CHAPTER IX
THE MAY-DAY PLAY

T was soon afternoon. All Coventry was thronged
with people keeping holiday, and at the Blue Boar a
scene of wild confusion reigned.

Tap-room and hall were crowded with guests, and in
the cobbled court horses innumerable stamped and whin-
nied. The players, with knitted brows, stalked about the
quieter nooks, going over their several parts, and looking
to their costumes, which were for the most part upon their
backs; while the thumping and pounding of the carpen-
ters at work upon the stage in the inn-yard were enough
to drive a quiet-loving person wild.

Nick scarcely knew whether he were on his head or on
his heels. The master-player would not let him eat at all
after once breaking his fast, for fear it might affect his
voice, and had him say his lines a hundred times until he
had them pat. Then he was off, directing here, there, and
everywhere, until the court was cleared of all that had no

business there, and the last surreptitious small boy had
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