"Variety actor?" went on the man, curiously.
"Oh, no!" I laughed.
"Thought not. They're generally pretty tough—the ones Chris hires."
"Does he have a variety theatre?"
"That's what he calls it. But it's nothing but a concert hall with jugglers and tumblers thrown in."
I did not relish the idea of going into such a place, and I knew that my sister Kate and the Widow Canby would be horrified when they heard of it.
"What kind of a man is this Holtzmann?" I continued, seeing that the man I had accosted was inclined to talk.
"Oh, he's a good enough kind of a fellow if you know how to take him," was the reply. "He's a bit cranky if he's had a glass too much, but that don't happen often."
"Does he run the place himself?"
"What, tend bar and so?"