The purchase of a West-end theater, when one has the necessary cash, is
not nearly such a complicated business as the layman might imagine.
Roland was staggered by the rapidity with which the transaction was
carried through. The theater was his before he had time to realize that
he had never meant to buy the thing at all. He had gone into the
offices of Mr. Montague with the intention of making an offer for the
lease for, say, six months; and that wizard, in the space of less than
an hour, had not only induced him to sign mysterious documents which
made him sole proprietor of the house, but had left him with the
feeling that he had done an extremely acute stroke of business. Mr.
Montague had dabbled in many professions in his time, from street
peddling upward, but what he was really best at was hypnotism.
Altho he felt, after the spell of Mr. Montague's magnetism was
withdrawn, rather like a nervous man who has been given a large baby to
hold by a strange woman who has promptly vanished round the corner,
Roland was to some extent consoled by the praise bestowed upon him by
Miss Verepoint. She said it was much better to buy a theater than to
rent it, because then you escaped the heavy rent.
Pages:
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57