Chapter I The tipsy playboy of ONE A. M.

Charles returns home at an early morning hour after an evening of celebration, in which water was not the principal liquid consumed. After an altercation with a taxi chauffeur over the charge, and after numerous disastrous attempts to get out of the cab, he discovers he has left the key to the house in another pocket and climbs into the house through a window, upsetting a bowl of goldfish on the way. Charles does a series of his grotesque falls when he steps on a rug, laid on a highly polished floor. Picking himself up, he finds himself with his hand in the mouth of a ferocious tiger, while the blazing eyes of a lynx gaze at him. The floor is covered with skins of wild animals, and Charles imagines himself in a jungle of ferocious beasts, for the walls are adorned with trophies of the chase and stuffed animals of every species. Many of the funny antics employed by the eccentric comedian follow one another during his endeavors to escape from the beasts, which he feels are pursuing him, for no matter where he turns he is confronted by some denizen of the jungle. Finally, he spies a decanter on a table, which has a revolving top. Whenever he tries to reach the bottle the table revolves until he finally sinks exhausted to the floor and the bottle stops in front of him. Charles takes a final drink before retiring and encounters more difficulties when he tries to ascend the stairs. His feet become entangled in the carpet, and while he is able to negotiate part of the journey, he invariably tumbles to the bottom. Seeing an alpine costume, he dons it, and employing a hall tree for a ladder succeeds in reaching the upper floor. In his bedroom is a folding bed, the mechanism of which is too much for Charles, who retires for the night in the bathtub with a bathmat for covering.