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[ Aetat. 27-29 ] J O Y C E 301in Bucharest. The dominating member of the group was AntonioMachnich, an upholsterer who had invented a new type of sofabed; theothers were the leather merchant Giovanni Rebez, the draper GiuseppeCaris, and the proprietor of a bicycle shop, Francesco Novak, the technicalexpert among the four. Joyce knew better than to approach themdirectly; he got his friend Nicolo Vidacovich, who was acquainted withthem, to arrange a meeting.Joyce seems to have managed the venturesome but careful businessmenvery well. He began by saying, i know a city of 500,000 inhabitantswhere there is not a single cinema.' 'Where is it?' they wanted to know.He would not say at first,the secret was too valuable to be thrown away.At last he told them it was in Ireland. They got out a map and he pointedto Dublin first,then to Belfast and Cork; there were no cinemas in anyone of them. 4By moving quickly they could capture the whole country.They warmed to the project, but how could it be arranged? Joyce wasgraciously willing to put aside his work in Trieste to act as their advanceagent in Dublin; he would see about hiring a hall and other preliminaryarrangements. The initial cost would be infinitesimal: a few pounds tosend him to Dublin, and a per diem allowance of ten crowns ($2 or 8/-)to keep him there. If all went well they could come over and start up thebusiness. If he ran into unexpected complications, they had lost virtuallynothing.The partners were persuaded. The next question was Joyce's share inthe profits. Since he had no capital to risk he could scarcely expect anequal share. On the other hand, for initiating the scheme, and for givingup his work in Trieste to open the cinema, he seemed entitled to ten percent of the profits. The agreement, drawn up probably by Vidacovichwho was a lawyer, was signed by all fivepartners, and Joyce was off.He entrained for Dublin on October 18, just over a month after leavingit. He made the journey in high spirits, stopped briefly in Paris andwished he could stay for the operas, but dutifully proceeded to London.There, by exploiting his Piccolo della Sera visiting card, he persuaded themanager of the L.N.W. railroad to give him another first-classticket. 5He arrived in Dublin on October 21, and threw himself at once into thesearch for possible premises. By October 28 he had located a building at45 Mary Street, 6 off Dublin's principal thoroughfare, Sackville Street,and had made sure by consulting the theater inspector that it would beeligible for a license. He sent word to Machnich to come over at once,and meanwhile obtained an estimate for the installation of electricity inthe building. 7Machnich was slow to arrive, and the Mary Street landlordthreatened to rent the premises to someone else if they did not put upearnest money. The partners sent Joyce fiftypounds to hold the building.8 At last, on November 19, Machnich and Rebez reached Dublin, 9and Joyce, attentive as usual to small ironies, installed them in Finn'sHotel where Nora had once been employed.