ce of the earth which could
have driven Henry Devereux to the operation of a picture theatre,
strictly as a business venture; but when he once got it into his
head that the Orpheum wasn't so much a business as a sporting
proposition, he couldn't have been stopped by anything short of an
injunction. Immediately, his attitude was normal, and from the
moment that he resolved to take possession of his property, and
operate it, he was indifferent to the public estimate of him. The
thing was a game, a game with a great stake, and set rules, and
Henry took it as he once had taken his golf and his billiards and
his polo--joyously, resiliently, determinedly, and without the
slightest self-consciousness, and with never an eye for the gallery.

He was inspirited, moreover, by the attitude of his friends. To be
sure, they laughed, but in their laughter there was no trace of the
ridicule he had feared. They took the situation as a very good joke on
Henry, but at the same time, because gossip had already begun to build
up a theory to explain that situation, there were several of them who
wished that a similar joke, with a similar nubbin, might be played on
themselves. They told this to Henry, they urged him to go ahead and
become a strictly moral Wallingford, they slapped him on the back and
assured him that if there was justice in the Sunday-school books, he
was certain to finish in the money; and Henry, who had provided
himself with several air-tight alibis, found them dead stock on his
hands. He had known, of course, that he could count on Bob Standish,
and a few of his other intimates, but the hearty fellowship of the
whole circle overwhelmed him. He knew that even when they waxed
facetious, they were rooting for him; and this knowledge multiplied
his confidence, and gave him fresh courage.

And yet, with all the consciousness of his loyal backing, he was
considerably upset to read in the _Herald_, on the very morning that
he took control of his property, a seven column streamer headline
which leaped out to threaten him.

"SUNDAY THEATRES AND AMUSEMENTS
MUST GO!"--MIX

Prominent Business Man Turns Reformer

THEODORE MIX CHOSEN TO MANAGE
CAMPAIGN OF LEAGUE

Pledges Enforcement of City Ordinances to the Letter

His first reaction was one of bewilderment, and after that, one of
consternation. His frien