Pinchas disregarded the youth. 'But I am willing you shall have only a fortnight's rehearsals. I believe in you, Goldwater. I have always said, "The only genius on the Yiddish stage is Goldwater." Klostermann—bah! He produces not so badly, but act? My grandmother's hen has a better stage presence. And there is Davidoff—a voice like a frog and a walk like a spider. And these charlatans I only heard of when I came to New York. But you, Goldwater—your fame has blown across the Atlantic, over the Carpathians. I journeyed from Cracow expressly to collaborate with you.'
'Then why do you spoil it all?' asked the mollified manager.
'It is my anxiety that Europe shall not be disappointed in you. Let us talk of the cast.'
'It is so early yet.'
'"The early bird catches the worm."'
'But all our worms are caught,' grinned Kloot. 'We keep our talent pinned on the premises.'
'I know, I know,' said Pinchas, paling. He saw Mrs. Goldwater tripping on saucily as Ophelia.
'But we don't give all our talent to one play,' the manager reminded him.
'No, of course not,' said Pinchas, with a breath of hope.
'We have to use all our people by turns. We divide our forces. With myself as Hamlet you will have a cast that should satisfy any author.'