Ten minutes before the clock struck nine the committee made a tour through the ballroom.

The hall, when emptied of its furniture, brilliantly lit, adorned with flowers whose scent tinged the air, presented a wonderful appearance of ethereal gaiety.
"It's like a starlit sky on an absolutely cloudless night," Hewet murmured, looking about him, at the airy empty room.
"A heavenly floor, anyhow," Evelyn added, taking a run and sliding two or three feet along.
"What about those curtains ?" asked Hirst.

The crimson curtains were drawn across the long windows.

"It's a perfect night outside." "Yes, but curtains inspire confidence," Miss Allan decided.

"When the ball is in full swing it will be time to draw them.