The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-28

|
rich and picturesque garb of her coun
| try. Another black extinguisher fol
lowed
| waited in the large drawing room
as l had been told to do; and heart
scuffling voices and the froufrou o
silks from the anteroom. When full!
twenty minutes had passed, there en-
tered a short elderly woman in incon
gruous French clothes, leading the DO.
by the hand.
The Pacha's principal wife; hel
son. announced the Circassian il
French.
Next came a dropsical looking, com
| paratively shabbily dressed woman
also in kind of European attire. "Tht
Pacha's second wife" said the Circass.
| sian.
THE Pacha's bride Of six months,
came quickly after that; pretty cir
In pink silk robe decollete; Paris bon
net, with high plumes and flowers, anG
a diamond tiara in front of the bonnet
on the thick hair just above her fore
| head
1t took some time to seat the party No
one cared for tn armchairs that | drew
| forward. The CircasSian at once
popped down on mat upon the floor
She had large dark eyes and change
| full expression, in pleasing contrast to
| the chief wife and the second. The
elder was grim and defiant, the second
wife oppressively apathetic and ugly.
The bride pulled on and off her short
pink kid gloves to display her rings to
me; played with her bracelets and her
jewelled watch, calling attention to the
fact that it "ticked' and was wound
from the handle Il noticed that 1T was
several hours behind the timepiece on
the console table, She patted her
dress with her palm; adjusted her
necklace; fidgeted in her armchair;
pointed with her forednger to objects
in the room, and screamed to the inter-
prefer for explanations of their uses,
etc.
OF course, 1 tried to make my visitors
welcome. But l did not succeed. Cen
orally speaking, my conversation did
not interest them, and sometimes 1t
even displeased, as when | spoke of
meeting the Pacha. Then the first
wife's face flushed darkly. "She Won
ders foreign ladies speak to men," ex-
planned the Crcassian. The girls
French was feeble. I struggled desper-
ately to say pleasant things through
her to my guests, but perhaps she
failed to understand, or perhaps my eff
forts We're altogether mistaken. The
conversation dragged frightfully in any
case
I turned to a beautiful illustrated
book precious gift from an art loving
friend-but the guee:s cared little for
it. Worse; they threatened to spoil it!
The bride attempted to turn a page
with moistened thumb. The second
wife held q beautiful plate hard-pul-
ling it till l thought she must tear it.
l hastily proposed an adjournment to
the Belvedere: but the guests recoiled
in horror when they saw the corkscrew
staircase Moreover, they would not
venture up any stairs without the black
extinguishers. They say they were
very well in there" said the interpre-
ter, pointing to the door we had just
come through; so we returned to bore
each other in the drawing room
The boy began to smoke. This made
me cough. The ,Clrcassian suggested
that he should divert himself on the
balcony; and henceforth he oscillated
between his mothers side and the win
dow
Coffee and sweatmeats came at last
They made a slight break in the tedium.
Having had no success when / tried to
amuse the guests I left off showing
them Bessie's pretty china, photographs
and brc-a- brac. I also left off talking
the Circassian-determin
that they should take their turn at
making conversation"
After pause the second wife with
a very large French fondant in her
MOUTH spoke to the Circassian, who
said to me:
''She wants to know your age"
Next they discussed the answer
among themselves, and then followed
another irksome pause. The silence
was broken only by sounds of sucking
or crunchng sweets and smashing
sugar shells full o: rose and orange |
water. (The boy loved this destructive
Another question came: rs your
cousin still older than your" followed |
by the discussion, in Turkish, Of my |
answer. |
In close succession came: Are you |
married." Are YOU not sorry not to |
be married." 'Are there parrots in |
do you like chocolate bet
ter than any bonbon?" ITS London as
large as Constantinople? "Why don't
you wish to be married?' Should you
say the boy was twelve?" What do
you don't smoke?" would you imag-
ne that the first wife is as old as your
self?" (The decrepit old woman, only
WAS I not professor"
Had I ever heard of indigestion?"
They seemed at last really pleased by
ny having heard of INDIGESTION
Could J. tel them of cure?"
ear my answer, Eat no sweets, take
| great deal of exercise not only an
1oyed, but also offended them. APP
professor" and doctor were
With them Synonymous. My visitors
low Piled me with questions regarding
ailments. These queries fell as fast as
he Circassian could frame them. And
low [ began to feel that being bored
vas not the worst possible infliction.
Two striken hours by the timepiece
II the console table since the party had
ntered the room and no earthly reason