allowed
in Bayreuth to show any sign of approval (or the contrary) until the
curtain falls on the last act of the last performance. Then the public
calls the artists out _en masse_. Parsifal came with the others, and
looked more like an Arab beggar than anything resembling a Parsifal.
Madame Nordica took her _fiance_ off the next day. She received from
Madame Cosirna a lace fan, with thanks, for her exertions during the
Bayreuth season, but she was repaid enough by the satisfaction of
seeing her _fiance_ make his _debut_, his first and last appearance, I
fancy.

They went to Nuremberg the next day and had rooms near ours. We could
hear her trilling with joy during their dinner duets, and when I went
to see her in her apartment the Conquering Hero told stories about
himself which I accepted at a fifty-per-cent. discount. Madame Nordica
has certainly the loveliest of voices. What a pity the tenor of her
life should not have a better chance to run smooth, for run smooth it
will not with such a _Thor_ in her possession.

STOCKHOLM, _June, 1894_.

Dear L.,--You will wonder why you have not heard from me for such a
long time, but we have just returned from a trip to Norway. You know J.
is accredited there as well as in Sweden, and he has to put in an
occasional appearance, and we thought while he was putting that in we
would put ours in with it. Our party included Nina and Frederick.

For five days we careened over mountains and dales, driving, sailing,
riding Norwegian ponies, and always enjoying ourselves to the utmost.
One who has not seen the Norwegian _fjords_ does not know how beautiful
and picturesque the scenery is. You must come some day and see it for
yourself.

We reached Bergen the 24th of June, the longest day of the year. There
is no question of its being really dark, only between 1 and 2 A.M. you
cannot see to read. It is a lovely time to travel, because you can
travel the whole twenty-four hours.

Bergen is a very pretty town, with clean streets and nice shops. The
jewelry, silver, and fur shops are really quite wonderful, but--there
is always a thorn to every rose--the smell of fish pervades the town.
Go where you will, you cannot escape it. You don't wonder at this when
you visit the fish-markets and see the monsters which are brought out
of the deep every morning. They look like small whales.

Nina and I, with the energy of the American woman who knows what she
wants and knows how to get it, were