istribute these passes among his boys. They were offered as rewards
for good conduct. Charles frequently accompanied his father to matinees
at Tony Pastor's and the other theaters. Pastor and the elder Frohman
were great pals. They called each other by their first names, and the
famous old music-hall proprietor was a frequent visitor at the shop.

But Charles became quite discriminating. Every Saturday night he went
down to the old Theatre Comique, where Harrigan and Hart were serving
their apprenticeship for the career which made them the most famous
Irish team of their time. The next morning at breakfast he kept the
family roaring with laughter with his imitations of what he had seen and
heard. Curiously enough, Tony Hart later became the first star to be
presented by Charles Frohman.

All the while the boy's burning desire was to earn money in the theater.
He nagged at Gustave to give him a chance. One day Gustave saw some
handsome souvenir books of "The Black Crook," which was then having its
sensational run at Niblo's Garden. He found that he could buy them for
thirty-three cents by the half-dozen, so he made a small investment,
hoping to sell them for fifty cents in the lobby of the theater. That
evening he showed his new purchases to Charles.

Immediately the boy's eyes sparkled. "Let me see if I can sell one of
them!"

"All right," replied Gustave; "I will take you down to Niblo's to-night
and give you a chance."

The boy could scarcely eat his supper, so eager was he to be off.
Promptly at seven o'clock the two lads (Charles was only eight) took
their stand in the lobby, but despite their eager cries each was able to
sell only a single copy. Gustave consoled himself with the fact that the
price was too high, while Charles, with an optimism that never forsook
him, answered, "Well, we have each sold one, anyhow, and that is
something."

Charles's profit on this venture was precisely seventeen cents, which
may be regarded as the first money he ever earned out of the theater.

But this night promised a sensation even greater. As the crowd in the
lobby thinned, the strains of the overture crashed out. Through the open
door the little boy saw the curtain rise on a scene that to him
represented the glitter and the glory of fairyland. Beautiful ladies
danced and sang and the light flashed on brilliant costumes. With their
unsold books in their hands, the two boys gazed wistfully inside.
Charles, always the aggr