"It will cost about twenty thousand cold, before we ring up the curtain," explained Weldon, skillfully calculating with the aid of a pencil and a pad of paper. "It will take about seven thousand for the production, including costumes and uniforms. Everything is Viennese this season, so we must get the correct atmosphere. Advertising and printing may take up two or three thousand more, and then we'll probably have to guarantee at least twenty-five hundred to the theater we select. I'd like to get a classy theater like the Globe, where they have ushers in English military uniforms, and society people always go there because some one tipped them off that it was the society theater of New York. But it might take a little more money to get the Globe."
"Get the Globe by all means," said Gordon. "A few thousand more or less mean nothing if the thing is a hit, and if it is a failure, I guess I can stand the loss quite as well."
Victor Weldon sprang to his feet excitedly. The "roping in" had been easier than he anticipated, for Sanford Gordon, in spite of his propensity for squandering wealth in certain directions, belonged to the category of "wise people." No one ever wasted postage to send him green-goods catalogues, and Weldon had been extremely doubtful of his ability to get Gordon as a backer, although, of course, he had enjoyed unlimited opportunities to win his confidence while acting as Mrs. Dainton's manager.
"It's the chance of a lifetime," Weldon thought to himself as he clasped Gordon's hand to bind the bargain.
"I'll have the necessary legal papers drawn up by my lawyer," explained Gordon. "The money will be deposited with the Commercial Trust Company to-morrow morning. You will handle this production exactly as though it is your own—with one exception, my dear Weldon."
"What is that?" asked Weldon, apprehensively.
"You will engage for the leading rôle a young lady I will designate—"
"Ah, now I understand—" began Weldon, smiling.
"—who will have no inkling whatever of the fact that I am the backer of this show. In fact, no one must know that I am furnishing the money. Furthermore, at any time I see fit—if, for instance, the young lady cannot, in my judgment, play the part satisfactorily—I reserve the right to stop the whole production instantly, merely paying the necessary bills. Do you understand?"
"But you wouldn't close the show if it's a hit, would you?" demanded Weldon.