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[Illustration: IN THE DESERT SUNRISE]
1891.
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"Ceci non!"
A spacious apartment, its polished parquet strewn with whitebearskins and the thickest and softest of Persian rugs; its panelledwalls hung with Oriental tapestries, costly daggers, pistols, andshields of barbaric, but beautiful, workmanship, glistening with goldand silver. Every detail of the room denotes the artistic taste of theowner. Inlaid tables and Japanese cabinets are littered with pricelessporcelain and cloisonné, old silver, and diamond-set miniatures; thelow divans are heaped with cushions of deep-tinted satin and gold;heavy violet plush curtains drape the windows; while huge palms,hothouse plants, and bunches of sweet-smelling Russian violets occupyevery available nook and corner. The pinewood fire flashes fitfullyon a masterpiece of Vereschágin's, which stands on an easel by thehearth, and the massive gold "ikon," [A] encrusted with diamonds andprecious stones, in the corner. A large oil painting of his Majestythe Czar of Russia hangs over the marble chimneypiece.
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