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KENT’S TECHNOLOGY
OF CEREALS
Related titles
Kent’s Technology of Cereals, 4th Edition; Woodhead Publishing
(ISBN 978-1-85573-660-3)
Cereal Biotechnology; Woodhead Publishing
(ISBN 978-1-85573-498-2)
Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science,
Technology and Nutrition

KENT’S
TECHNOLOGY OF
CEREALS
AN INTRODUCTION FOR
STUDENTS OF FOOD SCIENCE
AND AGRICULTURE

FIFTH EDITION

Kurt A. Rosentrater
A.D. Evers
Woodhead Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier
The Officers’ Mess Business Centre, Royston Road, Duxford, CB22 4QH, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, OX5 1GB, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright
by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional
practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
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To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

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ISBN: 978-0-08-100532-3 (online)

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Publisher: Andre G. Wolff

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Typeset by TNQ Books and Journals

 K. Rosentrater would like to dedicate this book to his family, Kari, Emma and
Alec, and to thank them for their constant support, especially as he has pursued
grain and food issues in various far-flung locales.
A. Evers would like to dedicate this book to his wife, Tessa, in recognition of the
support she has provided, and tolerance she has shown, through 53 years of
married life.
Tony Blakeney (1948–2015) was to have been a coauthor to this edition. Sadly,
after a period of ill health he died before contracts were signed. Tony did much to
promote education and exchange of knowledge about cereals, both in his native
Australia and worldwide. It is appropriate and a pleasure that we recall here the
generous scientist that Tony was.
This page intentionally left blank

     
 Contents

Biography xi
Preface to the fifth edition xiii
Preface to the fourth edition xv
Preface to the third edition xvii
Preface to the second edition xix
Preface to the first edition xxi
Acknowledgements xxiii

1. Introduction to cereals and pseudocereals and their production

1.1 Cereals and Pseudocereals  3
1.2 Characteristics of individual cereal types 34
1.3 Pseudocereals 68
References74
Further reading 75

2. Production, uses and trade of cereals by continental regions

2.1 Maize (corn) 79
2.2 Rice 103
2.3 Wheat 127
2.4 Barley 155
2.5 Sorghum 173
2.6 Millet 183
2.7 Oats 190
2.8 Rye 195
2.9 Triticale 198
2.10 Buckwheat 201
2.11 Quinoa 202
References203
Further reading 204

3. Botanical aspects
3.1 Taxonomy 206
3.2 Plant reproductive morphology 208
3.3 Caryopsis initiation and growth 224

vii
viii Contents

3.4 Germination 253

3.5 Breeding 254
References263
Further reading 266

4. Chemical components and nutrition

4.1 Introduction 269
Part 1. Chemical composition 269
4.2 Carbohydrates 269
4.3 Proteins 292
4.4 Lipids 307
4.5 Minerals 312
4.6 Vitamins 312
Part 2. Nutritional aspects 324
4.7 Recommendations 326
4.8 Cereals in the diet 327
References360
Further reading 367

5. Storage, handling and preprocessing

5.1 Storage facilities 370
5.2 Deterioration during storage 382
5.3 Storage and preprocessing treatments 398
References419
Further reading 420

6. Dry-milling technology
6.1 Introduction 423
6.2 Milling processes 424
6.3 Processes in which the main process is decortication 427
6.4 Dry milling in which the main process is roller milling 453
References510
Further reading 513

7. Flour treatments, applications, quality, storage and transport

7.1 Introduction 517
7.2 Treatments of wheat flour 517
7.3 Flours for various purposes 522
7.4 Quality control and flour testing 542
7.5 Storage and transport of flour 558
References562
Further reading 563
 Contents ix

8. Bread-baking technology
8.1 Principles of baking 567
8.2 Commercial processes for making white bread 588
8.3 Other kinds of breads 603
8.4 Bread staling and preservation 605
8.5 Use of cereals other than wheat in bread 608
8.6 Bread quality 616
8.7 Bread machines for home use 617
References619
Further reading 621

9. Breakfast cereals
9.1 Introduction 624
9.2 Cooking of cereals 624
9.3 Hot cereals 625
9.4 Ready-to-eat cereals 629
9.5 Flaked products from maize 630
9.6 Flaked products from wheat and rice 632
9.7 Puffed products 633
9.8 Shredded products 638
9.9 Granular products 639
9.10 Sugar-coated products 640
9.11 Keeping quality of breakfast cereals 640
9.12 Nutritive value of breakfast cereals 641
9.13 Consumption of breakfast cereals 651
References653
Further reading 654

10. Extrusion processing of pasta and other products

10.1 Introduction 658
10.2 Principles of extrusion cooking 658
10.3 Pasta 669
10.4 Other extrusion-cooked products 687
10.5 Recent trends 695
References695
Further reading 697

11. Other food products

11.1 Introduction 700
11.2 Products made from wheat 700
11.3 Products made from maize 711
11.4 Products made from sorghum and the millets 714
11.5 Rice substitutes 718
x Contents

11.6 Parboiled rice 720

11.7 Recent trends 723
References725
Further reading 726

12. Malting, brewing, fermentation, and distilling

12.1 Introduction 730
12.2 Malting 735
12.3 Brewing 753
12.4 Distilled spirits 760
12.5 Fuel ethanol 769
12.6 By-products of brewing and distilling 779
References782
Further reading 784

13. Feed and industrial uses for cereals

13.1 Raw materials used for feed and industrial products 787
13.2 Animal feed processing and ingredients 788
13.3 Production of biochemicals from cereals 823
13.4 Other industrial uses for cereals 827
References834
Further reading 836

14. Wet milling: separating starch, gluten (protein) and fibre

14.1 Purpose of wet milling 840
14.2 Wheat 840
14.3 Maize 843
14.4 Sorghum 855
14.5 Millet 857
14.6 Rice 857
References858
Further reading 859

15. Conclusions
References868

Abbreviations, units, equivalents 869

Index 881



 Biography

Norman L. Kent

My father, Norman Kent, was born and brought up in South London,

attending Battersea Grammar School. He won a scholarship to Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, where he took a first in botany, and went on to carry
out research into the diseases of celery, which led to a lifelong reluctance
to eat it. He had gone up to Cambridge in 1934 and continued there, after
being awarded his PhD, under the team led by Professor Robert McCance
and Dr. Elsie Widdowson, on their work that was devoted to nutrition and
in particular to the provision of adequate nutrients to the British nation
during a time of shortage in World War II.
Sometime after the war, the United States government provided grants
to distinguished scientists outside the United States, and my father
received one of them. At the completion of the work he was invited to
present his results in America, and this enabled him to visit a number of
labs in that country.
My parents married in 1941 and moved to St. Albans, Hertfordshire,
when my father took up a post at the British Flour Millers laboratory
there, where he remained for the rest of his working life.
The same nutritional priority existed at the St. Albans labs and my
father made a significant contribution to the collaborative work there. His
own publications were on the occurrence of individual mineral elements
in wheat and its milling products. As a botanical microscopist, he also
studied the fine structure of the wheat grain and the fates of different cells
during milling.

xi
xii Biography

Besides being a meticulous scientist, he was a fine writer, and while at

the St. Albans lab produced the Bulletin describing the work there. When
the labs merged with the British Baking Industries Research Association at
Chorleywood to form the Flour Milling and Baking Research Association,
my father took charge of the information department, and as well as pro-
ducing some of the publications himself, he oversaw the production of
many of the periodicals that emanated from Chorleywood at that time. He
continued in this role until he retired.
His writing skills were internationally valued for his participation in the
drafting of many Standards for the International Standards Organisation,
and he worked, too, for the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
While still at St. Albans, my father received a call from the University
of Nottingham, which realized that it had inadequate expertise on its
permanent staff to cover cereals and cereals processing. They asked for a
series of lectures that he delivered to food science students to fill this gap.
These lectures formed the basis for this book when another call came, this
time from a publisher, for a student textbook. It was an immediate suc-
cess, combining as it did, readability with concentrated information and
insight. He produced the first three editions and then collaborated with
former colleague Tony Evers on the fourth edition of the book after retire-
ment. There are now few mills and cereals laboratories in which a copy of
this book cannot be found.
For a scientist, my father was a surprisingly artistic man – an inspired
gardener who created delightful gardens at the houses we lived in, an
excellent photographer who delighted in the photographic opportuni-
ties travel afforded, and very musical. He played the piano well and was
an accomplished singer, for many years a member of the Royal Choral
Society in London.
He was also very active, rowing for Emmanuel College while at
Cambridge, taking climbing holidays in North Wales with a group of
friends every year, and cycling to and from the labs as long as they were
in St. Albans. Walking in the Hertfordshire countryside with my mother
became a regular activity after retirement and kept him fit well into his
eighties.
I know he would have been gratified that his book continues to be
valued by food scientists and to learn of this further revised edition. My
mother and I are very grateful to Tony Evers and Kurt Rosentrater for
undertaking to bring this seminal book up to date.
My father died in 2006.

Celia Kent
 Preface to the
fifth edition

With the publication of the first edition of this book in 1966, Dr. Norman
Kent initiated what would become a classic text in the cereal grains litera-
ture. His intent was to provide a comprehensive introduction to all major
aspects of cereal grains, their production and their processing, with the
express intent to educate students. Since that time, the industry has seen
many changes and new technologies. Even so, on a fundamental level, cereal
grains, their chemistries and their processing operations, have changed
only a little over the decades. The fourth edition was published in 1994, and
while that version of the book has been a useful text for many students over
the years, an updated version is necessary for a new generation of students.
During a beautiful April day a few years back we met with Celia Kent,
daughter of the late Norman Kent, in the Royal Horticultural Society’s
garden at Wisley in Surrey, England, to discuss this undertaking and to
plan a new edition of this work.
The new version of this classic book has been thoroughly updated and
revised throughout, both in terms of trends and statistics and also process-
ing operations. We have also rearranged some of the topics for what we
hope is a better flow. It should serve as a timely and expansive resource that
will be useful for students, researchers and industrial practitioners alike,
covering the full spectrum of cereal grain production, chemistry, processing
and uses in foods, feeds, fuels, industrial materials and other applications.

Kurt A. Rosentrater A.D. Evers

May, 2017

xiii
xiv Preface to the fifth edition

Maize and soybean artwork by E. Rosentrater.

 Preface to the
fourth edition

The principal purpose of the fourth edition is to update the material –

including the statistics – of the third edition, while maintaining an empha-
sis on nutrition and, in particular, the effects of processing on the nutritive
value of the products as compared with that of the raw cereals.
However, some new material has been introduced, notably sections
dealing with extrusion cooking and the use of cereals for animal feed,
and the section on industrial uses for cereals has been considerably
enlarged.
A change in the fourth edition, which readers of earlier editions will
notice, is the order in which the material is presented. Instead of devot-
ing a separate chapter to each of the cereals, other than wheat, chapters
in the fourth edition are devoted to distinct subjects, e.g., dry milling, wet
milling, malting, brewing and distilling, pasta, domestic and small-scale
processing, feed and industrial uses, in each of which all the cereals, as
may be appropriate, are considered. Besides avoiding a certain degree
of repetition, we feel that this method of presentation may give a better
understanding of the subject, particularly as to how the various cereals
compare with each other.

xv
This page intentionally left blank

     
 Preface to the
third edition

The general plan of the third edition of this textbook, intended for the
use of students of food science and of agriculture, closely follows that of
the previous edition.
An attempt has been made to show the importance of the various cere-
als and cereal products as staple items in the diet, relating their nutri-
tive value to their chemical composition. The structure of cereal grains
is described in order to provide a basis for understanding their process-
ing, and consideration is given to the effects of processing on the nutritive
value of the processed products.
By-products and their uses are also mentioned, and reference is made
to relevant food legislation and standards. At the time of writing, new
regulations to replace the (UK) Bread and Flour Regulation 1963 are still
awaited.
The sections dealing with sorghum and the millets have been further
expanded, with the introduction of some information about the domestic
processing of these cereals. A new section on wet milling processes to pro-
duce gluten and starch from wheat or wheat flour is included in Chapter 7.
The valued assistance I have received from many of my erstwhile
colleagues at the Flour Milling and Baking Research Association is
gratefully acknowledged. My particular thanks are due to Mrs. Connie
French, Librarian, who went to considerable trouble in searching out
information; to Dr. Norman Chamberlain, whose crisp comments on
Chapter 10 were most valuable; and to Mr. Brian Stewart, who provided
hitherto unpublished data from which Fig. 32 was constructed.
I would like to thank the firms who most generously provided the data
for Tables 59 and 60; the firms who have willingly supplied pictures; and
the editors of journals, other individuals and publishers who have kindly
allowed me to reproduce pictures and data from their publications.
The picture of ergotized rye (Fig. 39) is Crown Copyright and is repro-
duced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery
Office. The Controller of H.M.S.O. has also kindly given permission for
data from Crown Copyright publications to be quoted.

St. Albans, Herts N. L. Kent

June 1982

xvii
This page intentionally left blank

     
 Preface to the
second edition

The second edition of Technology of Cereals closely follows the plan of

the first edition, with the addition of some new material, the deletion of
sections that are no longer relevant, and a general updating of information
to take account of the changes that have occurred during the past 10 years.
Sorghum has been covered more comprehensively, and material
on triticale and millet has been introduced. Chapter 10, Bread-baking
Technology, has been largely rewritten, and includes new sections on
chemical development processes and microwave baking. I am greatly
indebted to my colleague Dr. N. Chamberlain, who reviewed Chapter 10
and offered valuable suggestions.
Since the publication of the first edition, the United Kingdom has
joined the “Common Market”, and opportunity has been taken to men-
tion EEC Regulations and Directives that concern the flour-milling and
baking industries and the EEC standards for intervention and denatur-
ation. The new French and the new Canadian wheat-grading systems are
also mentioned.
It is again a pleasure to express my thanks to those firms and individu-
als who supplied pictures or data, and to the authors, editors and pub-
lishers who have kindly allowed reproduction of illustrations, including
the Controller of H.M.S.O. for permission to reproduce Crown copyright
material.

Flour Milling and Baking Research Association, N. L. Kent

Chorleywood
Rickmansworth, Herts
January 1974

xix
This page intentionally left blank

     
 Preface to the
first edition

This introduction to the technology of the principal cereals is intended,

in the first place, for the use of students of food science. A nutritional
approach has been chosen, and the effects of processing treatments on
the nutritive value of the products have been emphasized. Throughout,
both the merits and the limitations of individual cereals as sources of food
products have been considered in a comparative way.
I am greatly indebted to Dr. T. Moran, C.B.E., Director of Research,
for his encouragement and advice, and to all my senior colleagues in the
Research Association of British Flour Millers for their considerable help
in the writing of this book. My thanks are also due to Miss R. Bennett of
the British Baking Industries Research Association and Mr. M. Butler of
the Ryvita Co. Ltd who have read individual chapters and offered valu-
able criticism, and particularly to Professor J. A. Johnson of Kansas State
University and Professor J. Hawthorn of the University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow, who have read and criticized the whole of the text.
I wish to thank the firms that have supplied pictures or data, viz. Henry
Simon Ltd, Kellogg Co. of Great Britain Ltd, and also the authors, editors
and publishers who have allowed reproduction of illustrations, including
the Controller of H.M.S.O. for permission to reproduce Crown copyright
material (Fig. 38, and data in Tables 1, 22, 26, 55 and 72).

Research Association of British Flour Millers N. L. Kent

Cereals Research Station
St Albans, Herts
July 1964

xxi
This page intentionally left blank

     
 Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our appreciation to Celia Kent and to the

estate of Dr. Norman Kent for allowing us to proceed with this new
edition. Many thanks to Nina Bandeira at Elsevier and Heather Dean at
Iowa State University for helping to initiate this project and to breathe
life back into this book. We could not have undertaken this endeavour
without their efforts and support. We also would like to thank Karen
Miller and Debasish Ghosh at Elsevier for working closely with us
as we developed the text and for coordinating the translation of our
manuscripts into the finished product.
During the preparation of this edition the authors have called upon
many people and organizations, seeking their cooperation. We wish
to acknowledge the generous responses to our requests for advice and
permission to reproduce published and in some cases unpublished find-
ings and illustrations. Special thanks are due to Drs. Sinead Drea, Ulla
Holopainen-Mantila, John King, Mark Nesbitt, Mary Parker, and John
Taylor. Among the companies and organizations consulted, we would
like to thank Buhler AG, CPM-Roskamp Champion, FluidQuip, Grain
Milling Federation (RSA), Prosea Foundation, and Satake (Europe Ltd.),
who were particularly helpful.

xxiii
This page intentionally left blank

     
 C H A P T E R

1
Introduction to cereals and
pseudocereals and their
production

O U T L I N E

1.1 Cereals and pseudocereals  3

1.1.1 General characteristics of grasses 5
1.1.1.1 Vegetative features 5
1.1.1.2 Reproductive features (inflorescence) 7
1.1.1.3 Grain 11
1.1.2 Yield of grain 12
1.1.3 Growing cereals 13
1.1.3.1 Growth degree days 15
1.1.4 The importance of cereals 16
1.1.5 Multicropping 25
1.1.6 Efficiency of production 25
1.1.7 Seed certification 27
1.1.8 Pests, diseases and weeds 27
1.1.8.1 Invertebrate pests 30
1.1.8.2 Vertebrate pests 31
1.1.8.3 Genetic modification 31
1.1.8.4 Integrated pest management 31
1.1.8.5 Effects of pests and diseases on grains 33
1.1.9 Test weight 33

Kent's Technology of Cereals, Fifth Edition

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100529-3.00001-3
1 © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 1. INTRODUCTION TO CEREALS AND PSEUDOCEREALS

1.2 Characteristics of individual cereal types 34

1.2.1 Maize (corn) 34
1.2.1.1 Origin and types 34
1.2.1.2 Cultivation 36
1.2.1.3 Diseases and pests 36
1.2.1.4 Uses 37
1.2.1.5 Global production 37
1.2.2 Rice 37
1.2.2.1 Origin and types 39
1.2.2.2 Cultivation 41
1.2.2.3 Diseases and pests 42
1.2.2.4 Uses 42
1.2.2.5 Global production 42
1.2.3 Wheat 43
1.2.3.1 Origin and types 44
1.2.3.2 Cultivation 49
1.2.3.3 Diseases and pests 50
1.2.3.4 Uses 50
1.2.3.5 Global production 50
1.2.4 Barley 51
1.2.4.1 Origin and types 52
1.2.4.2 Cultivation 53
1.2.4.3 Diseases and pests 53
1.2.4.4 Uses 53
1.2.4.5 Global production 54
1.2.5 Sorghum 55
1.2.5.1 Origin and types 55
1.2.5.2 Cultivation 55
1.2.5.3 Diseases and pests 56
1.2.5.4 Uses 56
1.2.5.5 Global production 56
1.2.6 Millets 58
1.2.6.1 Origin 59
1.2.6.2 Cultivation 59
1.2.6.3 Diseases and pests 59
1.2.6.4 Uses 60
1.2.6.5 Global production 60
1.2.7 Oats 60
1.2.7.1 Origin and types 61
1.2.7.2 Cultivation 62
1.2.7.3 Diseases and pests 62
1.2.7.4 Uses 62
1.2.7.5 Global production 62
 1.1 Cereals and Pseudocereals 3

1.2.8 Rye 64
1.2.8.1 Origin and types 64
1.2.8.2 Cultivation 64
1.2.8.3 Diseases and pests 64
1.2.8.4 Uses 65
1.2.8.5 Global production 65
1.2.9 Triticale 66
1.2.9.1 Origin and types 66
1.2.9.2 Cultivation 66
1.2.9.3 Diseases and pests 67
1.2.9.4 Uses 67
1.2.9.5 Global production 67
1.3 Pseudocereals 68
1.3.1 Buckwheat 69
1.3.1.1 Origin and types 69
1.3.1.2 Uses 69
1.3.1.3 Global production 69
1.3.2 Quinoa 70
1.3.2.1 Origin and types 70
1.3.2.2 Uses 71
1.3.2.3 Global production 71
1.3.3 Grain amaranth 72
1.3.3.1 Origin and types 72
1.3.3.2 Uses 73
1.3.3.3 Global production 73
References 74
Further Reading 75

1.1 CEREALS AND PSEUDOCEREALS

Cereals are cultivated grasses that grow throughout the temperate and
tropical regions of the world.
Broad characterization into two categories serves to distinguish most types
of true cereals. Warm-season cereals are produced and consumed in tropi-
cal lowlands year-round and in temperate climates during the frost-free sea-
son. Warm-season cereals vary in their water requirements, for example, the
majority of rice is grown in flooded fields for at least part of its growth period
while sorghum and millets can be grown in arid conditions.
4 1. INTRODUCTION TO CEREALS AND PSEUDOCEREALS

Cool-season cereals are well-adapted to temperate climates. Most

varieties of a particular species are either winter or spring types.
Winter varieties are sown in the autumn. Some types may require a
period of low temperature at a suitable moisture content before germi-
nation can occur; this condition is known as seed dormancy. When ger-
mination occurs seedlings grow vegetatively until they enter a resting
phase induced by low temperatures. Although growth is suspended,
the young plants need to be capable of withstanding low temperatures.
They resume growing in the spring and mature to bear fruit in late
spring or early summer. Dormancy is a condition that is declining in
abundance through selective breeding, and it can be overcome artifi-
cially by a process of ‘stratification’ whereby seeds are subjected to the
required conditions of moisture and cold temperature without being
in the soil. Winter varieties do not flower until spring because they
require vernalization (exposure to low temperatures for a genetically
determined length of time).
Spring cereals do not require vernalization; they are planted in early
spring and mature later in the same year. They are selected for cultivation
where winters are either too warm to meet the vernalization requirements
of winter varieties or too cold for the winter varieties to survive. Spring
cereals typically yield less than winter cereals.
There are some varieties, described as ‘facultative’, that can be sown
either in autumn or spring because they exhibit good cold tolerance but
no dormancy. Dormancy is also an important factor in determining grain
quality since absence of dormancy can lead to premature germination
known as preharvest sprouting (see Chapter 3).
For flowering to occur in some varieties it is also necessary for
growing plants to experience an appropriate period of daylight. Such
varieties are described as photoperiod-sensitive, and among the cere-
als both long-day and short-day species exist. Wheat is an example of
a long-day plant (Dubcovsky et al., 2006) and African rice is an exam-
ple of a short-day type (Brink and Belay, 2006). Even in less-sensitive
types, day-length and temperature exert an influence on the time of
flowering.
Some plants, including buckwheat, quinoa and species of amaranth,
may sometimes be referred to as cereals but, as they are not grasses or
even monocotyledons, they cannot be classed as true cereals. Their fruits
are capable of replacing those of cereals for some purposes but they are
more correctly described as pseudocereals. Although they represent an
important food source in some countries, world production of individual
pseudocereals is less than a quarter of that of the least grown true cereal.
The range of latitudes over which some cereals and pseudocereals can
be grown are shown in Fig. 1.1.
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“It seems like fate to me,” is what her heart whispers, and the very
thought causes the blood to mount over neck and face until Aleck’s
eyes are ravished with the fairest picture they ever beheld.
Love comes at no man’s bidding—it cannot be bought with the riches
of an Eastern potentate—spontaneously it springs from the heart as
the lightning leaps from cloud to cloud. So Aleck Craig, bachelor,
realizes, as he looks into the lovely face of Marda’s daughter, that
surely he has met his fate, for such a strange meeting could not
occur unless the cords of their destiny were bound together.
Dorothy says no more just at present. The wheel is rolling around,
the pinnacle passed, and they are descending. Soon they must part.
The professor has made several attempts at rising, but Craig shakes
him down as easily as he might a schoolboy. The Padarewski of the
Ferris wheel is in the hands of a master-voice and the flail-like arms
have long since ceased to cause the wildest music ever heard in one
of these cars—and truth to tell strange things have happened under
their shelter, from a wedding in mid air to the “siss-boom-ah!” of a
score of ascending college students, who deemed themselves
slighted by the superior attractions of the Midway, and were
determined to win notice.
As they near the bottom, Dorothy overcomes her reserve once more.
“You will think it strange that I should come to this place at night, and
with only a middle-aged lady for a companion, but I have a reason
for it, Mr. Craig. You know who I am now—the daughter of Samson
Cereal. We live on the North side. Some time perhaps you may call,
and I might feel it my duty to explain. God knows it is no idle whim
that brings me here, but a sacred purpose.”
Her voice is low, her manner earnest, almost eloquent. The
Canadian is deeply moved—when does a beautiful woman with her
soul in her eyes fail to arouse enthusiasm?
“I can well believe that, Miss Dorothy, from the few facts I have
learned,” he says, and although her eyebrows are arched in surprise,
she makes no remark.
The wheel has ceased to revolve. Craig arises, and allows the
professor to regain his feet.
“Are we down?” ejaculates that pious fraud in anxious tones, and
upon his wife reassuring him that all is well, he says solemnly,
“Thank Heaven for that, and all mercies.”
Dorothy manages to brush close to the Canadian, and takes
occasion to say:
“To-morrow night we receive. Will you come?”
He looks straight in her eyes as he replies:
“If I am in the flesh, I will.”
Then as she extends her hand, after they have left the wheel, he
takes it reverently in his.
“Good night, Mr. Craig.”
He watched the two veiled ladies vanish in the midst of the throng
that gathers at this point, where Persian and Turkish theaters, with
their noisy mouthpieces in front, vie with the Chinese and Algerian
shows further on.
The murmur of her soft voice, the look of her lovely eyes, remain
with him like a dream, and to himself this stout-hearted Canadian is
saying:
“Hard hit at last, my boy. No more will the old joys allure you. In the
past, peace, contentment, and all the humors of a jolly
bachelorhood. To come, the fierce longing, the uneasy rest, the
yearning after what may prove to be the unattainable. Hang it! I’ve
laughed at others, and now they have revenge. Well, would you
change it all—cross out the experience of to-night?”
“Not for worlds, my boy, and you know it!” says a voice in his ear,
and turning, he finds the speaker, as he supposes, is Wycherley, the
careless, good-natured Bohemian—half painter, half actor, and
whole vagabond.
“Come, I didn’t suppose there were eavesdroppers around,” mutters
Craig, confused.
“Well, you uttered that last sentence a trifle louder than you intended,
and I answered it for you. That’s all. No offense meant, I assure you.
Come, walk arm and arm with me. I feel the eyes of Aroun Scutari
upon me, and want to arrange my plans before granting him an
interview.”
“Certainly, if it will help you.”
“Are you very angry with me, Aleck?”
“Angry? What for?”
“For the miserable business I was engaged in. I honestly assure you
my motives were really quite philanthropical. At the end you know I
realized what a foolish thing I had done. You know me well enough,
old fellow, to understand that I’m no villain, fool though I may be at
times.”
His repentance is sincere, and Aleck, like the good-hearted fellow he
is, claps him on the shoulder.
“I hold no grudge against you, my boy. On the contrary this ridiculous
escapade on the part of the Turk and yourself has resulted very
pleasantly to a fellow of my size. It enabled me to meet one for
whom I have been looking six months and more.”
“When you mentioned her name I knew there was something in the
wind. And believe me, Aleck, you did old Montreal proud. I wish the
Toque Bleue snowshoe boys had been here to see their bold
comrade climb the Ferris wheel.”
At this Craig laughs merrily.
“They might have believed me a little daft, for surely such a Quixotic
venture could have but one meaning—that I had thrown my senses
to the winds, and imbibed too much Chicago champagne.”
“Here comes the Turk straight at me, as if resolved to wait no longer.
Mark his dark face. He saw you come out of that car. The deal is up,
and I must defy his royal nibs.”
Aroun Scutari has barred their path; one hand he reaches out and
touches Wycherley.
“You deceived me, traitor!” he says, with a peculiar accent on the
words, such as a foreigner usually gives, no matter how thoroughly
at home he may be with the English language.
“My dear fellow, you are mistaken; I simply deceived myself. When
the critical moment came my nerve failed me. That mug of French
cider should have been something stronger. It is all right, anyway;
this gentleman saved the girls, so what’s the odds?”
His coolness is remarkable. Really Wycherley must have haunted
the Eskimo village a good deal of late, to show so little concern with
the grave affairs of life.
“It is all wrong. By the beard of the Prophet, I will look to you! Where
is the money with which I buy your soul?” demands the Turk, working
his hands as though eager to get them fastened upon the throat of
the Christian dog of an unbeliever.
“What you paid me I used in the regular routine of my work. By
proxy, I saved the girl. There is now one hundred dollars due. Will
you pony up?” holding out his hand, at which the furious Moslem
glares.
“I do not understand. You make sport with me, a pasha. If it were
Turkey I would have your head to pay!” he snarls.
“Then I am glad it is not Turkey. You thought you had me molded to
your liking, but the worm has turned. We are quits, Scutari. Au
revoir,” and gayly waving his hand, the debonnair Swiveller of the
Midway takes Aleck’s arm and saunters on, leaving the gentleman
from the Bosphorus standing there, his brown face convulsed with
the fury that rends his soul, as he realizes that his amazing scheme
has thus far proved a lamentable failure.
 CHAPTER VI.
THE ODDITIES OF CAIRO STREET.
Upon the narrow streets of Stamboul a Turkish pasha may appear a
very exalted personage, and command respect—upon the Midway
Plaisance of the great Chicago World’s Fair he is quite another
character, and when he speaks his little piece in English, he may be
placed on a par with the itinerant coffee vender, or the dark-skinned
doctor who sells the queer muffin bread of the Egyptians in the
corner of Cairo Street.
“Let the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing,” laughs Wycherley,
as he glances back over his shoulder to see if Scutari is still shaking
a fist after them. His everlasting good humor is proof against scenes
of this sort—it protects him like a coat of mail.
What he sees causes him a slight spasm of uneasiness. The pasha
still stands there in front of the theater where the Parisian troupe of
dancers holds forth, but he is no longer alone, a man with a red fez
upon his head is at his side, and to this individual the Turk talks in a
voluble manner, pointing in the direction our two acquaintances have
gone, as though he would direct the attention of the other to them.
Craig has his mind full of the recent surprising adventure. Even the
lively attractions around him do not serve to divert his thoughts from
Dorothy Cereal and her unknown mission. Why does she haunt the
Midway? He might imagine many things that perhaps would not be
complimentary to the speculator’s daughter, but when he remembers
her face he is ready to stake his life that no guile rests there.
Besides, he has not forgotten what she said so earnestly to him, as if
realizing that it must shock his sense of propriety to discover a young
lady of Chicago’s Four Hundred wandering, with only a middle-aged
duenna, about the Plaisance, haunting its strange scenes so
assiduously. Why, he can even remember her exact words, and the
earnest expression of her lovely face will always haunt him, as she
said:
“God knows it is no idle whim that brings me here, but a sacred
purpose.”
Those were her words—he cannot conceive what their meaning may
be, but is ready to believe in Dorothy.
He has not forgotten the remarkable story which Wycherley poured
into his ears as they climbed higher and higher in the great Ferris
wheel, and it adds to the piquancy of the occasion to remember how
Samson Cereal, the grim old wheat operator, the millionaire, won his
bride over in the land of the Golden Horn, and that Dorothy is the
daughter of the lovely Georgian who had captivated the pasha.
This brings matters to a certain focus. He is led to believe that the
presence of Scutari has something to do with Dorothy’s mission.
Does she haunt the Midway in order to learn from this dark-brown
Turkish dealer in precious stones, the seeming merchant of the gay
bazaar, the secret of her mother? At the thought Aleck feels a
shudder pass through him, an involuntary shudder, such as would
rack one’s frame upon suddenly discovering an innocent child
fondling a deadly rattlesnake.
To himself he is muttering:
“Thank God, I have been allowed to enter this singular game—that
Heaven may mean me to be the one who will tear down this infernal
spider web in the Midway; the web in which this keen old Turk sits
and watches for his fair prey; the web that has been spun with the
sole purpose of snaring the daughter of the lovely girl old Samson
once snatched from his grasp.”
While thus pondering upon the singular train of events that have
already taken place, and speculating as to what the near future may
hold in store for him, Aleck feels his companion’s hand on his arm.
“Come, you must arouse yourself, my boy; there I’ve been chattering
away like a monkey for five minutes, and you walk along like a man
in a dream. You need a jolly laugh, and here’s the doctor to bring it
about.”
Looking up Aleck sees the legend:

A Street in Cairo.

He has been there before, several times in fact, and even the
recollection of its boisterous associations causes a smile to cross his
face.
“Oh, I’m with you, Wycherley, on condition—ahem—that you allow
me to pay the fee.”
“Pay nothing. I tell you, my dear fellow, I’ve made it the rule of my life
to deadhead everywhere. There’s nothing I haven’t seen in this
street of nations, the great Midway, and all it cost me was a quarter I
paid to watch a Hindoo juggler do some very clever tricks, and I’m
laying my plans to turn the tables on him. Watch me hoodoo this
door-keeper now.”
With which he steps up. The dark-skinned boy holds out his hand.
Then the vagabond actor proceeds to make a variety of gestures,
such as a deaf and dumb wretch, unacquainted with the mute
alphabet of his fellows, might undertake. Aleck is utterly in the dark
as to their meaning, or whether they have any, but is amazed to see
their influence on the boy. At first he looks disgusted, then grins, and
finally throws up his hands in token of surrender.
“Come,” says Wycherley, and they enter.
“I say, what in the deuce does all that mean?” demands the mystified
Canadian.
“Oh, my boy! I dare not explain. It is soul language. I have been
initiated into the Order of Nomads. I’ve eaten salt with them. That is
as far as I can go. There are the camels. Now to chase the blue
devils away. Nobody can stand here five minutes and fail to laugh.”
And Wycherley is quite right. The uncouth figures of the hump-
backed animals, so strange to Western eyes, their meek, docile
aspect, the ridiculous manner of their rising and squatting are
enough in themselves to arouse interest. Add to this the alarmed
shrieks of the daring women who brave the merriment of the crowd
and venture to take a ride, the clattering of donkeys with pilgrims
astride of them whose legs almost touch the ground, the shouting of
donkey boys and camel drivers, and one can have a faint idea of the
sounds of old Cairo Street.
Several times during the day and evening the wedding procession
takes place; an unique affair, headed by the stout major-domo, with
whirling sword and fierce expression, who is followed by the
strangest rabble American eyes ever gazed upon, from the
palanquin to the dancing girls in the rear, their faces half concealed
behind the yashmak.
Looking down the singular street from a second story balcony, or an
upper chamber of the Mohammedan mosque, as this procession
approaches, one could easily imagine himself in the old native
quarter of Cairo on the Nile. Aleck speedily forgets his troublesome
thoughts in laughing at the ridiculous sights presented on all sides.
Cairo Street was better than a doctor. No one came out regretting
having entered. There you saw only the jolly side of life, for everyone
laughed and joked. While walking along it was nothing to have a
camel poke his nose over one’s shoulder, or be brushed aside by a
donkey boy on the run, shouting, “Look out for Mary Anderson!” or
“Make way for Lily Langtry!”
“Will you have your fortune told?” asks Wycherley, as, mounting the
steps of the mosque, they look through a grated window into a dimly
lighted room where a black Nubian, with a rather repulsive face,
dressed after the manner of his race, squats upon a rug and
manipulates some sand upon the floor, spreading it out deftly, tracing
certain mystic symbols, and finally in rapid Arabic delivering his
prophecy to the smiling interpreter who translates it in the ear of the
mulcted victim, after which “Next,” and another hard-earned
American quarter has started to roll toward the Nile. This fakir
appears to do a flourishing business—Americans have come to the
Fair to be taken in, and anything connected with the Orient has a
peculiar charm for their Western eyes.
At the question Craig laughs:
“What! have you a pull with this wonderful seer in the turban, this
ebony prophet from the land of the lotus?”
“Well, I’ve been there. If I’d had the capital I might have been his
manager. That’s the way it goes—an opportunity of making myself
solid for life lost because I lacked a few dollars,” and Wycherley
chuckles even while he speaks in such a dismal strain.
“This fellow isn’t the only fortune teller at the Fair,” the Canadian
says.
“By no means. I know of several others right here in the street of
Cairo.”
“Yes; I remember one at the lower end—a woman, I believe. I have
seen no other.”
“Walk with me. There is one here—they call her the Veiled Fortune
Teller of Cairo Street. I don’t know that her predictions are any
nearer the truth than the black’s, but somehow the air of mystery
surrounding her excites a certain amount of curiosity.”
“I would like to see her. I thought I had exhausted the sights of this
street, from the odd barber shop where they lay one down on a
bench to shave him, to the shoe store where their stock in trade is
yellow and red baboushas or slippers. If there is a veiled mystery
here I must see her. You said a woman?”
“Yes, and if one can judge of the faint glimpses seen through the
flimsy veil, and by the shapely figure, a beautiful woman, too. Let’s
see the time—yes, this is her last hour for receiving to-day. Come
along, Aleck, my boy.”
The jovial vagabond almost drags him along, and presently they
bring up in front of a stuccoed building. Over a doorway is a sign, so
small Aleck does not wonder he missed it, bearing this scroll:

Saidee—the Veiled Fortune Teller.

25 cents.

An Arab boy holds forth, fez and all.

“One half-duro—a quarter each,” he insists, and Aleck is about to
comply when the eccentric actor steps in front and proceeds to
mesmerize the youth.
“Ten cents,” he mutters feebly, but Claude only increases his
mysterious passes, and at length the Arab youth throws up the
sponge.
“Great is Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. Enter taleb, I beg,” he
says hastily, as if desirous of being rid of an incubus.
So they pass in, Aleck Craig never dreaming what an influence this
accidental discovery of a new curiosity will have upon his future. A
dozen persons are in the room, and one by one they interview the
veiled woman on the little stage, who looks into the palm and reads
both the past and the future.
“Look!” says Wycherley quickly; “don’t you recognize the man seated
there?”
“Jove! it’s the pasha himself. Do you suppose our being here has
anything to do with his presence?”
“Not at all. He was here when we came, and I know the man well
enough to understand that he has some motive for his visit.”
“Then let’s watch the game.”
“Nothing pleases me better. Notice the fortune teller, Aleck; did I
speak correctly?”
“As near as I can say—yes, I should judge that she is a fine looking
woman, and, like the most of her sex, a coquette.”
“Oh, why not say all?” smiles Wycherley, giving him a sly dig in the
ribs.
“You know there are exceptions to every rule, my dear boy. Since we
are under the enchantment of this unknown Circe, let us act as
though we believed in the rubbish and have our fortunes told.”
“Oh, I’ve done that before. She predicted that I would win much gold,
but that it could never stick to my fingers. Think of that. There’s the
cool million to-morrow—perhaps she means that—and I reckon
she’s right about it not sticking, for how can a man hold that which he
hath not.”
“There goes the pasha up.”
“Now keep your eyes open.”
“She does not seem to have noticed him before. See how she starts
and draws back as though a sudden fear had penetrated her heart.”
“Right you are. I believe she has recognized him.”
“And he?”
“His actions indicate that on his part he entertains a suspicion, which
he is bound to verify. Now he speaks to her. I would that I knew
Arabic, that I might translate what he says. My early education was
somewhat neglected in that respect. She replies in a low tone—I
swear her voice trembles with fear. Why should she dread this man?
Tell me that.”
“I cannot say. Wait, and we may learn something that will give us an
insight. I am deeply interested in all he does.”
“Of course,” says Wycherley, chuckling; “because you are concerned
about Dorothy’s fortunes. Now the Turk holds out his hand. She
takes it. See his bold eyes, they are glued upon her face. The gauzy
veil tantalizes Aroun Scutari. I’ve a notion he has come here to-night
to settle some doubt, some uncertainty, that has preyed upon him for
a long time, and he’ll do it in his own impulsive autocratic way.
There! What did I say, Aleck?”
There is a sudden movement on the part of the pasha, a feminine
shriek, and Aroun Scutari stands there with the gauzy veil in his
hand, stands there glaring upon the beautiful face his rude action
has unveiled. Immediately the lights are extinguished, and all is
darkness. Confusion follows.
“Come, let us get out of this!” cries vagabond Claude, and Aleck
Craig allows himself to be led into the street of Cairo.
He is silent and has suffered a terrible shock, for when that veil was
torn away his astounded gaze fell upon a face that has haunted his
dreams these six months, and he could swear he looked upon the
features of Dorothy!
 CHAPTER VII.
CRAIG BUILDS A THEORY.
The idea seems too preposterous to be entertained for a moment,
and yet he must give some credence to what his eyes have seen.
Besides, the strange presence of Dorothy in the Midway is as yet
unexplained, though she has, particularly, promised to enlighten him
on the following evening, if he will call.
Craig is sorely puzzled. Many things flash into his mind and confuse
him. Perhaps, after all, he might have been mistaken. Why has not
Wycherley made some comment upon the matter? So the Bachelor
of the Midway, as the actor has, in a spirit of humor, dubbed his
athletic companion, when learning how the Canadian has
persistently haunted the region of world’s fakes and curiosities, turns
now to that party.
“That was something not down on the bills, I’m thinking, Claude,” he
remarks.
“I’m puzzling my head over the cause of it all. The pasha was in
deadly earnest. Don’t imagine that it was a set-up game to clear the
room. What did he expect to see?”
“Probably he suspected that someone he knew was playing a joke
on him,” says Aleck quietly.
“Humph! he was a bear then,” grunts the other.
“By the way, my dear boy, did she remind you of—well, anyone you
had seen before?”
“That’s what makes me mad. A chump in the seat in front got his
beastly head between me and the stage, so that I couldn’t see her
face. You saw me knock his hat down over his ears. Well, just then
the lights went out and I missed the opportunity of solving the riddle
of the mysterious veiled prophetess of Cairo Street.”
It is Aleck’s turn to grunt now.
“Was she very beautiful, Craig?”
“Yes, strikingly so. I wish you had seen her. Never mind, did the
pasha come out?”
“Rather! he was ahead of us. Perhaps he feared the consequences
of his bold act, for these people of the Orient are quick to use knife
or yataghan. As he passed I heard him laugh, and, as it is seldom
these Turks do that, I can guess he was well pleased over what he
had done, and that he recognized the face from which he snatched
the veil.”
If ever a sorely puzzled man walked up or down that singular narrow
street, our bachelor is the individual. He cudgels his brains for a
solution to the enigma and finds it not.
“I don’t see how I can wait until to-morrow night to solve the
problem,” he mutters.
“What’s that?” demands Wycherley quickly. “Is it so bad as to keep
you from sleeping? Aleck, my poor fellow, I pity you.”
“Nonsense! I’m bothering my head over quite another thing. In fact,
I’ve a nut to crack that threatens to do me up. Pardon, old boy, but
I’ve been thinking of the story you told me.”
“You mean about old Samson; of course you are deeply interested
now—that’s natural. To the best of my belief he’s a millionaire and
better—lives in grand style on the lake shore. I walked past the
house several times, because, you see, I wanted to understand how
the land lay, if I was to be a prospective son-in-law—ha, ha. All
dreams knocked in the head now, I assure you, dear boy. I shall feel
at liberty to throw a kiss to the pretty girl in the cigar stand. My bonds
are gone, the shackles loosened, and Claude Wycherley is again a
free man.”
An odd genius this, assuredly. Aleck can never edge a word in so
long as his flow of breath lasts, so he usually holds his peace until
the actor pauses.
“I want to ask you a few questions,” he says.
“A thousand, if you wish. I would do anything for you, Aleck. Again
you have saved my life.”
“How?” demands the Canadian.
“Only for you I should perhaps have been fool enough to have
attempted that climb on the wheel. I am in poor condition to-night,
and ten to one I would have lost my grit and my grip. Then they’d
have swept me up below, and poor Wycherley would have been a
bursted bubble, a back number. So I feel awfully grateful to you. Ask
me any favor and I’ll put myself out to do it—anything but giving you
a tip on the market. That’s a dead secret yet—my plans are not quite
perfected. If I win that million now——”
“Hang the million! What I want to know concerns that part of your
story in which the Chicagoan brought his Georgian wife—stolen from
the Turkish pasha—to this place.”
“All right. What I know is at your service. As I learned it from his royal
nibs, Scutari, of course I’m in the dark wherever he is.”
“I realize that,” returns Aleck slowly; “but perhaps I may unearth
some fact that will help me to solve this question. You told me the
lovely Marda died a year or so after reaching Chicago.”
“So Scutari said and swore to.”
“Yet the daughter knows nothing concerning her mother. Why should
Samson Cereal desire to keep the facts from her if there was nothing
to conceal?”
“Look here, you’re probing this thing like a lawyer. You go beyond
me. I deal in facts, and never worry about the reasons back of them.
What are you getting at—didn’t Marda die?”
“Ah! that is what I am unable to say. It is a secret that perhaps only
Samson Cereal could explain. As to myself, without any positive
proof to back my theory up, I have a notion that all these years the
old manipulator of wheat has deceived his daughter.”
“Confusion! I say, you strike hard, Cannuck.”
“That Marda is not dead.”
“Bless me! what puts such a strange notion into your head, my dear
fellow?”
“I believe I have seen her.”
Craig smokes his cigar while delivering these sledge-hammer blows.
He really enjoys the astonishment of his companion, for generally
Wycherley is proof against such assault.
“The plot thickens. It was a great hour when I ran across you, Aleck
Craig. When do you think you saw Samson’s Georgian wife, and
where?”
“In this street of Cairo, to-night. Plainly, Claude, that was why I was
so anxious to learn if you had seen the face of the fortune teller.”
At this the nomad assumes an attitude that is a revelation
concerning his ability as an actor. Strange that the world failed to
properly appreciate him.
“Great Scott! you don’t mean it—and the pasha—— Why, I’m
already half convinced. He suspected—but see here, how could it be
that Marda living would appear dead all these years? Incredible!”
“I admit it seems so, and yet perhaps if we knew what Samson
Cereal knows, deep down in his heart, we might find it easier to
believe. It is a matter of speculation with me, but if you stop and think
for a moment you can understand how difficult it would be for
happiness to follow such a marriage—he, a progressive American
with all the ideas we claim, she born and reared under the blighting
influence of Eastern customs. I can readily imagine a quarrel arising
and she fleeing back to the sunny land of her birth.”
“What! leaving her child behind?”
“Quite likely. This is theory. When I learn some facts we can see how
near I was to being right.”
“Well, continue the theory: why does she come to the land of ice
again—the country from which she fled years and years ago?”
Aleck shrugs his shoulders.
“Ask me something easy. Put the question to one of the Sandwich
Islanders or a Hottentot. Perhaps she has been drawn by the mother
love to see her child again, for that affection is not confined to any
class. The lioness will fight for her whelps. Putting speculation aside,
Claude, I am ready to swear that the face of this veiled prophetess
was very like that of Dorothy. I was struck dumb by the resemblance.
At first I had a positive notion it was she. Then I gradually realized
that such a thing was too improbable, and while we walked along my
mind evolved the theory which I have given you.”
“Would that have any bearing on the presence of Dorothy here?”
asks Wycherley, stopping to light his pipe at the gas jet of a
tobacconist, and nodding familiarly to the Greek in charge.
“It might. She told me her mission was a sacred one, and what could
be more in keeping with such a word than the search of a child for
her mother? However, we may be meddling with what does not
concern us, though fortune has apparently decreed that I should be
interested in the fortunes of Dorothy Cereal, judging from our several
peculiar meetings. Have you any other plans for to-night, comrade?”
“I never leave here until closing time. Can’t explain it, but there’s a
charm about this same old Midway that is life to me. You know my
nature, Craig, and it just chimes with such a kaleidoscopic scene as
this, color, music, and laughter—not a tear or a frown. Heigho! when
the curtain rings down and the bugle sounds 'lights out,’ I shall have
to seek consolation in making love to that black-eyed Spanish cigar
girl, or emigrate with all these Turks, Arabs, and Moors.”
 CHAPTER VIII.
A BACHELOR PROTECTORATE.
Craig has himself seen enough of the daily life along the Midway to
feel some sympathy for his companion, whose doleful refrain has at
least the merit of sincerity.
The popularity of the Midway was something of a joke during the life
of the Fair, but never questioned. It is since the close of the great
Exposition that the people of this country have gradually awakened
to the fact that as a congress of nations, this Plaisance was the most
successful thing ever planned and executed.
Everyone has pleasant memories of hours spent in strolling up and
down, of queer sights witnessed, and, perhaps, singular adventures
in connection with these people from the four quarters of the earth.
In every prominent city of the land these memories have been kept
alive by a series of entertainments, representing the Midway in the
height of its glory; breezy items can be found in the papers,
describing the wonders of the world’s highway, and many snatches
of glowing rhetoric attest to the pleasure derived by the writer in the
scenes on the Plaisance. In defense of Wycherley, who haunted
these scenes until he loved them as a Parisian is devoted to his city,
it may not be out of place to reproduce one of these items which
appeared recently in a prominent Western paper:

“It was not until about July 1 that the denizens of the merry Midway
got their houses and shops in order, and settled down to business.
They easily made up for lost time, however, and during the four
bright happy months that followed, the famous street was far and
away the principal popular attraction of the Fair. Those who went to
spend the whole day at the Exposition, equipped with lunch, camp
chair, and guidebook, usually turned up in the Plaisance about every
two hours. Others who made briefer visits to the park either began or
ended them in the same attractive quarter. School teachers, who
made out their programme for the educational features in the Liberal
Arts building, generally landed in Cairo Street. Students of sculpture
who went with the best intentions of studying the marble models in
the Art Palace, ended by studying living models in the Moorish
Palace. Ministers who hoped to prepare themselves for missionary
work, were easily persuaded that they would be best equipped by
looking over the Dahomeyans and South Sea Islanders. And as to
young America—well, the day for him was not done till he had
tossed off half a dozen or more bumpers of beer in Old Vienna.
“All this is now a memory. The places that knew these merry parties
shall know them no more forever. The Samoan now sits serenely
under his island palm; the Bedouin is again astride his steed, and
with shaded eyes looks off across the desert; the Egyptian 'neath the
shadow of the mighty pyramids, recounts the marvels of his half year
in the New World; and the sad-eyed Cingalese woman tells her
sisters in 'the gorgeous East’ about the wondrous West; while the
American, whose energy and genius reared it all, now sees those
sights through a darkened glass, and faintly hears the once familiar
sounds, muffled and indistinct, as of a distant troop of boys at play.
He goes plodding on in paths of busy commerce, farther and farther
along, till time and distance intervene, and Midway sights grow
dimmer still, and Midway sounds sink to a whisper.”

These then are the feelings that cause the Thespian such sorrow. He
hates to think that before snow flies this gay scene will have
vanished as a dream, never to be seen again.
“Cheer up, my dear fellow,” says Aleck, “there will be other fairs as
great as this.”
“But never again a Midway. However, let us throw dull care to the
winds. It ill becomes us to mourn, we who are butterflies of the hour.
What would you now, my lord?”
Wycherley smiles again—the passing of his grief has been very
rapid—for his nature is buoyant.
“I have no plans. We can move around until it is time to go. I am
impressing this scene on my mind so that at any future day I may
reproduce it by simply closing my eyes. When before now, on
American soil, could you see such groups as that sauntering along?”
nodding in the direction of a squad of Algerians and Moors walking
past, clad in the turban and caftan, burnoose and colored robes of
their class, with the inevitable heavy slippers on their feet.
Close behind come a trio of Celestials chattering like parrots, while in
sight at the same time are one or more natives of India, Dahomey,
and Lapland, representing the antipodes. It is the bringing together
of people who live at the frozen north, and those from the burning
equator; the exposition of their home life, their peculiar habits, their
war customs, and marriage ceremonies, that lends such a charm to
a gathering like this. Contrast it by a visit to the Liberal Arts building
and see what civilization does for the human family, what wonderful
treasures are within the grasp of everyone who lives to-day in an
enlightened community.
Just as the squad of Moors and Algerians move past in their
sauntering way, Wycherley is heard to utter an exclamation.
“Who would have believed it?” he says.
“What now?” asks Aleck, wondering if his companion is dreaming of
the fortune he is to win or lose on the morrow.
“She is a flirt, I do believe,” continues the actor.
“Oh, it’s the dark-eyed Spanish senorita who worries the boy. Never
mind; remember there’s as good fish in the sea as ever were
caught.”
“You’re a Job’s comforter, Aleck. Under the circumstances,
physician, heal thyself,” retorts the other.