went on around him. He had been pinned tightly into the dining-room
hearth-rug, his arms pinioned down by his side. He was distinctly
uncomfortable.

At last his cue came.

Red Riding-Hood and the Prince parted after a short conversation in
which their acquaintance made rapid strides, and at the end of which
the Prince said casually as he turned to go:

"So sweet a maid have I never seen,
Ere long I hope to make her my wife and queen."

Red Riding-Hood gazed after him, remarking (all in the same breath and
tone):

"How kind he is, how gentle and how good!
But, see what evil beast comes through the wood!"

Here William entered amid wild applause. On the stage he found that
his one eye-hole gave him an excellent view of the audience. His
mother and father were in the second row. Turning his head round
slowly he discovered his sister Ethel sitting with a friend near the
back.

"William," hissed the prompter, "go on! 'A wolf am I----'"

But William was engrossed in the audience. There was Mrs. Clive about
the middle of the room.