occasionally lifted and shook; the other, a gold-headed cane.

"Here am, I Jupiter," said he; "what does Venus desire?"

A poetical dialogue then followed, to the effect that the favorite
of the goddess, Prince Alexis of Kinesma, was about sending his
son, Prince Boris, into the gay world, wherein himself had already
displayed all the gifts of all the divinities of Olympus. He
claimed from her, Venus, like favors for his son: was it possible
to grant them? Jupiter dropped his head and meditated. He could
not answer the question at once: Apollo, the Graces, and the Muses
must be consulted: there were few precedents where the son had
succeeded in rivalling the father,--yet the father's pious wishes
could not be overlooked.
Venus said,--

"What I asked for Prince Alexis was for HIS sake: what I ask for
the son is for the father's sake."

Jupiter shook his thunderbolt and called "Apollo!"

Instantly the stage was covered with explosive and coruscating
fires,--red, blue, and golden,--and amid smoke, and glare, and
fizzing noises, and strong chemical smells, Apollo dropped down
from above. He was accustomed to heat and smoke, being the cook's
assistant, and was sweated down to a weight capable of being
supported by the invisible wires. He wore a yellow caftan, and
wide blue silk trousers. His yellow hair was twisted around and
glued fast to gilded sticks, which stood out from his head in a
circle, and represented rays of light. He first bowed to Prince