Page:Georgie by Dorothea Deakin, 1906.djvu/104

"Georgie" "one of the King's Own Cambrian Minstrels?" Suspicion was strong in my brain.

"She ought to have been," Georgie cried indignantly. "This fellow Lappin engaged her, and she came all the way from Devonshire to join this troupe. Spent all the money she had on the fare, and now that she's here, all that there is left to meet her is this bill."

"Do you mean to say," I asked, "that there are no King's Own, etc?"

"Not here," said Georgie. "She was to be here last Wednesday for rehearsal, and she's never heard a word from Lappin. She's stranded here without a penny. She can't even pay for her room, poor little girl!"

"Why doesn't she write home?"

"That's just it," said Georgie, "she daren't. She ran away to come on the stage, and her father has disowned her. He's a clergyman down in Devonshire somewhere. It's a sickening shame. There's a pianist chap stranded here, too." 88