_Jack_ (judicially). Too corky.
_Miss R._ Be leisurely. Leisure is elegance. And bend more. Try it again,--so. (ill.u.s.trates).
_Maude_ (doing likewise). I do hope I won"t drop anything. How was that?
_Miss R._ (hesitating). A trifle--just a trifle--well, er-stiff. Of all things, a lady must rise well.
_Jack_ Yes, not as if she were shot out of a cannon!
_Maude_ Jack, you keep still!
_Miss R._ Try it again--so. (ill.u.s.trates). Bend from the waist.
(Maude does so amid solemn silence.)
_Jack_ (graciously). That was better.
_Miss R._ Now, go on.
_Maude_ (reading). "Life"s Inner Meanings."
_Miss R._ Louder and more deliberately. "Life"s Inner Meanings."
_Maude_ "Life"s Inner Meanings."
_Miss R._ Go on, not too fast. Don"t hold it so high and bend the body forward from the waist.
_Maude_ (in high shrill tones). "As a traveler, among the mighty mountains, fails to realize the height to which he has climbed--"
(Stops, winded.)
_Miss R._ Compose yourself, compose yourself! Your voice is--well, unnatural.
_Jack_ Yes, it"s squeaky.
_Maude_ (with heat). It isn"t! You"re awfully mean! I"ve got to be heard!
_Miss R._ Try it again. Use a deeper tone. "As a traveler, among the mighty mountains, fails to realize the height--" Now, go on.
_Maude_ (nervously). "As a traveler, among the mighty mountains, fails to realize the height to which he has climbed, so we, in Life"s dusty pathway, cannot estimate the distance we have traveled." O, Miss Rantum, that isn"t right!
_Miss R._ No, not exactly, not precisely right. You see, you--
_Jack_ Why don"t you use "journeyed" instead of "traveled"?
_Maude_ (ignoring him). Miss Rantum, what is the matter with it? I"m not doing as well as I did last week!
_Miss R._ No, you really aren"t, but--
_Jack_ I say, why don"t you change--
_Maude_ (imploringly). What is the matter, Miss Rantum?
_Miss R._ It isn"t firm. You don"t seem to know what you are saying.
_Maude_ (in grave-yard tones). "As the traveler, among the mighty mountains, fails to--"
_Jack_ (ditto). Finally, my beloved brethren--
_Miss R._ (hastily). Lighter, but firmly. Use a conversational tone, "As the traveler, among the mountains;" "It is a very pleasant day," "How do you do?" See?
_Maude_ (in light, quivering tones). "As a traveler, among the mountains--mighty mountains--fails to realize the height to which he has climbed--has climbed, so we, in Life"s dusty pathway, cannot estimate the distance we have traveled."
_Jack_ "Climbed--climbed." I don"t like "climbed" there; wouldn"t "attained" be better?
_Maude_ Professor Grindem didn"t say so.
_Jack_ "Attained" is a prettier word.
_Maude_ (earnestly). Do you think so?
_Miss R._ "Climbed" is better. It is a real traveler and real mountains, hence "climbed." "Attained" sounds as if it were ideals, you know.
_Maude_ (sighing profoundly). Yes, I think so, too. Besides, it"s too late to change it now. I"d forget.
_Jack_ All right! "On with the dance." I"m no judge.
_Miss R._ Go on with the next paragraph.
_Maude_ The next isn"t a paragraph.
_Miss R._ (very patiently and gently). Well, go on with the next.
_Maude_ "Among life"s bright flowers, its rugged slopes, its pleasant walleys--"
_Miss R._ Valleys.
_Maude_ "Its pleasant walleys, its--"
_Miss R._ Valleys.
_Maude_ (nervously). Let me start over.
_Miss R._ Well, only use deeper tones. (She sits down.)
_Maude_ (very slowly). "Among life"s bright flowers, its rugged slopes, its pleasant walleys--valleys, its dangerous pitfalls, we cannot realize the magnitood of the common things about us."
_Miss R._ "Magnitude," not "tood."