The Argosy — page 250: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A Night in Colindia. 233 I explained to him that these were some of the West Indian subjects, and had no connection with burnt cork and popular melodies and public entertainments. We trotted round the corridor to the steps leading to the conserva- tory. “Mary !” gasped Will. “Mary? what Mary?” I said, startled beyond measure, for I thought he had recognised an acquaintance, that our game was up, our wager lost, and our anticipated fun also, ‘“‘ What Mary?” ‘* Mary Stuart,” cried Will, laughing at the fright he had given me. ‘‘ Mary, who was supposed to have been beheaded ages ago.” And certainly at the head of the stairs the vision of the girl who was selling cigars—thanks to her hair, and the remarkable Stuart head- gear—proved no bad imitation of the unfortunate Scottish Queen. Turning just then into the corridor we saw another announcement : Dinner, 75. 6d. each.” ‘*T must have something, Norval,” cried Will. ‘‘I cannot walk another step on my present airy condition. And think of what we have before us.” Well,” I said, ‘‘ we'll turn in and look at the place. Perhaps it is not too late for dinner.” So in we went and peered about us, and then marched up to a young man who sat at a desk on the left, with a book containing a multitude of names and addresses of people who. evidently had been dining there. We found that the lateness of the hour rather favoured us, as earlier in the evening they informed us we should not have found vacant places. As it was, we got a capital table overlooking the grounds, and, remembering the night before us, rather astonished our particular waiter by our ideas of a 7s. 6d. dinner, which evidently were very different from his. We had just finished our fish when the whole gardens outside, hitherto lighted only by the silvery moon, burst into a blaze of lamps, twinkling like coloured glow-worms from branch and leaf, and turf ; lamps outlining the whole buildings, clusters of lamps in the air and the ground everywhere, dazzling and brilliant in the extreme. But why speak of that which all know? I must hurry on. Ata quarter to ten we had finished an excellent cup of tea, pocketed a couple of rolls, and sallied out into the grounds, feeling like giants refreshed. The crowd was still very dense, and we had great difficulty in making our way along to the main block of buildings across the gardens. At the entrance, where the crowd was streaming in, on their way out of the exhibition, I suppose, we were rather discouraged by the apparition of a burly policeman and a sharp looking official labelled ‘‘Colind” on his cap, who was making terrible havoc of the cigars, allowing no lights to pass. ‘* Norval, ” whispered Will, ‘‘ I don’t like the look of that man. I hope we may get out of this all right. I rather wish we hadn’t come up.” GOMIGIOOKSAGO