uit of dark-brown drilling,
painted from crown to toe with thick white paint to represent the
skeleton of a human being; even the mask that covered the entire head
was perfect as a skull. The illusion was a great success, but it made
one shiver to see the awful thing walking about, the grinning skull
towering over the heads of the tallest. And ever at its side was a red
devil, also tall, and so thin one wondered what held the bones together.
This red thing had a long tail. The devil was Lieutenant Perkins, of
course.

Faye and Doctor Dent were dressed precisely alike, as sailors, the
doctor even wearing a pair of Faye's shoes. They had been very sly about
the twin arrangement, which was really splendid, for they are just about
the same size and have hair very much the same color. But smart as they
were, I recognized Faye at once. The idea of anyone thinking I would not
know him!

We had queens and milkmaids and flower girls galore, and black starry
nights and silvery days, and all sorts of things, many of them very
elegant. My old yellow silk, the two black lace flounces you gave me,
and a real Spanish mantilla that Mrs. Rae happened to have with her,
made a handsome costume for me as a Spanish lady. I wore almost all the
jewelry in the house; every piece of my own small amount and much
of Mrs. Rae's, the nicest of all having been a pair of very large
old-fashioned "hoop" earrings, set all around with brilliants. My comb
was a home product, very showy, but better left to the imagination.

The dancing commenced at nine o'clock, and at twelve supper was served,
when we unmasked, and after supper we danced again and kept on dancing
until five o'clock! Even then a few of us would have been willing
to begin all over, for when again could we have such a ballroom with
perfect floor and such excellent music to dance by? But with the new day
came a new light and all was changed, much like the change of a ballet
with a new calcium light, only ours was not beautifying, but most trying
to tired, painted faces; and seeing each other we decided that we could
not get home too fast. In a few days the hospital will be turned over to
the post-surgeon, and the beautiful ward will be filled with iron
cots and sick soldiers, and instead of delicate perfumes, the odor of
nauseous drugs will pervade every place.

I have been too busy to ride during the past week, but am going out this
afternoon with the chaplain's young daughter, who is a