and boxed his ears. Diana, surprising Venus in the act of making an
assignation with Mars, made haste to indicate hour and place to Vulcan,
who cried, "I've hit on a plan!" The rest of the act did not seem
very clear. The inquiry ended in a final galop after which Jupiter,
breathless, streaming with perspiration and minus his crown, declared
that the little women of Earth were delicious and that the men were all
to blame.

The curtain was falling, when certain voices, rising above the storm of
bravos, cried uproariously:

"All! All!"

Thereupon the curtain rose again; the artistes reappeared hand in hand.
In the middle of the line Nana and Rose Mignon stood side by side,
bowing and curtsying. The audience applauded; the clappers shouted
acclamations. Then little by little the house emptied.

"I must go and pay my respects to the Countess Muffat," said La Faloise.
"Exactly so; you'll present me," replied Fauchery; "we'll go down
afterward."

But it was not easy to get to the first-tier boxes. In the passage at
the top of the stairs there was a crush. In order to get forward at all
among the various groups you had to make yourself small and to slide
along, using your elbows in so doing. Leaning under a copper lamp, where
a jet of gas was burning, the bulky critic was sitting in judgment
on the piece in presence of an attentive circle. People in passing
mentioned his name to each other in muttered tones. He had laughed
the whole act through--that was the rumor going the round of the