"
"I will wager--"
"Hush! This is a charity dance; no one makes wagers at such affairs."
"But--Why, my goodness! there's my Jesuit now!" And to my intense
relief she dashed away.
I carefully observed the Jesuit, and made up my mind to keep an eye
upon him. If he really possessed the ten of hearts, the man who kept
tally on the cardboard was doing some tall thinking about this time. I
glided away, into the gorgeous ball-room.
What a vision greeted my eye! The decorations were in red and yellow,
and it seemed as though perpetual autumnal sunset lay over everything.
At the far end of the room was a small stage hidden behind palms and
giant ferns. The band was just striking up _A Summer Night in Munich_,
and a wonderful kaleidoscope revolved around me. I saw Cavaliers and
Roundheads, Puritans and Beelzebubs, Musketeers, fools, cowboys,
Indians, kings and princes; queens and empresses, fairies and Quaker
maids, white and black and red and green dominoes. Tom Fool's night,
indeed!
Presently I saw the noble Doge of Venice coming my way. From his
portly carriage I reasoned that if he wasn't in the gold-book of Venice
he stood very well up in the gold-book of New York, He stopped at my
side and struck an attitude.
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