"Well, Lola Montez appeared at father's theatre last night for the first time. The theatre was crowded from parquet to doors. She had the most beautiful eyes I ever saw. I liked her very much; but she performed a dumb girl, so I cannot say what she would do in speaking characters." During this engagement Lola apparently proved a little _difficile_, for her critic adds: "She is trying to trouble father as much as possible." Lola certainly was apt to "trouble" people with whom she came into contact. As an accepted "star," she had a high sense of her own importance and considered herself above mere rules. Once, when travelling from Niagara to Buffalo by train, she elected to sit in the baggage car and puff a cigarette. "While," says a report, "thus cosily ensconced, she was discovered by the conductor and promptly informed by him that such behaviour was not permitted. Thereupon, Madame replied that it was her custom to travel where and how she pleased, and that she had frequently horse-whipped much bigger men than the conductor. This settled the matter, for the company's officer did not care to challenge the tigress." The visit to Buffalo was crowned with success. "Lola Montez," declared the _Troy Budget_, "has done what Mrs. McMahon failed to accomplish--she positively charmed the Buffaloes. This can perhaps be attributed to her judicious choice of the ex-Reverend Chauncey Burr, by whom she is accompanied on her tour in the capacity of business-manager." The choice of an "ex-Reverend" to conduct a theatrical tour seems, perhaps, a little odd. Still, as Lola once remarked: "It is a common enough thing in America for a bankrupt tradesman or broken-down jockey to become a lawyer, a doctor, or even a parson." Hence, from the pulpit to the footlights was no great step. CHAPTER XIV THE "GOLDEN WEST" I As this was before the days when actresses in search of publicity announce that they are _not_ going to Hollywood, Lola had to hit on a fresh expedient to keep her name in the news. Ever fertile of resource, the one she now adopted was to give out that this would be her "positively last appearance, as she was abandoning the stage and becoming a nun." The scheme worked, and the box-office coffers were filled afresh. But Lola did not take the veil. Instead, she took a trip to California, sailing by the Isthmus route in the summer of 1853. A ridiculous book, _The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole_, with an introductory puff by a windbag, W. H. Russell, has a reference to this project: