The Palace of Amusement, as every one knows, is perhaps the most magnificently decorated place in London, and its appointments are palatial enough to startle and bewilder the countryman who sees them for the first time; but Seth’s carefully guarded countenance displayed no surprise or bewilderment, whatever he may have felt; and he sat and smoked and listened to the band of forty first-class performers, and watched the mixed audience of “swells,” counter-jumpers, and frivolous women with half-closed eyes. Several of the gentlemen who had entered just before him had taken seats near his, or were lounging against the elaborately-gilded and painted walls with that air of long-suffering boredom which distinguishes their class, and Seth, while he gave one sharp ear to the band, kept the other open to the conversation around him. “Just in time,” yawned one gentleman. “I suppose her ladyship’s going to perform to-night?” he said, addressing the chairman, a fat man in evening dress, with a large diamond--or something fairly resembling it--in his vast expanse of shirt front, and stones of great value--or none--in his wristbands. “Oh, yes, my lord,” he replied, with an oily smile. “Bella’s on the spot to-night.” “In a good humor, eh?” remarked another, with a laugh. “The last time we were here she cut up rough and wouldn’t go on.” “That was because there wasn’t quite large enough audience for her, Sir ’Arry,” said the chairman, who appeared to know them all. “She’ll be all right to-night; the house is nearly full. Won’t you take a seat, gentlemen? Plenty of room, my lord,” and he waved a be-ringed hand toward the table. The young lord--he was little more than a boy--glanced up at the ropes and the net above his head, and laughed. “No, thanks,” he said. “That net doesn’t look overstrong, and much as I adore Bella-Bella, I don’t care to have her dropping on my head.” Seth, who also was not lacking in wisdom which prompts a man toward self-preservation, got up and leaned against the wall out of reach of the net. “Oh, she won’t fall, my lord,” said the chairman, with a satisfied smile. “Bella knows a trick worth two of that; trust her for taking care of herself. Here she is!” and, striking the table in front of him with an ivory hammer, he shouted, “Order, gentlemen!” in stentorian tones. The band grew louder, and then, amid a general silence, a woman sprang onto the stage.