A cry of amazement, and now Lee was congratulated, for no one had seen anything like that. The villagers surrounded him to pet his dogs (both of them were overwhelmed and shy), and some of the whores seemed to give him slightly more approving looks. He decided to close with the big finale.

“Nanette? Catch.” He lobbed something her way, and she threw her head back to catch it in her mouth. It was a pineapple grenade. Gently, she placed it on the ground.

“What the hell, Duncan?” cried one of his squadron. Nanette had one paw on the grenade, pulling out the pin between her teeth. She looked up with satisfaction. As a unit, the village screamed—people ran in every direction. Mayhem.

“It’s not armed,” Lee called into the chaos. “It’s a gooseberry.” But he was not heard, and the screaming continued.

The impact of the evening was that his rehabilitation in the eyes of the village would never be complete. The enlisted men, when they forgave him, thought it had been an excellent prank. They would forever remember it as their comrades rather than themselves panicking. A few of them collared Lee and told him of an upcoming competition he should try out for. It wasn’t for a few months, but he was bound to win.

When he returned to his shed, he put the stove alight and started to warm the bricks up. His dogs were collapsed together on their cot. He enjoyed what he’d done. Except for the screaming. But he was growing confident that his ideas were good, and that he and his dogs had a future.

He had in mind a new trick Nanette could do with proper training. For the next few weeks, he and his dogs worked at perfecting it, but only the competition would prove whether it was genius or another generation of battles between settlers and Indians with giant rocks.

42

February 10 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.
February 11 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.
February 12 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.
February 13 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.
February 14 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.
February 17 Did Not Shoot. Mr. Chaplin ill.

Chaplin dressed the ponderous bulk of Henry Bergman as Edna’s father. After three days, Chaplin decided he was Jewish, and he sent Bergman to be fitted with a yarmulke and had the Hebrew newspaper brought to the set. Then he couldn’t think of anything. He decided to go home.

The next day, he found a telegram from Associated First National Pictures Exhibitor Exchange, Inc., on his desk, beneath the marmalade cat, who protested when he moved her to read it. The telegram reminded him that the corporation had planned four weeks for Sunnyside, and he was now four months into shooting, and a shocking $18,300 over budget. The telegram ended PLEASE ADVISE.