Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-04-18

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be put in pot.'
Certainly. But there were other OBJ
jectlons. 1t was considered that public
cOek-hghting, besides being cruel, did
harm to those who took part in it-blunt-
ed their feelings-demoralized them, in
fact"
I'm that case I must be very much de-
moralized," said Nab, with flashing eyes
and an angry gesture; ''for l have taken
part, as you call it, in a hundred cock
fights, and shall probably take part in hun
dreds more. So, according to vcur show
ing, / must be both demoralized and incor-
rigible."
Not at all; anything but that" / re-
turned, eager to repair the fault / had so
stupidity committed. "You asked me why
cock-tighting was abolished in England,
and was trying to explain why. / was
not giving these arguments as my own.
Moreover, cock-fghting in Fair Island is
one thing; cock-fghting in England v-as
quite another thing 1t was made a me-
dunn for gambling, fell into bad hands,
and became a public nuisance, As for you,
L am sure that no one who has ever seen
Queen Nab could doubt that she was other
than"
Here hesitated.
''What, SUPPLEMENTARY.
"a right noble woman"
She smiled; and | liked her none the
less for being sensible to little f1attery
''You are coming to my ball, of courses"
"Of course"
81 am afraid you will find our dances
rather old-fashioned; but you shall teach
Us some of the new ones. saw mention
in one of those illustrated papers of
waltz. / think 1 should like to waltz.
Will you show me how?"
l bowed, and said l should be delighted
to teach her anything in my power.
The ball was a great success. The or
chestra consisted of flute, ciarionet, a
key-bugle, Carib guitar, and a set of
Pan s-pipes. The flute seemed to be new,
but the clarionet and bugle looked old
enough to have belonged to the bandsmen
of the ''Hecate" or the Santa Anna" Yet
they produced very fair music, and though
the men played without notes, they had a
great variety of airs, some of which
struck me as being singularly wild and
beautiful.
My uniform made quite sensation, and,
judging by the compliments l received, it
l.
many minutes in the room booked sever
al engagements; for as Fair Island ladies
deem it not unmaidenly to ask men ION
occasion) to be their partners for life, they
naturally see no improperly in asking
them to take part in dance. They were
all tall, fine women; not few were very
well-favored, barring the queerness of their
complexion, and two or three were as fair
&C oh,
too, and wonderfully graceful In their
movements, dancing with zest and ener-
gy unknown to the languid beauties of
European bathrooms. Being, moreover,
the descendants of the "Hecate's" officers
(the descendants of able-bodied and ordi-
nary seamen and warrant-offlcers not be-
ing admitted into society, they were intel
igenk, and, considering their opportunities,
well educated. Most of them had read
Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, ''Plutarch's
Lives" Robinson Crusoe," and Pamela"
and were acquainted with the leading
facts of European history up to about 1740.
From that time forward, so far as regards
the outer world. their minds, like the minds
of Fair Islanders generally, were blank:
and it is hardly possible for those who
have not tried it to realize the difficulty of
keeping up a conversation with people who
know nothing of George III. and Napoleon,
Nelson and Wellington, the Reform Bill
and Queen Victoria, the Indian Mutiny,
and the American Civil War, Bismarck
and the G. 0. NJ; who have never seen
daily newspaper, monthly review, or a
railway; never heard of the United States,
Australia, New Zealand, or the Suez Canal;
lighting by gas or printing by steam, and
-
Robinson Crusoe" and Pamela"
In these circumstances it was perhaps
fortunate that l had little to do except an
swer questions, the ladies whose acquaint-
ance l made being insatiably curious. But
l soon found that if wanted to be believed
I must keep back portion of the truth.
When, in answer to question about the
size of London, said that its population
was nearly four millions, and that a hun
dred thousand strangers left and entered
1t every day, the significant smile which
went round told me that the statement
was regarded as monstrous and incredible.
My account of the electric telegraph and
some other modern scientific and mechan-
zeal achievements was received with even
greater incredulity, especially by the men,
who, though too polite openly to doubt my
word, obviously thought me an uncon-
scionable romancer.
Only the queen affected TO believe me,
either because she was naturally more in
telligent than the others, or that she was
fresh from the perusal of the books and
periodicals which we had brought from the
"Diana"-or for some other and less obvi-
GUS reason.
The first dance was a Sir Roger de Gov
erly, in which l had Nab for a partner;
then followed a minuet, which, at her
pressing instance, l attempted-with poor
success, however. There was an immense
deal of bowling on the part of the men, and
courtesying on the part of the women, the
latter bending SO low that more than once
disaster seemed imminent; but they always
recovered their perpendicular with re-
markable agility and grace. Next came
fandango, doubtless bequest from DenzII
Fane's Spanish wife. After this the queen
asked me to show her how to waltz. She
proved an apt pupil-acquired the step In
few minutes; 1 whistled to the musicians
few bars of waltz, which they picked
up in no time, and the next moment we
were whirling round the room-to the as
constituent Of all beholders. They had
never seen anything like it before. We
had long spin-Mab being in excellent
wind-and when l escorted her to her seat,
| could see by the manner Of some of the
younger men that they envied me my good
will take it as com 'liment. She takes
great interest in everything that concerns
the old country, and that red coat will
match well with your-chestnut hair"
The point being settled, we went to the
cock-fght which took place in a public pit
not far from Mr. Fields house. A number J
of mains were fought, and many birds