lease don't come with me any more."

She gazed at Miss Pritchard through reproachful tears, but when she saw
tears streaming down Miss Pritchard's plain, staunch face, she ran to
her arms.

"My dear, it's only because I love you so, because you are the very
apple of my eye, that I talk so," the latter declared, and the warm
words went straight to the girl's sore heart. "I know I'm not just,
but dear, we won't let anything come between us--ever. I'll do my best
to see your side of it, and you must be patient with me. It's hard, I
know, for youth to bear with age, for inexperience to hear the ugly
words of experience; but now we'll just go through the week together
and await what comes."

What came demanded further patience on her part and increased Elsie's
infatuation. Before the end of the week the young actress had an offer
from a rival establishment which would take her to the edge of summer
at a salary that fairly made her gasp. The second theatre was perhaps
a shade better, but not sufficiently so to reconcile Miss Pritchard to
it. But she held her peace. Whereupon the first manager increased the
sum offered by his rival, and, Miss Pritchard still tolerant, Elsie
agreed to remain there until June.

CHAPTER XXIX

Miss Pritchard acknowledged to herself that Elsie Marley had the right
stuff in her. She did not grow careless, never let herself down. The
audience was uncritical and wildly demonstrative, but the girl did her
level best at every performance. Up to a certain point, she even
improved. The possibility of so doing in this case was limited, but
having reached that point she held it. Further, her wonderfully sweet
voice seemed to grow sweeter every day.

Therein lay Miss Pritchard's one hope. Presently, she sought out an
old friend who had been a musician of note and later a teacher and
musical critic on an evening paper, and confided her difficulty to him.
Hearing her story, he was interested and very sympathetic. He advised
her to drop the concert idea and dwell wholly upon the possibility of
opera as a lure: only the dramatic form and setting could compete
successfully in a case of stage-fever like that. And where Miss
Pritchard had hoped only to be allowed to bring Elsie to him, he being
an old man, he agreed to go to the theatre and hear the girl when she
would be off her guard.

"I'll go any night you say, Miss Pritchard," he proposed.

"Don't make _me_ choose, Mr. Francis,"