ABSTRACT
The guests on mounting the staircase of the Grand Hotel on the appointed day and entering the banqueting-room, were struck speechless with amazement. It was as if they had stepped out of Paris and suddenly found themselves in some storied palace of the East; or as if Aladdin's magic carpet had whisked them to a mysterious nook in fairyland where every object that the eye rested on was a new marvel and where wonder grew on wonder till the tired sense refused its office and accepted the incredible with dazed acquiescence. A delicate perfume invaded the air, a sweet seductive scent which refused to be distinguished, and haunted one like some pleasant dream half remembered and half forgotten. The table, arranged as a complete circle, occupied the middle of the room. In the centre was a fountain of the most delicate workmanship in purest porcelain.
