"Why, you don't come on very much," said Archie. "Neither do I. I'm a conjuror. Can any gentleman here oblige me with a rabbit? ... No, sir, I said a rabbit. Oh, I beg your pardon, I thought you were coming up on to the stage.... Any gentleman----" "Have some jam instead. What do you mean by saying I don't come on very much?" I took the book out of my pocket, and began to turn the leaves. "Here you are, nearly every page--'_Enter R._,' '_Exit R._,' '_Enter L._'--I don't know who _he_ is--'_Exeunt R._,'--why, the rat-catcher's always doing something. Ah, here they're more explicit--'_Enter R.C._' Hallo, that's funny, because I'd just---- Oh, I see." "One of our oldest and most experienced mimes," said Archie to Derry. "You must get him to talk to you." "No secret of the boards is hid from him," added Myra. "Tell us again, sir, about your early struggles," begged Archie. "He means your early performances on the stage," explained Myra. "There's one very jolly story about Ellen Terry and the fireproof curtain. Let me see, were you _Macbeth_ then, or _Noise of Trumpets_? I always forget." I drank my last cup of tea, and rose with dignity. "It is a humorous family," I apologised to Derry. "Their grandfather was just the same. He _would_ have his little joke about the first steam-engine." Outside, in the hall, there was a large crowd of unemployed, all talking at once. I caught the words "ridiculous" and "rehearsal," and the connection between the two seemed obvious and frequent. I singled out Thomas, abstracted his pouch, and began to fill up. "What is all this acting business?" I asked. "Some idea about a little play, what? Let's toddle off, and have a game of billiards." "They've let me in for a bally part," said Thomas, "and you needn't think you're going to get out of it. They've got you down, all right." "Thomas, I will be frank with you. I am no less a person than the Emperor Bong's Hereditary (it had been in the family for years) Grand Rat-catcher. The real rush, however, comes in the afternoon. My speciality is young ones." "I'm his executioner." "And he has a conjuror too. What a staff! Hallo, good morning, Simpson. Are you anything lofty?" "'Oh, I am the Emperor Bong,'" said Simpson gaily; "'I am beautiful, clever and strong----'" "Question," said Thomas. "''Tis my daily delight to carouse and to fight, and at moments I burst into song.'" I looked at him in amazement. "Well, just at present," I said, "all I want is a match.... A lucifer, Emp. A pine vesta, Maj. Thanks.... Now tell me--does anybody beside yourself burst into song during the play? Any bursting by Thomas or myself, for instance?" "Nobody sings at all. My little poem is recitative." "If you mean it's very bad, I agree with you," said Thomas. "I made it up myself. It was thought that my part should be livened up a little." "Well, why hasn't it been?"