The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-11-11
"Musi chal dor cope nat 8 clock.

An inscription which our learned aud cru
dite doctor, after much study and great ex
penditure of time and labor, at last dec-
phered TO mean, Music hall, door open at
O'clock" which, in fact, proved to be the
only record of the Alert and Discovery found
here. 1 will not deny that this hall was,
perhaps, little warm and close when
twenty OF our blue jackets and the whole
population of the village had crowded into
it, and that little more room might have
been desirable. But then there were no pet
ticoats, no criuoline, no long trains to be
room than a man, and that made a vast deal
OF difference. You have no conception OF
the small space you can dance in when you
have no petticoats to deal with. found that
three feet square was oceans of room
to waltz in, while for q polka / was quite
lost in so much superfluous space. After
q while, however, we found 1t so oppres-
sively hot that we decided to adjourn to the
open air. 1t was now ii o'clock. The sun
had lust set, bat there was a pleasant
twilight which would last all night aud
which was Just right for dancing. The
Pa dora was lying asleep in the little bay,
looking like a mere logship beneath tie
towering cliffs that rose above, threatening
to fall and crush her like an eggshell be-
meath their tremendous masses. The
dancing was commenced outside with re-
newed enthusiasm, and am ready to
in my life. Officers and bluejsckets, we all
mixed together on equal terms, and went
through waltZss, polkas and cotillon with
a vigor and good will only to be acquired
by forty days at sea. The girls were not
acquainted with all the forms OF cotillon
which we, in
THE ExUBERANCE OF OUR IMAGINATION,
adopted for the occasion, bat they were
very quick to learn, and got through the
most complicated figures very readily. My
partner was a demure little beauty, with
dark. slightly almond-shsped eyes, a skin
as brown as the nut-brown maid herself,
the reddest, ripest lips and dantiest little
feet that ever were seen. A greater pleas
ure even than encircling her slender waist
or gazing into her dark eyes, or floating with
her on the rhythmic motion ofthe dance, was
to watch her little red-booted ieet as they
skinned over the ground like the wings OF
q sea bird over the waveS-a pleasure quite
lost when you dance with girl who wears
petticoats. And then what hand she had !
So small, 80 delicate, so soft and brown, IL
dropped in mine as lightly as the falling OF
an autumn leaf The motion OF dancing
had caused her boots to settle down, leaving
| q bit of the leg exposed between them and the
breaches just above the knee, which, con-
trasting with the white starched linen tops
OF the boots, appeared as brown as walnut.
This exposing of a little of the leg above the
boot tops is a bit OF coquetry with the Disco
| girls by which they probably indemnify
themselves for not wearing low necked
dresses. But girl who should expose her
bust as lady does In her ball dress would
/ be booted out OF the village. Her queer
little topknot, planted perpeDdiculariy on
the top OF her head and tied up with a red
ribbon, just reached to my mouth, so that i
must have looked, when waltziDg with her,
as thosgh had an enormous imperial, with
girl suspended to it by a red ribbon.
Young girls, by the way, tie this topnut up
with a red ribbon, married women with 9
blue, widows with black, while those who
are neither maid. wife nor widow are re-
stricted to green or TO simple handkerchief
tied around the head.
1 could not talk much with her; but had
been studying Esquimaux with Joe. and
could say good many thing though, as il
always the case, not the things / mos
wanted to say. I opened the conversation
during one of tire psuses in the dance by
uttering the following easy little WORD
! which had learned from Joe for the occa-
sion: {" Acknowledgement armarmaa-
! merica?" asked, in as carelessly natura
q voice as 1 could assume. She looked at
me in doubt. "Nulisginga7" 1 continued
gravely. She evidently regarded 1t as {
somewhat abrupt way OF opening the con
versation, but she grasped the situation In
stan ly and smiled, kissed her hand to me
and with merry smile replied, "Ukhar-
lugusngutit,' which would be equivalent In
English to "You must ask pa, please
But her "pa" was away fishing
] distance Of three or four days