best in an Italian setting, with all
the gas turned on and the scenery half tumbling down and the orchestra
fiddling in full view.

In the first act of "Rheingold," where the three maidens are swimming,
the poor girls, with hair of unequal lengths, sprawled about, their
arms clutching at air, and held up to the roof by visible and shaky
ropes, half the time forgetting to sing in their wild efforts to keep
themselves from falling, separated from the audience only by a gauze
curtain which was transparency itself.

DENMARK, _July, 1887_.

My dear Aunt,--Denmark in July is ideal. It is never too warm in the
day and always cool at night.

I have been spending a few days with Howard on his farm.

On the Fourth of July Howard wished to give the peasants in the
neighborhood an entertainment to celebrate his country's "glorious
Fourth." He hoped to inspire them with due enthusiasm and give them a
good day's sport.

The Danish peasant's idea of amusement is to walk leisurely to the
place of rendezvous, to sit quietly and rest from his week's hard work,
eat plenty of Smoerrebrod (sandwiches), drink barrels of beer, have
tobacco _ad libitum_, and finally to leave as lazily as he came.

This feast was going to be otherwise. Everything was to be done _a
l'Americaine_. The Fourth fell on a Sunday, and the farmers all
accepted and came on the stroke of the clock, dressed in their
Sunday-best clothes, which are of heavy broadcloth, made in the fashion
of Louis Philippe, voluminous over the hips, thick, heavy-soled boots,
and with long snake-like pipes hanging from their mouths.

Howard had arranged all sorts of _gymkhana_ sports, for which prizes
were to be given. There were to be the long jump, the high jump, a
running-race, catching the greased pig, pole-climbing, a race in a bag,
and so forth.

"They shall have a high old time," said Howard.

Their dismay only equaled their astonishment when they were told what
was expected of them. What! Jump, run, and be tied up in bags and climb
poles? Was this the way that they were going to amuse themselves on
this hot day? Were soiling their clothes, perspiring, and suffering
tortures in their tight boots the delightful, reposeful feast they had
been invited to? Their inborn politeness would not allow them to do
otherwise than obey the wishes of their host. They tried their best to
perform the feats put down on the program.

Their week's work of mowing, cutting trees, plowing, t