rows underneath. Thickly scattered over the floor near
these fireplaces are the bones of game and poultry, probably dragged there
by rats, though we did not encounter rat or mouse or any living thing
within the walls, and our friend tells us there has been no form of life
in the chateau during his memory.

"The ascent from the kitchens is by an inclined plane, a broad roadway, up
which the mammoth triumphs of last-century culinary skill were hauled on
trucks, several of which vehicles stand near the foot of the way. The
banquet-hall occupies nearly one-half the entire first floor of the 'new
house.' We entered this magnificent apartment at the lower end from a dark
lobby, and it seemed ablaze with light and color, though we presently
noticed that only the ceiling and upper half of the room were illuminated,
the floor and furniture being in shadow and covered with dust. On one side
are six large windows opening on the terrace, the lower sashes overgrown
with vines and blocked up with accumulated rubbish, while the upper panes
are comparatively clean and clear. The ceiling is divided into panels by
heavy carved and gilded mouldings, the panels painted with mythological
designs in the style of the seventeenth century. The early morning sun lit
up these splendors, making the white and gold and thousand bright tints
shine like the array of Solomon, while from the height of our heads to the
tiles under foot the entire area was covered with one monotonous coating
of dark-gray dust.

"The other side of the room is nearly filled by the great fireplace and
two doors, united in one design of carved woodwork extending to the
ceiling. At the upper end are also two doors, and between these a raised
dais overhung by a canopy of purple Utrecht velvet. Two tables extend the
whole length of the hall, while on the dais is a smaller table, with but
six chairs. Two of these chairs are very rich and curious, and stand in
the centre facing the room--evidently seats of honor. They are of ebony,
wrought in the most intricate and bewildering patterns, while each
convolution and entanglement is followed and almost covered by a running
vine of inlaid gold wire.

"The other seats about the room are mostly tabourets, covered with Cordova
leather, embossed in gold and colors and tooled by hand in free arabesque
designs. Two long tables extend through the room, and a smaller one
occupies the dais: these tables are literally 'boards'--heavy planks
j