he latest fashion, in long gloves and silk
stockings. Instead of turbans, plumed hats and bouquets adorned the
magnificent masses of their curled and frizzled locks. They moved
about with bare shoulders and bosoms, in soft wavy dresses, with fans
painted over with butterflies, freely laughing and jesting in this, to
them, newest of worlds, and the only thing that differentiated this
ball from our dancing entertainments was the absence of the darker
portion of the show--the masculine element.

There were only four representatives of this _sombre nuance_--to wit,
the Sultan, the heir to the throne, the Kizlar-Agasi, and the Anaktar
Bey. Of these four, two were no longer and two were not yet men. All
four were dressed in stiff Hungarian dolmans, long black pantaloons,
and red fezes. The Sultan, with his thick-set figure, would have
passed very well for a substantial Hungarian deputy-lord-lieutenant,
with his tight-fitting, bulging dolman buttoned right up to his chin.
The young prince's elegant figure, on the other hand, was brought into
strong relief by his well-made suit; his hair was nicely curled on
both sides, and his genteel white shirt was visible beneath his open
dolman. The Kizlar-Agasi, on the contrary, cut a very amusing figure
in his unwonted garb. He was constantly endeavoring to thrust his hand
into his girdle, and only thus perceived that he had none, and he kept
on holding down the tails of his coat, as if he felt ashamed that they
might not reach low enough to cover him decently.

The Sultana Valideh was favorably surprised. The spectacle brought
back to her her childish years, and she gratefully pressed her son to
her bosom for this delicate attention, while he respectfully kissed
his mother's hands. The Sultan scattered his love among a great many
women, but his mother alone could boast of possessing his respect.

The odalisks surrounded the good Sultan, rejoicing and caressing him.
He was never severe to any of them--nay, rather, he was the champion,
the defender of them all, and those whom he loved might be quite sure
that his affection would be constant.

Every one tried to please the Sultana Valideh by showing her their new
garments, but none of them found such favor in her eyes as the new
flower, which had only recently been introduced into the Seraglio,
and was now the foremost of them all, the beautiful Circassian damsel.
Her light step, the dove-like droop of her neck, the charm of her
full,