splendour and discomfort. No one was to be admitted who was not clad in
cloth either of gold or silver, and, while there were to be no intervals
between the dances, a great deal of the accommodation usually reserved
for such revellers as desired rest or refreshment was being converted
into seats to be sold to any who cared to witness a pageant of unwonted
brilliancy. The fact that no one of us had attended a function of this
sort for more than five years, and the excellence of the cause on behalf
of which it was being promoted, were responsible for our inclination to
take the tickets, for, with the exception of Jill, we were not eager to
subscribe to an entertainment which it was not at all certain we should
enjoy.

At length--

"I suppose we'd better take the tickets," I said reflectively. "If we
don't want to go, we needn't use them."

"Oh, we must use them," said Daphne; "and we've got nothing on on
Wednesday, as far as I can see."

Berry cleared his throat.

"It is patent," he said, "that my personal convenience is of no
consideration. But let that pass. I have no objection to setting, as it
were, the seal of success upon the ball in question, provided that my
costume buttons in front, and has not less than two pockets which are at
once accessible and of a reasonable capacity. I dare say they weren't
fashionable in the fourteenth century. No doubt our forefathers thought
it a scream to keep their handkerchiefs in their boots or the seat of
their trousers. But I'm funny like that. Last time I had to give the