or him the instinctive contempt entertained by the real artiste for
those fiddlers, those singers, those dancers and other drones brought up
with blows of the hat.

"Pooh! I have some one better than that," exclaimed Lily, excited by the
proximity of the Roofers.

"If you have any one better than that and he loves you," said Thea, in a
dreamy voice, "love him, Lily, keep him; as for me, I no longer risk
having to do with men."

"I do!" Lily whispered, with a frightened glance around her. "As much as I
can! I love talking to men! Why, Thea, and don't you like love letters and
p.-c.'s?"

Ting! Ting! Orpheus left the stage, with his bulldogs hanging to him.

Ting! It was dark again; ropes, plated rings were let down from the flies;
the Three Graces, like quivering marble statues, took one another by the
hand to make their entrance.

Ting! From their perches on either side, two electricians sent the
lime-light beating down on an involved group of ropes, bars and hardened
limbs.

Ting! A crescendo in the orchestra and, bowing to the audience across the
footlights, the Three Graces made their exit, their smiles suddenly
hollowed out into tired wrinkles, but cheerful nevertheless. And Nunkie
wiped their foreheads with his checked handkerchief, helped them on with
their big cloaks; and the three goddesses were now just a wrapped-up
group, limping off to the staircase, like gouty patients at a spa.

Ting! A forest scene is let down, the wings are shifted. A click of
chains, a flash of steel. The bikes in the shadow, the apprentices
mounted, Lily leading.

"And try to do your best, my Lily."

"Yes, Pa."

"And try to behave."

"Yes, Ma."

Ting!

Lily gave a nervous smile. She always felt a little thrill before going
on. Then, quick, in Indian file, two and two, three and three, the New
Zealanders whirled round in the light, to the roar of a triumphal air.

Pa ground his teeth and clenched his fists the moment he heard his music:
at the mere sight of his Lily, his seven stone of flesh and bones adapted
to the machine, unerring and exact, an immense intoxication exalted his
pride, gladness dilated his heart. At last! He was there now: German
discipline! English gracefulness! Everything! He, too, would have his
London home, with a lawn behind the house and a plot of rose-trees. He
would learn the meaning of family joys, as Nunkie understood them, with
texts along the staircase: "Welcome!" and "God bless our home!"