as a feast to the eye; full scarlet
skirt, standing out over many petticoats and reaching only to the tops
of her knee boots, full white bodice, a sleeveless jacket to the waist
line, made of brightly coloured cretonne, outlined with coloured beads;
a bright yellow head-kerchief bound her soft brown hair; her eyes were
brown, and her skin like a yellow peach. On her neck hung strings of
coral and amber beads. There was indeed a decorative woman! As for her
background, it was simple enough to throw into relief the brilliant
vision that she was. Not, however, a scheme of interior decoration to
copy! The walls were whitewashed; a large stove of masonry was built
into one corner, and four beds and a cradle stood on the other side of
the room, over which hung in a row five virgins, the central one being
the Black Virgin beloved by the Poles. The legend is that the original
was painted during the life of the Virgin, on a panel of dark wood.
Here, too, was the marriage chest, decorated with a crude design in
bright colours. The children, three or four of them, ran about in the
national costume, miniatures of their mother, but barefoot.

It was the same in Hungary, when we were taken by the mayor of a Magyar
town to visit the characteristic farmhouse of a highly prosperous
farmer, said to be worth two hundred thousand dollars. The table was
laid in the end of a room having four beds in it. On inquiring later, we
were told that they were not ordinarily used by the family, but were
heaped with the reserve bedding. In other words, they were recognised by
the natives as indicating a degree of affluence, and were a bit of
ostentation, not the overcrowding of necessity.

CHAPTER XXII

STUDYING LINE AND COLOUR IN RUSSIA

From Hungary we continued our quest of line and colour of folk costume
into Russia.

Strangely enough, Russia throws off the imperial yoke of autocracy,
declaring for democratic principles, at the very moment we undertake to
put into words the vivid picturesqueness resulting largely from the
causes of this astounding revolution. Have you been in Russia? Have you
seen with your own eyes any phase of the violent contrasts which at last
have caused the worm to turn? Our object being to study national
characteristics as expressed in folk costume, folk song, folk dance,
traditional customs and fetes, we consulted students of these subjects,
whom we chanced to meet in London, Paris, Vienna and Buda Pest, with t