y blamed herself, taking the entire failure on her
own shoulders.

"The curtain rose for the third act; and we all gathered anxiously at
the wings. Clotilde, by a powerful effort of will, showed herself at
first more self-possessed than in the previous acts, but the audience
was in a mood to have some sport, and nothing could have made them
take the play seriously. When the public once scents a trail, it is
like a wild beast that smells blood; there is no way of heading it
off, and you have got to let it have its flesh at any cost. And there
is no doubt that on this occasion it gorged itself full. Coughs,
laughter, sneezes, stampings, hisses,--there was a little of
everything. Tears sprang to our poor friend's eyes, and she seemed
upon the point of fainting. When the curtain finally fell her eyes
sought on all sides for her lover, but he had disappeared. In her
dressing-room, where I followed her, she sobbed, groaned, gave way to
despair, called herself a fool, said that she was going to hire
herself out on some farm to tend the geese and more to the same
effect. It cost me some hard work to calm her down, but at last I
succeeded so that she sank into a sort of silent lethargy. In the
sorrow which her eyes revealed I saw that what tormented her horribly
was the absence of Inocencio.

"The door of the room was suddenly flung open. The defeated poet made
his appearance; he was quite pale but apparently calm. Nevertheless, I
perceived at the first glance that his calmness was assumed, and that
the smile which contracted his lips closely resembled that of a
condemned man who wishes to die bravely.

"A gleam of joy illuminated Clotilde's face. She rose swiftly and
flung her arms around his neck, saying in a broken voice:

"'I have ruined you, my poor Inocencio, I have ruined you! How
generous you are! But listen, I swear to you, by the memory of my
father, that I will atone for the humiliation you have just suffered.'

"'There is no need for you to atone, my dear girl,' replied the poet,
in a soft tone under which a disdainful anger could be felt, 'my
family has not achieved its illustrious name through the intercession
of any actor. From this day henceforth I gladly renounce the theater
and all that is connected with it. Accordingly,--I wish you good-day.'
And, unclasping the arms that imprisoned his neck, and smiling
sarcastically, he retreated a few steps and took his leave. Clotilde
gazed at him in a stupor, then f