The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-06-16

Continued from first page

into my clothes again, reused up my
travelling companion, and we both
slid carefully down the stairs, called
up the servant and started out to see
the fun. The house was near by,
and when we got to it, we climbed up
A on the outside and looked in at the
y window, just as the elder brother of
the Prodigal may have done when he
came in from the field and heard
music and dancing in his fathers
house. They made signs to us to
come in, and SO w did. We jumped
down from the window and worked
u way through the crowd, which
quite respectfully made room for us,
to the side door, and entered. And
of all places and sights we had ever
seen, we thought that wa the most
curious and funny of all. 1t was a
little Dor not more than IL feet by
IS. In one end was a big pile of
wheat, and sitting all around on the
wheat and on the floor was the
strangest, motliest assemblage OF
people. Here was a Jew, there a
Mohammedan, there a wild Arab.
The room was crowded. There was
only a space about four feet square in
in the centre cleared for the dance.
And of all the dances. Only one
nan took the floor at a time. The
rest were spatting their hands and
singing, and one fellow was beating
an old drum made Of a water-pitcher
with the bottom knocked out, and a
sheep-skin stretched over it. They
cleared the top of a wood-box for us,
told us to sit down, and then went
on with the dance. A young Arab
perched on the top of the pile of
wheat, led the music, singing like a
brace of cats on a wood-shed, with
his nose and front-teeth only, not
using his tongue or throat at all. The
fellow in the centre began to stir
himself, keeping time to the music,
stepping around first on his toes,
then on his heels, twisting one leg
about the other and screwing his
head slowly down into his body, until
it seemed to catch in his collar-bone
and stick fast for a moment,-then,
as if he had touched a secret spring
inside, it suddenly shot out again.
But when once in a while he threw
up n foot high into the air, and
made a grand flourish with it, then
the house came down with applause,
the music was deafening, the drum
mer pounded with both fists together
and every man sent up a series of
sharp shrill yells like SO many wild
Indians. Finally the dancer tired
out, and then stopping a moment and
looking about he made a plunge into
the crowd and seized hold Of another
man and jerked him up all standing
into the ring, and then sat down
while the new dancer began to throw
himself to the music. l have little
doubt that it was a similar custom at
the time of Christ to which He re-
ferred when He spoke of children in
the market-place who cried out, "We
have piped unto you, and we have not
danced" And now for the rest of
it, 1--WE have mourned unto you, and
we have not lamented." After sew
eral had had their turns at dancing,and
the excitement began to diminish, one
of them took his (seat) cross-legged
in the centre ofthe room, and placing
his hand to his cheek as if he we're
suffering with toothache, began to
sway himself and utter the most dole
full sounds like a colored sister at a
Methodist camp-meeting. Every
mans face was as long-drawn and
sorrowful as if he were burying his
last friend. He chanted through
strain after strain in this ridiculously
melancholy way, until we could hardly
keep from rolling off the wood-box
with suppressed laughter, for it seemed
so much like a funeral, and they all
appeared so awfully earnest about it
that we didn't dare 10 laugh out loud.
And at the end of each strain, all the
company would catch up the last
paptvpf,1 pDtae aoI aoL1 xLa- ho1I