“They are poor stuff,” he muttered. “Nearly half of them show in the first or second sentence that they are advertisements. They are dry as chips. There is no life or snap in them.”
Then he sat down and wrote three new notices. Over these he spent some time, and of one of them he was particularly proud.
“That will be great for ‘Hayseed Valley’!” he exclaimed. “That’s the piece the company opens with in almost every place where they stay more than one night, and they play it pretty often on one-night stands. I believe that will be worth more than all the other notices.”
In “Hayseed Valley,” a farce comedy of the rural order, one of the characters was a French adventurer who pretended to be a count, and who was persistently seeking a rich wife. This is the notice Frank had written:
“The inhabitants of this city (town) and surrounding places are warned to be on the watch for a certain Frenchman who has been creating considerable excitement in this vicinity by his persistent and obnoxious attention to ladies of wealth, both married and unmarried. This fellow is an unscrupulous adventurer, who is masquerading under the name of ‘Count Cavaignac,’ but it is safe to say that he is actually no a-count, and he is certain to have a number of furious husbands and brothers after him, if he does not cease his annoying demonstrations and attentions toward the fair sex. The base slander that every American girl is eager for a title and ready to marry on sight any foreigner who happens along and pretends to rightfully own a title has been refuted by the treatment ‘Count Cavaignac’ has received from every sensible young lady of this vicinity whose heart, hand and fortune he has vainly sought to make his own. All of the bold count’s adventures are highly ludicrous and doubly worth the price of admission to ‘Hayseed Valley,’ in which the fake nobleman appears. ‘Hayseed Valley’ is a rattling three-act farce comedy, and it will be played at the —— Opera House on (date here) by the ‘Empire Theater Comedy Company,’ Haley & Havener, managers and proprietors. Don’t fail to see ‘Count Cavaignac.’”
The other notices were of the unusual order, and Frank believed they would prove of value. He slipped them into his pocket, deciding to show them to Barnaby Haley and seek his approval of their use.
Then Merry went over to the theater, where the afternoon rehearsal was to take place. He found the company assembled and the rehearsal about to begin.
Roscoe Havener came forward at sight of Frank.
“Well, Merriwell,” he said, “Lawrence has been telling us how you played the clam with Riddle, and I congratulate you on starting out well. Just what Riddle was up to I don’t understand, but he had some object in seeking to learn our route. Haley is ready to shoot him on sight, and he has gone in search of him.”
Cassie, the soubrette, approached. She looked pale and thin and wretched.