"I'll do what I can, of course; but--I don't know how to do
anything. I'm afraid I won't be much help at first."

"We'll see to that. Now, run along, dearie."

When she had gone Peter gave a grunt of conviction.

"She IS pretty," he acknowledged; "pretty as a picture, and you
certainly dress her well. She'd ought to make a good actress."

Jim echoed him enthusiastically. "Pretty? I'll bet Bernhardt's got
nothing on her for looks. She'll have a brownstone hut on Fifth
Avenue and an air-tight limousine one of these days, see if she
don't."

"When do you plan to leave?" faltered the father.

Mrs. Knight answered with some satisfaction: "Rehearsals commence
in May."




CHAPTER II


Mr. Cambell Pope was a cynic. He had cultivated a superb contempt
for those beliefs which other people cherish; he rejoiced in an
open rebellion against convention, and manifested this hostility