you! You look an old hairy monster
who would gobble up half a dozen Christians. Do look at yourself!"

Peggy felt the pride of an artist in the result of her efforts, and Max
was hardly less delighted than herself as he stood before the glass,
gazing at his hairy cheeks and leering horribly, to admire his toothless
gums. If the result were so hideous as to astonish even those who had
watched the process of his make-up, what wonder that the effect upon
Shylock's fond parents was of a stupefying nature!

Horror kept Mrs Asplin silent until the middle of the scene between
Shylock and Antonio when the bond is signed, and then her agitation
could no longer be controlled, and Shylock's little speeches were
interrupted by entreaties to take that horrid stuff off his teeth, to
use plenty of hot water in washing his face, and to be sure to anoint it
plentifully with cold cream after doing so.

An ordinary lad would have lost his temper at these interruptions; but
Max adored his mother, and could never take anything she did in a wrong
spirit. Anger being therefore impossible, the only other resource was
to laugh, which, in Peggy's opinion, was even worse than the former. A
Shylock who chuckled between his speeches, and gave a good-humoured "Ha!
ha!" just before uttering his bitterest invective, was a ridiculous
parody of the character, with whom it would be impossible to act. It
would be hard indeed if all her carefully rehearsed speeches lost their
effect, and the famous trial scene were made into a farce through these
untimely interruptions!

The second part of the play went more smoothly, however, as the audience
settled down to a more attentive hearing, and the actors became less
self-conscious and embarrassed. If four out of the six were sticks, who
never for a moment approached the verge of the natural, Portia and
Shylock did nobly, and, when the reading was over and the young people
gathered round the fire in the drawing-room, it was unanimously agreed
that they had acquired a more intimate knowledge of the play by this one
evening's representation than by weeks of ordinary study.

"I feel so much more intimate with it!" said Esther. "It seems to have
made it alive, instead of just something I have read in a book. It was
a delightful thought, father, and I am grateful to you for proposing it.
I wish I could do all my lessons in the same way."

"I've not enjoyed myself so much for ages. You just did beautifu