mention it, drawing forth the required sum. With great apparent
mortification he begged me to disburse the trifle and consider it
all right in the morning. This I was only too glad to have the honor
of doing.

"An highly colored melodrama, in four acts, one of which was laid in
each of the four quarters of the globe, (and if there had been a
fifth, the cunning author would have had an act for it,) was
proceeding at a stormy pace, the principal character being
personated by a gentleman of color, the audience, I thought, were
trying to emulate in loudness of talking. My new companion seemed to
have an extensive acquaintance, for he introduced me to no less than
twenty judges of the Supreme Court, whose good opinion, he said, it
was well to cultivate, and many other persons, not one of whom was
less than a major-general of the Ninth Regiment, a corps somewhat
celebrated for its courageous marching and counter-marching up
Broadway. Of the etiquette that ruled among the military heroes of
New York I knew but little; nor was I well acquainted with the
accomplishments necessary to her judges: but it was impossible to
suppress the thought, that if soliciting treats of strangers were
regarded as a qualification, they could not be beaten, though the
whole Union were put to the test. And so excessive were their duties
in taking care of the Union, that their faces had assumed a deep
purple color.

"Ascending several flights of stairs, we, by great exertion, reached
what was called the 'third tier,' which lofty domain was, by the
generosity of the manager, set apart for damsels whose modesty and
circumspection would not permit of their occupying seats in the
dress circle. I, however, noticed in them an audacity of manner that