Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-04-14

certo, and on the other stag-hunt with
huntsmen, and, the musicians, who,
until then, had not made any gestures,
bowed the head in token of adhesion.
The maestro raised his wand, and lively
dance music sounded from one end of the
room. The first dance was a mlnuet.
But the rapid notes of the score harmon
lied badly with those grave courtesies,
and so after few minutes each of the
couples began to pirouette like Dutch
top. The silk dresses of the women,
crIlmpled in the giddy maze of the dance,
gave forth an odd sound, like the sound
of whirring pigeons wings. The wind
filing them from beneath, pulled them
out so that they looked like swinging
bells.
The bows of the fddlers passed SO
rapidly over the strings, that electric
sparks flew out. The fingers of the flute
player moved up and down like quick
silver; the cheeks of the huntsmen were
swollen out like balloons, and all that
formed deluge of notes and trills SO
hurried, and of ascending and descend
ing gamut so complicated, so inconceiva-
BILE, that the very demons could not have
| followed such measure for two minutes.
It was pitiful to see all the efforts of
those dancers to catch the time. They
bounded and whirled round and pirou-
cited until the sweat poured down their
foreheads over their eyes, and carried
away their paint and patches. But it
was all in vain, the orchestra was always
| three or four notes in advance.
The clock struck one; they stopped.
then saw something which had escaped
my notice-a woman who was not dane
ing. She was seated on a low chair In
the chimney corner, and did not seem to
take the least part in the world in what
was going ON around her.
Never, even in a dream, had anything
so perfect presented itself to my eyes; a
skin of dazzling brightness, hair blonde
cendre, long eye-lashes, and blue eyes,
SO clear and transparent that | saw her
soul through them as distinctly as a
I came to love anybody it would be her.
1 jumped out of bed, from which / had
not yet dared to stir, and went toward
her, conducted by some instinct in me
which could not explain. / found my
self at her knees, one of her hands in
mine, talking with her as if had known
her Tor twenty years.
But-a strange prodigy-while speak
ing to her I marked the music with a
movement Of my head It had not ceased
to play, and, although it was for me the
height of happiness to talk with such a
beautiful woman, my feet were burning
to dance with her. Still, did not dare
to make the proposition. It seems she
understood what 1 wanted, for, raising
her hand toward the dial of the clock,
| she said:
"When the needle shall be there, we
will see, my dear Theodore"
I know not how it happened, but [
was in no way surprieed to hear myself
called by my name, and we continued
to talk. Atlast, when the appointed hour
struck, the slvery voice v1brated once
more in the chamber, anc said:
'tAngela, you may dance with the gentle
man, if you please; but you know what
will be the result
"Nomatter, replied Angela, in apont-
ing tone.
She passed her ivory arm around my
neck.
! "PrestissinaO!" cried the voice.
And we began to valse. The bosom
of the young girl touched mine, her vel
vet cheek skinned my own. Never in
my life had experienced such emotion;
my nerves quivered like springs of steel,
my blood flowed in my veins like torrents
of lava, and [ heard my heart beat as if
a watch were ticking IN my ears. Still
this state had nothing painful in it. I
was in food of ineffable joy, and I
could have wished to have remained
! always as was, and, remarkably
enough, although the orchestra had
tripled it's quickness, we needed no effort
to follow it,
The bystanders, astonished at our
agility, cried bravo, and clapped their
hands with all their might without pro-
ducing any noise.
Angela, who until then had waltzed
with surprising energy and precision,
seemed suddenly to become fatigued; she
hung on my shoulder as if her limbs had
failed her; her little feet, which aminute
ago had barely touched the floor, rose
slowly as if they had been weighed with
lead.
"Angela, you are weary" I said to
her; Sc let us rest
eyes," she replied, wiping her brow
with her handkerchief; "but while we
have been dancing. they have all sat
down; there is only one chair, and we are
two"
"What does that matter, my angel?
I will take you ON my knees"
CHAPTER III.
Without making the slightest objec-
ton, Angela sat down, threw her arms
like white scarf around my neck, and
hid her head in my bosom to warm her
self little, for she had become cold as
marble
I know not how long we remained in
that position, for my senses were all alb
sorbed in the contemplation of this mys-
ferrous and fantastic creature. L had
no longer any idea of time or place; the
real world no longer existed for me, and
all the bonds which bound me to it were
broken; my soul, disengaged from its
earthly prison, was floating in vague IN
finity. / understood that which no man