uarter
Irish and Spanish and Scotch) took possession of my hand;
and, on the most approved Tom Sayers principles, I took his,
on which--thanks to some rings I had--I made a cutting
impression. This would-be great smiter ended the combat with
a certain amount of abuse, of which--to do him justice--he
is a perfect master. _Sic transit gloria_ SHIPLEY! Alas,
poor Yorick!"

[Illustration: _Lola Montez, in "Lola in Bavaria." A "Play with a
Purpose"_]

The atmosphere of Grass Valley could scarcely be described as
tranquil. Its surface was always being ruffled; and it was not long
before Lola was again embroiled in a collision with one of her
neighbours. This time she had a passage at arms with a Methodist
minister in the camp, the Rev. Mr. Wilson, who, with a sad lack of
Christian charity, informed his flock that this new member among them
was "a feminine devil devoid of shame, and that the 'Spider Dance' in
her repertoire was an outrage." There were limits to clerical
criticism. This was clearly one of them. As she could not take her
whip to a clergyman, she took herself. "Resolved to teach the Rev.
Wilson a lesson, she called on him in her dancing dress, while he was
conducting a confirmation class."

"Without," says a member of the gathering, "any preliminaries beyond
saying 'Good afternoon,' she proceeded to execute the dance before the
astonished gaze of the company. Then turning to the minister, she
said, 'The next time you think fit to make me and this dance a subject
for a pulpit discourse, perhaps you will know better what you are
talking about.' She then took her departure, before the reverend
gentleman could sufficiently collect his senses to say or do
anything."

But, notwithstanding these breaks in its monotony, Lola felt that she
was not really adapted to the routine of Grass Valley. Once more, the
theatre called her. Answering the call, she went back to it. But on
the return journey she did not take Patrick Hull. She also shed the
name he had given her, and resumed that of Countess of Landsfeld.

"It looks better on the bills," she said, when she discussed plans for
a prospective tour.

The _Grass Valley Telegraph_ gave her a good "send off" in a fulsome
column; and the miners presented her with a "farewell gift" in the
form of a nugget. "Rough, like ourselves," said their spokesman, "but
the genuine article."

CHAPTER XV

"DOWN UNDER"

I

This time Lo