de it real convenient for her to not want to. And
of course I couldn't take my pardner. Why, that good, moral man would
be flowed from by them wimmen as if he had the plague. Dorothy and
Robert wuz a-goin' to Heliopolis and offered to take Tommy with 'em.
And Miss Meechim and I accordin'ly sot off alone.

The palace stood in beautiful grounds and is a noble-lookin' building.
We wuz met at the entrance to the garden by four handsome native girls
with beautiful silk dresses on, handsome turbans, satin slippers and
jewelry enough for a dozen wimmen.

They took our hands, each on us walkin' between two on 'em, for all
the world as if we wuz prisoners, till we got to the gates of the
palace, and here two black males, dressed as rich as a president or
minister, met us, and four more gayly dressed female slaves.

These girls took Miss Meechim's cape and my mantilly and laid 'em
away. Then we went through a long hall and up a magnificent marble
staircase, with a girl on each side on us agin jest as if we wuz bein'
took to jail. We then went into a large beautiful room where the
Princess' Lady of Honor wuz tryin', I spoze, to be jest as honorable
as she could be. But to my surprise she handed us the first thing some
coffee and pipes to smoke. But such a pipe never entered Jonesville.
Why, the pipe stem was six feet long, amber and gold, diamonds and
rubies. Good land! it wuz most enough to get a perfessor and a member
of the W.C.T.U. to smokin'. But I wuzn't to be enticed; I sort o'
waved it off graceful and drinked a little coffee, which wuz good, and
if you'll believe it the little holders that held our cups wuz all
covered with diamonds. Then six more slaves, jest as pretty, with jest
as fine clothes and with as many jewels, came to tell us the Princess
would see us. And we went with them through room after room, each one
seemin'ly more elegant than the others, till we reached the door of a
great grand apartment, and here the Princess wuz surrounded by more
slaves, dressed handsomer than any we'd seen yet.

She come forward to meet us and led the way to a beautiful divan,
where we sot down. Here they offered us some more of the beautiful
jewelled pipes agin, and agin I stood firm and so did Miss Meechim,
but the Princess smoked a little. But the tobacco wuz perfumed so
delightfully that there wuz no tobacco smell to it.

Then coffee wuz passed agin in a jewelled cup and agin I sipped a
little on't, thinkin' like as not i