,
and exhibit before me a blue uniform with embroidered collar and cuffs
--the whole, without being gaudy, being sufficiently handsome, and quite
as showy as I could wish.

The poor waiter expressed his unqualified approval of the costume, and
talked away about the approaching ball as something pre-eminently
magnificent.

"You had better look after the fiacre, Antoine," said I; "it is past
nine."

He walked towards the door, opened it, and then, turning round, said, in
a kind of low, confidential whisper, pointing, with the thumb of his left
hand, towards the wall of the room as he spoke--

"He won't go--very strange that."

"Who do you mean?" said I, quite unconscious of the allusion.

"The Charge d'Aff--"

I made one spring at him, but he slammed the door to, and before I could
reach the lobby, I heard him rolling from top to bottom of the oak
staircase, making noise enough in his fall to account for the fracture of
every bone in his body.

CHAPTER LIII.

THE BALL.

As I was informed that the King would himself be present at the ball, I
knew that German etiquette required that the company should arrive before
his Majesty; and although now every minute I expected the arrival of the
Callonbys, I dared not defer my departure any longer.

"They are certain to be at the ball," said Waller, and that sentence
never left my mind.

So saying, I jumped into the fiacre, and in a few minutes found myself in
the long line of carriages that led to the "Hof saal." Any one who has
been in Munich will testify for me, that the ball room is one of the most
beautiful in Europe, and to me who for some time had not been living much
in the world, its splendour was positively dazzling. The glare of the
chandeliers--the clang of the music--the magnificence of the dresses--the
beauty of the Bavarian women too, all surprized and amazed me. There
were several hundred people present, but the king not having yet arrived,
dancing had not commenced. Feeling as I then did, it was rather a relief
to me than otherwise, that I knew no one. There was quite amusement
enough in walking through the saloons, observing the strange costumes,
and remarking the various groups as they congregated around the trays of
ices and the champagne glacee. The buzz of talking and the sounds of
laughter and merriment prevailed over even the orchestra; and, as the gay
crowds paraded the rooms, all seemed pleasure and excitement. Suddenly a
treme