His Excellency the Minister

'Africaine had jus

lingly, like a man glad to be rid of the cares of St

reenroom, as your E

f a vessel; and men in evening dress, with white ties, looked natty without their greatcoats, and with opera hats on their heads were going

em humming as they went the air from Nélusko's ballad, walking lightly as habitués th

came in. One side of this sheet bore a headline reading: Messieurs, and the other Médecin, in two columns. From ti

s?" asked a still young man with a monocle in his

anager's box, monsieur!" an

you,

g to the greenroom, the servant wrote down in the running-han

y of the opera, operated by this army of workmen, whom he did not know. He was quite astonished at the sight, as he had never beheld its like. His astonishment wa

to gaze at the symmetrical arrangement of the chandeliers, as bright as rows of gas-jets, amongst the hangings of the friezes. A huge canvas at the back represented a sunlit Indian landscape, and in the enormous space betwe

greenroom," said the minister. "You ar

cal smile which accompanied his words made Vaudrey understand that his colleague loo

d shoving quickly before them, or carrying away sections of masts and parts of ladders, hurrying out of sight by way of trap-doors and man-holes, this carcass of a work of art; this spectacle of a great swarm of human ants, running hither and thither, pulling and tugging

opera-glasses were turned upon him here and there

w Minister of

! Monsieu

eur Va

asses levelled at him, while Granet, smiling, said to the mas

een that this is hi

curiosity of a youth and the gusto of a collegian. How fortunate that he had not brought Madame Vaudrey, who was slightly indispos

painted cheeks, and legs encased in chocolate-colored bandages, were yawning, weary and flabby, and stretching themselves while awaiting the time for them to present themselves upon the stage. Others, dressed like soldiers, were sleeping on the wooden benches against th

ink shoes. Others, wearing a kind of Siamese headdress with ornaments of gold, were laughing and clashing together their little silver cymbals. Awkward fellows with false beards, dressed like high priests in robes of yello

with light, groups of half-nude women surrounded by men, resembling, in their black clothes, beetles crawling about roses, the whole company reflected in a flood of light, in an immense mirror that covered one end of the room. Little by little, Vaudrey could make out above

orn and faded hangings; and the pretty girls in their full, short, gauzy petticoats, with their bare arms, smiling and twisting about, their satin-shod feet rest

e minister exclaimed

Granet, "you seem

expected. Every one had hurried thither. Sulpice was pointed out. He was the cynosure of all eyes. On the divans beneath the mirror, some young, well-dressed, bald men, surrounded-perhaps by chance-by laughing ballet-girls, now

from the environs of Paris, come from Versailles and Chartres, or from some sub-prefectures, and gallantly administering the affairs of Fra

ir flabby cheeks cut across by stiff collars as jelly is cut by a knife, were hobnobbing, fat and lean, with young fops of the Republic, who with their sharp eyes, wide-open nostrils, their cheeks covered with brown or flaxen down, their hair carefully brushed, or already bald, see

nd the pensioners,

ght quite Parisian, your Ex

ed Sulpice with a heightened complexion, his blood flowing mo

ith hair and whiskers of quite snowy whiteness, and sm

nd embonpoint. Fat and rich, in perfect health, and carrying his sixty years with the lightness of forty, Molina-Molin

crowns the right to respect nothing. Beginning life very low down, and now enjoying a lofty position, the fat Molina haunted the Bourse and the greenroom

e found them, taking pleasure in parading in his coupé, around the lake or at the races, some recruit in vice, and in watching the crowd that at once eagerly surrounded her, simply because she had been the mistress of the fat Molina. He had in his y

Excellency?" continued the financier. "Ah!

ing dragged into a strange circle, and one which did not belong to her. He had felt the same only a few days before upon his entrance into the c

sed to it. The Opéra! Why, it is a part of politics! The

a laugh that had the ring of

e, and lightly, by a word, a gesture even, he gave the minister a rapid biography of the young girls who were laughing, jesting, romping

not even take the pains to conceal his surprise.

passes a season at Vichy or at Dieppe, and when one returns, presto! see the transformation. The butterfly has burst forth from its cocoon. No longer a little girl, but a woman. Those saucy eyes of old now look at you with an expression which disturbs your heart. One might have offered, six months before, two sous' worth of chestnuts to the child; now, however, nothing less than a coupé will satisfy the woman. It used to jump on your kn

e knee?" inqu

. It is a way of saying that ill-luck has overtaken one. A very interesting condi

a frequent one

? There are so many slips in this pirouett

cle upon his huge nose, which was cleft down the middle like that of a h

? What is she hol

summers, already betraying her womanhood in the ardent glances half-hidden in the depths of her large,

ell on her undeveloped bosom; and looking in search of some one among the crowd of girls, cried out from a distance

u have not su

ving madrigals, came running lightly up to Marie Launay, who hel

il is that?"

and see," s

cretion on our part?" ask

e two pretty girls, and asked the blonde what the paper co

ed like a pretty, innocent and still timid child, under the luring glances of the fat man, and glancin

cription we are getting up

ina. "You mean to make her

es, every one has subscribed to i

pot-hooks or the graceful lines traced by crawling flies, while the fantastic spelling offered a strange medley. Molina burst out laughing, his ever-present laugh that sounded like t

Gigonnet, 4 francs. Baron Humann, 100 francs. The baron!-the former prefect! Humann writing his name down here with Bel-Enfant and Gigonnet. Humann inscribing above his signature-I

the other young girl Anna, very much confused at the coarse laughter of Molina the "Tumbler," kept

up courage to write down my n

cil, my child," M

out towards

y, Molina the Tumbler may certa

one of his huge feet upon a divan to steady himself, wrote rapidly with

Molina, 5

e, that is! It is kind, very kind! If everybody were as generous as you,

f, my child," said Molina, "you may go to the studio in a cab

r, even her graceful, childish shoulders turned

ses, the apparitions of spring landscapes, he felt the breezes of youth, laden with the scents of the upspringing grass, the lilacs at Meudon, the violets of Ville-d'Avray, the souvenirs of the escapades of his student days. Th

et of paper to which Molina had just signed

, if you please

began t

write down under Monsieur Gigonnet's signat

is true! You will believe it or not as you ple

red ribbon hanging on it, and I was sure the garment was not mine. But one grows used to it after a while! Now," and his laugh with the hundr

to her surprise, and listened to

tombstones between two dances at the rehearsals. One day Molina had been present at one of these. It seems incredible, but there was a bank clerk in a gray coat, a three-cornered hat upon his head and a brass buckler on his arm, who sacrificed to Venus in the interval between his two occupations, dancing with the coryp

d to this man, still young, whose success had been achieved by unstinted labors, and who knew Paris only by what he had learned of it years ago, when a law student: the pit of the Comédie Fran?aise, the Luxembourg galleries an

ng a glimpse of his own image reflected in the huge mirror glittering under the numerous lights, in the heart of this strange salon and surrounded by half-clad dancing girls. Then, too, everybody was looking at him, quizzing him, shrinking from

ncomfortable, when to his great relief he suddenly observed coming towards him, peering hither and thither through his monocle, evidently in search of some o

h this reserve. He hurried up to Guy, a

this visit! You are the only one of my f

our friends should be expected to fall upon your neck, crying bravo! You have mounted up to the capitol, but after all, the capitol is not such a very

answered Sulpice, "are the two

ardier and a skeptic. He is a man of bronze-your Ramel! And your friend Lissac of simili-bronze!

udrey, his face lighting up with joy.

d you in the Chamber. She has prayed for your advent. She saw you in the manager's box a while ago, and she has asked m

he not an artist's widow? Her salon

sition to that of Madame Evan. An Athen

blic cannot be founded w

ng. "Politics and honors h

years over my head, and alas! not so much hair as I

and, and what have I become? A spectator, a trifler, a Parisian, a rolling stone.-Nothing. An

d!" said

d in evidence, that he could not repress a smile upon hearing from the companion of his youth, such a confirmation of his triumph. They are our most severe critics, these friends of our youth, they who have lis

lpice. "The more so because if she at all resembles her

iff, ancient superiors, the young sub-prefects still hid their faces behind their opera hats. Granet with Molina went to take leave of Vaudrey, leaving little Marie Lau

joling his Excellency with his meaning gla

nistre," said Granet. And amid salutations on every si

flowers glowed amid refreshing verdure. Over all fell a soft fairy-like light from an electric lamp, casting on the floor a fantastic gleam, soft and clear as the rays of the moon. Sulpice smiled as he passed beneath this flood of

lmost bald save for some long, thin, gray locks that hung about his huge ears, his cheeks had a hectic color and his skull was yellow. He entered this salon in

Puritan, a Huguenot, a widower, the father of five or six daughters, and as solemn and proper in his ordinary de

on it with a switch, and his red face became crimson-hued at the sight of Sulpice, his s

c was no lon

midst of a crowd of brahmins, dancers, negresses, and female supernumeraries; two Excellencies mee

reau's embarrassed air, his coat buttoned close like a Quaker's and his little eyes

t my dear Minister, it's you-yes,

said V

, he

all

to say to you-I

at his waistcoat, then assuming a dignified, grave

lt with you upon a matter of grave impor

not restrain

here Marie Launay stood listening to and laughing at the badinage of Molina. Some newspaper reporters, scenting a handy para

but rubbing his hands nervously together was trying to appear at ease, yet by his sour smil

ll talk elsewhere about your communities. This i

ncy," replied Pichereau

away, saying with

wn his portfolio, but he has kept t

oom may open to scenes of consolation for fallen greatness. The blue e

s of the majority is perhaps the malady of

re, who sought consolation in the greenroom of the ballet, whilst his five or six daughters sat at home, probably read

m power is nothing, provided one f

irst C

t and found accompanying the names of ballet-dancers and membe