ate that evening.

The street in the vicinity of the house was brilliantly illuminated, and it
was covered over with an awning, from which no end of ornamental lamps were
suspended. Behind a mass of flowers--cartloads of them--a foreign orchestra
was placed. As the carriages stopped at the door, the band began a military
march, whose inspiring strains seemed to give an additional lustre to the
elaborate decorations. It was easy for the guests to believe that they had
been introduced into the midst of a fairy scene. Sahib Perbut appeared at
the door as soon as the vehicles stopped, and took his lordship by the
hand, and each of the guests were presented to him as they alighted. The
host was not an old man, as the strangers expected to find him, since he
had a son who was old enough to get married.

He was very richly dressed, and he was a gentleman of unbounded suavity.
Taking Mrs. Belgrave by the hand, he conducted her into the house, the rest
of the party forming a procession behind them. The Americans had been
obliged to make a trip to the Guardian-Mother, to obtain garments suitable
for such a "swell" occasion, and they were all dressed in their Sunday
clothes.

If the exterior of the splendid mansion had challenged the admiration of
the guests, the interior presented a scene of Oriental magnificence which
might have astonished even the Count of Monte Cristo. The party were
conducted to the grand and lofty apartment where the Nautch was to be
given. Immense mirrors reflected the brilliancy of a thousand lights; the
floor was covered with the richest of carpets, the luxurious divans and
sofas were overspread with the cloths of Cashmere; the elaborate richness
of the costumes of the Oriental guests, and the army of servants
manipulating _punkas_, or fans, formed a scene not unlike, while it
out-rivalled, the grand _denoument_ of a fairy spectacle on the stage.

The procession of foreign guests were all seated in the most conspicuous
divans; for if Lord Tremlyn had been the Prince of Wales, he and his
friends could hardly have been treated with greater distinction, as he was
the unofficial representative of the predominating influence in the affairs
of India near the throne of the United Kingdom and the Empire. The party
were immediately beset with servants offering them fruit and sherbets, and
they were sprinkled with rose-water from silver flagons.

The Nautch girls were not the same the tourists had seen earlier i