The last time I came here it was in the seventies to see Mrs. Rousby as
Rosalind."

When we took our seats the play, founded, as the bill informed us,
upon one of the Pike County Ballads, had begun, and Miss Lavinia soon
became absorbed.

It is a great deal to be surrounded by an audience all thoroughly in the
mood to be swayed by the emotion of the piece, plain people, perhaps, but
solidly honest. Directly in front sat a young couple; the girl, in a
fresh white silk waist, wore so fat and new a wedding ring upon her
ungloved hand, which the man held in a tight grip, that I surmised that
this trip into stageland was perhaps their humble wedding journey, from
which they would return to "rooms" made ready by jubilant relatives, eat
a wonderful supper, and begin life.

The next couple were not so entirely _en rapport_. The girl, who wore
a gorgeous garnet engagement ring, also very new, merely rested her
hand on her lover's coat sleeve where she could see the light play
upon the stones.

When, after the first act, in answer to hearty rounds of applause, varied
with whistles and shouts from the gallery, the characters stepped
forward, not in the unnatural string usual in more genteel play-houses,
where victor and vanquished join hands and bow, but one by one, each
being greeted by cheers, hisses, or groans, according to the part, and
when the villain appeared I found myself groaning with the rest, and
though Evan laughed, I know he understood.

After it was over, as we went out into the night, Evan headed toward