"I didn't come to talk to him really, but if you keep me waiting half an hour—— Why, what are you doing?"
Strong looked up from the note he was writing. The tender lines had gone from his face, and he had become the stern man of action again.
"I am giving instructions that the services of my commissionaire, hall-boy, and fifth secretary will no longer be required."
"Don't do that," pleaded Dorothy.
Strong tore up the note and turned to her. "What do you want of me?" he asked.
She blushed and looked down. "I—I have written a—a play," she faltered.
He smiled indulgently. He did not write plays himself, but he knew that other people did.
"When does it come off?" he asked.
"The manager says it will have to at the end of the week. It came on a week ago."
"Well," he smiled, "if people don't want to go, I can't make them."