“Down stage a little, please. That’ll do. Take out your penknife—cut the string so. Raise your chin—a little more, more—don’t look at me!”
Then Eliphalet would throw down the penknife and exclaim:
“I really cannot act if you will talk.”
“Stop turning, Cable. There goes another eighty feet. Now why in hell did you leave off? Pardon my language, but oblige me with an answer.”
“I cannot act if you talk.”
“I’m here to talk—wouldn’t be a film if I didn’t. How can you hope to keep the audience from beating it unless I put a bit of variety in your positions?”
“But your talking interferes with my acting.”
“Don’t want you to act. Want you to cut the string of a parcel and put the knife back in your pocket. You wouldn’t have straw down on the sidewalk before your villa, if you were doing that at home.”
Eliphalet was mortally offended, and only loyalty to his old friend prevented him from throwing up the engagement.
Considering the ceaseless irritations he was subjected to, his behaviour throughout was exemplary.