ch would be necessary to cover the proposed space,
they commenced a serious discussion as to where the material could be
procured.

Ben concluded, finally, that he would call upon a carpenter whom he
knew, from having slept in his shop on the shavings several cold
nights in the winter when he could find no other shelter, and thus
that question was put aside for the time being.

It would be necessary to have some scenery, and that Johnny had
already arranged for in his mind. He had decided that it could be made
by pasting old newspapers together, hanging them on strings, and
coloring them with red, green, and black crayons. For this purpose
stout cord was necessary, and Ben went out and bought some, thereby
giving tangible form to their enterprise, for this cord was really the
only thing they had purchased towards effecting the desired
transformation.

Their next step was to gather up all the old newspapers they could
find in the house, and Nelly set about making some flour paste, while
Johnny went in search of the crayons. Thus they made considerable
progress in their enterprise that night; but it yet lacked a system,
and, what was more important, capital. In order to remedy this, Johnny
called for a strict account of the cash on hand, since they had been
too busy to reckon up that day's sales.

By common consent Paul was chosen book-keeper, so far as figuring up
the different amounts, whether of money or material desired, was
concerned, and, thanks to his knowledge of arithmetic, it was not many
minutes before he informed them that the capital of eighty-three cents
with which they had commenced that day's business had been increased
to three dollars and ninety-five cents--a clear profit of three
dollars and twelve cents. Out of this, one dollar and a half was given
to Mrs. Green towards the payment of the balance that would be due on
their board bill, one dollar was set apart as the working capital of
the theatre, and sixty-two cents was to be used in business the
following day.

They had hardly settled these financial questions when Mrs. Green's
voice from the floor below announced that Master Mopsey Dowd had
called to see them, and was already on his way up-stairs.

If Master Dowd had had any doubts as to the desirability of becoming
one of Mrs. Green's boarders, they were all dispelled when he saw that
attic, every timber of which seemed to be begging to be converted into
a theatre. In fact Master Dowd was s