The dance was already in full swing, the exciting preliminaries having
been largely forgotten in the exuberance of motion, when he finally
pushed his way through the idle loungers gathered about the door, and
gained entrance to the hall. Many glanced curiously at him, attracted
by the glitter of his uniform, but he recognized none among them, and
therefore passed steadily toward the musicians' stand, where there
appeared to be a few unoccupied chairs.
The scene was one of color and action. The rapid, pulsating music, the
swiftly whirling figures, the quivering drapery overhead, the bright
youthful faces, the glow of numerous lamps, together with the ceaseless
voices and merry shuffling of feet, all combined to create a scene
sufficiently picturesque. It was altogether different from what he had
anticipated. He watched the speeding figures, striving in vain to
distinguish the particular one whose charms had lured him thither. He
looked upon fair faces in plenty, flushed cheeks and glowing eyes
skurried past him, with swirling skirts and flashes of neatly turned
ankles, as these enthusiastic maids and matrons from hill and prairie
strove to make amends for long abstinence.
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