"That's so."
"Besides, I had no idea that she was going to raise a row. I think that Farley was at the bottom of the business; I saw him talking to her outside just before she came in."
"You did? That explains the whole thing. Well, I'm just going to let things take their course."
At this moment Mrs. Anderson came rushing toward them, evidently greatly excited. She was closely followed by a young woman, quite as much agitated as herself.
Both women began talking at once, and it was two or three minutes before Mr. Wattles could make himself heard. When at last he succeeded in doing so, he said:
"Now, ladies, if you will speak one at a time, and talk slow, I will try to straighten things out. What is the trouble, Mrs. Anderson?"
"That woman," sobbed the society belle, indicating the actress, "has grossly insulted me. I cannot, I will not play."
"Have you forgotten your promise to me, Mrs. Anderson?" interposed Al.
"No, I have not, and I am very sorry that I cannot fulfill it. But it is impossible."
"I only told her," snapped Miss Hollingsworth, a fiery-looking, dark-haired, black-eyed woman, "that she was a rank amateur, and so she is. Why, it is an insult to give such a woman my part!"