(not unnaturally irritated by such
conduct) proposed, through us, to cancel their agreements on
reasonable terms, they insisted on the fulfilment of the
contract which they themselves had been the first to break,
and made claims upon her amounting to about L12,000. This
_moderate_ demand being very properly refused by our client,
they secured an order for her arrest in respect of a number
of separate actions. Only one of these (a claim for L100)
was lodged in time for a warrant to be issued. When,
furnished with this, Mr. Brown, the sheriff's officer,
appeared on board the steamer, Madam tendered him L500,
which, however, he refused to accept, insisting that she
should also settle the various other claims for which he did
not have warrants. Our client refused to leave the vessel,
for which refusal, we, as her solicitors, are quite willing
to accept responsibility."

The fact that there was talk of instituting proceedings against the
captain of the steamer and his subordinates led the solicitors to add
a postscript:

"Those who governed the movements of the _Watarah_ are ready
to answer for their conduct. They saw a lady threatened with
arrest at the last moment for a most unjust claim, tendering
five times the amount demanded, and having that offer
refused. Hence, they did not feel called upon to interfere."

Another account of the episode is a little different. This declares
that, just before starting from Sydney, she "dismissed with a
blessing" two members of the company. As they wanted something more
easily negotiable, they issued a writ of attachment. When the
sheriff's officer attempted to serve it: "Madame Lola, ever ready for
the fray, retired to her cabin and sent word that she was quite naked,
but that the sheriff could come and take her if he wanted to." An
embarrassing predicament; and, unprepared to grapple with it, "Poor
Mr. Brown blushed and retired amid roars of laughter."

Having thus got the better of the Sydney lawyers, and filled up the
vacancies in her company with fresh and more amenable recruits, Lola
reached the Victorian capital without further adventure. A picture of
the city, as it was when she landed there, is given by a contemporary
author:

"Melbourne is splendid. Fine wide streets, finer and wider
than almost any in London, stretch away for miles in every
direction. At