I
tinkled a bell. The uproar grew quiet. I drew aside my curtain, and made
my bow, amid the silent wonderment of my auditors. Then I said:--
'Ladies and gentlemen: You now see before you the redoubtable Fantadimo
Fantodimus, master of ceremonies for the Great Humbug Troupe. You also
see before you, ladies and gentlemen, Mons. Belitz, the renowned
magician, Mademoiselle Heliotrope, the graceful danseuse, Signor
Strawstekowski, Herr Balamsass; and, in short, ladies and gentlemen, you
see before you the sum and substance of the Great Humbug Troupe, as it
exists in all its original splendor. We salute you!
'My friends, you were drawn here to-night by the extravagantly worded
and outlandish representations of a poster which promised you only one
single thing, namely, that you should behold a Great Traveling Humbug.
Nothing could be more honest, though some things might be more
straightforward. Force of circumstances compels me this evening to
represent the Great Traveling Humbug you came to see. I am this evening
the greatest of humbugs. I travel. A week ago, I traveled into this
village with the laudable intention of giving you a sensible lecture on
EURIPIDES, a historical personage of whom some of you may have heard.
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