The Imp's Matinée
unhappy lot is mine!" The Imp would have liked to hear more, but the people began to clap their hands very hard and the Tall Young Man especially seemed quite beside himself with enthusiasm. The lady appeared somewhat embarrassed, but kept on with her speech, and soon the applause stopped.
Then the play went on. The Imp did not understand the plot at all, he could not make out half they said, but he was deeply interested, nevertheless. He felt that he was in a way the proprietor of the thing, and he only wished his mother and Aunt Gertrude were not away up the river in a row-boat, and could see what he had brought to pass.
At one point in the play he caught his breath, for there stalked on the stage, in a big black hat and top boots, his friend who took the money for the tickets! Everybody laughed and applauded as soon as he came in, and the leader of the Hungarian band laughed, too, and played a queer, sad, jerky music that made the Imp feel half afraid. The band watched his violin and followed whatever he played, laughing all the time.
As soon as the man began to speak, the
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