Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/317

 On my proposal to go for them at once, she assented, after some demur on account of the shortness of the time. But by arranging for a substitute to take my place, and being able to employ a flying speed on the almost deserted roads, I returned, with a few minutes to spare, before the dinner-hour. I found Reva standing amid a group of her fair cousins, who were discussing with animation the late contest. Thanking me with a look, and the customary graceful gesture, for the small portfolio I had delivered as if executing an ordinary commission, she hastened away to examine its contents in private.

After the clearing away of the hall after dinner, and the arrangement of the seats, there was an interlude of music. Then came on the event of the evening. In the opening part of her lecture, Reva treated the scientific and economic aspects of her subject with a clearness and precision that evidently gained the approval of those present specially competent to express an opinion on those points. The most generally interesting part, however, was the second half, as could be seen by the eager attention of the audience. This was an essay upon the character and genius of that ancient people who had adopted the plant before them as their national emblem,—people that, for their numbers, had played no mean part in the world's history, and round whose rugged land the genius of one of her sons had cast a glamour that had survived the rise and fall of mighty empires.

At intervals, during this part of the lecture, views of the places referred to were exhibited by means of the varzeo. By this, as in a magic mirror, we saw displayed.