her little black eyes twinkled with continuous satisfaction.
There were the Mourad Farhis and the Nas-sim Farhis. There were Moses
Laurella and his wife, who shone with the reflected splendour of the
great Laurellas, but who were really very nice people; sensible and most
obliging, as all travellers must have found them. Moses Laurella was
vice-consul to his brother. The Farhis had no diplomatic lustre, but
they were great merchants, and worked with the House of Besso in all
their enterprises. They had married two sisters, who were also their
cousins. Madame Mourad Farhi was in the zenith of her renowned beauty;
in the gorgeous Smyrniote style, brilliant yet languid, like a panther
basking in the sunshine. Her sister also had a rich countenance, and
a figure like a palm tree, while her fine brow beamed alike with
intelligence and beauty. Madame, Nassim was highly cultured,
enthusiastic for her race, and proud of the friendship of Eva, of which
she was worthy.

There were also playing about the room three or four children of such
dazzling beauty and such ineffable grace that no pen can picture their
seraphic glances or gestures of airy frolic. Sometimes serious, from
exhaustion not from thought; sometimes wild with the witchery of infant
riot; a laughing girl with hair almost touching the ground, and large
grey eyes bedewed with lustrous mischief, tumbles over an urchin who
rises doubtful whether to scream or shout; sometimes they pull the
robe of Besso while he talks, who goes on, as if unconscious of the
interruption; sometimes they rush up to their mother or Eva for an
embrace; sometimes they run up to the fat lady, look with wondering
gravity in her face, and then, bursting into laughter, scud away. These
are the children of a sister of Hillel Besso, brought to Damascus for
change of air. Their mother is also here, sitting at the side of Eva: a
soft and pensive countenance, watching the children with her intelligent
blue eyes, or beckoning to them with a beautiful hand.

The men in general remained on their legs apart, conversing as if they
were on the Bourse.

Now entered, from halls beyond of less dimensions, but all decorated
with similar splendour, a train of servants, two of whom carried between
them a large broad basket of silver filigree, filled with branches of
the palm tree entwined with myrtle, while another bore a golden basket
of a different shape, and which was filled with citrons just gathered.
Thes