“Oh, are we disturbing you, Miss Porter? We didn’t think you’d be busy and we wanted permission to sit in here and read ‘The Merchant of Venice’ aloud.”
“You see,” added Polly, “we thought it would be fun for each to take parts and—and—” she was floundering for words.
“And act it,” finished Miss Porter. “Do you really like it, girls? I am so glad. Sit down, of course.” Then regretfully: “I’ll be finished in a minute.”
Betty caught the regret in her voice and exclaimed impulsively:
“Won’t you stay? It would be so much nicer; you can’t have anything to do on this miserable day.”
Lois and Polly added their pleas to hers and in the end Miss Porter remained.
They decided that Lois take the part of Portia and Jessica; Polly, Nerissa and Bassanio; Betty, Antonio, Gratiano, and Lorenzo, and they all insisted on Miss Porter being Shylock. They took turns with the smaller parts.
They had rather improvised stage property, but they managed to get on somehow until they reached the casket scene.
“Now what under the sun are we going to use for the caskets?” demanded Betty.
“We might use the ‘Standard Dictionary’ for the lead one,” suggested Miss Porter; “and here’s the ‘Cyclopedia of Names’—that might do for the silver one.”