[Illustration: "OFF FOR A DRIVE"]

In the stable each of the six stalls had been converted into a cozy
nook where soft light from shaded lamps fell on rugs and draperies.
On each stall post was a massive floral horseshoe. The orders of
dancing, besides the usual gold-embossed monogram, bore an engraving
of a tandem cart with high-stepping horses and driver snapping his
long whip. Attached to each was a sterling silver pencil representing
the foreleg of a horse in action, the shoe being of gold. Supper
was served in the dining-room from a table decorated in keeping with
the event, the center-piece being a model in sugar of the tandem
design on the order of dancing.

The affair was a great success in every way, and the following
evening we allowed our colored servants to entertain their friends
at the stable. With a few of our neighbors we witnessed the "cake-walk"
and found much fun in it. The next day the horses were in possession.




CHAPTER XXVI

AN IMPORTER AND DEALER



While during 1888 we were nominally brokers, a considerable portion
of our business was actually in the nature of that of an importer