ma � la pi ce n est ce pas oh pas du ah t eat bread an ah t eat nor yet nor tea oh dear no sir you won t find that class of goods at any respectable shop a pastoral a of a wet july argument mr and mrs brown of north roused to by certain recent open air performances have invited their friends to witness a selection from the tempest in the garden of their villa which its title from two remarkably fine plane trees at one end of the lawn scene � tke mr and mrs b b discovered in readiness to receive their guests mrs b b with a desperate cheerfulness do you know dear i really do believe we shall have fine weather after all b b not a pastoral i shouldn t be surprised if it did clear up � about midnight mrs b b well if it doesn t rain any more till all the people are here shall be satisfied she says this with a dim notion of the powers that be by her moderation b b why you won t do it out here if it rains will you mrs b b with a deadly where do you suppose we shall do it then b b feebly why not in the � ar � drawing room mrs b b really you are too trying for anything a pastoral play in the drawing room have you no sense of the ridiculous do you know what a pastoral play is b b grimly i m beginning to find out my dear the p as they make their way down the little staircase to t ie which is over with sail cloth and provided vith seats and chairs they can t possibly mean to have it this evening � we shall be able to get away all the sooner to their hostess oh mrs brown how unfortunate such hopeless weather for it we really ought not to have come at all mrs b oh but indeed � we re not afraid of a few drops of rain � you sha n t be disappointed general fall of jaws we re going to begin as soon as ever a few more people come you sha n t go away without your te i guests t t are in for one at the very least seat themselves with expressions of delight behind the curtain under the plane trees the king of to i say old fellow if we re to lie down and go to sleep here we must have a little thrown down first the ground s also stage manager oh don t bother me my dear fellow where the am to find the k n thought you might have spared us some out of your have to go to sleep too and that couch is simply soaked soaked of course it s soaked it s pastoral we must put up with it that s all my dear child what on earth have you got on your feet regarding her they re mother s she made me promise to wear them if the ground was at all damp to maid who has come round by the path well what is it now a pastoral play maid your aunt s love miss and she must insist on your putting on this what a shame to king i can t act in a can i the k n oh why not we must try and borrow an old sou for though or he ll be out of the picture angrily aside to hang it all we d better do the whole thing under at once to all know is i hope we shall begin soon if i stand about in a damp much longer i shall be ill just feel it j his delicately and him never mind your � see if you can tell me how to make this confounded beard of mine stick on � the rain s washed off all the in before play begins mrs smith oh i shall see splendidly here thanks dear mrs brown how well you have arranged it all it s really not at all cold � well if you would go and fetch my cloak perhaps it might be more miss hill to mr green such a charming idea these garden so different from a hot theatre mr green putting up his coat collar it certainly is the reverse of here plenty of air s mother i do wish they would begin i can t bear to think of my poor girl standing about on that nasty wet grass all this time � so bad for her s aunt � if i had guessed it would turn out such a night as this i would never have allowed my niece to accept the part � and even as it is � the curtain s aside and play begins concerning the family history in the midst of heavy one of s shoes comes off in the mud miss hill how well they did the lightning then didn t they mr k g oh it s all genuine � the are determined to do the thing well thunder too you see t there s nothing mean about brown s mother that dreadful lightning oh mrs brown do please tell them to come away from the trees � it is so dangerous s aunt oh do they might be struck down at any moment � it s tempting providence mrs brown in despair it � it s only j lightning ds � please don t say anything about it to them now � it will only put them out they re getting on so nicely enter on stage � but as wicked dew as e er my mother brushed drop on you both � a south west blow on ye with feeling for this be sure to night thou shalt 