"MY DEAR SIR ARTHUR I WISH VERY MUCH YOU WOULD GO."

THE

CORNHILL MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1883.

The Siege of London.*

IN TWO PARTS.

PART I.

I.

THAT solemn piece of upholstery, the curtain of the Comédie Française, had fallen upon the first act of the piece, and our two Americans had taken advantage of the interval to pass out of the huge, hot theatre, in company with the other occupants of the stalls. But they were among the first to return, and they beguiled the rest of the intermission with looking at the house, which had lately been cleansed of its historic cobwebs and ornamented with frescoes illustrative

of the classic drama. In the month of September the audience at the Théâtre Français is comparatively thin, and on this occasion the

Copyrighted in the United States by H, James, jun., 1882.

VOL. XLVII.-NO. 277.

1.