IN THE STATE OF DENMARK 177 



that we had sought. The rain had at length ceased, 

 leaving the air foggy and still. Beyond the bridge, 

 from beneath a group of dripping beeeli trees, we 

 looked back to the dim grey-and-red eastle ; its 

 many spires and dormers dreamed in the grey sky; 

 it had all the refinement and romance of a chateau 

 in a French fairy tale, and absolutely none of the 

 stark severity that belongs by convention to Scandi- 

 navian royalty. How an impious comparison with 

 the Kensington workliouse originated, I cannot say, 

 but as we turned away towards the station it was 

 present with us. 



Who can hold a fire in his hand by thinking on the 

 frosty Caucasus ? The heat that rose up that night 

 from the pit of the " Nationale " music-hall seemed 

 to concentrate itself more especially in our corner 

 box, when w^e remembered the damp wind that had 

 circled in the void of Hillrod station. The theatre 

 was as full as it could hold ; top gallery and dress 

 circle overflowing into the corridors, while the pit 

 clattered with cups and plates in the steaming ardour 

 of a miiversal high tea, and the tobacco smoke dimmed 

 all things. Family parties of the most solid respect- 

 ability sat at tables and consumed tea, cold meats 

 and confectionery, while, on the stage, other family 

 parties enjoyed themselves less tranquilly on tight- 

 ropes; knockabout artistes were feverishly and 

 desperately funny; and elderly ladies, in tights and 

 two or three coats of paint, danced with creditable 

 activity. If a regular attendance at music-halls is 

 considered fast and fashionable, then, as Falstaff 

 said, God help the wicked. We can but proffer the 

 gilded youth our profoundest sympathy if these are 

 a customary part of his amusements. Here, indeed, 

 the gilded youth was in the minority. Middle-aged 

 matrons raised placid eyes to the stage, while their 



