260.—A PRIMA DONNA'S PETS.
The operatic ladies with high voices and higher salaries are credited with having more whims and peculiarities than other mortals. But along with them must be ranked the gentlemen with the high "C." The prime donne and the primi tenori are the plague of the operatic manager's life.
Nearly all of the great sopranos and contraltos have some pet animal that they continually carry with them and on which they lavish their surplus affection. It may be a parrot, a dog, or a monkey, but all the same, it must have the best of care and accommodations.
Generally the ladies are satisfied with one or two traveling companions of the animal kind, but Ilma di Murska was not content with less than a number which would be considered a fair start for a zoological garden. First, there was an immense Newfoundland, who regularly had his plate placed at the prima donna's table and dined at her side.
Then there was a monkey; and in order that the proverbial "time" could be had, there were also two parrots. The last member of the aggregation was an Angora cat, and it was between this long-haired beauty and the monkey that the enmity was greatest. The expression "to make the fur fly" could literally be applied to di Murska's caravan. But in spite of the annoyance, the expense, and the trouble with hotelkeepers, she was willing to have it all rather than part, even temporarily, with one of her beloved pets.