r turned down over a lapelled coat,
richly worked shirt front, black hat, French unmentionables,
and natty polished boots with spurs. She carried in her hand
a riding-whip.... An impertinent American,
presuming--perhaps not unnaturally--upon her reputation,
laid hold jestingly of the tails of her long coat; and, as a
lesson, received a cut across his face that must have marked
him for some days. I did not wait to see the row that
followed, and was glad when the wretched woman rode off on
the following morning.

Russell was not a fellow-passenger in the ship by which Lola
travelled. Somebody else, however, who did happen to be one, gives a
very different description of her conduct on the journey:

"We had not been at sea one day," says Mrs. Knapp, "before all the
saloon occupants were charmed by this lovely young woman. Her vivacity
was infectious, and her _abandon_ was always of a specially airy
refinement."

The arrival of Lola Montez at San Francisco would have eclipsed that
of any Hollywood heroine of the present era. A vast crowd, headed by
the City Fathers, "in full regalia," gathered at the quay. Flags
decked the public buildings; guns fired a salute; bands played; and
the schoolchildren were assembled to strew her path with flowers as
she stepped down the gangway; and, "to the accompaniment of ringing
cheers," the horses were taken from her carriage, which was dragged by
eager hands through the streets to her hotel. "The Countess
acknowledged the reception accorded her with a graceful inclination."

"What if Europe has exiled her?" demanded an editorial. "This is of no
consequence. After all, she is Lola Montez, acknowledged Mistress of
Kings! She is beautiful above other women; she is gorgeous; she is
irresistible; and we are genuinely proud to welcome her."

Enveloped in legend, the reputation of the newcomer for "eccentricity"
had preceded her. She lived up to this reputation, too, for, when the
spirit moved her (and it did so quite often), she would dance in the
beer gardens "for fun"; she had her hair cut short, when other women
were affecting chignons; and--wonder of wonders--she would "actually
smoke cigarettes in public." Clearly, a trifle ahead of her period.

By the way, while she was in San Francisco, Lola is said to have
renewed her acquaintance with the mysterious Jean Francois Montez,
who, during the interval since they last met, had turned over a