t, don't you remember?"

"Well, where is she?" Matty asked irritably.

Julia here sauntered superbly forward, serenely conscious of youth,
beauty, and charm. Every one stared frankly at her, as she said
languidly:

"Perhaps it's I you're looking for? Mr. Artheris--"

"Yes, that's right!" said Matty, relieved. He wiped his forehead.
"Miss--Page, isn't it?" He paused, a little at a loss, eying the other
ladies of the caste dubiously. The girl called Barbara Toland now came
forward with her ready graciousness, and the two girls looked fairly
into each other's eyes.

"Miss Page," said Barbara, and then impatiently to the manager, "Do go
ahead and get started, Matty; we've got to get home some time to-night!"

Julia's introduction was thus waived, and business began at once. The
wavering voices of the principals drifted uncertainly into the theatre.
"Louder!" said the chaperons and friends. The men were facetious,
interpolating their lines with jokes, good-humoured under criticism; the
girls fluttered nervously over cues, could not repeat the simplest line
without a half-giggling "Let's see--yes, I come in here," and were only
fairly started before they must interrupt themselves with an earnest,
"Mat, am I standing still when I say that, or do I walk toward her?"

Julia was the exception. She had been instructed a fortnight before that
she must know her lines and business to-day, and she did know them.
Almost scornfully she took her cues and walked through her part. "Matty"
clapped his hands and overpraised her, and Julia felt with a great rush
of triumph that she had "shown those girls!" She had an exhilarating
afternoon, for the men buzzed about her on every possible occasion, and
she knew that the other girls, for all their lofty indifference, were
keenly conscious of it.

She went out through the theatre with the others, at an early six. The
young people straggled along the aisle in great confusion, laughing and
chattering. Mrs. Toland, a plump, merry, handsomely dressed woman, was
anxious to carry off her tall daughter in time for some early boat.

"_Do_ hurry, Barbara! Sally and Ted may be on that five-fifty, and if Dad
went home earlier they'll have to make the trip alone!"

At the doorway they found that the street was almost dark, and foggy.
Much discussion of cars and carriages marked the breaking-up. Enid
Hazzard, a rather noisy girl, who played Noel Belturbet, elected to go
home with the Babcocks. This