BOHEMIA 23
which was seen by her partner by double reflection.
Whether from native talent or considerable practice,
he possessed in the highest degree the faculty of
seeing in many directions at once ; and without
appearing to do so, he never lost sight of the
mirrors, a most useful habit in Paris and other
localities.
In fact, Yussuff was not so unsophisticated as
people took him to be. Life, in the modern sense
of the term, is not quite unknown in India. Human
nature is very much alike in all countries, and
civilization in Hindoostan is already advanced to
a degree little suspected by those who do not know
the country, and Yussuff had moved among the
sahibs.
Surprise for a moment overcame all other feel¬
ings in Estelle as she started to the exquisite
strains of the best string band in Paris. The
firm grasp of Yussuff, the easy swing, the smooth,
elastic, velvety glide, proclaimed the perfect waltzer.
He took her straight across the middle of the
room. It was a miracle of guidance ; the worst
dancers were towards the centre. Estelle shuddered
for a moment as she felt herself about to cut
through the maelstrom of whirling fragments; but
Yussuff seemed to have the faceted eyes of the
dragon-fly, which sees in twenty directions at the
same instant. His path twisted like a snake's; it
shaved Scylla with infinite boldness and celerity,
and escaped Charybdis by a space equal to a hair's
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