the independence which she had known from
babyhood would assert itself, and that she would talk back to him, even
as Hattie Sterling did. She felt scared and discouraged, but every now
and then her friend smiled encouragingly upon her across the ranks of
moving singers.

Finally, however, her thoughts were broken in upon by hearing Mr. Martin
cry: "Oh, quit, quit, and go rest yourselves, you ancient pieces of
hickory, and let me forget you for a minute before I go crazy. Where 's
that new girl now?"

Kitty rose and went toward him, trembling so that she could hardly walk.

"What can you do?"

"I can sing," very faintly.

"Well, if that 's the voice you 're going to sing in, there won't be
many that 'll know whether it 's good or bad. Well, let 's hear
something. Do you know any of these?"

And he ran over the titles of several songs. She knew some of them, and
he selected one. "Try this. Here, Tom, play it for her."

It was an ordeal for the girl to go through. She had never sung before
at anything more formidable than a church concert, where only her
immediate acquaintances and townspeople were present. Now to sing before
all these strange people, themselves singers, made her feel faint and
awkward. But the courage of desperation came to her, and she struck into
the song. At the first her voice wavered and threatened to fail her. It
must not. She choked back her fright and forced the music from her lips.

When she was done, she was startled to hear Martin burst into a raucous
laugh. Such humiliation! She had failed, and instead of telling her, he
was bringing her to shame before the whole company. The tears came into
her eyes, and she was about giving way when she caught a reassuring nod
and smile from Hattie Sterling, and seized on this as a last hope.

"Haw, haw, haw!" laughed Martin, "haw, haw, haw! The little one was
scared, see? She was scared, d' you understand? But did you see the grit
she went at it with? Just took the bit in her teeth and got away. Haw,
haw, haw! Now, that 's what I like. If all you girls had that spirit, we
could do something in two weeks. Try another one, girl."

Kitty's heart had suddenly grown light. She sang the second one better
because something within her was singing.

"Good!" said Martin, but he immediately returned to his cold manner.
"You watch these girls close and see what they do, and to-morrow be
prepared to go into line and move as well as sing."

He immediately t