"They are a disgrace to the opera house!" came the cry.
"Let us give 'em something to remember us by!"
The last suggestion was greeted with a wild assent, and soon half a dozen different articles landed on the stage, including the core of an apple and a half-decayed orange. In the midst of the uproar a number of the audience started to leave and the drop curtain came down with a bang.
Among the first to leave the opera house were Mrs. Talbot and her husband.
"I have had quite enough of this," said the lady to James Talbot. "The company and the play are both very poor."
"Perhaps you are right," he admitted. "I must say I looked for something much better myself. That poor butler couldn't act at all."
"He was dumstruck," said Mrs. Talbot, and felt compelled to laugh. "Poor fellow, he ought to go at some other line of work."
They were soon on the way home. Mr. Talbot had ordered a carriage to come for them when the performance was over, but this was not at hand, so they were forced to walk.
"I didn't make much by taking her out to-night," said the schemer to himself. "Next time I'll have to make sure that I am taking her to something that is really first-class."
When the pair reached home James Talbot wished his wife to come into the sitting-room, to talk over their business affairs. The fact of the matter was, he was running short of money, and he desired his wife to make him an advance.
"I have something of a headache, James," she said. "I think I had better retire early."
"I will not detain you long, my love," he answered.
Soon they were in the sitting-room and the lady dropped into an easy chair. He could not sit down, but began to walk up and down nervously.
"I hate very much to mention the matter to you, Sarah," he began, "but the fact is, a remittance from a man in Chicago who owes me quite some money has been delayed, and this has cut me short."
"If you can spare it, I would like to have a hundred dollars or so until the remittance comes."
"Very well, you can have it in the morning," answered Mrs. Talbot quietly.
James Talbot had told her before they were married that he was fairly well-to-do, but since they had become man and wife she had not seen a dollar of his money.
It was true, he had a little money, or had had it, but the amount was less than a thousand dollars, and it was now tied up in a speculation that promised little or no return. James Talbot had no head for business, and even his wife was beginning to find that out. He could be miserly, but miserliness is not true economy. He pretended to deal in real estate, but he was too shiftless and lazy to apply himself to steady work.