r," and while Judy writhed in agonies of laughter,
Launcelot turned off the lights and adjusted the great lantern, which
was to throw on the barge the effect of moonlight, while all else was
to be in shadow.

The illusion from the front was perfect. Even the green piano cover
with its dots of white cotton foamed up around the barge like real
waves.

"How lovely she is," whispered all the children, as Anne lay there so
still and quiet, with her fair hair streaming over the blackness of the
bier.

"I don't like it. I don't like it," whimpered Bobbie Green, whose
imagination was a thing to be reckoned with. "I don't like it. Anne,
oh, Anne--"

And Anne's tender heart could not withstand that cry of fear.

"I'm all right, darling," she said, right out, and then the tension was
broken, and all the children laughed, with relief, as Elaine sat up
smiling and waving her hand to them.

"Bobbie Shafto" came next and was a dig at Tommy.

Judy's great marine picture made the background, and on the shore
little Mary Morrison bade little Jimmie Jones "Good-bye" with
heartrending sobs. But this Bobbie Shafto never went to sea. As
picture followed picture, he was shown pulling at a rowing machine,
sailing toy ships in a tub, fishing in a pail, and digging for treasure
in a tiny sand pile--and after each funny scene, the curtain would
drop, and tiny Mary Morrison would come to the front and wail:

"_Tommy_ Shafto's gone to sea,
Silver buckles on his knee,
He'll come back and marry me,
Pretty _Tommy_ Shafto!"

It brought down the house, but Tommy got very red and murmured in
Bobbie's ear that "They might think it was funny, but _he_ didn't,"
which Bobbie Green did not understand in the least.

"That's all," and Launcelot gave a sigh of relief, as Mary and Jimmie
made their bows amid uproarious applause. He had been stage manager as
well as actor, and he was tired.

"No, no," whispered Judy, as she came on the stage dressed as a
fishermaid, and dragging a great net behind her. "No, no. Dr.
Grennell is going to read 'Break, break, break.' I sha'n't need any
change of scene. Just leave the big picture, and put this net and the
shells around, and smooth out that sand to look like the beach."

She was making a rock out of two boxes covered with a gray mackintosh
as she spoke. "Now, if you could just whistle like the wind," she
said. "Do you think you could, Launcelot?"

"I'll try," and he did whistle, s