I have from time to time gone through the chances of the several competitors, so that to repeat what I have written is to go over very well-worn ground. Although the race is reduced to a match, it has lost none of its interest in the eyes of the public. It is a difficult race to meddle with, but the plunge must be made; I shall, therefore, give my vote to Atalanta, which, if beaten, it may be by Hippomenes. Of "Joan of Arc," the "operatic burlesque" written by Messrs. J. L. Shine and "Adrian Ross" to music by Mr. Osmond Carr (Opéra Comique, 1891), the distinguishing feature--apart from the fact that the music is all original and all the work of one composer--is the neatness of the lyric writing, with which special pains appear to have been taken. Of Joan herself her father is made to sing as follows:-- Oh, there's nobody adepter Than our Joan, Joan, Joan! She is born to hold a sceptre On a throne, throne, throne; She's the head of all her classes, And in fervour she surpasses All the Hallelujah lasses, As they own, own, own! Don't call her preaching dull, for It is not, not, not! She can do Salvation sulphur Hot and hot, hot, hot! She can play the drum and cymbal, With her fingers she is nimble, And the pea beneath the thimble She can spot, spot, spot. She can tell you by your faces What you'll do, do, do; She can give you tips for races Good and new, new, new! She can cut a martial swagger, She's a dab at sword and dagger, And will fight without a stagger Till all's blue, blue, blue! Of all the songs in the piece, however, perhaps the most vivacious is that in which De Richemont (Mr. Arthur Roberts) describes how he "went to find Emin":-- Oh, I went to find Emin Pasha, and started away for fun, With a box of weeds and a bag of beads, some tracts and a Maxim gun; My friends all said I should come back dead, but I didn't care a pin, So I ran up a bill and I made my will, and I went to find Emin! I went to find Emin, I did, I looked for him far and wide, I found him right, I found him tight, and a lot of folks beside; Away through Darkest Africa, though it cost me lots of tin, For without a doubt I'd find him out, when I went to find Emin!