ed from
the front of the house, where he had been looking after things, as he
himself put it. He approached Handy and in an enthusiastic manner
informed him he thought the capacity of the house would be tested.

"Oh, that won't surprise me," replied Handy. "Give me 'Camille' every
time for a country audience, providing the billing is all right.
'Camille' is old enough to be young."

"Do you think we're going to give a good show?"

"As to that, I'll speak to you later on. That's another proposition.
Now, then, get a move on you. Hurry up and dress, and above all things,
see that your props are all right."

Smith was property man as well as prompter--two important offices which
in any well-regulated theatrical company would require the services of
two men. In addition to these, he undertook to double a couple of the
minor parts. He was an old hand at the work, and doubling and trebling
did not in the slightest disturb him. He was not always as careful as he
should be in the matter of detail, and in several instances his attempts
at faking did not pan out as he originally planned them.

CHAPTER XIX

"Experience is a great book, the events of life its chapters."
--SAINTE-BEUVE.

By eight o'clock the house was well filled. The signboard bearing the
legend, "Standing Room Only" was put out in front to catch a few more.
It was such an audience as would make any manager's heart rejoice. The
curtain rose promptly on the first act. To say the act went off tamely
would be simply admitting the truth. Camille was not only uncertain in
her lines, but she was suffering from a bad attack of stage fright. Were
it not for extraordinary exertions on the part of the principal members
of the company--a confidence acquired of long experience--the star of
the evening would have twinkled out of existence and "Camille" would
have been presented in one act instead of five. The unfortunate "angel"
realized for the first time in her life, possibly, that the calling she
had selected to adopt was not all her fancy had painted it. The
so-called coaching and training she had paid for proved of little or no
practical value. She was _Camille_ only in costume--if in that; the
_Camille_ of the dressmaker--nothing more. The audience, moreover, were
not slow in recognizing this fact also. That day has gone by,
apparently, when tyros may sally forth from the city and win country
audiences with fine dresses, pretty faces, cheek, and