This particular wedding trip takes one through a singularly level and uninteresting country. There are a few merry moments--as when a hazy suggestion of genuinely funny plot is seen in the distance, or when an occasional haunting tune is heard afar off. But most of the trip is much less enjoyable than we expected with an escort like Mr. De Koven.

The "book" deals with the adventures of newly married Felix, who is singularly bashful and much afraid of bandits. Through a characteristically comic opera-esque chain of circumstances, he is forced to impersonate his soldier brother who is leading an expedition against the robbers. Needless to say all tangles are straightened out in the fifty seconds before the final curtain.

The opera suffers from three things. A comedian or Mr. Powers's or Mr. Daniels's type should have the part of Felix; Mr. McCloskey sings well but his humor is rather disappointing. The thing which provoked the heartiest laughter was his unintentional tripping over his sword and his sudden descent upon the leading lady, who was expecting an embrace and not a flying tackle.

The book might be "English 47-ized" to great advantage. The first and third acts are decidedly weak, even for comic opera, and the situation in Act II when Felix is surrounded by wives and applicants for position is rather ineffective. The music, decidedly interesting in places, lacks the rhythm is essential to popularity. But possibly this is a virtue not a vice.

Mention must be made, however, of the unusually good singing in the opera. Mr. Martindel repeats the success he made in "Naughty Marietta"; the other soloists, though inferior to him, are decidedly above the usual musical comedy level.

Altogether a comic opera of originally great possibilities and present occasional merit.