At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the
Wattle Tree Hotel, and each had a glass of brandy, after which
Pierre went to his bed, and Vandeloup, humming a gay song, turned on
his heel and went to the theatre.
CHAPTER XIII
A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA
'AH!' says Thackeray, pathetically, 'Prague is a pleasant city, but
we all lose our way to it late in life.'
The Wopples family were true Bohemians, and had not yet lost their
way to the pleasant city. They accepted good and bad fortune with
wonderful equanimity, and if their pockets were empty one day, there
was always a possibility of their being full the next. When this was
the case they generally celebrated the event by a little supper, and
as their present season in Ballarat bid fair to be a successful one,
Mr Theodore Wopples determined to have a convivial evening after the
performance was over.
That the Wopples family were favourites with the Ballarat folk was
amply seen by the crowded house which assembled to see 'The Cruet
Stand'. The audience were very impatient for the curtain to rise, as
they did not appreciate the overture, which consisted of airs from
'La Mascotte', adapted for the violin and piano by Mr Handel
Wopples, who was the musical genius of the family, and sat in the
conductor's seat, playing the violin and conducting the orchestra of
one, which on this occasion was Miss Jemima Wopples, who presided at
the piano.
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