"Ah! you may laugh, children," said the old woman indignantly, "but none of you can dance like I can. They are not supple like I am, Effendi. They cannot move their hips. They cannot sway the lower part of their bodies. Look here!" And straightening her aged limbs, the old woman commenced wriggling her different joints, the girls applauding her, and beating time with their hands to each movement of the dancer's body. "Very good," said Vankovitch, as she sank down on a divan, with a force which would have smashed any less strong piece of furniture. "Very good. You dance like a stag. You shall come too." "Thank heavens," he remarked in French, "that she did not throw herself on to my lap, for this is the custom of these wild dancers; if she had done so, there would not have been much left of me. But come along, let us return; it is very stuffy here." After making an appointment with the old lady for the dancers to come to us on the following evening, we descended the hill and walked towards the principal mosque in the town. CHAPTER XVIII. The Mosque—The interior of the building—The lamps of different-coloured crystal—The Turks engaged in prayer—Comparison between Christians and Mussulmans—Daravish Bey—A wonderful shot—_Djerrid_—A strange request—The chase—A Bosnian lady—Her costume—A side-saddle—Even their women go out hunting—Daravish Bey dressed for the chase—A long shot—The price of a horse's forage—Most servants rob their masters—A Russian officer—The Armenian schools—The girls' school—Perhaps you would like to ask the boys some questions?—An amateur setter of questions—Mr. Marillier of Harrow school.—A sum—The schoolboys of Yuzgat—A half-holiday. On taking off our shoes at the entrance, we were at once admitted into a large building constructed in the form of a dome. Two vast circular halls leading the one into the other, were beneath the lofty ceiling. Stained glass windows, with infinitesimally small panes, allowed but little light to penetrate to the interior, which was carpeted with rich Persian rugs of many hues and fashions. Chains, descending from the centre of the building, supported a huge circular hoop of iron. From this were suspended a hundred lamps of different-coloured crystal. Two enormous wax candles, each as thick as a man's leg, and about seven feet high, were fixed in a corner of the building. They had been made to last a year, and had cost "tchok para"—a great many paras. The attendant evidently thought that he should impress my mind with this announcement, and he uttered the word "tchok" in a way which no Englishman could imitate save when he is in the extreme agonies of sea-sickness. Forty or fifty Turks were lying on the floor, and seemed to be in no way disturbed by the entrance of Mr. Vankovitch and myself. "Are there always as many people here?" I inquired.