five minutes before eight
She did n't want any one to like Miss Burton too much . Uncle Jerry wandered off disconsolately , but solaced himself by buying candy and Swiss carvings until his hands were so full that he could n't manage his parcels . Then , in a fit of desperation , he returned them all to the young ladies from whom he had bought them , begging them to sell them over again for the good of the cause . At five minutes before eight there was a burst of applause as Phil appeared on the stage and requested the audience to be seated at the small tables , as the entertainment was about to begin . When the confusion had subsided into silence , some one at the piano began to play softly , and the curtain parted to show in the frame a beautiful Spanish girl with fan and mantilla . Following her in quick succession came a fair-haired English girl , a smiling maiden from Japan with arched eyebrows and bright-colored parasol , and a rosy Dutch girl in cap and kerchief . Then a Turk sitting cross-legged upon his cushion smoked his long pipe and beamed affably on the audience , an Esquimaux gentleman came from his igloo in the north to pose for a moment , and a boyish Uncle Sam and John Bull shook hands fraternally .