to the
group of ladies, he returned with quite the biggest specimen, a lady
of magnificent proportions, whom, with the air of the virtuous uncle
of melodrama, he bestowed upon the fishy-eyed young man. To the massive
gentleman was given a sharp-faced little lady, who at a distance
appeared quite girlish. Myself I found mated to the thin lady with the
golden hair.

At last complete, we took our places in the then approved semi-circle,
and the attenuated orchestra struck up the opening chorus. My music,
which had been sent me by post, I had gone over with the O'Kelly, and
about that I felt confident; but for the rest, ill at ease.

"I am afraid," said the thin lady, "I must ask you to put your arm round
my waist. It's very shocking, I know, but, you see, our salary depends
upon it. Do you think you could manage it?"

I glanced into her face. A whimsical expression of fun replied to me and
drove away my shyness. I carried out her instructions to the best of my
ability.

The indefatigable stage manager ran in and out among us while we sang,
driving this couple back a foot or so, this other forward, herding this
group closer together, throughout another making space, suggesting the
idea of a sheep-dog at work.

"Very good, very good indeed," commented Mr. Hodgson at the conclusion.
"We will go over it once more, and this time in tune."

"And we will make love," added the stage manager; "not like marionettes,
but like ladies and gentlemen all alive." Seizing the lady nearest to
him, he explained to us by object lesson how the real peasant invariably
behaves when under influence of the grand passion, standing gracefully
with hands clasped upon heart, head inclined at an angle of forty-five,
his whole countenance eloquent with tender adoration.

"If he expects" remarked the massive gentleman _sotto voce_ to an
experienced-looking young lady, "a performance of Romeo thrown in, I,
for one, shall want an extra ten shillings a week."

Casting the lady aside and seizing upon a gentleman, our stage manager
then proceeded to show the ladies how a village maiden should receive
affectionate advances: one shoulder a trifle higher than the other, body
from the waist upward gently waggling, roguish expression in left eye.

"Ah, he's a bit new to it," replied the experienced young lady. "He'll
get over all that."

Again we started. Whether others attempted to follow the stage manager's
directions I cannot say, my whole attention