A flush of excited pleasure overspread Stuart's face as he led his beautiful hostess to the dining room.
He paused at the entrance with an exclamation of surprise:
"Well, of all the wonders!"
"But you can't stop yet!" whispered Nan, drawing him gently on.
Apparently on entering the banquet hall they were stepping outdoors into an enchanted pine forest. The walls were completely hidden by painted scenery representing the mountains of western North Carolina. The room had been transformed into a forest, trees and shrubbery melting imperceptibly into the scenery on the walls, and mocking birds were singing in cages hidden high among the boughs of the trees.
Stuart gazed at the great panorama painting on the wall, fascinated.
"Why, Nan," he gasped, "that's a view of the river hills at home where you and I used to roam."
"Well, if you hadn't recognized it, I should never have forgiven you."
"How on earth did your artists get it so perfectly?"
"I sent him there, of course. He did it in three weeks. There's something else in that picture I thought you'd see, too."