A Winter Amid the Ice, and Other Thrilling Stories

d to no serious consequences. It appeared likely that Quiquendone would return

should be fabricated abroad. Doctor Ox was here, there, and everywhere; neither he nor Ygène, his assistant, lost a moment, but they urged on the workmen, completed the delicate mechanism of the gasometer, fed day and night the immense piles which decomposed the water under the influence of a powerful electric cu

c bell-turrets,--in a word, a specimen of all sorts, half a Parthenon, half a Parisian Grand Café. Nor was this surprising, the theatre having been commenced under the burgomaster Ludwig Van Tricasse, in 1175, and only finished in 1837, under the burgomaster Natalis Van Tricasse. It

comique were especially patronized. It must, however, be added that the composers would ne

ert le Diable," "Les Huguenots," or "Guillaume Tell" usually took up three evenings, so slow was the execution of these masterpieces. The vivaces, at the theatre of Quiquendone, lagged like real adagios. The allegros were "long-drawn out" indeed. The demisemiquavers were scarcely equal to the ordinary semibreves of other countries. The most rapid runs, perf

nian fashions; but as they were well paid, they did not complain, and willingly obeyed th

e after another at tolerably long intervals, which the papers characterized as "frantic applause;" and sometimes nothing but th

ight not be too much excited; and this enabled the actors to study their parts more thorough

when they wanted to rest after their exertions in other scenes; and it seemed as if nothing could ever change these inveterate custo

been placed, and the wax-candles still shed their soft light upon the numerous spectators who filled the theatre. The doors had been opened to the public at one o'clock, and by three the hall was half full. A queue

evening?" inquired the counsellor t

shall take Madame Van Tricasse, as well as our daughter S

le Suzel is

nly, Ni

be one of the first to

the burgomaster sententiously; "but h

casse,--he loves y

r. Now that we have agreed on this

t, in short-- we'll say no more about it--he will n

have loved--we too! We have danced attendance in our day! Till to-night, then, till to-night! By-the-bye, do you know this Fiovaran

y his talents as a virtuoso, his perfect method, his melodious voic

, prolonged by infinite andantes, had elicited for the celebrated singer a real ovation. His success had been still more marked in the third act of Meyerbeer's masterpiece. But now Fiovaranti was to appear in the fourth act, which was to be performed on thi

ieving a brilliant succ

Niklausse and his family, not forgetting the amorous Frantz. The families of Custos the doctor, of Schut the advocate, of Honoré Syntax the chief judge, of Norbet Sontman the insurance director, of the banker Collaert, gone mad on German music, and himself somewhat of

me reading the paper, others whispering low to each other, some making their way to their seats sl

ormal rapidity. All appeared to be inhaling air of exceptional stimulating power. Every one breathed more freely. The eyes of some became unwontedly bright, and seemed to give forth a light equal to that of the candles, which themselves

to give a modest la to his colleagues. The stringed instruments, the wind instruments, the drums

s played as usual, with a majestic deliberation which would have made Meyerbeer fra

s betrayed a tendency to hasten the movements, and it was necessary to hold them back with a firm hand, for they would otherwise outstrip the stringed instruments; which, fr

n her recitative, "I am alon

he door at the bottom of the stage, between the moment when Valentine goes to him and that when she conceals herself in the chamber at the side, a quarter of an hour d

, but not at all pomposo, and at the chorus, in the famous scene of the "benediction of the poniards," they no longer keep to the enjoined allegro. Singers and musicians broke away impetuously. The leader does not even a

ith me, deli

increasing, an

is shouts the recitative which summons the Catholics to vengeance. The three monks, with white scarfs, hasten in by the door at the back of Nevers's room, without making any account of the stage directions, which enjoin on them to advance slowly. Alread

midn

eles

will

e

idni

on the stage, the Burgomaster Van Tricasse at their head, to join with the conspirators and annihilate the Huguenots, whose religious opinions, however, they sh

ain, tears it apart with a superb gesture

gro vivace. Raoul does not wait for Valentine's plead

, thou lovest me," becomes a real vivace furioso, and the violoncello ceases to imitate the inflections of the singer's voice, as indicated in the composer's score. In vain Raoul cries, "Speak on, and prolong the ineff

bell-ringer has evidently lost his self-control. It is a frightful

oppresses me!" which the composer marks allegro con moto, becomes a wild prestissimo. You would say an express-tra

r necks twisted. In his fury the drummer has burst his drum. The counter-bassist has perched on the top of his musical monster. The first clarionet has swallowed the reed of his instrument, and the s

r bodies. They crowd each other, hustle each other to get out--the men without hats, the women without mantles! They elbow each other in the c

each other

resumes his habitual tranquillity, and peaceably enters his hou

lasted six hours, began, on this evening at half-p

lasted eight