It was one of the happiest moments of his life.
A shrieking voice issued from the deserted heights of the third galleries, sounding through the house like the whistle of a locomotive.
"One can't hear a word you say, my children; speak louder and pronounce your words distinctly!"
The author appeared, infinitely small, in the shadow of the dome.
Thereupon the utterance of the players who were collected at the front of the stage, around a naphtha flare, rose more distinctly:
"The Emperor will allow the troops to rest for some weeks at Moscow; then with the rapidity of an eagle he will swoop down upon St. Petersburg."
"Spades, clubs, trump, two points to me."
"There we shall spend the winter, and next spring we shall penetrate into India, crossing Persia, and the British power will be a thing of the past."
"Thirty-six in diamonds."
"And I the four aces."