The polka was new, and hardly yet danced.
What fun, what pleasure was there then in that old dining hall among
the blue tunics! There the General loomed above the rest, not in tunic,
however, but staggering about with his new acquirement, interested and
ungraceful; and the old gardener entertained us with a Danish waltz
with his fair-haired, plump, round-shouldered daughter. Now they cling
together, then swing apart, holding each other by the fingers' ends;
now they whirl and twirl in and out, and then come together and waltz
around the hall, as all gaze and wonder at the old man's suppleness.
Now the spirit of fun takes possession of all as we see Irish John
sitting quietly conversing with "Dora," and he must dance a jig! By
some chance there may be a girl of his nationality on the place to
dance with him; if not, he goes it alone--forward and back, shuffling
backward and around; then dancing up as to his partner, and having gone
through all the varied motions in grand heel-and-toe style, sits down
again or rushes out of the hall door with his giggling laugh, and a
loud round of applause for his reward.
I might go on painting various characters and personages, but could not
paint the enthusiasm that was catching--how one after another of the
older ones put on again the youthful habit long since laid off.
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