ok some little time to catch all the white mice. Will made sure, by
counting twice, that he had every one of his pets back in their wire
cage.

Then Mr. Treadwell told the mothers of the little girls what sort of
costumes the young actresses and actors must have for the different
parts in the play. Everything was very simple, and no costly costumes
need be bought.

"You see we want to make all the money we can for the Home for the
Blind," explained Bunny.

"That's a good idea," said Mrs. West. "I think the children are just
perfectly fine to do things like this. It teaches them to be kind."

After the talk about the dresses and suits, Mr. Treadwell went on with,
the rehearsal, or practice. I have told you something of what the play
was to be about, but changes were made in it from time to time, during
practice, just as changes are made in real plays. It was found that one
boy could speak a piece better than another boy, so he was allowed to do
this, while the first boy, perhaps, was given a funny dance to do. The
same with the girls--some could sing better than others. Most of the
solo singing in the play was to be done by Lucile Clayton. She had a
very sweet, clear voice, and of course she had had more practice than
any of the others.

Of course all the boys wished they could do some of the acrobatic work
that Mart was to do on the stage. But though some of the lads of
Bellemere, like Bunny Brown, were pretty good at turning somersaults or
flipflops, none of them was equal to Mart, who had been on the stage for
several years. But he was training Bunny, Harry Bentley, Charlie Star
and George Watson to do a leap-frog dance which Mr. Treadwell said would
be very funny.

Mr. Treadwell was not only the author of the little play, but he was
also the stage director; that is, he told the boys and girls what to do
and when to do it. In this he was helped by Lucile and Mart. These three
performers, who had been in such bad luck when the vaudeville troupe
broke up, were now quite happy again. Mr. Treadwell and Mart were
working for Mr. Brown, and though they did not make as much money as
when they had been acting in theaters, still they had an easier time.
Lucile, too, liked it at Mrs. Brown's.

Of course the two "waifs" as they were sometimes called, wished they
could find out where there uncle and aunt were. They also wanted to find
their blind uncle. But, so far, no trace of any of them was to be had,
though many lett