to the great amusement of both parties. On one occasion an idea
struck her, which, when she communicated it to him, fired the
imagination of Powers and turned out a great success. This was nothing
less than to give a representation of some of the more striking scenes
of Dante's _Divina Commedia_. The idea was a sufficiently audacious
one. But "audaces Fortuna juvat." Powers scouted the notion of
difficulty. My mother was to draw up the programme, and he undertook,
with the materials furnished him by the museum, and with the help of
some of his own handiwork, to give scenic reality to her suggestions.
The result, as I have said, was a brilliant success. I have a copy of
the "bill" that was issued to the public inviting them to the exhibition
in question, which is a curiosity in its way, and which I must give the
reader. It is drawn up in high sensational style, with lines of
different lengths and boldness, and printed in all the different sorts
of capitals which the printer's case afforded. I cannot occupy space
with any imitation of these typographical magnificences, but will simply
copy the language of the bill. It must have been my mother's
composition, and Powers had to work up to it, which he did to the
letter:

"The World to come, as described by Dante, and comprising, Hell,
Purgatory, and Paradise, will be exhibited in a room adjoining the
Western Museum on the 4th of July, and days following. Admittance,
twenty-five cents. In the centre is seen a grand colossal figure of
Minos, the Judge of Hell. He is seated at the entrance of the
INFERNAL REGIONS [enormous capitals]. His right hand is raised as
in the act to pronounce sentence, his left holding a two-pronged
sceptre. Above his head is a scroll on which are written the
concluding words of Dante's celebrated inscription, 'Abandon hope,
all ye who enter here!' To the right of this figure the foreground
presents a frozen lake, on the surface of which are seen the heads
of those who have been doomed to this species of punishment. Among
these is the head of Ugolino, whom Dante describes as eternally
gnawing the head of his enemy, who, after placing him and his three
sons in the upper chamber of a strong tower near Florence, threw
the key of it into the moat and left them to perish with hunger.
Grinning in mockery of these ice-bound sufferers, A BLACK IMP
[biggest extra black cap