There was no room for argument or delay. All I had to do was to get the money; and hurrying to the theatre I at once procured it. Unconscious of her imprisoned condition, Mdme. Patti was still asleep when I took the necessary steps for rescuing from bondage the car which held her. The public of Montreal, more gracious than the railway authorities, received us with enthusiasm. An immense ice palace was erected just opposite the hotel at which we were staying; and the architecture of the building, and especially the manner in which the blocks of ice were placed one above the other and then soldered together, interested me much. The ice blocks were consolidated by the agency of heat. Hot water was applied to the points of contact, and the ice thus liquefied left to freeze. We afterwards returned to New York, performing there the first three weeks of January, business still being very light indeed; and it was not until my benefit night, on the 18th, that a fine house was secured, when over 11,000 dollars were taken. After giving a Sunday concert we left for Philadelphia, where I arranged for three special performances, it being three days before Mr. Abbey's arrival there with his Opera troupe. The three performances were extremely successful. We afterwards left for Baltimore. On arriving there Mdme. Gerster accidentally saw a playbill in which Mdme. Patti's name was larger than hers; further, that they were charging only five dollars for her appearance, whilst they demanded seven dollars for the Patti nights. Without one moment's warning, and unbeknown even to her husband, the lady went to the station and entered the train for New York. When dinner-time arrived Dr. Gardini was in a great state, as his wife was nowhere to be found, and it was by mere accident one of the chorus told me that he had seen her going in the direction of the railway station. I thereupon telegraphed to Wilmington--the first station at which her train would stop--requesting her to return, as all matters had been arranged. There was no train by which she could get back. But through the kindness of the manager of the road, who happened to be in Baltimore, a telegraphic despatch was sent to Wilmington to detain the express--in which unfortunately Patti happened to be seated--until the arrival of Gerster's train, so that she could return immediately in time for the performance. I afterwards learned that Mdme. Patti, on inquiring the cause of the delay, was excessively angry at being detained for upwards of three-quarters of an hour on account of Mdme. Gerster. Nicolini was enraged for a different reason. He had ordered a sumptuous dinner at our hotel, where there was a new _chef_; and he knew that, having to wait for Mdme. Patti, his terrapin and his canvas-back duck would be spoiled.