— How can you complain that the summer season is meager, when this splendid hotel of yours dazzles the eye with its colors and its elegance! It seems to me to be at the very height of its prosperity — so what is the meaning of this complaint?

— Do not forget, madam, that today is Sunday, the day of rest, and this state of things is not the normal one. I came here yesterday and found the place empty except for a few guests staying in the house — indeed, I felt certain the servants out-numbered them! The condition of the hotels and of the men of business is a painful one, and the loss that will befall them all is bound to be enormous... Some of the small hotels stand empty and deserted! And this is how things are in Dhour el-Choueir — what, then, must they be in the other summer resorts? God have mercy on His servants, the people of the mountain, who still speak of the summer season as a source of their livelihood — what is to become of them this coming winter?

And the orchestra struck up a tango, and the blazing lights were put out, and nothing remained but the dim red glow... A beguiling atmosphere settled over the place: everyone heed-less, seeking amusement, the squandering of hours, the forget-ting of time! — that cruel time which drives us on in mockery, while we follow it against our will, not knowing why, or where.

But what business have I with thinking, in a light, merry atmosphere like this? Why should I not contemplate instead the plain difference between the ladies' fashions this year and last year's! How long these dresses

are!! And how wide and flowing below the slim, elegant waists! Astonishing!! How woman's taste evolves! I remember well that when this fashion arose in the West a year ago, I found it distasteful and had no wish whatever to exchange it for the dresses cut short to the knee! How is it, then, that today I can hardly bear to look at a lady's figure unless her dress reaches at least to the middle of the calf?...

The fashion designers in America were right when they predicted that woman, where fashion is concerned, follows the latest look without condition or reservation — while her revolt and outcry against the new style is a storm that soon subsides!

This is what I was thinking as I left the Hotel Kassouf, tossed about by obscure stirrings of the soul whose nature I could not tell!