nce the war broke out she has knitted practically without
ceasing; and who would dream of going to a knitter for stage effects?

Therefore we were astonished when, in talking over the projected
Saturday night's entertainment, Aunt Louisa ventured the statement that
she had thought out a scheme for a little interlude, and might she be
permitted to carry it out? Just a mere fill up, but topical, or possibly
even more than topical--prophetic.

Of course she might.

"Is it a tableau?" our stage manager inquired.

"No, I shouldn't call it a tableau," said Aunt Louisa; "I should call it
a song scena."

How on earth did she hear that phrase? She never goes to music-halls. I
would as soon expect to hear her speak of "featuring."

"A song scena," she went on, "the hero of which is the KAISER; and I
shall want half-a-dozen gentlemen to assist."

The busy fingers knitted away and the gold spectacles were fixed on us
with bland benignity. Aunt Louisa writing a song scena and ordering a
chorus, just like Mr. GEORGE EDWARDES, was not the least of the miracles
produced by this war.

A company of six of us volunteered, of whom I was one. Another was Mr.
Herbert Foley, who has made private theatricals his life study.

"Anything I can do to help you in coaching the performers and so on," he
said, "I shall be only too pleased to do. You know I'm no chicken at
this sort of thing."

"Thank you," said Aunt Louisa, "but I think I can manage."

"All right," replied Mr. Foley, "but, of course----. Want of
experience----"

"First of all," said Aunt Louisa, "I must choose a Kaiser. Someone who
can act."

We all became very self-conscious. Our expressions said severally, "No
one can act as well as I, but it's rotten form to push oneself forward."

Aunt Louisa scanned us narrowly and, much to everybody else's surprise,
picked out Tommy Thurlow. To my mind she could not have made a worse
choice; but, as it happened, her judgment was sound.

Foley seemed piqued. "Then what do _we_ do?" he asked.

"You are chorus men," said she.

"Chorus!" said Foley.

"Isn't that the right word? I know so little about these things. Perhaps
I ought to have said 'supers.'"

She then told us what to do, knitting all the while.

On the evening Aunt Louisa's song scena was the success of the show. It
was called "The Haunted Kaiser," and it began with a distracted demented
Tommy Thurlow, with the familiar Potsdam moustache and an excellent wig
fro