I am not going to tell you about it, because you all know the story of Cinderella.  There she was, sitting among the ashes of the fire-place, and in came the godmother who made a pumpkin turn into a golden coach, and did all the other things just like the story.

The play was a little different from the story in some books.  In one scene a bad fairy sets off a lighted fire cracker under the palace of the princess.  And on the stage, when this happened, there was a loud banging noise, just as Bert and Nan had often heard on the Fourth of July.

“Bang’!” went the fire cracker.

“Oh!” cried Nell, and she gave a little jump, she was so surprised.  And many other were surprised, too, including the little Oriental children.  And they were so surprised that the smaller ones burst out crying.

“Oh dear!  Oh dear!” they cried, in their own language, of course, and the two smallest hid their faces down in their father’s lap and cried salty tears on his beautiful blue robe.  But he didn’t seem to mind a bit.

He patted the heads of the little, sobbing tots, and every one in the theater looked over toward the box, for the crying of the Chinese children, who were frightened by the bang of the fire cracker, was very loud crying indeed.

CHAPTER XIX

“Oh look!”

For a time the actors on the stage, taking part in the fairy play, had to stop.  They could not go on because the Chinese children were crying so hard.  And really it was a strange thing to have happen.

Then Cinderella herself—­or at least the young lady who was playing that part—­seeing what the matter was, stepped to the front of the stage and said to the Chinese minister: 

“Tell your little children there will be no more shooting.  They will not be frightened again.  I am sorry it happened,” and she bowed and kissed her hand to the older boys and girls, in the box.  They were not frightened as were the smaller ones.

“It is all right.  They will be themselves again soon.  I thank you,” said the Chinese minister, rising and bowing to the actress.  He spoke in English, but with a queer little twist to his words, just as we would speak queerly if we tried to talk Chinese.

Then the sobbing of the frightened children gradually ceased, and the play went on.  But the Bobbsey twins were almost as much interested in the queer, beautifully dressed foreign children in the box as they were in the play itself.  Indeed Flossie and Freddie looked from the stage to the box and from the box back to the stage again so often that their mother said they would have stiff necks.  However, they didn’t have, which only goes to show that children’s necks can stand a great deal of twisting and turning without getting tired.

So the play went on, and very pretty it was.  Cinderella tried on the glass slipper.  It fitted perfectly, and everything came out all right, and she and the prince lived happily forever after.