l of the play. Then Venus was set at liberty, and
Vulcan obtained a partial divorce from her. Mars was reconciled with
Diana, and Jove, for the sake of domestic peace, packed his little
laundress off into a constellation. And finally they extricated Love
from his black hole, where instead of conjugating the verb AMO he
had been busy in the manufacture of "dollies." The curtain fell on
an apotheosis, wherein the cuckolds' chorus knelt and sang a hymn of
gratitude to Venus, who stood there with smiling lips, her stature
enhanced by her sovereign nudity.

The audience, already on their feet, were making for the exits. The
authors were mentioned, and amid a thunder of applause there were two
calls before the curtain. The shout of "Nana! Nana!" rang wildly forth.
Then no sooner was the house empty than it grew dark: the footlights
went out; the chandelier was turned down; long strips of gray canvas
slipped from the stage boxes and swathed the gilt ornamentation of
the galleries, and the house, lately so full of heat and noise, lapsed
suddenly into a heavy sleep, while a musty, dusty odor began to pervade
it. In the front of her box stood the Countess Muffat. Very erect and
closely wrapped up in her furs, she stared at the gathering shadows and
waited for the crowd to pass away.

In the passages the people were jostling the attendants, who hardly knew
what to do among the tumbled heaps of outdoor raiment. Fauchery and La
Faloise had hurried in order to see the crowd pass out. All along the
entrance hall men formed a living hedge, while down the double staircase
came slowly and in regular, complete formation two interminable throngs
of human beings. Steiner, in tow of Mignon, had left the house among
the foremost. The Count de Vandeuvres took his departure with Blanche
de Sivry on his arm. For a moment or two Gaga and her daughter seemed
doubtful how to proceed, but Labordette made haste to go and fetch them
a conveyance, the door whereof he gallantly shut after them. Nobody saw
Daguenet go by. As the truant schoolboy, registering a mental vow to
wait at the stage door, was running with burning cheeks toward the
Passage des Panoramas, of which he found the gate closed, Satin,
standing on the edge of the pavement, moved forward and brushed him with
her skirts, but he in his despair gave her a savage refusal and vanished
amid the crowd, tears of impotent desire in his eyes. Members of the
audience were lighting their cigars and