ther for
good or for evil or for both good and evil, the geniuses seem in a fair
way at last to prevail over the idealists, religious and political. And
Mrs. Belloc, without in the least realizing it, was a most significant
sign of the times.

"Your throat seems to be better to-day," said she to Mildred at
breakfast. "Those simple house-remedies I tried on you last night seem
to have done some good. Nothing like heat--hot water--and no eating.
The main thing was doing without dinner last night."

"My nerves are quieter," advanced Mildred as the likelier explanation
of the return of the soul of music to its seat. "And my mind's at
rest."

"Yes, that's good," said plain Agnes Belloc. "But getting the stomach
straight and keeping it straight's the main thing. My old grandmother
could eat anything and do anything. I've seen her put in a glass of
milk or a saucer of ice-cream on top of a tomato-salad. The way she
kept well was, whenever she began to feel the least bit off, she
stopped eating. Not a bite would she touch till she felt well again."

Mildred, moved by an impulse stronger than her inclination, produced
the Keith paper. "I wish you'd read this, and tell me what you think
of it. You've got so much common sense."

Agnes read it through to the end, began at the beginning and read it
through again. "That sounds good to me," said she. "I want to think
it over. If you don't mind I'd like to show it to Miss Blond. She
knows a lot about those things. I suppose you're going to see Mr.
Crossley to-day?--that's the musical manager's name, isn't it?"

"I'm going at eleven. That isn't too early, is it?"

"If I were you, I'd go as soon as I was dressed for the street. And if
you don't get to see him, wait till you do. Don't talk to
under-staffers. Always go straight for the head man. You've got
something that's worth his while. How did he get to be head man?
Because he knows a good thing the minute he sees it. The under fellows
are usually under because they are so taken up with themselves and with
impressing people how grand they are that they don't see anything else.
So, when you talk to them, you wear yourself out and waste your time."

"There's only one thing that makes me nervous," said Mildred. "Everyone
I've ever talked with about going on the stage--everyone who has talked
candidly--has said--"

"Yes, I know," said Mrs. Belloc, as Mildred paused to search for
smooth-sounding words in which