The Portland daily press., 1893-04-29

with her swifter and swifter. Couple
after couple dropped out exhausted, but
they only went the faster, till at length
they remained dancing alone.
"Madder and madden became the
waltz. The music Jagged behind. The
musicians, unable to keep pace, ceased
and sat staring. The younger guests ap-
plauded, but the older faces began to
grow anxious.
Hadn't you better stop, dear? said
one of the women. You'll make your
self so tired
''But Annette did not answer.
Il believe she's tainted cried out
girl who had caught sight of her face as
it was swept by.
Zone of the men sprang forward and
clutched at the figure, but its impetus
threw him down ON the floor, where its
steel cased feet laid bare his cheek. The
thing evidently did not intend to part
with it's prize easily.
"Had any one retained cool head,
the figure, one cannot help thinking,
might easily have been stopped. Two
or three men acting in concert might
have lifted it bodily off the floor or have
damned it into corner. But few hui
man heads are capable of remaining
cool under excitement. Those who are
not present think how stupid must have
been those who were; those who are re-
fleet afterward how simple it would
have been to do this, that or the other
if only they had thought of it at the
time.
'"The women grew hysterical. The
men shouted contradictory directions to
one another. Two of them made
bungling rush at the figure which had
the result of forcing it out of its orbit in
the center Of the room and sending it
crashing against the walls and furniture.
A stream of blood showed itself down
the girls white frock and followed her
along the floor. The affair was becom-
ing horrible. The women rushed scream
ing from the room. The men followed
them.
Zone sensible suggestion was made,
Find Geibel; fetch Geibel.'
mo one had noticed him leave the
room, no one knew where he was. A
party went in search of him. The Others
too unnerved to go back into the ball,
room, crowded outside the door and lis
tened. They could hear the steady whir
of the wheels upon the polished floor as
the thing spun round and round, the
dull thud as every now and again it
dashed itself and its burden against some
opposing object and ricocheted off in
new direction.
''And everlastingly it talked in that
thin, ghostly voice, repeating over and
over the same formula: How charming
you are looking tonight! What lovely
day it has been! Oh, don't be SO cruel
I could go on dancing forever-with you.
Have you had supper
"Of course they sought for Geibel
everywhere but where he was. They
looked in every room in the house; then
they rushed off in a body to his own
place and spent precious minutes in
waking up his deaf old housekeeper. At
last it occurred to ore Of the party that
Wenzel was missing also, and then the
idea of, the counting house across the
yard presented itself to them, and there
they found him.
t'He rose up, very pale, and followed
them. And he and old Wenzel forced
their way through the crowd Of guests
gathered outside and entered the room
and locked the door behind them.
"From within there came the muf1sd
sound of low voices and quick steps, fol-
lowed by a confused, scufiing noise, then
silence, then the low voices again.
CATER a time the door opened, and
those near it pressed forward to enter,
but old Wenzel's broad shoulders barred
the way.
"'I want you-and you, Bekler,' he
said, addressing a couple of the elder
men. His voice was calm, but his face
was deadly white. The rest of you
please go. Get the women away as
quickly as you cam
''From that day old Nicholaus Giebel
confined himself to the making of me-
chanical rabbits and cats that mewed
and washed their faces"
We agreed that the moral of Mac
Shaugnassy's story was good one.-Je-
rome K. jerome in Philadelphia Times.