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insistent arguments would certainly provoke a man less obsessed with grief than myself!” He went his way. Zamp thoughtfully climbed the gangplank. He summoned his troupe and made an announcement:
    “A word regarding our performance tonight and our general conduct. The folk of Port Whant are neither easy nor expansive. Attempt no familiarities; answer all questions ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with a suitable honorific; offer no opinions of your own! The females must wear no hint of yellow; the men must strip from their garments every trace of red. Black is a color of shame and debasement; offer nothing black to a Whant! Do not look at the audience lest they suspect a glare; maintain mild pleasant expressions, but do not affect a smile which might be considered derision. Immediately after the performance we will depart; I would do so now did I not fear their revenge. All now into costumes; play your parts with skill!”
    Zamp went aft to his cabin and refreshed himself with a glass of wine. On the quarterdeck stood Damsel Blanche-Aster. Zamp finished his wine and joined her. “Did you hear my remarks? Even as a naked ghost you must display tact.”
    Damsel Blanche-Aster seemed bitterly amused. “It is enough that I must display myself before these louts. Must I also appeal to their better natures?”
    “If possible, yes! Walk slowly, with an abstracted air; the part need not be overplayed. It is time to get into your costume.”
    “In due course. The evening is not warm.”
    Zamp went to confer once more with Bonko. “It goes without saying that our emergency system is at the ready.”
    “Yes, sir. The pumps are manned; bullocks are at the capstan; crews are stationed at the under-jacks.”
    “Very good; be vigilant.”
    Half an hour passed. Despite their preoccupations Whants began to assemble on the dock, and when Zamp opened the wicket, they paid the not inconsiderable price of admission without complaint and in an orderly fashion took their seats on the midship deck.
    Zamp made the briefest of welcoming speeches and the evening’s program began. Zamp was pleased with his tumblers and acrobats; never had they performed with such precision. The audience, though somewhat sullen, responded with mutters of amazement to some particularly daring feat. All in all Zamp was well-pleased.
    The second section of the performance began as smoothly. In deference to the Whants, Zamp had truncated certain of the scenes and altered others, so that essentially the pastiche was little more than a series of courtships, performed in quaint costumes and with whatever picturesque elaborations Zamp had been able to contrive. The audience seemed mildly amused, but showed fervor only at those mildly erotic passages which Zamp had left intact. Still, no one complained or seemed uncomfortable and again Zamp felt that his audience was pleased with the show.
    Zamp delivered the prologue to Evulsifer with a long blue cape hiding his costume. The orchestra played an obligato of themes from the musical score, and Zamp, now somewhat less apprehensive, prepared for the first act almost with anticipation. Swince had outdone himself with his settings. The great salon at Asmelond Palace was splendid in scarlet and purple and green; the costumes of King Sandoval and his courtiers were almost too splendid.
    The court intrigues at first seemed inconsequential; subtly they began to propel the plot until King Sandoval and Prince Evulsifer were caught in tides of emotion they could not control.
    Zamp staged the palace orgy with rather more latitude than he had originally planned, but the audience showed only approval, and when the rebel Trantino rose up behind the throne to stab King Sandoval they hissed in horror.
    The second act occurred on the Plain of Goshen, before Gade Castle where Evulsifer, accused of complicity in the death of his father, had taken refuge.
    In front of the castle the action swirled. Evulsifer fought three duels with successively more