re strong and bold!
Welcome the festal hour!
Waken the echoes with riotous mirth--
Cease to remember the sorrows of earth
In the joys of the festal hour!
Wine is the monarch of laughter and light,
Death himself shall be merry to-night!
Hail to the festal hour!"

An enthusiastic clapping of hands rewarded this effort on the part of
the unseen vocalists, and the music having ceased, conversation became
general.

"By heaven!" exclaimed Ferrari, "if this Olympian carouse is meant as a
welcome to me, amico, all I can say is that I do not deserve it. Why,
it is more fit for the welcome of one king to his neighbor sovereign!"

"Ebbene!" I said. "Are there any better kings than honest men? Let us
hope we are thus far worthy of each other's esteem."

He flashed a bright look of gratitude upon me and was silent, listening
to the choice and complimentary phrases uttered by the Duke di Manna
concerning the exquisite taste displayed in the arrangement of the
table.

"You have no doubt traveled much in the East, conte," said this
nobleman. "Your banquet reminds me of an Oriental romance I once read,
called 'Vathek.'"

"Exactly '" exclaimed Guido "I think Oliva must be Vathek himself'"

"Scarcely!" I said, smiling coldly. "I lay no claim to supernatural
experiences. The realities of life are sufficiently wonderful for me."

Antonio Biscardi the painter, a refined, gentle-featured man, looked
toward us and said modestly:

"I think you are right, conte. The beauties of nature and of humanity
are so varied and profound that were it not for the inextinguishable
longing after immortality which has been placed in every one of us, I
think we should be perfectly satisfied with this world as it is."

"You speak like an artist and a man of even temperament," broke in the
Marchese Gualdro, who had finished his soup quickly in order to be able
to talk--talking being his chief delight. "For me, I am never
contented. I never have enough of anything! That is my nature. When I
see lovely flowers, I wish more of them--when I behold a fine sunset, I
desire many more such sunsets--when I look upon a lovely woman--"

"You would have lovely women ad infinitum!" laughed the French
Capitaine de Hamal. "En verite, Gualdro, you should have been a Turk!"

"And why not?" demanded Gualdro. "The Turks are very sensible
people--they know how to make coffee better than we do. And what more
fascinating than a harem? It mus