Finally, at a London Musical Theatre the prima donna of an Operetta Company, if she receives £30 or £40 a week, boasts of it to her friends. In an Italian Operatic Company a seconda donna paid at such rates would conceal it from her enemies. CHAPTER XI. HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF--REV. H. HAWEIS ON WAGNER--H.R.H. AND WOTAN--ELLE A DÉCHIRÉ MON GILET--ARDITI'S REMAINS--RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. To return to my difficulties at the New York Academy of Music, I was at length compelled to rehearse where I could; one day at the Star Theatre, another at Steinway Hall; a third at Tony Pastor's--a Variety Theatre next door to the Academy. In the midst of these difficulties I caught a severe cold and found myself one morning speechless. I was surprised that afternoon to find a bottle of unpleasant sticky-looking mixture left with the hall-keeper, accompanied by a letter strongly recommending it from an admirer, who had heard, with sorrow, that I had taken cold. Not liking the smell of it, I sent it to an apothecary's for analysis, when it was found to contain poison. Fortunately I had not tasted it. Finding myself so heavily handicapped, I decided, pending the preparation of _Manon_, to get ready Auber's _Fra Diavolo_, which had to be rehearsed under the same difficulties. I, however, succeeded in producing it on the 20th November, and an excellent performance we gave. Fohström was charming as "Zerlina," and in the _rôles_ of the two brigands, Del Puente and Cherubini were simply excellent. I have seen many performances of _Fra Diavolo_ in London with Tagliafice and Capponi, whom I considered admirable; but on this occasion they were fairly surpassed in the brigands' parts by Del Puente and Cherubini. The part of "Fra Diavolo" was undertaken by Ravelli, and the scenery and dresses were entirely new; the former having been painted on the roof of the theatre, either late at night or early in the morning, with the finishing touches put in on the Sundays. The majority of my stockholders were careful to remain away, thus leaving a very bare appearance in the proscenium boxes. They, too, were siding with the enemy, or had not quite recovered from the three-dollar assessment which they had been called upon to pay for Patti the previous year. All these intrigues, however, marked in my mind the future downfall of the Academy and its stockholders, the house being now "divided against itself." I will quote from the _Evening Post_, a paper hostile to my enterprise, a criticism on the _Fra Diavolo_ performance:--