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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



with reverent touch to frame the passage 

 of the living thousands around which the 

 hopes of the future cling. 



The Prague parades cannot be reduced 

 to black and white. Their rosy joy, 

 which rolled up cheers in countless waves 

 of sound, defies description. 



Nor can one convey the tremendous 

 impression made by twelve thousand 

 men, or an equal number of women, 

 moving like some orchestra whose music 

 is attuned to eye instead of ear. High 

 above the tribunal a hidden leader plays 

 upon that orderly array and produces 

 eye-music through the exercise of fifty 

 thousand legs and arms. 



From both ends of the great stadium 

 there pour broad streams of womanhood, 

 their red caps and white waists, lightly 

 touched with embroidery, forming an 

 animated strawberry shortcake on a plat- 

 ter whose dark design is formed of short 

 blue skirts and plain black hose. The 

 columns separate and unite again, till at 

 a signal solid ranks disperse and one 

 great group is formed that fills the sta- 

 dium. 



Twelve thousand women bow their 

 *scarlet caps, and the whole field blushes 

 with a rosy light. Arms and heads are 

 raised and the soft, brown tone of 

 healthy flesh is seen (see picture, page 

 115). Twelve thousand backs are turned 

 and the rich, warm hue of face and throat 

 dissolves to glistening white. They bend 

 to earth and white and red are lost be- 

 neath a sea of blue. A whole landscape 

 changes light values in the twinkling of 

 an eye, while the music which directs the 

 movements seems to be expressed in 

 tones of varying waves of light. 



A similar effect is produced by the 

 fawn costumes of the men, against which 

 the bright red shirts, adopted out of ad- 

 miration for the Garibaldian hosts, now 

 burst into flame as the coats are thrown 

 back and red-clad arms are spread, now 

 hide behind as soft a tint as that a young 

 deer wears while hiding from a foe. 



So perfect is the precision of these 

 mass drills that one can scarcely believe 

 the statement that these thousands of 

 vSokols, or Falcons, have come from 

 towns widely scattered throughout the 

 republic, and that only one or two mass 

 rehearsals were possible before the grand 



