"Quick work!" said the watch-holders, approvingly. It took the guests much less than twenty-nine seconds to eat the entrée.
The roast appeared. The rear curtain dropped. Behind it was another on which could be read, without the aid of binoculars:
It happened exactly as H. R. had told Bishop Phillipson. Each charitable person thought of his particular ticket and looked for his individual guest among the 12,137.
Each charitable person felt that his twenty-five cents had made possible the entire feast. At that moment H. R. could have been elected to any office within the gift of a free and sturdy people.
The hosts, filled with kindliness and the desire to help their fellow-men by getting their money's worth, began to shout:
Charity is not dead, but sleepeth. When it awakens, it is ruthless.
Presently men and women at the tables, who had thought they were in paradise surrounded by angels, began to throw up their hands and shake their heads helplessly.
A storm of hisses greeted the ingratitude. Fat hosts began to shout:
In self-defense some of the guests began to rub their paunches. Here and there those who remembered close experiences with Christian mobs rose in their benches ostentatiously, let out their belts, and sat down again determinedly.
The hosts clapped madly. They understood, and therefore forgave. Then the hosts began to think that fifteen cents would have been enough.
The bugle blew. Dessert was served. It was determinedly put away.
Having convicted themselves of both charity and extravagance, each host felt that he was not only a philanthropist but a New-Yorker.
The bugle blew again. The paper dishes were gathered up, and also such of the knives and forks as the guests had not put in their pockets. The trays were whisked away by the traveling-cranes.
Suddenly all the lights went out. With the utter darkness a hush fell upon the vast audience. Then from all the bands came a mighty crashing chord. Instantly there blazed an electric sign that stretched from one side of the Garden to the other above the stage.
And both hosts and guests saw an American flag in red, white, and blue lights, and below it, in letters ten feet high, they read:
Everybody cheered, for everybody agreed with the sentiment. Some even thought it was original.