"O!" exclaimed Stella, comprehending at last, "such characters as Juliet, and Desdemona, and Portia." "Juvenile tragedy! My favorite business. 'Give us a taste of your quality!'"' waving his hand majestically. "Sir?" 'Anything don't matter what a touch of the tragic, if you like. But-'suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was, and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature; to show Virtue her own features, Scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure!'"' This memorable injunction was delivered by Mr. Grimshaw with a stilted declamation that admirably illustrated the old saying, "Do as I preach, not as I do." Stella trembled from head to foot, as she falteringly asked, "Shall I recite Portia's address to Shylock?" "Pro-ceed!" After a moment's hesitation she rose-pausedthen, in an uncertain, husky tone, commenced: "The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the fear and dread of kings : But mercy is above the sceptred sway; It is enthronéd in the hearts The door opened. Stella ceased. A bold-visaged but handsome female, in showy attire, entered the room. "Hearts!" echoed she, contemptuously; "hearts! Really, 'I hope I don't intrude,' as Paul Pry says." "Silence!" ejaculated Mr. Grimshaw. you not that this young person hath into bondage Brought my too diligent ear '? Note "Only diligent when there 's mischief brewing!" retorted the lady, glancing rudely at Stella. Mr. Grimshaw gave her a ferocious look, then turned to the frightened girl, and, in a stentorian voice, cried out, "Pro-ceed!” "The hearts the hearts of kings — ” continued Stella. "It is enthronéd in the hearts of kings." She paused. The scornful eyes of her new auditor took away her voice, and dimmed her memory. "Pro-ceed!" repeated Mr. Grimshaw. But Stella was unable to comply; she dropped silently into her seat. "Very entertaining, really!" was the sarcastic feminine comment. "I ought to apologize for interrupting your private theatricals !" Stella turned haughtily to the manager. "Did I understand you, sir, that you might possibly give me an engagement?" "An engagement!" almost shrieked the lady. "You ventured you dared to promise her an engagement in this theatre, when the leading parts, such as I presume she has the impertinence to aspire to, from what I heard her spouting, all belong to me!" "Madam!" exclaimed the manager, pleasurably excited at the prospect of a scene in real life; "Madam," and he thrust his long fingers through his tangled hair, "doubt me not, but listen!" “I have listened, and—” "Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear!'", Stella could endure this contest no longer. She rose, with dignity, and said, "I have evidently misunderstood you, sir; I must bid you good-morning. May I beg that you will order some one to show me the way out?" "Show you the way out?" repeated the lady, with an insolent laugh. "Nothing we 'll do with more pleasure, and you need n't remember your road back!" Nick," called out Mr. Grimshaw to a boy who was passing the door with a basket on his shoulder, "show these ladies through the front entrance.” "Nick's the guide you generally give your pupils ; but your paths are usually the back ways!" Stella and Mattie could not avoid hearing this coarse remark, as the door was slammed to behind them. Descending a stair, they soon found them selves in the box-office, and a moment afterwards in the street. Stella checked her attendant's affectionate volubility with, "It 's too dreadful! I can't talk of it, Mattie ; let us hasten home; my head is whirling !” She had not abandoned her scheme, but her resolution had received a shock. Leaving Mattie to give her own account of their adventure to Mrs. Rosenvelt, Stella retired to her chamber, deeply mortified, and inclined to chide "every breather living." With her mercurial temperament, this mood could not last. She was too buoyant, too sanguine, too full of resources. She resolved to implore her brother to furnish her with a letter of introduction to some manager of standing. That would smooth her way; she would deliver it in person, and doubtless procure the desired engagement. A morning paper was lying before her. Of late she had read all the theatrical intelligence; other public news possessed little interest. Her eyes rested upon an eulogistic obituary of Miss Lydia Talbot, a young actress, whose loss the dramatic community were loudly lamenting. As the "stock star" of a popular theatre, in Boston, she had shone several years in the dramatic firmament. The writer remarked "that no actress yet had been found upon whose shoulders her mantle could worthily fall." A crowd of hopes rushed, with headlong impetuosity, into Stella's quick-suggesting brain. They filled the atmosphere with rainbow tints, and lifted her up on soaring wings. She glanced at the next column, and every hope assumed form and substance, and stood before her- a reality! The manager of the theatre to which Miss Talbot formerly belonged advertised that the situation of "leading lady," in his theatre, was vacant. He invited immediate applications from gifted members of the profession. The hours between ten and three of that day were appointed for the personal reception of candidates. She turned Before the "Eureka!" cried Stella, internally. to the clock; it wanted a quarter of ten. hour sounded she and Mattie were on their way the theatre. to |