the men were laughing and pulling their mustaches and nudging
each other to "look at the littlest one."

The girls in the wings were rapturous in their
enthusiasm, and were calling her absurdly extravagant titles
of endearment, and making so much noise that Kripps stopped
grinning at her from the entrance, and looked back over his
shoulder as he looked when he threatened fines and calls for
early rehearsal. And when she had finished finally, and the
prima donna and the children ran off together, there was a
roar from the house that went to Lester's head like wine, and
seemed to leap clear across the footlights and drag the
children back again.

"That settles it!" cried Lester, in a suppressed roar of
triumph. "I knew that child would catch them."

There were four encores, and then the children and Elise
Broughten, the pretty prima donna, came off jubilant and
happy, with the Littlest Girl's arms full of flowers, which
the management had with kindly forethought prepared for the
prima donna, but which that delightful young person and the
delighted leader of the orchestra had passed over to the
little girl.

"Well," gasped Miss Broughten, as she came up to Van
Bibber laughing, and with one hand on her side and breathing
very quickly, "will you kindly tell me who is the leading
woman now? Am I the prima donna, or am I not? I wasn't in
it, was I?"