Monsieur Glumeau’s country house was nevertheless quite large and very well arranged. The garden was attractive and well filled with flowers; but the most attractive part of the whole estate was the little wood. Unfortunately it did not adjoin the garden; it was separated from it by a narrow path, not more than ten feet wide, which was open to the public. But the garden gate was opposite the gate leading into the wood, and the path was so quickly crossed that the separation was hardly noticeable. The one thing that the estate lacked was water; but pending the time when a river should appear, Monsieur Glumeau had had made behind his theatre a small basin, of about the capacity of two casks, in which one might at need have taken a foot bath. It was in this little wood, enclosed by trellis work, which was supported by stone posts at intervals, that Monsieur Glumeau had conceived the idea of building a small theatre. The stage was supplied with all the accessories: wings, flies, arches, and drop curtain. But when the action of the play took place in a forest, instead of using a rear curtain, they simply used the wings, and the wood itself formed natural scenery, and afforded a lovely prospect which it is impossible to have in the city, even at the grand opera. The theatre was covered with a board roof, which sheltered the scenery and the actors from possible storms. But as there was no auditorium, as the spectators simply sat or stood under the trees, in front of the drop curtain, it was most important for them that the weather should be fine, for rain would very speedily drive the audience away and leave the auditorium empty. The friends who had accepted parts in the plays that were to be given came twice a week to pass the day with Glumeau, in order to rehearse. Very often the time passed away and there was no rehearsal; the men played billiards or bouillotte, the women went out to ride, with or without donkeys; sometimes someone sat at the piano and sang. They dined very late and remained at the table a long while. When they left it, they had not the slightest desire to study their parts; but they began to dance a polka or a waltz; thus it was that almost all the rehearsals were held, but they enjoyed themselves, so that the desired result was attained. But when they realized that the great day was near at hand, they began to say to themselves: “We really must rehearse.”--Monsieur Glumeau, who had been very well for some time, was in a charming mood and fluttered from one to another, looking at his feet; he gave counsel and advice to everyone, and insisted that they should introduce spoken pantomime in the plays and dancing in the pantomime; he transformed everything into a ballet. The performance decided upon consisted of _Œil et Nez_, a farce in one act, with three characters, to be played by Madame Dufournelle, young Astianax, and Monsieur Mangeot.