A few memories

FIRST-NIGHT ANXIETIES 57
crisp air of a starry winter night. After the sad experience of the day before, I was hardly hopeful enough to be nervous.
The borrowed robes were quickly donned. They fitted well, with the exception of the white satin train (the first I had ever worn), which threatened every moment to upset me. The art of make-up was unknown to me, and ornaments I had none. When Juliet was called to await her cue, what a transformation in the scene! The actors, in velvets and brocades, were gay and excited, some of them even deigned to give me a condescending nod, while the gloomy stage of the day before was flooded with light, life, and animation. I became feverishly anxious to begin. It was hard to stand still while waiting for the word. At last it came: " What, ladybird! God forbid! where's this girl? what, Juliet!" and in a flash I was on the stage, conscious only of a wall of yellow light before me, and a burst of prolonged applause. Curiosity had crowded the house. " Why, it's little Mamie Anderson. How strange! it's only a few months ago since I saw her rolling a hoop!" etc., were some of the many remarks which, I was afterwards told, ran through the audience.