“My mother had set the police on my track, but in vain. At last, however, we were starved out. At the end of two months I had seen all I wanted to see in Spain, and as all my money was gone I was obliged to write to my mother for supplies. She made me wait some little time, but finally sent them, and I returned to Paris. “One day I encountered Camille Doucet, who, as I told you before, was a friend of our family. “‘Well, are you as naughty as ever?’ he asked. ‘Have you been slapping any more of your confrères lately?’ [Illustration: As Zanetto in _Le Passant_.] “I explained that I had had no opportunity, and he advised me to apply to the Odéon, then managed by Chilly and Duquesnel. Chilly was not much inclined to engage me, but Duquesnel seemed anxious to do so. Finally he had his way, and it was decided that I should appear as Junie in _Britannicus_ (January 14, 1867). Taillade, who played Nero, insisted at rehearsal that I should kiss the hem of his garment. I imagine he must have set about obtaining this act of superfluous civility from me rather badly; at any rate, I gave him a sound box on the ear. Camille Doucet must have thought there was no doubt about my vocation. [Illustration: Mme. Sarah Bernhardt in _François le Champi_. (From a water-colour by Baudoin.)] “My second appearance was in _Le Jeu de l’Amour et du Hasard_. It was a hideous ‘frost’! I remember wearing a dress with white, blue, and red stripes to give me a Louis XV. appearance! Moreover I was as thin as a lath and absolutely unsuited to the part of Sylvia. Her airs and graces were never meant for me. “My first success at the Odéon was as Zacharie in _Athalie_. I recited the chorus of women, and this was the first occasion on which I really impressed the public. My reception was, I venture to say, really a triumph. In _Le Marquis de Villemer_ I next played a wretched part--a thirty-five-year-old baroness. I wept all the time. George Sand, who had noticed me, consoled me and promised that I should appear in _L’Autre_, which she had just finished; and she kept her word. Next came _Le Passant_. Chilly had been induced with great difficulty to have this piece played as a benefit performance. He had no faith in it, and thought it tiresome and without a future. He had so little confidence in its success that he absolutely refused to pay for the costumes, and Agar and I were obliged to order our own and settle the bills out of our own pockets. You know how popular Coppée’s little piece became. Agar and I played it twice before the Court, with immense success![1] [1] Mme. Bernhardt afterwards appeared as Armande in _Les Femmes Savantes_, in _Les Arrêts_ (a one-act piece by M. de Boissières), in _François le Champi_, _Le Testament de César Girodot_, _King Lear_, _Le Legs_, _Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix_, by Adolphe Belot (1869), and _La Loterie du Mariage_. [Illustration: In _Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix_.]