Josie had often imagined her meeting with the great actress--the dignity and grace with which she would enter and tell her ambitious hopes, the effective dress she would wear, the witty things she would say, the deep impression her budding genius would make.

But never in her wildest moments had she imagined an interview like this; scarlet, sandy, streaming, and speechless she leaned against the illustrious shoulder, looking like a beautiful seal as she blinked and wheezed till she could smile joyfully and exclaim proudly: 'I did get it! I'm so glad!' 'Now get your breath, my dear; then I shall be glad also.

It was very nice of you to take all that trouble for me.

How shall I thank you ?' asked the lady, looking at her with the beautiful eyes that could say so many things without words.
Josie clasped her hands with a wet spat which rather destroyed the effect of the gesture, and answered in a beseeching tone that would have softened a far harder heart than Miss Cameron's: 'Let me come and see you once--only once! I want you to tell me if I can act; you will know.

I'll abide by what you say; and if you think I can--by and by, when I've studied very hard--I shall be the happiest girl in the world.