Here the fault
lay in the obtrusiveness of the preparation. Had the barometer passed
practically unnoticed among the other details of a well-furnished hall,
it would at any rate have been innocent, and perhaps helpful. As it was,
it seemed to challenge the curiosity of the audience, saying, "I am
evidently here with some intention; guess, now, what the intention can
be!" The producer had failed in the art which conceals art.
Another little trait from a play of those far-past days illustrates the
same point. It was a drawing-room drama of the Scribe school. Near the
beginning of an act, some one spilt a bottle of red ink, and mopped it
up with his (or her) handkerchief, leaving the handkerchief on the
escritoire. The act proceeded from scene to scene, and the handkerchief
remained unnoticed; but every one in the audience who knew the rules of
the game, kept his eye on the escritoire, and was certain that that ink
had not been spilt for nothing. In due course a situation of great
intensity was reached, wherein the villain produced a pistol and fired
at the heroine, who fainted.
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