ere
the rest of the fairy maidens in their glittering costumes.

The last notes of the chorus rang out, and amidst a burst of applause the
curtain fell. The applause continued so strongly that the curtain was
immediately raised again, and the delighted audience viewed once more the
pretty scene.

Mr. Hepworth was nearer the stage than Dr. Martin, in fact, in his
anxiety, he was almost edging on to it, and while the curtain was up, and
the audience was applauding, and the orchestra was playing, and the
calcium lights were flashing their vari-coloured rays, his intense
watchfulness noticed a slight shudder pass over Patty's form, then she
swayed slightly, and her eyes closed.

In a flash Mr. Hepworth had himself rung the bell that meant the drop of
the curtain, and as the curtain came down, he sprang forward among the
bewildered girls, and reached the tall pedestal just in time to catch
Patty as she tottered and fell.

"She has only fainted," he said, as he carried her off the stage, "please
don't crowd around, she will be all right in a moment."

He carried her to the dressing-room and gently laid her on a couch. Dr.
Martin followed closely, and Mr. Hepworth left Patty in his charge.

"You, Miss Hamilton, go in there," he said to Lorraine, at the door, "and
see if you can help Dr. Martin. I will speak to the Fairfields and see
that the carriage is ready. I don't think the audience knows anything
about it, and there need be no fuss or commotion."

Quick-witted Hilda grasped the situation, and kept the crowd of anxious
girls out of the dressing-room, while Dr. Martin administered
restoratives to Patty.

But it was not so easy to overcome the faintness that had seized upon
her. When at last she did open her eyes, it was only to close them again
in another period of exhaustion.

However, this seemed to encourage Dr. Martin.

"It's better than I feared," he said. "She isn't delirious. There is no
threat of brain fever. She will soon revive now, and we can safely take
her home."

And so when the Doctor declared that she might now be moved, Mr.
Fairfield supported her on one side, and Kenneth on the other as they
took her to the carriage.

"Get in, Mrs. Fairfield," said Kenneth, after Patty was safely seated by
her father, "and you too, Dr. Martin. I'll jump up on the box with the
driver. Perhaps I can help you at the house."

So away they went, without a word or a thought for poor Mr. Hepworth, to
whose watchf