'Stay a moment,' cried the actor. 'You know when the husband meets the wife
he has divorced?'

Hubert remembered the moment referred to, and, with anxious, doubting eyes,
the comedian sought from the author justification for some intonations and
gestures which seemed to him to form part and parcel of the nature of the
man whose drunkenness he had so admirably depicted on his face.

'"_This is most unfortunate, very unlucky--very, my dear Louisa; but----_"

'"_I am no longer obliged to bear with your insults; I can now defend
myself against you._"

[Illustration: "In the third row Harding stood talking to a young man."]

'Now, is that your idea of the scene?'

A pained look came upon Hubert's face. 'Don't question me now, my dear
fellow. I cannot fix my attention. I can see, however, that your make-up is
capital--you are the man himself.'

The actor was satisfied, and in his satisfaction he said, 'I think it will
be all right, old chap.'

Hubert hoped to reach his box without meeting critics or authors. The
serving-maids bowed and smiled,--he was the author of the play. 'They'll
think still more of me if the notices are right,' he thought, as he hurried
upstairs, and from behind the curtain of his box he peeped down and counted
the critics who edged their way down the stalls. Harding stood in the third