. . ."
The girls walked slowly about among the orange groves and by the
fountain jets. In the distance the chapel bells tolled faint and
sweet. More maidens appeared, and Tennyson's lovely lines were again
represented with such skill, the effect of multitude was so skilfully
managed that the
"Six hundred maidens, clad in purest white,"
appeared really to fill the gardens,
"While the great organ almost burst his pipes,
Groaning for power, and rolling thro' the court
A long melodious thunder to the sound
Of solemn psalms, and silver litanies."
The curtain fell, to rise in a few moments amid a burst of applause.
The Princess herself now appeared for the first time on the little
stage. Nothing could have been more admirable than the grouping of
this tableau. All the pride of mien, of race, of indomitable purpose
was visible on the face of the young girl who acted the part of the
Princess Ida.
"She stood
Among her maidens, higher by the head,
Her back against a pillar."
It was impossible, of course, to represent the tame leopards, but the
maidens who gathered round the Princess prevented this want being
apparent, and Maggie Oliphant's attitude and the expression which
filled her bright eyes left nothing to be desired.
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