"I hope so. Better study your lines before you go on." "I will," answered the would-be actor, and began to study as never before. In the meantime the scene went on, the actors reciting their lines without a break, but with so little dramatic action that scarcely anyone in the audience was interested. "Do you like it, my love?" asked James Talbot, who sat beside his wife in one of the orchestra rows. "No, it is very stupid so far," answered Mrs. Talbot. "The next act may be better, Sarah. The best plays rarely start well." "That young man missed his part entirely," was Mrs. Talbot's comment. The second act of the play represented the drawing room of Mrs. Ulmer's mansion. There was at first a love scene which promised very well. But the lover in the play was as nervous as he might have been in real life, and when he started to kiss his lady-love good-by, he smacked her so warmly that his false mustache fell off into her lap. "Oh!" she cried, and there was a roar of laughter from the audience. The lover snatched the mustache up in a trice and hurried off as if he was leaving an enemy, instead of her whose heart he was supposed to have won. The rich old lady came in, supported on the arm of her nephew, a captain of the regular army. The captain was wearing his sword, but he was not used to the weapon, and it got tangled up between his legs more than once, and came near to upsetting him. "Take it off!" cried a voice from the gallery. Of course a laugh followed the bit of advice. The captain was about to conclude an important interview with his rich aunt, when the butler walked in with a tray, on which were a bottle supposed to contain wine, and two glasses. "Be careful there, Willie, or you'll drop the tray!" cried the voice from the gallery. "Will--he?" said another voice, with an attempt at a pun. "Ah, so this is honest John!" exclaimed the captain, turning to the butler. "John, what have you to say to the captain who used to go horseback riding on your foot?" "I'm glad to see you, sir," said Livingston Palmer. "Very glad, sir." Then he took a deep breath, and started again, so that his next lines might not escape him. "Mrs. Ulmer, Ihavea secret to tell." He meant, "I have a secret to tell," but some of his words ran one into another. "A secret, John. What can it be?" "You'retoberobb'd, yes, madam, youretobe robb'd." "Robbed!" "Yes, madam, robb'd. Oneyou have fondly robbed intendsto loveyou." A shout went up at this, a shout that speedily became a roar. Of course Palmer meant to say, "One you have fondly loved intends to rob you," but he was hopelessly bewildered, and hardly knew what he was doing. For once his self-confidence had entirely left him. "Go! I will not believe it!" cried the rich lady. "Leave my sight!"