"Hooray for the Pirate bold,
With his pockets full of gold,
He's going to marry to-morrow.
To-morrow he'll marry,
Yes, by the Lord Harry,
He's go-ing--to-marry--to-mor-row!
And that's a thing to doodle-doodle-doo.

"There," said the Idiot, after a pause. "How is that for a first act?"

"It's about as lucid as most of them," said the Poet, "but after all you
have got a story there, and you said you didn't need one."

"I said you didn't need one to start with," corrected the Idiot. "And
I've proved it. I didn't have that story in mind when I started. That's
where the easiness of the thing comes in. Why, I didn't even have to
think of a name for the heroine. The inspiration for that popped right
out of Mr. Brief's mouth as smoothly as though the name Drivelina had
been written on his heart for centuries. Then the title--Isle of
Piccolo--that's a dandy and I give you my word of honor I'd never even
thought of a title for the opera until that revealed itself like a flash
from the blue; and as for the coon song, 'My Baboon Baby,' there's a
chance there for a Zanzibar act that will simply make Richard Wagner and
Reginald De Koven writhe with jealousy. Can't you imagine the lilt of
it:

"My Bab-boon--ba-habee,
My Bab-boon--ba-habee--
I love you dee-her-lee
Yes dee-hee-hee-er-lee.