I SUPPOSE I CAN CLAI~WITH LORD BYRON THAT I AWOKE
one morning to find myself famous. I had gone to bed at
seven thirty of a cool September evening in 1926， exactly one
hour before the curtain was to rise on the opening night s
performance of Broadway. My telephone rang shortly after
eleven o clock， and I heard my press agent， S. N. Behrman，
report that the play was a colossal success.
\"The house lights have been up for almost a minute，\" he
said， \"and they re still applauding the show. I ve never seen
anything like it.\"
\"Where are you talking from?\"
\"I m in the box office. Can t you hear them?\"
\"Yes， I think so.\"
\"It s come off exactly as you predicted. Well， Jed， you are
going to be enormously rich. You will have a splendid country
house and entertain the great of the world.\"
\"The great of this world are all in the next world， Sam，\" I
said. \"Right now I m still famished for sleep.\"
\"Better take your receiver off the hook， or you won t get
any sleep at all. Good-night.\"
My absence from the Broadhurst Theatre on that reputedly
momentous occasion would soon provide the first frail under-
pinnings to my \"legendary\" reputation. In a matter of hours a
Broadway columnist would call me to confirm the rumor that
I had spent the evening at home asleep \"With so much at
stake， how could you possibly have done a thing like that?\" he
said. \"It was really quite simple，\" I replied. \"I took off my
clothes， got into bed， and closed my eyes.\" He subsequently
described me as enigmatic.
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