"Perhaps that's so," replied Mrs. Stout, doubtfully. "I ain't quite pos'tive."
Mrs. Tweedie smiled. With her big words she had scored a bull's-eye.
"As for the money," Mrs. Stout continued, "maybe it ain't the 'only thing,' but it comes precious near it."
"But, Mrs. Stout," said Fanny Tweedie, "we've just got to make a 'hit' with our first entertainment."
"Fanny, we are not talking about baseball," remonstrated Mrs. Tweedie, who had absorbed unconsciously some knowledge of the national game from her son Thomas, and for the moment forgot the application to the stage of the word in question.
"The word 'hit' means success on the stage," replied Fanny. "Does it not, Miss Sawyer?"
"I have seen the word so used in the newspapers," answered Miss Sawyer.
"The newspapers," said Mrs. Tweedie, sharply, "are not written in the best English."
"Perhaps they ain't," interposed Mrs. Stout, "but they're written the way most of us talk and so that we can understand 'em."
"The word has little to do with the business before us," snapped Mrs. Tweedie, dismissing the subject. "You mentioned programmes and tickets, Miss Sawyer, what about them?"