student type of man, finished in manner, and pleasant of speech.
“I have been interested in this play of yours, Mr. Jocelyn. I couldn’t do it, in my theatre, but I thought I would like to have a talk with you and ask you what else you’ve done.”
“A woman-question play, called ‘Success,’ this one, and one on Universal Peace.”
“All serious?”
“Certainly. Why do managers always ask that?”
“Because serious plays are so many, I suppose. Good comedies are so few.”
“I thought you always gave serious things in the Little Theatre?”
“I am forced to, but I am always looking for good comedy. I would like to see your other plays.”
They sat, discussing things of the theatre, tendencies in drama, fashions and fads, Gordon Craig’s book, the Rheinhardt idea. They spent a pleasant half hour, like an oasis in Jarvis’s desert. He felt that Mr. Ames had time for him, was sincere in his interest in him. He left the Little Theatre cheered in some inexplicable way.
When he returned to his lodgings that day he found a note from Strong, forwarded from the old
