els, a Gothic cathedral, and the remains of the mediaeval wall and
moat which once surrounded the town, with great arched fortified gates
at its east and west entrances.

On returning once from a long walk with the little baritone we entered
by the eastern gate, and as he was doing a small part that evening, and
it was getting unpleasantly near the hour of the performance, we took a
short cut through an unfamiliar part of the town. We soon found
ourselves in a narrow street of respectable enough looking houses, but
as we passed, out of nearly every window on both sides, a female head
was thrust, all in varying degrees of frowsiness, and remarks and
comments in half unintelligible dialect were yelled at us with shrieks
of hideous laughter. Our little escort grew purple with confusion,
walking faster and faster, and when we reached an open square he broke
into the most fervent apologies for unwittingly leading us into such a
street. It was a curious and unpleasant little experience and reminded
me of certain quarters in oriental cities of which I had heard tales. We
named it "the street of queer women" and avoided the eastern gateway in
our walks thereafter.

Later in the season another colleague sometimes joined our tea parties
and walking expeditions. This was an immensely talented youth, attached
to the theatre in an anomalous position of third Kapellmeister, in
reality a volunteer without pay, hoping to pick up an occasional chance
to gain experience in conducting an orchestra. He was a Frenchman of
excellent family who had studied in one of the great conservatories and
thought he spoke the German language. Such German I have never heard
before or since. His French inability to aspirate an "h," a pronounced
stutter, and the most nonchalant disregard of gender, formed a
combination which was enough to upset the gravity of a German customs
house official himself! It was his business among other things, to
"_einstudieren_" the new members of the chorus in any opera which they
did not know, but of course his version of their language rendered any
authority he might have had over them quite ineffectual, and his
position was anything but enviable. At the same time he was a really
magnificent pianist, a composer of promise, and a thorough musician; but
if ever a creature was out of his element he was that creature as
Kapellmeister in Metz. And yet what is a young fellow in his position to
do? The desire to conduct, the long