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SHOWMAN
tain fell on the grave-scene that night and I was climbing out of the grave, all strung up with the tension of acting with the great Booth, he patted me on the shoulder and said: ''Why, you did very well, my lad." I felt prouder of myself at that moment than I ever have before or since.
But this triumph did not blunt the business-sense I had developed as a peanut-butcher. With San Francisco gone clean crazy over the return of its home-grown genius, the box-office was always in a state of siege. I knew the treasurer of the theater and arranged with him and another fellow to go into the scalping business in a foolproof way. People standing in line for hours listened eagerly when you offered to get them tickets without waiting longer— at a nominal advance of fifty cents a ticket. We collected their money, then went to the box-office back-door and completed the deal. At the end of the month we had cleared $2000 on an investment of nothing flat. My half was the first thousand dollars I've ever owned.
Between that and having been praised by Edwin Booth I worked up the nerve to persuade Walter Morosco, father of Oliver Morosco of 'Teg O' My Heart" fame, to engage me as guest-star at his theater —a monster dance-hall in San Francisco, seating 2500, where he had a company of efficient scenery-chewers presenting standard thrillers at popular prices. I was to get 10% of the proceeds on condition that I furnished a play a week at no risk or cost to him. With
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