"Very soon the draperies which answered the purpose of a drop-curtain were stirred, and a woman appeared, bowed low before us, crept cringingly to our feet, prostrated herself there, sprang up again with a bound, and took refuge in a corner of the cabin, whence we saw her take two large circular plates made of copper, which she began to beat gently, one against the other, with measured, but plaintive and seductive rhythm. In her, I thought, I recognized the one whom I had seen asleep with her knees up and her elbows resting on them. She might have been twenty years of age, but jaded and prematurely worn, as are all Eastern women, she looked older. "Placed on the retired list as a dancer, she had been converted into a musician for the sake of keeping her employed. Her hair was interwoven with small gold coins strung on a thread; she wore a jacket and skirt of richly embroidered blue satin, and a cashmere bodice served to display her still charming figure. Her large sleepy eyes, whose lustre was but slightly dimmed, gazed vacantly into space. "Little by little, the cymbals were beaten in quicker time; in lieu of just touching them gently, she struck them against each other, and the rhythm losing its plaintive character, became more animated and more marked. At last the two parts of the instrument, after being held suddenly apart, were brought together with a clash, the curtains were lifted all together, and three girls bounded into the midst of us. "Their hair, the black-brown hair I described to you, was dishevelled, their shoulders bare, the lower part of their figures was draped in a tightly-fitting scarlet satin garb, and the rest of their bodies was covered with silk-gauze, fringed with gold, through which could be seen the burnished tints of their velvety skin. "At first, without moving their feet from the Smyrna carpet which had been placed for them on the ground, they wound in and out, their arms extended before them, their heads turned backwards, their almond-shaped eyes half closed, their mouths slightly opened, their nostrils quivering, and their bosoms heaving with a slow, but even and continuous motion. They uttered not a sound, not even a sigh escaped them; their eyes alone grew gradually brighter, and their breasts heaved more quickly. "They were, all three of them, wonderfully lovely, and though the eldest of them could not have reached fifteen, their figures were fully developed. But, as I have already described them to you, I will only add that the animation which the motion of the dance lent them, served to enhance their beauty. "After a moment or two, they became more and more animated, their arms were waved convulsively, their hands clutched at the air, and their whole bodies took the undulating movement which up to this time had seemed to be confined to the hips.