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THE EPHEMERAL DRAMA
culiar to their author, the familiar con-
trasts between generosity and meanness,
simplicity and sophistication, the self-for-
getting impulsiveness of youth and the
self-cherishing deliberation of middle age.
Robertson loved to point such compari-
sons by means of bits of dialogue, carried
on at opposite sides of the stage by pairs
of persons, neither pair being conscious
of the other. The mode of many of these
passages was distinctly cynical, if not un-
amiable; but their surface truth was of
universal appeal, and their humor was
fetching. Indeed, the public palate always
most keenly relished Robertson's mild
bitterness when it was bitterest. Some of
my readers will recall an exemplary epi-
sode in Ours. The scene is an English
private park. A heavy shower of rain has
come on, and two pairs have sought shel-
ter under the trees. On the right are a
youthful couple, in the early stages of a
love affair. The jeime premier has taken
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