“Huh!” returned Pep. “Maybe you don’t know what I’m thinking about.”
“Well, then, tell it,” said Randy.
“No. I won’t now. I guess I’ve got some brains. And I’ve got a big thought. You sha’n’t even have a hint of it. I’ll tell Mr. Strapp—I bet he’ll encourage me.”
“If there’s a wild horse of the plains in it you’ll catch him—sure!” remarked the mischievous Randy.
Pep nursed a grudge against Randy all one day for snubbing him so. If he went on with his “big thought,” he did not tell his comrade. However, Pep forgot any rancor he might have harbored as greater things coming along turned the current of his thoughts.
The two young friends fancied they had reached the height of their ambition the afternoon that opens the present chapter. Mr. Strapp was at their hotel auditing some bills. Ben Jolly was touring the local music houses looking for a pipe organ and a piano for the Standard. Frank had gone to New York the evening previous to visit the Empire. He was also to meet Professor Barrington, who was getting his films in order.
The workmen had just left the building they were reconstructing. Randy had a key to the rough door set into the slanting board front. He and Pep had wandered about the place taking in its details.
It would take another week to complete the decorations of the entrance, but enough had been done to show what it would look like. An exquisite tiling had been laid, handsome chandeliers set in place and the ceiling had been arched. The effect aimed at was that of a brilliant, roomy space suggesting a big reception room.
The rear wall of the store had been torn away and the fifteen-foot space behind it built over so as to join the warehouse. The latter had been turned into a spacious auditorium. The stage and its surroundings were handsome and massive and the fresco work on the walls was the finest that money could produce. The floor had been inclined so that there was not a poor viewpoint in the house. The folding seats, piled up ready to set in place, were comfortable, and broad and deep as easy chairs. The floor was covered with a tinted canvas cloth that deadened the sound of persons moving about.
“Well, this part of the show is pretty nearly done,” remarked Pep. “Mr. Strapp tells the truth when he boasts of this as the finest photo playhouse in America.”