And he came near then and there going down on his knees and declaring his passion.
When Mona reached her home she was flushed and trembling with excitement. "Oh, father," she said to Jess, "they want me to play at the theatre, and to come to-morrow to try it with no one there; and he wants my picture, and I am scared half to death," which incoherent speech can easily be excused.
"I don't approve on't an' never have," said her mother, severely. "It ain't a girl's place to be fiddlin', an' 'fore people at that. I don't believe in it."
"Now, Letty," answered Jess, pleasantly, "don't go to discouragin' the gal first go-off. We've threshed that straw all over long 'go, 'n' don't say no more. The time'll cum, 'n' soon, too, when ye'll feel mighty proud of Mona. We'll fix ye up, girlie," he added, addressing her, "with one of them low-cut gowns,—not too low, but jist nice 'n' modestlike,—'n' we'll both o' us be thar to take keer on ye an' fetch flowers home fer ye." And that subject was disposed of.
But Mona scarce closed her eyes in sleep that night, and when, with Jess and her teacher to care for her, she entered the stage door of the Alhambra at ten the next day, a new world opened before her.
Its entrance was a tangle of painted scenery, beautiful on one side, dirty and tobacco-stained on the other. A dozen stage carpenters and helpers were at work with hats on, and never even looked at her. The stage seemed a cold, cheerless barn, as large as the seating part, and a chaos of stage properties of all sorts and shapes. A flat, painted tree leaned against a piano, on top of which was a wooden rock. A roll of carpet lay across a desk, and a coil of dirty rope and an imitation fireplace were on top of an elegant sofa.
Then the manager appeared, coatless, but with hat on.
"Ah, good morning, Miss Hutton," he said, not even noticing Fritz or her uncle; "glad to see you, though it's a little early. Look around and make yourself at home, or I'll show you to a dressing room. We will hear you play presently."
And glad to escape from the cheerless spot, Mona signified that she would wait his bidding in a private room.
It was a half-hour ere he appeared, and Mona's stage training began.