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THE BEAUTY OF A VIVID IMAGINATION. 
Arriving in good time at the door of that hospitable 
mansion, we M'ere actually received with open arms. The 
old fellow looked as if he longed to embrace us all, but 
contented himself with shaking hands crushinglpj calling 
loudly for the doctor, and hurrying us up to his outer 
chamber, where several bottles of various sizes, shapes, 
and colours, gleamed before our affrighted eyes. 
“Well, now, come on! .A little too late for a Russian 
dinner, but M)etter late than never.’ AVe will now take 
‘twenty drops,’ then go over to the governor’s house and 
eat our caviare, (‘’Tis caviare to the general.’ See Hamlet,) 
after which we will drink some champagne and have 
dinner. My house is so small that I have set the go- 
vernor’s table, and after dinner we will have the horses at 
the door and take a ride into the country. It will shake 
down our dinner and get up a good appetite for supper.” 
“Supper!” exclaimed one of the party: “you don’t 
expect to keep us to supper, too ?” he continued, with a 
look of dismay, for he had lunched heartily upon a tempt- 
ing beefsteak before leaving the ship, and shrank aghast 
before the rapid enumeration of what was yet before him. 
“ Keep you to supper ? Yes! and to a champagne-dance 
after supper, too. A\^e shall be in want of music and 
ladies, but then we can whistle for ourselves and imagine 
that some of us are the governor’s beautiful daughters. 
Allmis! let us go and take our caviare.” 
We went, and such a lunch as it was! — equal to an 
ordinary meal. And then the dinner! Nothing to be 
seen on the long, narrow table, save wines and vases of 
flowers, plates, knives and forks, and piles of glasses. 
But then just cast your eye into the kitchen, and see 
