it England until another twenty years had
passed.

III

After Melbourne, the next step in Lola's itinerary was Geelong. The
programme she offered there was a generous one, for it included a
"Stirring drama, entitled, _Maidens, Beware!_ and the elegant and
successful comedy, _The Eton Boy_," to which were added a "sparkling
comedietta" and a "laughable farce." This was good value. The Geelong
critic, however, did not think very much of the principal item in this
bill. "It has," he observed solemnly, "an impossible plot, with
situations and sentiments quite beyond the understanding of us
barbarians."

This supercilious attitude was not shared by the simple-minded
diggers, who found _Maidens, Beware!_ very much to their taste. But
nothing else could have been expected, for it offered good measure of
all the elements that ensure success every time they are employed.
Thus, the hero is wrongfully charged with a series of offences
committed by the villain; a comic servant unravels the plot when it
becomes intricate; and the heroine only avoids "something worse than
death" by proving that a baronet, "paying unwelcome addresses," (but
nothing else) has forged a will.

Having a partiality for the society of diggers, with whom she had
always got on well, Lola next betook herself to Ballarat. It was an
unpropitious moment for a theatrical venture in that part of the
world. The atmosphere was somewhat unsettled. The broad arrows and
ticket-of-leave contingent who made up a large section of the
community were clamouring for a republic; and there was a considerable
amount of rioting. A rebel flag had been run up by the mob; and the
military had to be called out to suppress the activities of the
"Ballarat Reform League." Still, Lola was not the woman to run away
from danger. As she had told a Sydney audience, she "rather liked a
good row."

The coming of Lola Montez to Ballarat was heralded by a preliminary
paragraph:

"Our readers will be pleased to learn that the
world-renowned Lola, a lady who has had Kings at her beck,
and who has caused nearly as much upheaval in the world as
Helen of Troy, is about to appear among us. On leaving
Melbourne by coach, she presented the booking clerk with an
autographed copy of a work by the famous Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stowe. Young gentlemen of Ballarat, look out for
your hearts! Havoc will assuredly be played among them."

Her colourful career at