r critic adds: "She is trying to trouble father as much as
possible."

Lola certainly was apt to "trouble" people with whom she came into
contact. As an accepted "star," she had a high sense of her own
importance and considered herself above mere rules. Once, when
travelling from Niagara to Buffalo by train, she elected to sit in the
baggage car and puff a cigarette. "While," says a report, "thus
cosily ensconced, she was discovered by the conductor and promptly
informed by him that such behaviour was not permitted. Thereupon,
Madame replied that it was her custom to travel where and how she
pleased, and that she had frequently horse-whipped much bigger men
than the conductor. This settled the matter, for the company's officer
did not care to challenge the tigress."

The visit to Buffalo was crowned with success. "Lola Montez," declared
the _Troy Budget_, "has done what Mrs. McMahon failed to
accomplish--she positively charmed the Buffaloes. This can perhaps be
attributed to her judicious choice of the ex-Reverend Chauncey Burr,
by whom she is accompanied on her tour in the capacity of
business-manager."

The choice of an "ex-Reverend" to conduct a theatrical tour seems,
perhaps, a little odd. Still, as Lola once remarked: "It is a common
enough thing in America for a bankrupt tradesman or broken-down jockey
to become a lawyer, a doctor, or even a parson." Hence, from the
pulpit to the footlights was no great step.

CHAPTER XIV

THE "GOLDEN WEST"

I

As this was before the days when actresses in search of publicity
announce that they are _not_ going to Hollywood, Lola had to hit on a
fresh expedient to keep her name in the news. Ever fertile of
resource, the one she now adopted was to give out that this would be
her "positively last appearance, as she was abandoning the stage and
becoming a nun." The scheme worked, and the box-office coffers were
filled afresh. But Lola did not take the veil. Instead, she took a
trip to California, sailing by the Isthmus route in the summer of
1853.

A ridiculous book, _The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole_, with an
introductory puff by a windbag, W. H. Russell, has a reference to this
project:

Came one day Lola Montez, in the full zenith of her evil
fame, bound for California, with a strange suite. A
good-looking, bold woman, with fine, bad eyes and a
determined bearing; dressed ostentatiously in perfect male
attire, with shirt colla