I

THE HOUSE OF THE AGAPOULOS



Hassan came in and began very deliberately to light the four
lamps. He muttered to himself and often smiled in the childish
manner which characterizes some Egyptians. Hassan wore a red
cap, and a white robe confined at the waist by a red sash. On
his brown feet he wore loose slippers, also of red. He had good
features and made a very picturesque figure moving slowly about
his work.

As he lighted lamp after lamp and soft illumination crept about
the big room, because of the heavy shadows created the place
seemed to become mysteriously enlarged. That it was an Eastern
apartment cunningly devised to appeal to the Western eye, one
familiar with Arab households must have seen at once. It was a
traditional Oriental interior, a stage setting rather than the
nondescript and generally uninteresting environment of the modern
Egyptian at home.

Brightly coloured divans there were and many silken cushions of
strange pattern and design. The hanging lamps were of perforated
brass with little coloured glass panels. In carved wooden
cabinets stood beautiful porcelain jars, trays, and vessels of
silver and copper ware. Rich carpets were spread about the
floor, and the draperies were elegant and costly, while two deep