We all gave him a cheer, which was hushed as the stage-manager ran in,
warning us that the audience was already assembled and in place.

"You're not going to raise the curtain while we're sitting, are you?"
demanded the King of Finland, anxiously.

"No, no," I said; "sit tight, your Majesty. Courage, gentlemen! Our
vindication is at hand!"

The Countess glanced at me with startled eyes; I took her hand,
saluted it respectfully, and then quietly led her before the curtain,
facing an ocean of upturned faces across the flaring footlights.

She stood a moment to acknowledge the somewhat ragged applause, a calm
smile on her lips. All her courage had returned; I saw that at once.

Very quietly she touched her lips to the _eau-sucrée_, laid her
manuscript on the table, raised her beautiful head, and began:

"That the ux is a living bird I am here before you to prove--"

A sharp report behind the curtain drowned her voice. She paled; the
audience rose amid cries of excitement.

"What was it?" she asked, faintly.

"Sir Peter has hatched out his egg," I whispered. "Hark! There goes
another egg!" And I ran behind the curtain.

Such a scene as I beheld was never dreamed of on land or sea. Two