want to sing every minute. You see, it seemed such a long while
that I was waiting for my chance. Some of us wait forever, Mr.
Canby, and I was so afraid mine might never come. If it hadn't
come now it might never have come. If I'd missed this one, I
might never have had another. It frightens me to think of it--
and I oughtn't to be thinking of it! I ought to be spending all
my time on my knees thanking God that old Mr. Packer got it into
his head that 'The Little Minister' was a play about the
Baptists!"

"I don't see--"

"If he hadn't," she said, "I wouldn't be here!"

"God bless old Mr. Packer!"

"I hope you mean it, Mr. Canby." She blushed again, because
there was no possible doubt that he meant it. "It seems a
miracle to me that I am here, and that my chance is here with
me, at last. It's twice as good a chance as it was yesterday,
thanks to you. You've given me such beautiful new things to do
and such beautiful new things to say. How I'll work at it! After
rehearsal this afternoon I'll learn every word of it in the
tunnel before I get to my station in Brooklyn. That's funny,
too, isn't it; the first time I've ever been to New York I go
and board over in Brooklyn! But it's a beautiful place to study,
and by the time I get home I'll know the lines and have all the
rest of the time for the real work: trying to make myself into a
faraway picture of the adorable girl you had in your mind when
you wrote it. You see--"