The dress rehearsal thrilled her to the very tips of her toes. As the notes of the orchestra died away and she took her place before the “mike,” she seemed to feel the expectant hush of a real audience and from the far-flung prairies and the blue waters of her own beloved midwest a breath seemed to fan her cheek. For the moment, forgetting her little plot with the orchestra director, she went through her part as in a dream. Almost she expected a boy to step out from among those empty seats and say, “I am the boy in the crimson sweater.”
After that her thoughts returned to the orchestra leader and Jeanne. The moments dragged, but at last the rehearsal was over.
And then, just as Tim O’Hara was about to bid them scatter until six-thirty, the place went dark, a spotlight began playing over the stage, the girl in red drew her hands across the harp strings, the orchestra took up the notes of some tantalizing oriental music and, dressed in red with red and orange scarfs streaming behind her, Jeanne danced out upon the stage.
In the moments that followed the little French girl was dancing upon a great flat rock. The roar and crackle of fire was in her ears, the flash and heat of flames in her eyes.
To the little group of onlookers this dance was entrancing. When at last, all aflutter, Jeanne danced away into the wings, even the musicians dropped their instruments to applaud.
“Bravo!” Tim O’Hara exclaimed. “You shall repeat it tonight.”
“But you cannot dance on the radio,” Jeanne protested.
“No,” was the answer, “but when we go off the air the audience here shall be treated to a grand surprise. They shall see The Dance of the Flames.”
So it was arranged. While Florence and Jeanne slipped away to a little place around the corner to sip hot chocolate and nibble at sweet cakes, the moments passed quickly and at last the opening moment of the great show was at hand.
As the audience began to arrive the curtain dropped and there they were, the performers moving about, quite breathless with anticipation. Slowly, one by one, the musicians arrived and took their places.