of the Prince brandishing his wooden sword.

"Avaunt! Begone! You wicked wolf, away!
This gentle maid shall never be your prey."

At this point William should have slunk away. But the vision revealed
by his one available eye-hole of the Prince standing in a threatening
attitude with one arm round Joan filled him with a sudden and
unaccountable annoyance. He advanced slowly and pugnaciously towards
the Prince; and the Prince, who had never before acted with William in
his head (which was hired for one evening only) fled from the stage
with a wild yell of fear. The curtain was lowered hastily.

There was consternation behind the scenes. William, glaring from out
his eye-hole and refusing to remove his head, defended himself in his
best manner.

"Well I di'n't tell him to run away, did I? I di'n't _mean_ him to run
away. I only _looked_ at him. Well, I was goin' to slink in a minit. I
only wanted to look at him. I was _goin'_ to slink."

"Oh, never mind! Get on with the play!" moaned Mrs. de Vere Carter.
"But you've quite destroyed the _atmosphere_, William. You've spoilt
the beautiful story. But hurry up, it's time for the grandmother's
cottage scene now."

Not a word of William's speeches was audible in the next scene, but
his attack on and consumption of the aged grandmother was one of the
most realistic parts of the play, especially considering the fact that
his arms were imprisoned.