The play went on beautifully. Marguerite looked so pretty and sang so well that she, perhaps, received the most applause among the girls.
But Uncle Ned was so funny as the Amiable Burglar, and introduced such funny jokes and antics into his part, that he was by all odds the star of the evening.
Betty forgot her part several times, but, being quick-witted, she extemporized bits that were better than her original lines.
Helen proved to be the best actress, and her sleep-walking scene was so effective that she was advised to study for Lady Macbeth.
Jessie was stage-struck. Her round, rosy little face grew pale, her blue eyes stared, and her voice failed her entirely. Less embarrassed than dazed, she walked to a chair at one end of the stage, and sat down, calmly folding her arms. This delighted the audience, who greatly applauded the bewildered actress.
In the second act the girls all wore frilled white tarlatan dresses, with sashes and bows of pale green ribbon.
The scene was a flowery garden, and it was most attractive, with a rose hedge at the back, and palms and flowering bushes all about. To be sure, the roses were made of pink tissue-paper, but they were very effective, and the group of lovely girls were slowly waving feather fans in time to a slow, soft
CHORUS
Waft, waft in slow, sweet cadences
Each fan whose use a maiden’s is,