Ahead of the Show; Or, The Adventures of Al Allston, Advance Agent

This nineteenth-century American novel opens with a conversation between Mr.Cyrus Perley, the local manager of a theatre, and Mr. Augustus Wattles owner and boss of Wattles' New York Comedy Company. They are both angered that an advance agent who is supposed to have booked a Wattles' show for the Boomville Opera House has not done any work not=r even shown his face in the town.