Barlow. Perhaps we’d better test the thing now. Maybe my tub isn’t large enough for the scene. It would be awkward if the heroine had to seize a dipper and bail the fountain out right in the middle of an impassioned rebuke to Hartley.
Perkins. All right—go ahead. Test it. Test anything. I’ll supply the Croton pipes.
Yardsley. None of you fellows happen to have a length of hose with you, do you?
Bradley. I left mine in my other clothes.
Mrs. Bradley. That’s just like you men. You grow flippant over very serious matters. For my part, if I am to play Gwendoline, I shall not bail out the fountain even to save poor dear Bessie’s floor.
Yardsley. Oh, it’ll be all right. Only, if you see the fountain getting too full, speak faster.
Barlow. We might announce a race between the heroine and the fountain. It would add to the interest of the play. This is an athletic age.
Perkins. I suppose it wouldn’t do to turn the water off in case of danger.
Barlow. It could be done, but it wouldn’t look well. The audience might think the fountain had had an attack of stage fright. Where is the entrance from the ballroom to be?
Yardsley. It ought to be where the fireplace is. That’s one reason why I think the portières will look well there.