That's why I'm afraid he will raise
ould Harry when he finds yez here. An' then again, don't yez see,
there's a fair goin' on in his church, an' to-morrow is to be the big
day, and iv yez are goin' to have your show to-morrow night, don't yez
see he may think you would draw off some of his customers? Well, I don't
go to his church, God help me, so yez kin have the use of the ground.
But looka heer. Whisper, if it's all the same to you, don't put up the
tint till after nightfall. I'll see yez again. I'm goin' home now," and
Mr. McGuiness walked slowly up the road.
"Smith, me boy," spoke Handy, as soon as Mr. McGuiness was out of
hearing, "we have struck a bonanza. Are we in it? Well, this is the best
ever! Say, old fellow, when that sky-pilot casts his eyes on that tent
of ours to-morrow morning there will be something doing about these
diggins, and don't you forget it. Why, the amount of advertising he will
give the show will do us more service than if we planted twenty acres of
posters all over the fences that adorn the smiling landscape of this
peaceful and prosperous community. Let us go aboard at once. The main
biz is done. It's a dead sure cinch, Horatio."
No move was made on board until ten o'clock. The place was then as still
as a country church-yard, and scarcely a light was to be seen in any of
the houses when Handy and his company took possession of the lot and
began the preliminaries for the following day's operations.
A few hours of energetic work and the tent was set up, and later on the
stage properties, costumes and musical instruments were all safely
lodged under the cover of the canvas. Two of the organization remained
on guard and the others returned to the _Gem_.
The unexpected appearance of the tent next morning took the inhabitants
completely by surprise. No one could tell how it got there. Like a
mushroom it came up overnight. The farm-hands on their way to work
halted to look it over; the oystermen and clammers on the way to their
boats loitered near the spot to inspect it, and by nine o'clock most of
the boys and girls within a mile of the place spread the news broadcast
that there was an actors' show in town. About ten o'clock the news had
reached the dominie, and half an hour later he was in consultation with
the leading lights of his congregation. The consensus of views induced
them to call upon Mr. McGuiness. The tent was on his property, and he,
they concluded, when appealed to would no doubt order the trespassers
off. They considered it an abomination, from their standpoint, for him
to permit show-actors to offer an entertainment, and more especially on
the last day of the church fair, when a numerous gathering was expected.
A committee was accordingly appointed to wait on Mr. McGuiness, but
unfortunately that gentleman was nowhere to be found.
At two o'clock in the afternoon Handy gave a free concert in front of
the tent. The audience, it is needless to say, was not a critical one
and was easily pleased. When it was over and the energetic manager
announced a display of fireworks in the evening, both before and after
the performance, there wasn't a youngster within the sound of his voice
who did not spread the cheering information far and wide. Those who came
to attend the fair in the little church performed that duty early in the
afternoon and afterward arranged to visit the tent show of the actors
later on in the evening. The display of fireworks was not what one might
expect to witness at Manhattan Beach in the height of the season, when
that popular resort was swept by ocean breezes and when the renowned
Pain was there, but there was sufficient red fire burned to light up the
surrounding country. There was a crowd outside and when the doors were
opened there was a rush for seats.
The house or tent was filled in a short time, and the audience was
treated to a polyglot entertainment of the most remarkable character.
Nibsinsky's Eyetalian selections were listened to with some degree of
attention and a considerable measure of perplexity. He could not be
considered a success and no inducements could compel him to repeat the
performance. But these things will occasionally happen even with some of
the latest edition of stars! Ysaye's musical prodigy made some
extraordinary exhibitions with his classical contortions, but his
imitations of an amateur violinist with "Home, Sweet Home" won the
approval of all present and brought down the house. It was voted the
best thing of the whole show. The familiar choruses too pleased the
young folks, so much so that they all joined in and had a jolly time.
The grown people laughed heartily over all the threadbare jokes that
were given, and which have been passing current in every minstrel show
and country circus from the days of Dan Rice down to Lew Dockstader.
"It was, I have an idea, the worst show we ever gave," declared Handy a
few days after while speaking of it, "but the people seemed to like it.
Just as it is in New York, it is a difficult matter to strike public
taste. That's what makes the manager's life like unto that of a
policeman's--not a happy one. The people who paid to see the show made
no complaint, and I don't think that I should."
"Do you think the dominie's opposition hurt your entertainment much?"
"Hurt it! Not in the slightest. On the contrary, I believe it benefited
it. His opposition advertised the entertainment, and, by the way,
advertising is another of these vexed problems most difficult of
solution. I felt I owed his reverence something for what he
unintentionally accomplished in our behalf, so how do you think I got
square with him?"
"That's too much for me, old chap," answered his friend. "How?"
"Well, the next day was Sunday, and before we got away I called on Mr.
McGuiness, to return him thanks for the way he treated us. 'Mr.
McGuiness,' said I, 'you have been kind and generous to my little
company of players, who are doing their best to make an honest living in
their own peculiar way. I now come again to you to ask that you do me
one more favor.' 'What is it?' said he. 'It is this,' said I. 'Will you
accompany me to call on the dominie? He helped me with his opposition
last night, and I want to get square with him if I can.' McGuiness
hesitated. 'Oh, don't fear,' I assured him. 'I mean no harm. The fair at
the little church, I learned, was to swell the fund that's being raised
to help the widow and orphan. I want you to go with me to ask the
dominie to accept the offering of a few poor strolling players to
increase the fund.' McGuiness thrust his hand toward me, but said
nothing. I could see he was affected, for there was a watery look in his
eyes. We walked together in silence down the road until we reached the
little church."
"And the dominie?"
"He met us like a man. And when I explained my errand, and handed him
our little dole, and turned as if to leave, big, good-hearted McGuiness,
his voice somewhat affected by his feelings, said, 'Howld on a minnit; I
don't know, dominie, what he's givin' you, and what's more I don't care,
but you can count on me, dominie, for double the amount.'
"I don't know when I felt so happy, as I walked down to the shore,
between the dominie and McGuiness, for I felt we had done an act that
men might well feel an honest pride in, while we made two men friends in
that little village who might otherwise have remained estranged."