“Yes, Grandma, I read in ‘Peter Parley’ of many wicked kings;—­but will this bazaar be larger than the Pantheon?”

“Very much larger than I can make you comprehend, until you see it; for it will be twenty miles to walk over, and when the great ‘Exposition,’ as it is called, is ended, it will be filled, perhaps, with graceful shrubs and lovely flowers, flourishing all through the winter, where we may enjoy ourselves for hours daily, and quite forget the frost and snow outside.”

“It is quite delightful to think of, I declare, Grandma.  I believe that I shall like it better then, than now.”

“Both will be very charming, dear.  But, perhaps the first will be the most instructive; for there will be goods from every country in the world—­specimens of natural productions,—­the arts and manufactures,—­of every invention that the ingenuity of man has constructed; and of almost all the glorious things that God has given us, in this lovely world.”

“Why, Grandma, there never was anything so grand and beautiful before!”

“Nothing, upon so large a scale; but bazaars are not a novelty.  They have long been common in the Eastern countries, such as Egypt, Persia, India, and Turkey.  In these countries, the shops are not spread abroad through many streets, as we now see them, but are collected in one spot, and are arranged in heads or classes, according to the various kinds of trades, or articles for sale.

“In fact, the word ‘Bazaar’ means market; and these markets are usually built with high brick roofs, and cupolas, that will admit but little light.  They have their passages all lined with shops on each side, and each exactly like the other.  All of them are raised above the path on which the customers are standing, and are open to the air, having no walls, but such as separate the various shops.  This plan was found convenient, in climates where the heat forbids exertion.  It saved the purchasers much trouble and fatigue; for exercise is not as pleasant, or as healthy there, as here.”

“I fancy that I should not like such places very much, Grandma,” said Frank; “for I do love a walk with you uncommonly, and more especially when you are going shopping, as you sometimes do, one sees so many pretty things, that one never heard or thought about before.”

“And I am pleased to take you, Frank, because you never trouble me to purchase what may be too expensive or unsuitable;—­neither do you stand looking on the toys and pretty things, with greedy, longing eyes, that tell as plainly your desires as words could do.”  “Because, Grandma, I know that you will give me all that you think proper, and so the sight quite satisfies me.  But I may not be so quiet on the matter when we see the Great Bazaar;—­I wonder that they only have them in the East, though.”

“They do, at times, my dear—­and the first Bazaar in Europe, or ‘Exhibition of Industry,’ as it was called, took place in France, and was held in the Palace of St. Cloud, a beautiful and royal residence, which was emptied for the purpose.”