seven o'clock sharp
`` But I meant him to keep the whole of it as an admittance fee . '' `` Ah , yes . '' A short time afterwards , the innkeeper reappeared with a whole bundle of admission tickets for Szilard , saying that the manager thanked him for his sympathy , but as he was not in the habit of accepting presents from anyone , he assumed that his honour meant to engage the whole house for himself that evening and he , the manager , would therefore give a representation for his honour 's sole benefit . Szilard laughed heartily at this comical conscientiousness , and after dressing , he went about his official business with as much dispatch as possible in order to arrive at the play at seven o'clock sharp , for he was now the whole public and the public ought always to be punctual . When he got to the room set apart for the performance he found that , despite the provisional _ abonnement suspendu _ arrangement , the place was not quite empty , for the gratis public , the lenders of the theatrical requisites and their families , the letters of lodgings to the actors and other peaceful creditors , occupied a couple of benches , so that Szilard had the opportunity of effacing himself and thus avoiding confusing the _ troupe _ by his solitary and imposing personality . No sooner had the innkeeper 's cuckoo clock struck seven than the ring of the prompter 's bell resounded behind the curtain -LRB- it sounded suspiciously like a glass struck smartly with the back of a knife -RRB- and by means of a highly ingenious piece of machinery the drop-curtain , stuck over with the tricolored cardboard representing the national flag , was hoisted up to the ceiling-beam , and the open stage was revealed . The background was formed by a collapsible screen which was painted to represent a room ; in the foreground on one side was a paper window painted black and white , and on the other side the cellar door , metamorphosed into the portal of a Gothic palace .