ngs; and that
opened into a big, square, glassed-over garden, with a great marble
fountain playing in the middle. I never saw such a wonderful place in
my life, but until I got used to it, I couldn't help feeling that it
was more like a splendid foreign hotel, than a mere house. The garden
isn't a real garden, when you come to examine it, for it's paved with
rare stones of different colours, like the jewels in Aladdin's Cave;
but all round the fountain beautiful flowers are growing, and pink and
white water lilies float in the marble basin. There are orange trees in
pots, and a forest of tall palms, all of which are reflected and
repeated over and over again in the mirrors of which the walls are
made; and on the little tables standing about here and there among
groups of inlaid chairs are bowls overflowing with roses. The roof is a
skylight, over which creepers have been trained, so that the light
which filters through is a lovely green. No doors are visible at first
glance, but when you are initiated, all you have to do is to walk up to
the mirror-wall, find a gold button, press it, and a door opens into a
room as marvellous as the fountain court, round which, it seems, all
the rest of the house is built.

"We'll have something to drink here," said Mrs. Ess Kay, "before we
take off our things." So we all sat down, among the palms and orange
blossoms, and a delicious sense of peace after storm stole over us with
the coolness and the green dusk, and the perfume of flowers.

I supposed that "something to drink" at this time of day meant tea; but
almost immediately a footman came through the glass wall, carrying a
tray with nothing on it except tall tumblers. There were straws
sticking out of the tumblers, and as the man moved, I could hear a
faint tinkle of ice.

For a minute, I was bitterly disappointed, because the thought of tea
had supported me for hours. But when I tasted the stuff in my glass I
wasn't disappointed any longer. It had two or three strawberries, some
bits of pineapple, and a white grape bobbing about on top, and it was
full of chopped ice. I don't know what it was, for nobody mentioned
it's name, and I was ashamed to ask, lest it might seem too ignorant;
but it was good, and tasted as if it might have a little wine in it,
mixed with fizzy water and other things. When I had drunk mine, I felt
a different girl; quite merry, and so friendly towards Mrs. Ess Kay. I
had never thought her such a nice woma