legal errors and confusions generally. Stage "law" may not be quite
the most fearful and wonderful mystery in the whole universe, but it's
near it--very near it. We were under the impression at one time that
we ourselves knew something--just a little--about statutory and common
law, but after paying attention to the legal points of one or two
plays we found that we were mere children at it.

We thought we would not be beaten, and we determined to get to the
bottom of stage law and to understand it; but after some six months'
effort our brain (a singularly fine one) began to soften, and we
abandoned the study, believing it would come cheaper in the end to
offer a suitable reward, of about 50,000 pounds or 60,000 pounds, say,
to any one who would explain it to us.

The reward has remained unclaimed to the present day and is still
open.

One gentleman did come to our assistance a little while ago, but his
explanations only made the matter more confusing to our minds than it
was before. He was surprised at what he called our density, and said
the thing was all clear and simple to him. But we discovered
afterward that he was an escaped lunatic.

The only points of stage "law" on which we are at all clear are as
follows:

That if a man dies without leaving a will, then all his property goes
to the nearest villain.

But if a man dies and leaves a will, then all his property goes to