"She is still closely veiled, and in nine cases out of ten the two have never met. After a feast, which he has ordered before going to the mosque, he is permitted to raise her veil, and has an opportunity to look for the first time on the features of his wife. No matter how much either of them may be disappointed in the appearance of the other, they are expected to smile and seem happy. "In some parts of the East the bridegroom comes to the house accompanied by torches and music, and with a small boy walking at his side dressed like himself, and instructed to imitate all his motions. He carries a folded handkerchief held close to his face, and the boy does the same; a little behind them is a girl mounted on a horse, and dressed like the bride, and attended by two men who are supposed to be her guards. When this procession approaches the house, the friends of the bride light their lamps and go out a short distance to meet the procession. It is probably from this custom that we have the passage of Scripture which says, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.'" While Frank was busy with his account of the wedding-party, Fred was occupied with another and sadder procession he had seen the same day. While walking in the Mooskee he met a funeral-party on its way to the cemetery, near the Tombs of the Caliphs, and his curiosity led him to ascertain some particulars concerning funerals in the East. [Illustration: BLIND MUSICIANS AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.] "The procession that I saw," said Fred, "was led by half a dozen blind men, who walked slowly two and two together, and chanted the Moslem confession of faith--'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the apostle of God!' Behind them came several men who were relatives of the deceased, and then there was an open space of three or four yards. Beyond the open space were four boys in pairs; the front pair carried a copy of the Koran on a small frame or desk, covered with an embroidered handkerchief, and the second pair had their hands empty. "Then came the coffin on a bier, supported on the shoulders of four men, and covered with a red shawl; the bearers were changed every few minutes, and those who were relieved took their places in the group behind the blind men. Behind the bier were several women, who frequently shrieked as if in great grief. I was told that some of them were the family of the dead man, and the rest were mourners who had been hired, according to the custom of the country. From long practice in their profession they were able to shriek louder than the real mourners.