CHAPTERI
PHELLION，UNDERANEWASPECT
BetweenthefirstandsecondpartsofthishistoryanimmenseeventhadtakenplaceinthelifeofPhellion。
ThereisnoonewhohasnotheardofthemisfortunesoftheOdeon，thatfataltheatrewhich，foryears，ruinedallitsdirectors。Rightorwrong，thequarterinwhichthisdramaticimpossibilitystandsisconvincedthatitsprosperitydependsuponit；sothatmorethanoncethemayorandotherauthoritiesofthearrondissementhave，withacouragethathonorsthem，takenpartinthemostdesperateeffortstogalvanizethecorpse。
Nowtomeddlewiththeatricalmattersisoneoftheeternallyperennialambitionsofthelesserbourgeoisie。Always，therefore，thesuccessivesavioursoftheOdeonfeelthemselvesmagnificentlyrewardediftheyaregiveneversosmallashareintheadministrationofthatenterprise。ItwasatsomecrisisinitsaffairsthatMinard，inhiscapacityasmayorofthe11tharrondissement，hadbeencalledtothechairmanshipofthecommitteeforreadingplays，withthepowertojoinuntohimselfasassistantsacertainnumberofthenotablesoftheLatinquarter，——theselectionbeinglefttohim。