Chapter 7 Summary

After classes are finished, the senior apprentice, Sam Gilbourne, takes the rest of the apprentices to lunch. As the boys eat meat pies and drink beer, they talk about the play that will be performed in the afternoon, The Devil's Revenge. After lunch, Nat and Harry are assigned to work the trapdoor of the stage during the performance. Roper is assigned to be their signalman, indicating when to pull the door open to drop an actor through the floor onto a cushion below. The first two cues to open the trapdoor are successful, but Roper sabotages Nat and Harry on the third cure, and calls the signal intentionally early. Richard Burbage falls through the trapdoor prematurely and scolds the boys. Roper denies the whole thing, and Sam Gilbourne urges all the apprentices to put the whole incident behind them after the performance.

Roper...