Next, we come to that small but important thing, the hand. When one knows how to control it, it can do such wonderful things. It can show force or gentleness, harshness or kindness, nervous excitement or shaky old age. It is possible for a marionette to draw a sword, practise at the pells, engage in fist fights, and hammer at a forge. When a marionette must hammer at a forge, as in _Sigurd, the Volsung_, and in _Men of Iron_, be sure that it makes a heavy, steady stroke. The hammer must be of iron. If the armorer sings a jolly rhythmic song, he can keep time with his hammer. Suit your gestures to your words. It is the fault of inexperienced puppeteers that they make all gestures alike. Experienced puppeteers suit their gestures to the ideas and to the feelings which they wish to convey. It is when a puppet is called upon to do some unusual thing, such as dancing, climbing a wall, fighting a duel, riding a horse in a tournament, that difficulties appear. Let us take the first of these—dancing. The Bear in _Men of Iron_ danced. Dainty little Lady Alice in _Men of Iron_ danced. Fat jolly Tweedle Dee in _Alice in Wonderland_ danced. The surly old cook in the Duchess’s kitchen danced. But imagine the differences in these dances! Each dance expressed the character of the dancer. The Bear danced to a lively jig whistled by his trainer. His steps were carefully worked out in time with the tune, and when once learned were never varied. Little Lady Alice, with dainty step and charming courtesies, danced to the tune of a medieval love song. Tweedle Dee danced to a rollicking tune played on an accordion. His steps were lively and when he danced across the stage on his right foot, kicking out his left in time with the music, he made everyone laugh. The cook’s dance was an Irish jig. Puppets are versatile. To them belongs not only the interpretation of the spoken word but they are equally at home in the world of pantomime, music, and dance. The illustrations in this book show how puppets can even perform a ballet. Here you can see their interpretation of the colorful and dramatic Russian ballet, _Petrouchka_. The cast of twenty-one puppets included four principal actors, the manager, the Moor, the Ballerina, and Petrouchka and besides these, a showman and a trained bear, an organ grinder, and bands of gypsies. A ballet or an opera will naturally require a different procedure than a play, because the character analysis comes from the music. Here are the steps by which the _Petrouchka Ballet_ was worked out: 1. The story was told to the pupils. 2. The musical score as a whole was played to them. 3. The motif for each character and incident was played to them. 4. The musical score as a whole was again played and the pupils listened for the motifs. 5. Each character was analyzed and his probable actions upon the stage were discussed. 6. The puppet was taken in hand and the interpretation of the music with it was begun.