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Show A long, lean man, wearing a black coat ana" carrying car-rying a small hand satchel, dropped in on Adele Ritchie at her home in Seventy-first street, New York, the other day and seated himself before her and the door. "Pardon me," he observed, "you are Miss Ritchie?" "The Socialist Whirl" prima donna acknowledged acknowl-edged her identity. "Thank you," said the man. "I wanted to see you about introducing a specialty between the acts of 'The Social Whirl.'" "We do not" "This specialty will require only about three square Inches of your floor space. It is a troupe of trained bacilli. Don't be shocked. I am aware that there is a very general prejudice against bacilli, ba-cilli, but they are the victims of a mistake. No gentler, more tractable creatures live." "I had quite the opposite opinion," answered Miss Ritchie, remembering that it is considered wise to "humor them." "Oh, they're wonderfully gentle and so intelligent. intelli-gent. I have a typhoid fever germ named 'Bill' that learned to stand on it head in two weeks." "You don't say so." "Of course, all germs are not so clever. This one has a brother who took a month to master the same trick." Miss Ritchie began looking for the electric bell. "And that's not all. There are two sisters-, malaria ma-laria microbes, who do an acrobatic turn while the yellow fever germ is making up. I must introduce you to that yellow fever germ." He rose and opened the satchel. Miss Ritchie was relieved when she say that the valise was absolutely ab-solutely empty. She concluded that the conversation conversa-tion must cease if she hoped to retain her own equilibrium. "It must be. a marvellous performance. You'd better see Mr. Shubert." "Thank you," said the man. "I'll tell him you your sent me." And after he was safely out of the house Miss Ritchie began to think she needed another vacation. |