All these people I found uninteresting and insignificant. Mr. Nilo Bong might call himself a Chinese, and his eyes were a little oblique, but his complexion proved him to be a European; Mr. Pound and Mr. Liverpool were huge men, but very unintelligent in appearance; Mrs. Pound was a small woman—very thin, with a sharp expression; Miss Jane and Miss Lucy Ulverstone were modest, well-mannered young women, who bowed politely.
There remained to be introduced only four more persons, two men, and two women.
The two men were strikingly alike, and both bore a singular resemblance to Mr. Oldham; but the features which in him were merely quaint and amusing, were in them so exaggerated as to be grotesque; and the oddity of their appearance was increased by an affected air of extreme gravity.
When their turn came to be introduced; "Mr. Trick and Mr. Trock, Monsieur" said Mr. Hardwick: "I should not hesitate to call them the most brilliantly amusing Clowns in the world, if they themselves did not recognize their superior in Mr. Oldham ... they are Gaiety's favorite children!"...
Messrs. Trick and Trock bowed to Moukounj, and a very handsome young woman with black eyes and golden hair approached:
"Miss Sarah Skipton, Monsieur—the divine Artiste to whom we owe the 'Dance of Light'."
Miss Sarah Skipton bowed pleasantly, and last of all Mr. Hardwick presented a young girl who seemed to me the very embodiment of grace—with hair of delicate blond, and blue eyes that were a smile in themselves.
"Miss Sarah Skipton is, one may say, the Star of our Troupe; Miss Circé Nightingale is the Pearl! She is the gentle 'Charmer of Birds' and when you see her surrounded by her escort of warblers and nightingales, you would take her as one of your divine Goddesses!..."
Circé Nightingale smiled graciously on Moukounj, and caressed me with her pretty hand a long time—for which I thanked her, feeling that already we were friends.
To sum up, all these people, with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Greathorse, young Greathorse, and Mrs. Pound, seemed fairly agreeable, and I felt that it ought not to be particularly unpleasant to live with them. For four of them I already felt a certain sympathy; the elegance of Miss Clara Morley pleased me; she seemed so gentle with animals, and it was evidently not by severity that she managed her horses. For Miss Annie Greathorse I felt a sincere pity; I was sure that she was unhappy and badly treated, and thought that perhaps the time might come when I would be able to protect her. I admired the radiant beauty of Miss Sarah Skipton, and the exquisite grace of Miss Circé Nightingale delighted me; and I said to myself: "I shall have here four Friends—and four Enemies!"