"What do folks in Manville know about him?" asked Mrs. Stout. "I say we ought to give somethin' they can understand."
"My dear Mrs. Stout," replied Mrs. Tweedie, "that is just the reason why we ought to give something from his works. The people of Manville ought to know something of one of the world's greatest poets. If they do not, it is clearly the duty of the Morning Glory Club to assist in their enlightenment."
"Well, perhaps we can get 'em to come once," retorted Mrs. Stout, "but you can be sure they won't get caught a second time. I think that Shakespeare's too high-toned for folks 'round here, but go ahead if you want to, I've had my say." Mrs. Stout always had her say, and some of the ladies, particularly Mrs. Tweedie, wished that she did not have it quite so often.
"Of course," said Miss Sawyer, "we could not dream of attempting the production of the whole of one of Shakespeare's plays, but there are many beautiful scenes that we could undertake and be reasonably sure of success."
"That's a good idea; why not give several scenes instead of one play?" suggested Mrs. Jones.
"Good!" exclaimed Fanny Tweedie. "Then we could all have star parts."
"Fanny," rebuked Mrs. Tweedie, "our personal ambition must not be considered, and I sincerely hope that a spirit of self-sacrifice will be manifested, if necessary, when we come to the assignment of parts. Your idea, Mrs. Jones, is to give scenes from different plays?"
"Yes," Mrs. Jones replied; "then if one or more of the scenes were unsuccessful, we could redeem ourselves with the others."
"True," said Mrs. Tweedie, wisely, and then turning to Miss Sawyer, asked: "What scenes would you suggest?"
As Miss Sawyer was considered the best read woman in Manville, she was always the first to be appealed to for advice in regard to such matters, though her shyness—often mistaken for modesty—made her opinion difficult to obtain.