hope of it
at the present time. At any rate he must give himself absolute rest,
and not use his voice--even to talk to you girls," and he smiled at
them.

"I know that is going to be hard," the doctor went on; "but it must
be done sir, it must be done."

"Impossible!" murmured Mr. DeVere. "It cannot be!"

"It must be, my dear sir. Your vocal chords are in such shape that
the least additional strain may permanently injure them. As it is
now--you have a chance."

"Only a chance did you say?" asked the actor, eagerly.

"Yes, only a chance. It would be cruel to deceive you, and try to
tell you that this is only temporary, and will pass off. It may, but
it is sure to come back again, unless you give your throat an
absolute rest."

"For--for how long?"

"I can't say--six months--maybe a year--maybe----"

"A year! Why, Doctor, I never could do that."

"You may have to. You can speak now, but if you keep on you will get
to the point where you will be next to absolutely dumb!"

The girls caught their breaths in sharp gasps. Even Mr. DeVere seemed
unnerved.

"It may seem harsh to say this to you," went on Dr. Rathby, "but it
is the kindest in the end. Rest is what you need."

"Then I can't go to rehearsal in the morning?"

"Certainly not. I must forbid it as your physician. Can't you get a
few days off?"

Mr. DeVere shook his head.

"Aren't there such things as understudies? Seems to me I have heard
of them," persisted the physician.

"I--I wouldn't like to have to put one on," said the actor.

His daughters knew the reason. Times were but little better than they
had been in the theatrical business. Many good men and women, too,
were out of engagements, and every available part was quickly snapped
up. Mr. DeVere had waited long enough for this opening, and now to
have to put on an understudy when the play was on the eve of opening,
might mean the loss of his chances. Theatrical managers were
uncertain at best, and an actor in an important part, with a voice
that would not carry beyond the first few rows, was out of the
question.

Mr. DeVere knew this as well as did his daughters.

"I'll tell you what I'll do," went on Dr. Rathby. "I'll speak to your
manager myself. I'll explain how things are, and say it is imperative
that you have one or two days of rest. It may be that your chords
will clear up enough in that time so that I can treat them better and
you can resume your duties."

"Will you do that?"