Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/126

 rich toilets and lovely faces of the ladies above them. Wit, laughter, gayety, a series of gorgeous pageants, an impassioned pursuit of pleasure, are what a stranger sees at Carnival time in the city by the river; and should one tell him of the broken fortunes, the life-failures, the apathetic despair and depression which lie beneath this brave mask of jollity, he might well be pardoned for doubting the assertion of the hidden wound, and preferring to believe in the merry mask and in the testimony of his own senses. What is more heroic than a smile that masks a pain? And so, bravely hoping for better times, and striving to bring them about, New Orleans in her poverty, as once in the palmy days of prosperity, holds high revel at this season of pleasure, and hospitably opens her gates to friend and to stranger.

It is a frank and cordial hospitality, that of the New Orleanists, and one that is not limited to the rich class alone. There seems little of that false pride which shuts the door of the poorer houses because carpets are worn or larders bare. I have been received in a certain shabby little house, with sadly worn furniture and absolutely lacking in bric-à-brac, where the gracious cordiality of my hosts and the atmosphere of good breeding and friendliness of the assembled company would have graced a prince's dwelling. It