"Who is that girl who played Ophelia? Is she an East Side working girl
or one of the mission people?"

"She's a shop-girl," answered Burgess. "There's no good in your asking
me to introduce you to her for I won't. That's been one of our rules
from the beginning. We don't want the children to be upset and
patronized."

"Who taught her to act?"

"Well, I coached them all as you know, but she never seemed to require
any special teaching. Pretty good, isn't she?"

"Pretty good! She is a genius--a wonder. This is all rot about my not
meeting her. I am going to meet her and train her. I suppose you have
noticed that she is a beauty too."

"But she's only a child," Burgess urged. "She's only eighteen. She
couldn't stand the life and the work and she couldn't stand the people.
You have no idea what high ideals these girls have, and Mary
Conners--that's the girl's name--seems to be exceptional even amongst
them."

"Too good for us, eh?" asked the actor.

"Entirely too good," answered Burgess steadily.

"And do you feel justified in deciding her future for her! In condemning
her to an obscure life in the slums instead of a successful career on
the stage?"