ssing threads Chinese lanterns
were wafted luminously.

'What taste Fred has!' said May, pointing to the huge arrangement that
covered the end wall. 'And haven't my tin candelabra turned out a
success? There will be no grease, and the room couldn't be better
lighted.'

'But look!' said Alice, 'look at all those poor people staring in at the
window. Isn't it dreadful that they, in the dark and cold, should be
watching us dancing in our beautiful dresses, and in our warm bright
room?'

'You don't want to ask them in, do you?'

'Of course not, but it seems very sinister; doesn't it seem so to you?'

'I don't know what you mean by its being sinister; but sinister or not
sinister, it couldn't be helped; for if we had nailed up every window we
should have simply died of heat.'

'I hope you won't think of opening the windows too soon,' said Mrs.
Gould. 'You must think of us poor chaperons, who will be sitting still
all night.'

Then, in the gaping silence, the three ladies listened to the melancholy
harper and the lachrymose fiddlers who, on the _estrade_ in the far
corner, sat tuning their instruments. At last the people began to come
in. The first were a few stray blackcoats, then feminine voices were
heard in the passages, and necks and arms, green toilettes and white
satin shoes, were seen passing and taking seats. Two Miss Duffys, the
fattest of the four, were with their famous sister Bertha. Bertha was
rarely seen in Galway; she lived with an aunt in Dublin, where her
terrible tongue was dreaded by the _debutantes_ at the Castle. In a
yellow dress as loud and as hard as her voice, she stood explaining that
she had come down expressly for the ball. Opposite, the Honourable Miss
Gores made a group of five; and a few men who preferred consideration to
amusement made their way towards them. The Brennans--Gladys and Zoe--as
soon as they saw Alice, asked after Lord Dungory; and all the girls were
anxious to see Violet, who they feared would seem thin in a low dress.

Hers was the charm of an infinite fragility. The bosom, whose curves
were so faint that they were epicene, was set in a bodice of white
_broche_, joining a skirt of white satin, with an overskirt of tulle,
and the only touch of colour was a bunch of pink and white azaleas worn
on the left shoulder. And how irresistibly suggestive of an Indian
carved ivory were the wee foot, the thin arm, the slender cheek!

'How sweet you look, Violet,' said Alice, with