THE SYLVAN PLAYERS
Under the Management of Geo. Travis
Presenting Wm. Shakespeare’s Comedy
“AS YOU LIKE IT”
In the Forest of Arden, on the Estate of Peterson-Jones, Esq.
The date given was Wednesday, the day following; and the cast registered her name opposite Rosalind.
“So that’s the answer to the letter I wrote, and a grand answer it is. And that’s the meaning of Janet Payne’s remarks, and I never guessed it.” She heaved the faintest wisp of a sigh—it might have been pleasure; it might have been a twinge of pain. “And I’m to be playing the Duke’s daughter, after all, at the end of the road.”
She went to the general delivery and asked for mail. The clerk responded with three letters; Patsy almost whistled under her breath. Retiring to a corner, she looked them over and opened first the one from George Travis:
Dear Irish Patsy,—You are a lucky beggar, and so am I. Here comes the news of Miriam St. Regis’s illness and the canceling of all of her summer engagements in the same mail as your letter.
Just think of it! Here you are actually in Arden all ready for me to pick up and put in Miriam’s place without having to budge from my desk. The Sylvan Players open with “As You Like It.” If the critics like it—and you—as well as I think they will, I’ll book you straight through the summer. Felton’s managing for me, so please report to him on Monday when he gets there. I may run down myself for a glimpse of your work.
Yours,
G. Travis.
P. S. More good luck. We are just in time to get your name on the posters; and unless my memory greatly deceives me, you will be able to walk right into all of Miriam’s costumes.
“Aye, they’ll fit,” agreed Patsy, with a chuckle. The second letter was from Felton—dated Monday. He was worried over her continued absence. He had not found her registered at either of the two hotels, and the postal clerk reported her mail uncalled for. Would she come to the Hillcrest Hotel at once. The third was from Janet Payne, expressing her grief over Joseph’s death, and their disappointment at finding her gone the next morning when they motored over to take her to Arden. They were all looking forward to seeing her play on Wednesday.