rm on trestles at one end and a paraffin lamp
in the middle. The Vicar placed it at our disposal when there wasn't a
Women's Institute or a choir practice, and on chilly nights he had the
'Beatrice stove' lit for us. Then the Summer began in real earnest. We got
in extra gardeners, worked like niggers ourselves, and when the turf was in
perfect condition and the thyme was coming up on _Titania's_ bank we fixed
the date and billed the county.

"After that we all got nervous and went about consulting weather forecasts.
_Old Moore_ prophesied heavy rains. The _Daily Mail_ said a cyclone from
New York was on the way. The weather-glasses jumped about and seemed to
know their own minds even less than usual. Three days before the date
thunderstorms were reported all over the country and a fowl was struck by
lightning. But not a drop of rain came to our village.

"At the dress-rehearsal the night before the performance we debated the
weather prospects until the moon rose. _Lysander_ said his bit of seaweed
which he brought from Bognor was as dry as parched peas and he would back
it against any fool barometer. Cocklewhite, our prompter, said he didn't
want to depress the company, but he had a leech in a bottle of water which
rose for fine weather and sank for wet, and he was bound to tell us it was
like lead at the bottom at the present moment. _Hermia_ pointed to the
heavens, 'Red sky at night shepherds' delight,' she quoted. There was no
getting away from the swallows; they were nose-diving to a bird. 'Hang
swallows,' _Oberon_ said; 'put your trust in mosquitoes. Look at my
eyelid.'

"'It's no good talking,' _Theseus_ said; 'nobody can tell until the
morning, and then it'll be up to _Bottom_ to decide by 11.30 whether it's
to be indoors or out. He's our stage-manager and we know his arrangements
in case of rain. They're the only arrangements possible in our little
village, and it's going to be a nightmare instead of a dream if they have
to be carried out. But we can depend upon _Bottom_ to make a wise decision.
He'll notify us and the boy-scouts will notify the audience. All we've got
to do is not to grouse.'

"Cocklewhite said he would phone me the position of his leech at 9 A.M.,
and _Lysander_ promised to report any change in the condition of the
seaweed. I set our glass and _Titania_ and I got up at half-hour intervals
during the night and tapped it. It refused to budge either way.

"At dawn _Titania_ looked out of the