Lanny didn't want to meet “Phyllis Gracyn”; he just wanted to see her act. He got seats for the show, for which one had to pay a premium. They were well down in front, but Gracyn probably didn't see the visitors. They followed the fortunes of a French innkeeper's daughter who was fascinated by the brilliance of an American “shavetail,” but wasn't able to resist the lure of a French colonel, whose jealous wife involved him with a German spy in order to punish him. Out of this came an exciting melodrama, which was going to hold audiences in spite of peace negotiations.
Lanny was interested in two things: first, the performance of Gracyn, which wasn't finished by any means, but was full of energy and “pep”; and, second, the personality of the young American officer. Evidently the play was one of those which had been written at rehearsals, and Gracyn had had a part in it. Lanny had taught her, and she had taught the author and the young actor; so there were many touches in which Lanny recognized himself — mannerisms, phrases, opinions about the war, items about the French, their attitude to the doughboys and the doughboys' to them. There were even a few third-hand touches of Sergeant Jerry Pendleton in this Broadway hit!
“Well, you did a good job,” said Robbie. “Charge it up to education and don't fall in love with any more stage ladies.”
“I've made a note of it,” said the dutiful son.
“Or else — note this: that if you'd had thirty thousand dollars, you might have licked the coffee merchant!”
They were in the taxi on the way to the steamer; and Lanny grinned. “There's an English poem supposed to be sung by the devil, and the chorus runs: 'How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho, how pleasant it is to have money!'”
“All right,” replied the father. “But you can bet that poet had money, or he wouldn't have been sitting around making up verses.”
On board the steamer; and one more farewell to say. Standing on the deck, watching the lights of the metropolis recede, Robbie pointed to an especially bright light across the bay and said: “The Statue of Liberty.”
She had come from France, and Lanny was going home. She waved her torch to him, as a sign that she understood how he felt.