Arabella looked very demure as a little Puritan, and really, Patricia's
showy Spanish costume was becoming. There were many more guests, and
all were in beautiful costumes. The room was alive with color, and when,
later, they danced to merry music, it seemed, indeed, a joyous carnival.

The games came next, and how they played! And of all the games they
found one very old one to be the most delightful. Some one asked if they
might play it, and thus it happened that the king announced that the
next would be "A Journey to Nubia."

The maids entered, and quickly placed two rows of chairs, back to back,
down the centre of the room, placing _one less_ chair than there were
children.

When the music sounded they were to march around and around the rows of
chairs, but when the music should stop abruptly, they must rush to get
a seat. The one child who would be left standing must pay a forfeit.

A stirring march was played, and the children walked around the chairs,
and every time that they came to the end of the line they paused,
believing that the music would cease, but the musicians played on and
on. The laughing children marched gaily, when, in the middle of a lively
strain, the music stopped, and they rushed for seats.

It was Nancy who found no chair, and she knew that she must pay a
forfeit.

"What shall I do?" she asked, and Russell, who liked Nancy, asked if he
might set the task for her.