Year: 1868

SHE-the Queen of the Realm of Mil
lion Delights-( how she contrived to open
her pretty mouth to speak, without being
instantly choked by the fumes of the blue
and red fires that rolled in clouds about her,
was not the least surprising part of her
performance - had duly exercised her
magic power, and transformed the charac-
tiers of the "Opening" into those of the
pantomime proper; and the " enraptured
audience"-to quote the official, and of
course authentic, report of the manager of
the theater-had expressed its feelings in
the manner technically known as bring
ing the house down."


But the noisiest streams are not the
deepest Two persons were in the stalls
who did not applaud at all; yet it was
hardly possible that anybody present on
the occasion could have been more inter
csted spectators than one of the two, at
all events, gentlemanly young man of
three or four-and twenty, who, as soon as
the business of the harlequinade was be-
gun, said something in the ear Of his COM
panion, heartylooking old fellow of
sixty, and made his way out of the
theater. That he was thereupon held in
absolute contempt by as many of the ju-
venile units of the audience as happened to
bOoiCO lis hSpUl ouiC Co IllC ltb-
tural consequence of such tasteless and &C.
centric behavior. He was quite uncon-
scious of having laid himself open to ad-
verse criticism of any kind, however, and
thought only of getting round to the stage
door in time to intercept the Queen of the
Realm of Million Delights on the way
to her dwelling place in Craven Buildings,
in Drury lane.


Alas, theage is terribly prosaic In the
old poetical times we should have sought
our fays deep in green forest glades, by
singing streams, in the coral caverns of
the ocean, in the silver spray of the break
ing waves, in the moon. shine on hillsdes,
n the prism-hued vapor of the WATERFALL
IN scenes remote of unfamiliar beauty !;
but nous G0ons change tout celia and if we
are now minded to hold converse with
the Fairy Queen in person. Craven Build
ings are as likely place as another to find
her at home-in company, it may be, with
her father, person seedy as to outward
appearance, not estimable as to morals,
and as to manners, reprehensibly addicted
to much smoking of coarse tobacco in not
at all fastidiously clean clay pipes, to a
good deal too much drinking of porter
"out of the PEWTER" and generally con-
sdered of no great account in society as
it is at present organized; by profession
theatrical super"


The Queen of the Realm of Million
Delights had for her father different
kind OF mani ought to have said, very
different kind of man.


About once or twice a year, on the pro-
duction Of a new piece at the theater at
which his daughter was engaged his name
appeared rather prominently in the bills,
Us that of the inventor of "the new and
elaborate machinery" employed to pro-
duce certain great stage "effects" He
called himself John Henslip. His daughter
was known to the public as Miss Violet
Alton.


John Henslip, as l must call him for
the present, was in the prime of life as to
age, but he had been roughly handled by
the Fates; and on the night when his
daughter was waited for at the stage door
by the gentlemanly young man out of the
stalls, he looked middle-aged. His hair
was gray, what he had of it, and his face
was cut up with old lines of care But
there was nothing of the look of broken
spirited man about him. His manner was
subdued only, not bit craven.


A cheerful fire burned in the stove, and
sent pleasant glow upward into his face
as he sat waiting his daughters return
home. Usually he was her escort to and
from the theater; but he had accidently
injured one of his legs in testing the
strength of new piece of mechanism in
vented by himself, and was now house
bound.


He was not alone in the room; for at
the moment at which | have chosen to de-
scribe him, very comely middle-aged
woman was spreading the table for sup
per, and chatting comfortably with him.


Leg going on quite nicely, Mr.. Hen
slip?"


Hope to get out upon it tomorrow, if
the days fair; and back to the theater
again before the weeks out, if all goes
well. It's fine night, isn't it, Mrs. Thomp-
son?'


"Beautiful-moon shines almost as
bright as it does in one of your scenes at
the theatre" answered Mrs. Thompson,
taking look at the sky after turning aside
an edge of the window blind.


A small clock on the mantel-piece
struck ten


''Ten o'clock !-If they re not later than
they were last night the openings over
the red fires spelling the effect of the
transformation scene-and in twelve min