scene ensues between the two. In the meantime Carlos and
Mercedes have secretly stolen from the ship and been married by the
village priest. They appear while Paquita and Christopher are
conversing. (Quartette.) Fernando hears the commotion. (Quintette.)
Christopher is discovered and apprehended. The buccaneers appear to
rescue their long-absent captain. Explanations. Fernando informs the
buccaneers that under the amnesty act of the king they are no longer
outlaws. Christopher's estates await him. Carlos and Mercedes
appear. Fernando gives Paquita to Christopher.

It will be perceived that the spirited action of this "argument," as
Field styled it, practically ends with the first act, a fault which the
veriest neophyte in the art of libretto writing knows is fatal. But the
most interesting feature of this opera in embryo is the list of songs
which Field had planned for it. They were:

SONGS

"Begum of Piura."
"The Crazy Quilt."
"My Life is One Continuous Lie."
"By Day Upon the Billowy Sea."
Lullaby--"Do Not Wake the Baby."
"The Good Old Way."
Barcarolle--"I've Come Across the Water."

TRIO

"He Really Does Not Seem to Know."

DUETS

"My Love Was Fair."
"To the Sea, O Love!"
"O Dearest Love, Through all the Years."
"Into God's Hands."

FEMALE CHORUS

"Down the Forest Pathway."

MALE CHORUS

"From the Farms."
"We are a Band of Gallant Tars."

MIXED CHORUS

"Hail, O Happy Nuptial Day!"
"Ah!"
"Where Turtle Doves are Cooing."
"The Spanish Dance."
"They're Delightful."
"Oh, Can Such Wonders Be?"
"How Sweet to Fly."
"He Really Must Be Ailing."
"Adieu, Sweet Love."

QUARTETTE

"The Old Love."
"The Parent's Voice."

QUINTETTE

"Oh, What Were Life."

Field always insisted that Messrs. Smith and DeKoven got the title, if
not some of the inspiration, for their opera "The Begum" from the
argument of his "Buccaneer," the scheme of which he showed to Harry B.
Smith, then a member of the Morning News staff. But the reason for his
failure to carry out his operatic venture is obvious in the argument
itself. It is intrinsically deficient in the elements of surprise,
novel situations, and dramatic action necessary for stage effect. Field
would have made it rich in lyrics, but as has been often proved, lyrics
alone cannot make a successful opera. He quickly appreciated this and
abandoned the work with "Oh, What Were L