they either take furnished rooms, or bring their own furniture," he
answered, "or live in the smaller hotels. But then they are Germans and
used to judging in such cases. There is, however, an English lady living
here who knows the town thoroughly, and you had better go to her and get
her to find rooms for you."

As we felt that we could not possibly ask a totally unknown Englishwoman
to find lodgings for us, my sister set out on the hunt alone. As a
foreigner speaking no German, and a woman looking for rooms all by
herself, she was received in a very curious manner by most of the
landladies she visited, and evidently looked upon with strong suspicion.
We were getting desperate, as the time of my debut was coming nearer and
nearer and we were still unsettled. Finally we resolved to throw
ourselves upon the mercy of the unknown Englishwoman after all, and
wrote her a note begging her assistance in finding two furnished rooms
near the theatre, with a _Hausfrau_ who would look after them and serve
our breakfast. We had to find a furnished apartment as we were not like
some of my colleagues who possess their own furniture and pass their
lives in a sort of singing journey through the country, always
surrounded by their own household goods.

[Illustration: CARMEN AS I NOW DRESS IT]

CHAPTER IX

THE MAKINGS OF A SMALL MUNICIPAL OPERA HOUSE

Early the next morning, before we were up, our English friend kindly
came to see us, and with her help we soon discovered just what we were
looking for, in an eminently respectable house, where the _Hausfrau_ was
the wife of a policeman, so that we were under the shadow of the majesty
of the law.

A young doctor had the rooms, but she assured us that he was moving
immediately, and that we might send our trunks the following day. We
duly arrived the next afternoon with an avalanche of baggage and found
that the poor young man had had no intention of leaving before the end
of the month and had even invited guests for that very evening! Floods
of German ensued between him and the _Hausfrau_, while we sat
philosophically on our trunks in the hall and waited. Presently she
emerged, rather heated of countenance, to say that it was all arranged,
and to begin moving our things into the bedroom. The doctor called us
into the sitting-room, waived aside our explanations and thanks for his
gallantry, and shutting all the doors mysteriously, proceeded to the
only revenge in his power--to