Gracious young matrons; and gentle and beautiful young girls, with beaming

Eyes and fresh complexions, who may possibly put on their jeweled coronets

Awkwardly when the great time comes; for the matter will be new to them,

And their excitement will be a sore hindrance. Still, this may not happen, for

The hair of all these ladies has been arranged with a special view to the swift

And successful lodging of the crown in its place when the signal comes.

We have seen that this massed array of peeresses is sown thick with diamonds,

And we also see that it is a marvelous spectacle — but now we are about to be

Astonished in earnest. About nine, the clouds suddenly break away and a shaft

Of sunshine cleaves the mellow atmosphere, and drifts slowly along the ranks

Of ladies; and every rank it touches flames into a dazzling splendor of many-

Colored fires, and we tingle to our finger-tips with the electric thrill that is

shot through us by the surprise and the beauty of the spectacle! Presently a

Special envoy from some distant corner of the Orient, marching with the

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General body of foreign ambassadors, crosses this bar of sunshine, and we

Catch our breath, the glory that streams and flashes and palpitates about him

Is so overpowering; for he is crusted from head to heels with gems, and his