"
How long he waited, or what thoughts were stirred by this first
glimpse at the ceaseless procession of humanity, who can say? But
there was a sequel to the tale. He was invited to return to Mrs.
Greene's to drink tea and meet a company of her guests. Among them
were some ladies who were very gay and friendly; we can imagine that
they were attracted by the handsome eyes and quaint garb of the young
Friend, and by his quick wit and homely turns of speech, all the more
amusing for a rustic flavor. They tried to tease him a little, but
they must have quickly found their match in drollery, while the lad
was already a citizen of the commonwealth of books. No doubt the
stimulus of such a social occasion brought him, as well as the
strangers, into new acquaintance with his growing gifts. But presently
one of the ladies, evidently the favorite until this shocking moment,
began to speak of the theatre, and asked for the pleasure of his
presence at the play that very night, she herself being the leading
player. At this disclosure, and the frank talk of the rest of the
company, their evident interest in the stage, and regard for a young
person who had chosen such a profession, the young Quaker lad was
stricken with horror. In after years he could only remember it with
amusement, but that night his mother's anxious warnings rang in his
ears, and he hastened to escape from such a snare. Somehow this
pleasant young companion of the tea party hardly represented the
wickedness of playhouses as Puritan New England loved to picture them;
but between a sense of disappointment and homesickness and general
insecurity, he could not sleep, and next morning when the early
stage-coach started forth, it carried him as passenger.
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