CHAPTER XVT
he
Chian Wine
was produced, the Carmina Amoris published, and Bunny became a star of the first magnitude. The fact of his heroical exchange of the lyre for the sword was duly set forth in every panegyric. The lucky yet hapless poet could not have invented a more stimulating advertisement. On the first night of the one-act play, when admiring ignorance clamoured for the author, the Actor-Manager, stepping before the curtain, seized the golden opportunity. The author, he regretted to say, was not in the house; in fact, he was in distant lands fighting for Queen and country. Deafening applause greeted the announcement. The success of the piece was assured, and the manager saw before him a long continuance of the run of a somewhat tottering comedy. He also glowed with patriotic
