Page:Australian views of England.djvu/118

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I had ever heard before. More wild and meaningless—more the ebullition of sheer animal spirits. I jostled my way in amidst the crush of black gowns. The ladies were still arriving, but within the next fifteen minutes every seat assigned to them appeared to be filled; and the pink and white and green and orange of their summer dresses made a brave display. Jenny Lind appeared to be the favourite of the gods in the upper gallery. But there were repeated cheers for "the lady in pink," and "the lady in green," and, as often as these discriminating calls were made, there were three cheers for "any other lady." The name of Disraeli brought down a thundering cheer, but Jeff Davis and the Southern States were responded to by a still louder. Here and there in the crowd below some unfortunate visitor could ill conceal amongst the moving trenches the offensive gleam of a white hat; he was at once the object of the most boisterous displeasure. One unhappy barbarian, probably a fresh arrival from Australia, had the audacity to shake his white hat in the teeth of the infuriated young gentlemen. Oh, heavens, what a yell the misguided man brought down] This sort of