tual radiations; then little by little he felt her begin to cool, and
a chill ran up and down his own spine as Hawtry and Height held the
stage alone in the first dash of Howard-"pepped" dalliance near the last
of the first act. He held his breath, frozen within him, until the
curtain went down, and then he refused to turn to the author at his
side. He was in a panic and undecided what to do until Mr. Rooney
relieved him of the need of action.

"Mr. Vandeford," he commanded from the middle of the theater, "get New
York on the wire and have Lindenberg start a good scenery man out on the
early morning train. That back-drop must have a toning wash: it jumps
out at the costumes. Lindenberg is in his office until seven to get a
message from you. It's ten to now. You gotter jump."

Without a look at Miss Adair, Mr. Vandeford "jumped," and thus she was
left alone to watch the second act grind along to its climax, with
Hawtry acting the high-bred virago with an extremity of brilliant
sensuality, with Mr. Height supporting her in broad lines that could be
well-read between. Once the author looked at Mr. Dennis Farraday in the
box opposite, and then looked away from his blazing enjoyment of the
startling climax, which the lovers acted in such beauty of body, and
such beauty of execution that, without knowing why, she was thrilled
from her head to her feet.

"Broad standards," she whispered to encourage herself, as her eyes shone
and her cheeks glowed as she lowered her head and re-read the proof of
the program to be used on Tuesday night, which Mr. Vandeford had given
her and upon which she observed the name Patricia Adair in type only
slightly smaller than that of Violet Hawtry. In a few minutes the
curtain was again called up; Mr. Vandeford was still absent, and again
her attention was riveted to the stage.

Almost the entire first half of the last act was hers, and the tension
in her glowing young body had relaxed and she gave Mr. Vandeford a
semblance of a smile as he seated himself beside her just before Hawtry
came on the scene to lay with Height the foundation of the great dinner
scene. This hurdle was held firmly in front of the young author.

Miss Hawtry entered in a blaze of eighteenth century glory, only with
her authentic costume cunningly contrived to reveal more of her
wonderful white body than any woman of that period would have done, and
beautiful in his velvet and ruffles, Gerald Height followed her to
there