Prince's private secretary
would attend to do the honors, created little interest, and was
laughingly waived by Maruja. "There really is not the slightest
necessity to trouble the gentleman," she said, politely. "I know
the house thoroughly, and I think I have shown it once or twice
before for your master. Indeed," she added, turning to her party,
"I have been already complimented on my skill as a cicerone."
After a pause, she continued, with a slight exaggeration of action
and in her deepest contralto, "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, the ball
and court in which we are now standing is a perfect copy of the
Court of Lions at the Alhambra, and was finished in fourteen days
in white pine, gold, and plaster, at a cost of ten thousand
dollars. A photograph of the original structure hangs on the wall:
you will observe, ladies and gentlemen, that the reproduction is
perfect. The Alhambra is in Granada, a province of Spain, which it
is said in some respects to resemble California, where you have
probably observed the Spanish language is still spoken by the old
settlers. We now cross the stable-yard on a bridge which is a
facsimile in appearance and dimensions of the Bridge of Sighs at
Venice, connecting the Doge's Palace with the State Prison. Here,
on the contrary, instead of being ushered into a dreary dungeon, as
in the great original, a fresh surprise awaits us. Allow me,
ladies and gentlemen, to precede you for the surprise. We open a
door thus--and--presto!"--
She stopped, speechless, on the threshold; the fan fell from her
gesticulating hand.
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