_Wretched Man, who is shameless enough to admit that he likes it._ "I
like it. The ballet's good, the scenery is splendid, and the music might
be worse. Why don't these ladies, who come here and sit it through, have
the honesty to admit that they come because they like it? But no; they
go away, and at the next party, where they wear dresses lower in the
neck than any I've seen on the stage to night, they'll abuse the poor
girls who have danced here for their amusement. Their malignant modesty
does not deserve the respect of an intelligent _figurante_. If they are
sincere, why do they come here?"

Which question still puzzles the perturbed mind of

MATADOR.

* * * * *

Give 'em Rope.

We clip the following from the _Express_:

"There seem to be more legal loopholes for convicted murderers to escape
through than for any other class of criminals."

That is too true, by a great deal. There should be but one "legal
loophole" for a convicted murderer, and the authorities should not let
him escape through the loop of it--they should Knot.

* * * * *