To act a part perfectly requires a consummate actor; and there are phases in life in which acting is absolutely demanded.

A man cannot always be at his ease, but he should never seem to be discomfited.

For petty troubles the amount of acting necessary is so common that habit has made it almost natural.

But when great sorrows come it is hard not to show them,--and harder still not to seem to hide them.
When he entered the private room he found that the old man was there with his son.

He shook hands, of course, with both of them, and then he stood a moment silent to hear how they would address him.