Part 10

“Five minutes,” came Mr. Fox’s insistent voice. “Curtain in five minutes.” He hurried away on some mysterious errand.

Peggy leaned her head against the backstage wall. She was tired but exhilarated. The past ten days had been the most wonderful of her life. Even the confusion and the discomfort of the trip to Baltimore had been fun. This was the theater as she had always dreamed it, and she was about to step on stage in the most important role of her life.

“Places everyone, please. Clear the stage.” Mr. Fox’s voice was quiet, but it carried a ring of authority. “Places for the first act.” He paused briefly beside Peggy. “You okay?” he asked. “Everything all right?” Peggy nodded. “Good.” Mr. Fox grunted. “I hope you break a leg,” he said and disappeared.

Peggy smiled to herself. She hadn’t heard that for quite a while. In the theater it was considered a bad omen to wish an actor good luck, and so, instead, you told him you hoped something awful would happen to him. Out in front there was an excited buzz as the house lights flickered their warning.

Then, suddenly, out of the darkness beside her, a voice spoke softly. “Hello, Peggy.” It was Katherine Nelson.

Peggy turned and smiled. “Hello, Miss Nelson.” She saw Tom standing beside his wife.

“We don’t have much time,” the actress said to Peggy. “But before we go on, I want to tell you how much we appreciate everything you did. Tom and I know that you were the one who really brought us back together.”

“I’m sure you didn’t know what you were doing,” Tom said. “But that’s the way it turned out.”

“I’m glad,” Peggy said simply. “I’m glad for you both.”

“There’s another thing I have to thank you for,” Katherine Nelson said. “Somehow tonight—with Tom—I feel that I’m about to start my career all over again.” She paused and shook her head. “No, that’s not quite it. It’s that I’m about to begin a new phase—a new life for myself....”

“And for me,” Tom said softly.

Before Peggy could answer, Mr. Fox was back. “Curtain going up,” he whispered urgently. “Quiet, _please_!”

Katherine Nelson detached herself from the shadows, straightened her skirt, and stepped up for her entrance. She turned and looked at Peggy and Tom, gave them a quick wink, and pushed open the door. The applause in the theater thundered out when the audience recognized her.

Peggy hardly remembered the first act. Her lines came automatically and she was too excited to know whether it was going well or badly. By the second act, that feeling had passed and she was beginning to wonder. Her big scene—the one with Tom—was coming up, and as she took her position behind the familiar door, she had the same sensation of nervous fear she had had the day she first tried out for Craig Claiborne.

The lights dimmed and Peggy knew it was time. With a trembling hand she pushed open the door and looked out over the semi-darkened stage. A lone figure was slumped in the chair by the fireplace. Peggy tip-toed into the room, went over to the window, looked out and sighed.

“‘Why did you come in so quietly?’” Tom said. “‘You’re as furtive as a lady burglar tonight. What’s wrong?’”

“‘Oh!’” Peggy gasped. “‘I didn’t know anybody was here.’”

“‘I’ll go if you like,’” came Tom’s reply.

Peggy moved over to him. “‘Oh, no! Please don’t! There’s—there’s something I want to talk to you about....’”

Suddenly all the nervousness, the worry, vanished. It was all right. Peggy could feel it and, even more important, she knew the audience could feel it too.

Completely poised, she sat down on the little footstool beside Tom and stared into his face. He was smiling at her. It was a good smile—strong, yet gentle.

Peggy met his gaze and smiled back. This was the moment she had always known would come. She was glad it had come with Tom Agate.

PEGGY ON THE ROAD

Professional temperament and backstage jealousy confront young Peggy Lane when she lands a bit part in the road company of the hit comedy, _Innocent Laughter_. Elated over winning the role, the aspiring actress quickly learns that a good play does not necessarily spell success. It takes good people too!

She aids in the search for a character actor to play the male lead, feeling triumphant when she locates Tom Agate, beloved but retired vaudeville trouper, who reluctantly consents to audition. But Katherine Nelson, the _prima donna_ who is to star in the show, throws a temper tantrum, claiming it beneath her dignity to play with a “has-been” comedian, and demanding both Peggy and Tom Agate be thrown out of the show!

The young girl, who all her life has dreamed of her professional debut, is demoralized as she realizes that theatrical rivalry can stifle the joy of creativity.

But she believes in Tom Agate, and her faith is vindicated when she unravels a theatrical mystery which explains the conduct of the arrogant star!

_Peggy Lane Theater Stories_

Peggy Finds the Theater Peggy Plays Off-Broadway Peggy Goes Straw Hat Peggy on the Road

Transcriber’s Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.

--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.