"Amarilly," continued the liquid voice,--"has had more experience in
stage life than I have had. She has commenced at the lowest round of the
dramatic ladder of fame. She scrubs at the Barlow Theatre, and she is
quite familiar with stage lore. Her hero is the man who plays the role
of Lord Algernon in _A Terrible Trial_."

He made no reply, and Colette presently broke the silence.

"Seriously, John," she said practically and in a tone far different from
her former one, "the Jenkins family are poor and most deserving. I am
going to give them some work, and if you would give them a trial on the
church linen, it would help them so much. There was a regular army of
little children on the doorstep, and it must be a struggle to feed them
all. I should like to help them--to give them something--but they seem
to be the kind of people that you can help only by giving them work to
perform. I have learned that true independence is found only among the
poor."

John took a little notebook from his pocket.

"What is their address, Colette?"

She took the book from him and wrote down the street and number.

"Colette, you endeavor to conceal a tender heart--"

"And will you give them--Mrs. Jenkins--a trial?"

"Yes; this week."