e emotional heights
until the end of the play.

Without speaking his thoughts to anyone else, Mr. Hepworth, too, was very
much concerned for Patty's welfare. He realised the danger she was in,
and noted every evidence of her artificial strength and merriment. Seeing
Dr. Martin in a seat near the back of the room, he quietly rose and went
and sat beside the old gentleman.

"Doctor," he said, "I can't help fearing that a collapse of some sort
will follow Miss Fairfield's performance."

"I am sure of it," said the Doctor, looking gravely at Mr. Hepworth.

"Then don't you think perhaps it would be wise for you to go around
behind the scenes, presently, and be there in case of emergency."

"I will gladly do so," said Dr. Martin, "if Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield
authorise it."

Mr. Hepworth looked at his programme, and then he looked at Patty. He
knew the play pretty thoroughly, and he knew that she was making one of
the final speeches. He saw too, that she had nearly reached the limit of
her endurance, and he said, "Dr. Martin, I wish you would go on my
authority. The Fairfields are sitting in the front part of the house, and
it would be difficult to speak to them about it without creating a
commotion. And besides, I think there is no time to be lost; this is
almost the end of the play, and in my judgment, Miss Fairfield is pretty
nearly at the end of her self-composure."

Dr. Martin gave the younger man a searching glance, and then said, "You
are right, Mr. Hepworth. It may be advisable that I should be there when
Miss Fairfield comes off the stage. I will go at once. Will you come with
me?"

"Yes," said Mr. Hepworth, and the two men quietly left the room, and
hastened around the building to the side entrance.

As Mr. Hepworth had assisted with the scenery for the play, and had been
present at one or two rehearsals, he knew his way about, and guided Dr.
Martin through the corridors to the room where the girls were gathered,
waiting their cue to go on the stage for the final tableau and chorus.

Lorraine and Hilda looked at each other comprehendingly, as the two men
appeared, but the other girls wondered at this apparent intrusion.

Then as the time came, they all went on the stage, and Dr. Martin and Mr.
Hepworth, watching from the side, saw them form the pretty final tableau.

Patty in a spangled dress and tinsel crown, waving a gilt wand, stood on
a high pedestal. Around her, on lower pedestals, and on the floor, w