hat Capitan Tiago's house had undergone was
considerable--it had been richly repapered, while the smoke and
the smell of opium had been completely eradicated. The immense
sala, widened still more by the colossal mirrors that infinitely
multiplied the lights of the chandeliers, was carpeted throughout,
for the salons of Europe had carpets, and even though the floor
was of wide boards brilliantly polished, a carpet it must have too,
since nothing should be lacking. The rich furniture of Capitan Tiago
had disappeared and in its place was to be seen another kind, in the
style of Louis XV. Heavy curtains of red velvet, trimmed with gold,
with the initials of the bridal couple worked on them, and upheld by
garlands of artificial orange-blossoms, hung as portieres and swept
the floor with their wide fringes, likewise of gold. In the corners
appeared enormous Japanese vases, alternating with those of Sevres
of a clear dark-blue, placed upon square pedestals of carved wood.

The only decorations not in good taste were the screaming chromos
which Don Timoteo had substituted for the old drawings and pictures
of saints of Capitan Tiago. Simoun had been unable to dissuade him,
for the merchant did not want oil-paintings--some one might ascribe
them to Filipino artists! He, a patron of Filipino artists, never! On
that point depended his peace of mind and perhaps his life, and he
knew how to get along in the Philippines! It is true that he had heard
foreign painters mentioned--Raphael, Murillo, Velasquez--but he did
not know their addresses, and then they might prove to be somewhat
seditious. With the chromos he ran no risk, as the Filipinos did not
make them, they came cheaper, the effect was the same, if not better,
the colors brighter and the execution very fine. Don't say that Don
Timoteo did not know how to comport himself in the Philippines!

The large hallway was decorated with flowers, having been converted
into a dining-room, with a long table for thirty persons in the center,
and around the sides, pushed against the walls, other smaller ones for
two or three persons each. Bouquets of flowers, pyramids of fruits
among ribbons and lights, covered their centers. The groom's place
was designated by a bunch of roses and the bride's by another of
orange-blossoms and tuberoses. In the presence of so much finery and
flowers one could imagine that nymphs in gauzy garments and Cupids
with iridescent wings were going to serve nectar a