Ahead of the Show; Or, The Adventures of Al Allston, Advance Agent

By FRED THORPE, author of Blind Luck, The Boy in Black, Chris, the Comedian, Git Up and Git, Walt, the Wonder Worker, etc....
STREET AND SMITH, PUBLISHERS 238 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK
Copyright, 1897 By Norman L. Munro
Ahead of the Show

If I had that fellow here I'd make him wish he'd never heard the name of Augustus Wattles. And I'll do it some day, too.
The manager and proprietor of Wattles' New York Comedy Company was very, very mad. His naturally florid face was redder than usual, and his fists were clinched in a manner that augured no good to the fellow referred to, had that individual chanced to appear upon the scene at this precise moment.
He stood at the door of the Boomville Opera House, in company with the local manager, Mr. Cyrus Perley, who seemed in some degree to share his discomfiture and anger.
A group of stragglers listened in silence to their conversation, gazing at them with that peculiar and unaccountable reverence that many people feel for members of the theatrical profession.
It's pretty tough, said Mr. Perley, but it isn't my fault.
I know it isn't. Well, this is the last time that loafer will play that trick on me. He thinks that because I have been easy with him in the past there is no end to my patience. I'll show him that he is making the mistake of his life.
Of course, you will discharge him?