were arranged in fantastic designs on the walls, bright-colored cloth was gracefully draped as curtains and screens; all things were ready and attractive in the new home.
The ceremonies of a Siamese wedding consist largely of feasting. This feast of fruits and cakes and sweetmeats is spread on mats upon the grass among the trees and flowers, and the hosts await the arrival of the guests.
By and by the sound of tabret and pipe and bands of music heralds the coming of a sort of procession. As the Siamese always walk in single file, one by one they came—the musicians with their oddly-shaped instruments, old men and women, young men, maidens and children—all gayly dressed in holiday attire, some bearing trays containing gifts for the bride and her parents, and others with offerings of fruit, cakes and confections to contribute to the already generously prepared wedding-feast in the fruit-*garden.
Out among her youthful friends, serving at the feast and bearing trays here and there among the guests—who are seated in groups on the grass, like the multitude fed by our Lord in Judea so long ago—flits the pretty bride. Although her face is brown, the rosy blush is plainly seen on her cheeks as she finds the eyes of her lover seeking constantly her own.
The bridegroom sits apart from the women,
