hing to my companion about this beverage. It bears no
comparison in color or taste to that made in Mizora. I could not have
distinguished the latter from the finest dairy cream.

The next place of interest that I visited were their mercantile bazars
or stores. Here I found things looking quite familiar. The goods were
piled upon shelves behind counters, and numerous clerks were in
attendance. It was the regular day for shopping among the Mizora ladies,
and the merchants had made a display of their prettiest and richest
goods. I noticed the ladies were as elegantly dressed as if for a
reception, and learned that it was the custom. They would meet a great
many friends and acquaintances, and dressed to honor the occasion.

It was my first shopping experience in Mizora, and I quite mortified
myself by removing my glove and rubbing and examining closely the goods
I thought of purchasing. I entirely ignored the sweet voice of the
clerk that was gently informing me that it was "pure linen" or "pure
wool," so habituated had I become in my own country to being my own
judge of the quality of the goods I was purchasing, regardless always of
the seller's recommendation of it. I found it difficult, especially in
such circumstances, to always remember their strict adherence to honesty
and fair dealing. I felt rebuked when I looked around and saw the
actions of the other ladies in buying.

In manufactured goods, as in all other things, not the slightest
cheatery is to be found. Woolen and cotton mixtures were never sold for
pure wool. Nobody seemed to have heard of the art of glossing muslin
cuffs and collars and selling them for pure linen.

Fearing that I had wounded the feelings of the lady in attendance upon
me, I hastened to apologize by explaining the peculiar methods of trade
that were practiced in my own country. They were immediately pronounced
barbarous.

I noticed that ladies in shopping examined colors and effects of
trimmings or combinations, but never examined the quality. Whatever the
attendant said about _that_ was received as a fact.

The reason for the absence of attendants in the markets and the presence
of them in mercantile houses was apparent at once. The market articles
were brought fresh every day, while goods were stored.

Their business houses and their manner of shopping were unlike anything
I had ever met with before. The houses were all built in a hollow
square, enclosing a garden with a fountain in