Second's
court was flirting with Rob Roy; a lady in the wonderful ruff
of Elizabeth's time talked with a Roman toga; a Franciscan
monk with bare feet gesticulated in front of a Swiss maiden;
as the Witch of Endor sauntered through the rooms on the arm
of nobody knew exactly what countryman.

'Your prejudices must be very often shocked here,' said the
countryman with a smothered tone of laughter again. 'Or, I beg
pardon!--has a witch any prejudices, seeing she can have no
gravity?'

'What does prejudice mean in your country?'

'Much the same, I am afraid, that it does elsewhere. What are
we coming to?'

Passing slowly through the rooms, they had arrived at the
great saloon, at one end of which large folding doors opened
into another and smaller apartment. This smaller room was hung
with green baize; candelabra shed gentle light upon it from
within the doors, so placed as not to be seen from the
principal room; and over the folding doors was hung a hick red
curtain; rolled up now.

'What is all this?'

'O, if you wait a while,' said the witch, 'you will see
further transformations--that is all.'

'And what is _this_ for?' said the countryman, pointing to the
rolled-up rend curtain.

'To hide the transformed, till they are ready to be seen.'

'But it does not hide anything,' said the countryman obtusely.
'How do they get it down?'

He went examining about the door-posts, with undoubted
curiosity, till he found the mechanism attached to the curtain
and touched the spring. Down fell the red folds in an instant.
The man drew it up again, and let it fall again, and again
drew it up.

'Very good,' he said approvingly. 'Very good. We have no such
clever curtains in my country. That will do very well.'

As he spoke, a bell sounded through the house. Immediately the
witch escaped by a side door. Two or three others followed
her; and then the rest of the company began to pour in and
fill the saloon before the red curtain.

'Well, I never _was_ so stupid in all my life!' said the court
beauty. 'I might have _known_ no other girl would come as a roll
of serge!'

'And I might have known, that if I failed to recognize Miss
Kennedy's hand, it could be only because it was out of sight,'
said Mr. Kingsland, who by special favour wore only his own
face and dress.

'You'll get a mitten from her hand--and a slap in it, if you
don't look out,' said the lady.

'Better a mitten from that hand than a glove from any oth