The herald., 1895-09-01

! midst of beautiful gardens. At the door a
| gorgeous fiunky receives the children ant
escorts them into an ante-room, where two
| of the Queens maids of honor inspect the
| little debutantes. This is merely a matter
of form, for it rarely happens that any one
| OF the little girls receives anything more
severe than a smile of encouragement.
| was a little frightened as we entered the
palace and was surprised to see the self
possession shown by most of the Greek child
ren. l suppose they were more accustomed
than / to the idea of being ushered in before
genuine king and queen.
The large BAH room used on this occasion
is in the interior of the palace. IL is an i'm
mense room with a ceiling like the dome OF
q cathedral. The walls are beautifully fres-
length of the sides At one end is a raised
platform on which, as we came in, We're
seated the Royal family, conyersipg with
various ambassadors in full dress.
The king and queen sat in chairs, covered
with canopies. Presently the master of
ceremonies, no other than one OF the cabinet
ministers. gave a signal and the royal or
chestra struck up the opening polka which
is favorite dance among the Greeks. I'M
mediately there was a, great clanking Of
spurs and swords as the officers came for
ward to ask the little ladies and their older
sisters to dance Many Of these officers are
present every year, some coming from the
ships stationed near Athens, but most Of
them belonging to the standing army. You
can imagine how proud the little girls are to
be led out by one of these splendid men in
uniforms brilliant with silver bands and
cordons. And now you see why l thought
the little Greek boys did not have as good a
time as their sisters
Although l had learned to dance very
nicely IN America had great trouble at this
ball, not because the steps were difficult.
they we're just the same as ours. but because
of the way they danced them. For instance
in the waltz they only turn one way, and
never reverse, and they turn about three
times as fast as we do. The result was 1
soon got very dizzy, and once or twice
nearly fell to the floor. The little Greek
girls, however, did not seem to mind bit
and whirled about perfectly happy. With
them dancing is a second nature and they
seem to know the most difficult steps in
stinctively from babyhood. Besides that
they have private dancing masters to make
them perfect in all the movements.
A charming scene 1t was as all these black
haired. dark-eyed little gentlemen and ladies
whirled about to the inspiring music,
while King George, Queen Olga,
and all the grand people of the Court
looked on in smiling approval. There are
very few fair haired girls in Athens. child
with golden curls being regarded almost as a
curiosity. Many of the girls are pretty, and
all of them are graceful, but they are sure to
grow up stout ike their mothers, and to fade
while tney are yet young. Most of them are
clever linguists. speaking French and other
languages fluently, but few Of them, or even
OF their parents. can read the ancient Greek.
which is very different from that spoken to-
day.
While the children dance the King con-
versed with his Ministers or with guests of
Importance aud the queen sat in the midst of
the ladies of the Court. often pausing in her
talk to bestow q smile or kind word upon
some little child who would never forget this
mark of favor. King George, being a Ger
man by birth, and consequently fair, does
not look at all like Greek. On this occasion
he wore his cavalry uniform which was
almost completely covered with stars and
crosses.
Neither King or Queen took part in
the dance, but the Princes and Princess
es did, and seemed to enjoy the Ball
as much as any of the children.
OF course they had to pay strict
attention to the rules of etiquette in choosing
their partners, only the members of distin-