nd
about, gigantic "flats" of wood and painted canvas rose to the flies,
where their summits were lost in a maze of ropes and pulleys. Beams of
light, making visible great clouds of dust, shot forth from hidden
sources. Voices came down from the roof, and from far below ascended
the steady pulsation of a dynamo. I was bewildered.

Sir Cyril pushed ahead, without saying a word, without even
remonstrating when his minions omitted to make way for him. Right at
the back of the stage, and almost in the centre, the crowd was much
thicker. And at last, having penetrated it, we came upon a sight which
I am not likely to forget. Rosa, in all the splendor of the bridal
costume, had passed her arms under Alresca's armpits, and so raised
his head and shoulders against her breast. She was gazing into the
face of the spangled knight, and the tears were falling from her eyes
into his.

"My poor Alresca! My poor Alresca!" she kept murmuring.

Pressing on these two were a distinguished group consisting of the
King, the Herald, Ortrud, Telramund, and several more. And Ortrud was
cautiously feeling Alresca's limbs with her jewel-laden fingers. I saw
instantly that Alresca was unconscious.

"Please put him down, mademoiselle."

These were the first words that I ever spoke to Rosetta Rosa, and, out
of sheer acute nervousness, I uttered them roughly, in a tone of
surly command. I was astonished at myself. I was astonished at my own
voice. She glanced up at me and hesitated. No doubt she was
unaccustomed to such curt orders.

"Please put him down at once," I repeated, trying to assume a bland,
calm, professional, authoritative manner, and not in the least
succeeding. "It is highly dangerous to lift an unconscious person from
a recumbent position."

Why I should have talked like an article in a medical dictionary
instead of like a human being I cannot imagine.

"This is a doctor--Mr. Carl Foster," Sir Cyril explained smoothly, and
she laid Alresca's head gently on the bare planks of the floor.

"Will everyone kindly stand aside, and I will examine him."

No one moved. The King continued his kingly examination of the prone
form. Not a fold of Ortrud's magnificent black robe was disturbed.
Then Sir Cyril translated my request into French and into German, and
these legendary figures of the Middle Ages withdrew a little, fixing
themselves with difficulty into the common multitude that pressed on
them from without. I made them retreat