is hidden with latticed bloom and bud; and yellow acacias and scarlet
passion-flowers and a great white orchid with a honeyed breath
encircle the fern-filled basin where a fountain plays. The murmur of
music, the wealth of perfume, make the atmosphere an enchantment. A
crowd of gorgeous hues and tissues, bare bosoms and blazing jewels,
ascend and descend the stairs: here are women the fame of whose beauty
is world-wide, wearing lace whose intricate design, over the pale
shimmer of some perfectly tinted silk beneath, represents the labor of
a lifetime, wearing necklaces and tiaras of diamonds, where the great
stones set in a frosty floral splendor seem to throb with a spirit
of their own. There of course is the President; yonder is the
Chief-Justice; here again the general of all our armies; here flash
the glittering insignia of soldiers, here the fantastic array of
diplomats; down one vista the dancers float through their mazes, down
another shine the crystal and gold and silver of the tables red with
burgundy and bordeaux, tempting with terrapin and truffle, with spiced
meats and salads, pastries, confections and fruits; and close by is
the punch-room. You have your choice of the frozen article, or of that
claret concoction to hold whose glowing ruby a bowl has been hollowed
in the ice itself, or of the champagne punch, where to every litre of
the champagne a litre of brandy, a litre of red rum, a litre of green
tea, are given, and where you see a flushed and fevered damsel dipping
the ladle and tossing off her jorum as coolly as though she had not
had her three wines at dinner that day, and had not, in half the
houses of her dozen morning calls, sipped her sherry or set down her
little punch-glass empty of its delicious mixture of old spirits and
fermenting fruit-juices. Perhaps that sight sets you to thinking. You
may have been attracted earlier in the night by her delicate toilette
and her face pure as a pearl: you saw her later, warm from the dance,
eating and drinking in the supper-room: then her partner's arm was