in the darkness of my trouble, did it need so bitter a baptism as ours
to purify so young a soul?

In an outer room we met Mrs. B---- _en deshabille_, and scarcely so
pretty as at our first meeting, but for her smile, remarkable for its
subtile, evanescent sweetness. At breakfast our host joined us, and,
after laughing at our late predicament and fright, assured me of that
which I have since experienced,--the genuine goodness of the Prince Krom
Lhuang Wongse. Every foreign resident of Bangkok, who at any time has
had friendly acquaintance or business with him, would, I doubt not, join
me in expressions of admiration and regard for one who has maintained
through circumstances so trying and under a system so oppressive an
exemplary reputation for liberality, integrity, justice, and humanity.

Soon after breakfast the Prime Minister's boat, with the slave
interpreter who had questioned me on the steamer, arrived to take us to
his Excellency's palace.

[Illustration: THE PRIME MINISTER.]

In about a quarter of an hour we found ourselves in front of a low
gateway, which opened on a wide courtyard, or "compound," paved with
rough-hewn slabs of stone. A brace of Chinese mandarins of ferocious
aspect, cut in stone and mounted on stone horses, guarded the entrance.
Farther on, a pair of men-at-arms in bass-relief challenged us; and near
these were posted two living sentries, in European costume, but without
shoes. On the left was a pavilion for theatrical entertainments, one
entire wall being covered with scenic pictures. On the right of this
stood the palace of the Prime Minister, displaying a semicircular
_facade_; in the background a range of buildings of considerable extent,