of a satin toque with an ostrich plume. Finally came the sword. My father's sword, the sword of a Republican, with its cap of Liberty, looked somewhat odd when compared with the rest of Don Ramire's attire. The mayor, M. Mussart, lent me a silver-mounted Louis XV. sword: the chain which had fastened it was detached; but, though the guard had disappeared, the hilt and the sheath were left, and this was sufficient to satisfy the most exacting. The announcement of this important entertainment made a great sensation: people came from all the towns and all the villages round, even from Soissons. I looked perfectly absurd, having never seen any play but _Paul et Virginie_ at the age of three, and the _Jeunesse de Henri V._ when I was eleven. But the Robbas took eight hundred francs at the doors--a fortune to them; and a mother, a father, children and grandchildren had wherewithal to keep themselves in food for two-thirds of a year. Poor Robbas! I recollect that the whole of their _répertoire_ only consisted of _Adolphe et Clara_ and the _Déserteur._ God alone knows what became of the poor things! That was how I came to know _Hariadan Barberousse_, which, with the _Vampire_, whose last act I was about to see, completed the sum total of my melodramatic equipment. The third act was but a repetition of what had passed in the first. Ruthven, whom his friend Aubrey believed dead at Marsden's farm, comes to life again, a sepulchral Endymion, under the kisses of the moon. He returns to the castle before Malvina's brother and urges forward his marriage; then Aubrey comes back and finds the bride adorned and the chapel prepared. He approaches his sister to tell her the terrible news of the death of her betrothed, and, seeing him pale and distressed, Malvina exclaims-- "Dear brother, you are in trouble!... For heaven's sake, tell me all!" "Rally your courage, then," says Aubrey. "You terrify me!" exclaims Malvina. Then, turning towards the door-- "Milord is long a-coming," she says. "Since I must rend your heart, know that all my plans are broken. A fearful, an unlooked-for event has deprived us, me of a friend, you of a husband!... The unfortunate Ruthven." At this juncture Ruthven comes forward, seizes Aubrey by the arm and says to him in a grim voice-- "Think of thy oath!"