ntured an apology for my
behavior toward her, and Wauna replied, with a frankness that nearly
crushed me:

"We all noticed it, but do not fear a retaliation," she added sweetly.
"We know that you are from a civilization that we look back upon as one
of barbarism."

I acknowledged that if any superciliousness existed in Mizora while I
was there, I must have had it.

The guests departed without refreshments having been served. I explained
the custom of entertainment in my country, which elicited expressions of
astonishment. It would be insulting to offer refreshments of any kind to
a guest between the regular hours for dining, as it would imply a desire
on your part to impair their health. Such was the explanation of what in
my country would be deemed a gross neglect of duty. Their custom was
probably the result of two causes: an enlightened knowledge of the laws
of health, and the extreme cheapness of all luxuries of the table which
the skill of the chemist had made available to every class of people in
the land.

The word "servant" did not exist in the language of Mizora; neither had
they an equivalent for it in the sense in which we understand and use
the word. I could not tell a servant--for I must use the word to be
understood--from a professor in the National College. They were all
highly-educated, refined, lady-like and lovely. Their occupations were
always matters of choice, for, as there was nothing in them to detract
from their social position, they selected the one they knew they had the
ability to fill. Hence those positions _we_ are accustomed to regard as
menial, were there filled by ladies of the highest culture and
refinement; consequently the domestic duties of a Mizora household moved
to their accomplishment with the ease and regularity of fine machinery.

It was long before I could comprehend the dignity they attached to the
humblest vocations. They had one proverb that embraced it all: "Labor is
the necessity of life." I studied this peculiar phase of Mizora life,
and at last comprehended that in this very law of social equality lay
the foundation of their superiority. Their admirable system of adapting
the mind to the vocation in which it was most capable of excelling, and
endowing that with dignity and respect, and, at the same time,
compelling the highest mental culture possible, had produced a nation
in the enjoyment of universal refinement, and a higher order of
intelligence than any yet kno