"The _yashmak_," laughed the captain. "In her case the veil is the thinnest gauze." "The old ladies did not have gauze over their faces," replied Scott. "The older and uglier the women are the thicker is their _yashmak_," added Dimitri. Presently the survey of the promenaders was interrupted by the strains of a band of music, which were of a wild, barbaric character, quite different from anything they had ever heard before. A string of cavalry then lined the avenue on both sides, leaving the middle entirely open. No man must go in front of the Sultan, which is the rule of the road in Turkey; and the potentate appeared riding on horseback in the middle of the street. Abdul-Hamid II. was about fifty years old. He wore a frock coat and trousers in European style, but with a fez on his head. His breast was covered with decorations and orders of honor. The trappings of his magnificent horse were of the richest material, and were ornamented with gold. As he approached, the Imperial Guard gave a wild and weird yell as a salute, to which the potentate made no response even with a nod. The gentlemen of the party removed their caps and hats, and some of them bowed; but his imperial majesty made no response of any kind, though he glanced at the Americans. It was something more than a glance which he bestowed upon the inmates of the third carriage, in which Miss Blanche sat in her radiant beauty. The guides pointed out the four sons of the Sultan, the oldest of whom was about twenty and the youngest seven. He has also three daughters who do not appear in processions. The rest of the parade consisted of pachas dressed in the most magnificent costumes, and mounted on the finest horses. Dimitri called many of them by name, but no one was the wiser for it. The Albanians surpassed all the others in the elegance of their dress, and all the ladies would have voted for them. The Sultan and his retainers passed on to the church, and the American party hastened to the Rue de Pera, where the monastery of the Dancing Dervishes is located. Passing through a courtyard, they entered the vestibule of the building. Dimitri obtained several pairs of large slippers, which the gentlemen put on over their boots. Some smaller ones were procured for the ladies and young gentlemen. "What is all this for?" asked Mrs. Belgrave in a whisper. "'Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground,'" replied Captain Ringgold. "No one must touch the floor of a mosque or holy place with the shoes that have been in the dirt. Formerly no one was allowed to enter one of these places without actually taking off the shoes; but the rule has been modified so that overshoes may be taken off, or put on, when going into one of them."