The acting was crude from the start, but at the opening of a play few people pay much attention, and it was not until Livingston Palmer appeared as the spying butler that the audience began to grow attentive.
"Ha, what is this I hear!" cried Palmer, as he peered forth from behind a dry goods box set up against a building marked Hotel. "She is plotting to rob my mistress. Base woman that she is, I will—will—will——"
Palmer should have said, "I will expose her to Mrs. Ulmer and have her arrested," but the words would not come, for he had caught sight of the hundreds of faces in the audience and become stage-frightened in consequence.
"I will—will—I will——" he stammered, trying again.
"Will you?" came a voice from the gallery. "All right, Willie!"
There was a laugh and then a hiss.
"I will expose her," whispered the prompter, who stood in the prompter's box with the book of the play in his hand.
"I will—will expose her!" burst out Livingston Palmer. "I will expose her, base—I mean—I will expose her to be arrested—to—by—I mean—Mrs. Ulmer shall arrest her!" and then he fell back out of sight, and all but overcome.
At once the prompter ran up to him.
"You fool!" he whispered wildly. "That wasn't right. You've ruined the scene."