principals to accompany me into my private room, to give a practical
exemplification of the manner in which such a contest is generally
conducted. (_At this point the learned Magistrate retired from the
Bench, and was followed into his private room by LOO BOBBETT. BEN
MOUSETRAP, and their Seconds. After an hour's interval, Mr. PHEASANT
returned to the Bench alone_.) I will give my decision at once. The
prize must be handed over to Mr. MOUSETRAP. That last cross-counter
of his fairly settled Mr. BOBBETT. I held the watch myself, and I
know that he lay on the ground stunned for a full minute. (_To the_
Usher.) Send the Divisional Surgeon into my room at once, and fetch an
ambulance. The Court will now adjourn.

[_Loud applause, which was instantly suppressed._

_Mr. Pheasant_ (_sternly_).> This Court is not a Prize-Ring.

* * * * *

"A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE" AT THE AVENUE.

[Illustration: Alexander the Less and the preux Chevalier.]

First of all, the title of the piece is against it. _The Struggle for
Life_ suggests to the general British Public, unacquainted with the
name of DAUDET, a melodrama of the type of _Drink_, in which a variety
of characters should be engaged in the great struggle for existence.
It is suggestive of strikes, the great struggle between Labour and
Capital, between class and class, between principal and interest,
between those with moral principles and those without them. It
is suggestive of the very climax of melodramatic sensation, and,