p across the street from the Aquitaine, and
in front of the theater where already a crowd was congregating. The
avenue between the theater itself and the Common was filled with cabs
and motor cars moving spasmodically about under the autocracy of a
large mounted policeman whose voice easily defied the whirring motors.
In the raw northeast wind there was the unpleasant smell and oily smoke
of burnt-out gasolene.

Smith and Helen, disembarking at the curb, managed to avoid the worst
of the melee; and presently, when their coats were checked and out of
the way, they reached their seats just as Christopher Sly began his
opening speech. The prologue soon played itself through, and the
house, now completely filled, burst audibly into speech, as though a
long departed sense had been suddenly and miraculously restored. From
all sides the swelling tide surged forth, and Helen listened for a
moment before she herself spoke.

"You would certainly suppose that no one of them had been allowed to
speak for the last five years, wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Oh, well," Smith answered, "perhaps every one of them has some one
he's as glad to talk to as I am to you. Although, come to think of it,
I hear several voices not possessed by my sex, and I don't know but
that I would really rather listen to you."

"But you won't have the opportunity," the girl rejoined. "No, this is
your party, and you must be as agreeable and entertaining as you
possibly can. You may begin by telling me all about the actors
to-night. Why does the star choose to play such a part as old Sly? It
surely isn't the star part, is it?"

"It is the tradition--or years ago it used to be. Very few actors do
it now; in fact, this is the first time I've seen the star play it for
years. It's well done, too, and I haven't seen it well done since old
George Clark had his last curtain. This man is a good man."

"He is indeed. I noticed in the _Transcript_ he was English. Is she
his wife? I gathered that she was."

"Yes. They've been playing together in London for several years now,
and this is their first trip to America. I fancy that he is the real
brains and ability of the combination, and her reputation seems mainly
to rest on adding obedience and decorative embellishment to his
effects. And she certainly is decorative, don't you think?"

"Yes--in a certain way. Tell me--do they always play Shakespeare? I
was in London two years ago, but I don't reca