And
the one hundred and fifty lucky ladies were conspicuous in the front
of the gallery to-day, having been admitted before the doors for
students and other males were open.
"The hour appointed for letting them in was kept precisely--it was
half-past one P.M., but an hour before it, despite occasional
showers of rain, a crowd had begun to gather at the front door of
the music-hall, and at the opening of the door it had gathered to
proportions sufficient to half fill the building, its capacity under
severe crushing being about two thousand.
"When the door was opened, they rushed in as crowds of young men
only can and dare rush, and up the double stairs they streamed like
a torrent; which torrent, however, policemen and check-gates soon
moderated. I chanced to fall into a lucky current of the crowd, and
got in amongst the first two or three hundred, and got forward to the
fourth seat from the platform, as good a place for seeing and hearing
as any.
"The proceedings of the day were fixed to commence at two P.M., and
the half-hour of waiting was filled up by the students in throwing
occasional volleys of peas, whistling _en masse_ various lively tunes,
and in clambering, like small escalading parties, on to and over the
platform to take advantage of the seats in the organ gallery behind.
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