(And this was quite true.)
"You were one of those theatre-fellows, too, I understand?"
"Yes, I was an actor, certainly."
"I saw you once at Miskolcz. What were you playing then?"
"Claude Frolló in the Tower of Notre Dame."
"And won't you join some other company now?"
"I don't know whether there is one to be found."
"What! There is a troupe all ready at Miskolcz at the present moment. They mean to play at the new theatre during the coming winter, and then they are going to Kassa. Bálványossi wants to put new blood into his company. You know the director, Valentine Bálványossi, don't you?"
I was just on the point of blurting out that he was from the same birthplace as myself. He was, in fact, the person who had coached Bessy in the rôle which she had to play with me in our second dramatic entertainment. All I did say, however, was that I knew him by report.
"Anyhow, he knows you very well. He asks frequently about you. If he only knew that you were loafing about here he would certainly come and see you."