A well-matched couple, evidently, from what I learned from my comedian, never embarrassed, very wide awake, content with his lot, liking nothing so much as the theater--above all the provincial theater--where he and his wife had played in drama, vaudeville, comedy, operetta, opera comique, opera, spectacle, pantomime, happy in the entertainment which began at five o'clock in the afternoon and ended at one o'clock in the morning, in the grand theaters of the chief cities, in the saloon of the mayor, in the barn of the village, without boots, without patches, without orchestra, sometimes even without spectators--thus saving the return of the money--professionals fit for anything, no matter what.
As a Parisian, Caterna must have been the wag of the forecastle when he was at sea.

As clever with his instrument of brass or wood, he possessed a most varied and complete assortment of jokes, songs, monologues, and dialogues.

This he told me with an immense amount of attitude and gesture, now here, now there, legs, arms, hands, and feet all going together.

I should never feel dull in the company of such a merry companion.
"And where were you before you left France ?" I asked.
"At La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, where Madame Caterna achieved a genuine success as Elsa in 'Lohengrin,' which we played without music.

But it is an interesting piece, and it was well done." "You must have been a good deal about the world, Monsieur Caterna ?" "I believe you; Russia, England, both Americas.