"Have I?" asked Palmer, in awe-stricken tones. "Oh, I—I—something slipped my mind. But—but I'll be all right in the next scene."
"I hope so. Better study your lines before you go on."
"I will," answered the would-be actor, and began to study as never before.
In the meantime the scene went on, the actors reciting their lines without a break, but with so little dramatic action that scarcely anyone in the audience was interested.
"Do you like it, my love?" asked James Talbot, who sat beside his wife in one of the orchestra rows.
"No, it is very stupid so far," answered Mrs. Talbot.
"The next act may be better, Sarah. The best plays rarely start well."
"That young man missed his part entirely," was Mrs. Talbot's comment.
The second act of the play represented the drawing room of Mrs. Ulmer's mansion. There was at first a love scene which promised very well. But the lover in the play was as nervous as he might have been in real life, and when he started to kiss his lady-love good-by, he smacked her so warmly that his false mustache fell off into her lap.
"Oh!" she cried, and there was a roar of laughter from the audience.