The girl in black was next. Her heart beat uncomfortably fast as she moved down. Had she to pitch her voice to fill that gaping void across the footlights? She shrank from singing to these blasé-looking men who gave the impression of damning before they heard. Then she saw that Maggy was still standing by the table and nodding encouragingly to her. It gave her heart. She handed her song to the pianist and commenced to sing. "Louder, please," said some one. She sang louder and lost her nervousness. It was not so difficult to fill that huge auditorium, after all. So far, she was the only one of them that had been allowed to sing her song half through. "Shouldn’t mind hearing the rest of that another day," said the stage-manager, stopping her at last. "Not half bad, my dear. Name, please." She gave her name, Alexandra Hersey. "What have you been in?" came the query. Before she could answer Maggy chimed in. "She was with me on tour in ’The Camera Girl.’ No. 2 Company." "Address?" Again Maggy came to the rescue. "Put her down to mine. 109 Sidey Street. Then you’ll remember us both—p’r’aps!" She hooked her arm in Alexandra’s and made for the wings. When they were in the passage facing the stage-door she said: "I’ll help you find rooms if you like. I’ve nothing to do. I say, you can sing!" "If it hadn’t been for you—" "Oh, rats!" "But it was awfully good of you," Alexandra maintained. "Is there a room in the house where you live?" she asked, actuated by a strong desire not to lose sight of her new acquaintance. "There’s room in my room, that’s all. I pay ten shillings a week. My landlady charges fifteen for two in it. That would be seven-and-six each. But"—she made a wry face—"you wouldn’t like it. It’s slummy. There’s a smell of fried fish and a beastly row half the night. Still, you can have a look at it if you like." There was invitation in the tone. "I’d like to come," said Alexandra. "Right-O. Here’s my motor car. The green one." She held up her hand to a ’bus driver. "My chauffeur doesn’t like stopping, except for policemen." She gave Alexandra a push up and sprang on the footboard after her. They climbed to the top, and were rattled and jerked in the direction of the King’s Cross Road. II One Hundred and Nine Sidey Street was not an attractive apartment house, but it was cheap and respectable. Mrs. Bell, an "old pro" herself, by reason of having, in some distant past, earned twelve shillings a week as a "local girl" in pantomime, preferred the lesser lights of the stage for tenants. She knew their ways, their freedom from "side," their unexacting habits. When she could not secure them she took in "respectable young men." At the present juncture the young men predominated. Maggy Delamere was the sole representative of "the professional" in her house. She occupied the third-floor front, and owed three weeks’ rent.