Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1893-07-15

pretty girl would dance alone, her gay
skirt lifted with the tips of her fingers,
her eyes fixed upon the ground. A man
would approach from behind and place
his hat on her head. Perhaps she would
toss it saucily aside, perhaps let it rest
on her coquettish braids-a token that
its owner was her accepted gallant for
the evening.
Above, the slender men and women OF
the aristocracy, the former in black and
white. the latter in gowns of vivid rich
ness, danced the contradanza, the most
graceful dance | have ever seen, and
since those Californian days | have lived
in almost every capital of Europe. The
music is so monotonous and sweet. the
figures so melting and harmonious. that
to both spectator and dancer comes
dreaming languid contentment, as were
the senses swimming on the brink of
sleep. Chonita and Valencia were ia
nous rivals in its rendering. always the
sala stars to those not dancing. Valencia
was the perfection of grace, but it was
the grace now of the snake. again of the
cat She suggested fangs and claws, a
repressed propensity to sudden leaps
Chonita's grace was the grace of rhyth-
mical music imprisoned in woman's S
form of proportions SO perfect that she
seemed to dissolve from one figure into
another. swaying, bending, gliding. The
soul of grace emanated from her. too
evanescent to be seen, but felt as one
feels perfume or the something that is
not color in the heart of rose. Her
starlike eyes were open. but the brain
behind them was half asleep; she danced
by instinct.
was watching the dancing of these
two-the poetry of promise and the
poetry of death-when suddenly Don
Guillermo entered the room, stamped
his foot, pulled out his rosary and in
stantly we all went down on our knees.
1t was eight of the clock, and this cere-
mony was never omitted in Casa Grande,
be the occasion festive or domestic.
When we had told our beads, Don Gull
lermo rose, put his rosary in his pocket,
trotted out and the dancing was re-
sumed.
AS the contradanza and its ensuing
waltz finished, Estenega went up to
Chonita. You are too tired to dance
any more tonight" he said. Let US sit
here and talk Besides, do not like to
see you whirling about the room in mems
arms"
1T is nothing to you if dance with
other men," she said rebelliously,. al
II .v,lsaofaI
"And to dance is not wrong"
Nothing is wrong. In some countries
the biggest liar is king. We know as
little of ethics. except, to be sure, the
ethics of civilization, as one sex knows
of another. So we fall back on instinct
| have not a prejudice, but | feel it dis
gusting to see woman who is somewhat
more to me than other women embraced
by another man. 1t would infuriate me
if done in private; why should it not at
least disgust me in public? | care as
little for the approving seal of the con-
ventions as care whether other women,
including my own sisters, waltz or not. "
And, alasl from that night Chonita
never waltzed again. at is not that l
care for his opinion" she assured me
later; "only he made me feel that never
wanted man to touch me again"
Valencia used every art of flashing
eyes and pouting lips and gay sally
there was nothing subtle in her methods
to win Estenega to her side; but the
sofa on which he sat with Chonita might
have been the remotest star in the tirma-
ment. Then, prompted by pique and
determination to find ointment for her
wounded vanity, she suddenly opened
her batteries upon Reinaldo, That beau
tiful young bridegroom was bored to the
verge of dissolution by his solemn and
sleepy Prudencia who kept her wide
eyes upon him with an expression of rapt
alteration. exactly as she regarded the
stations in the mission when performing
the via crucis. Valencia. to his mind
was the handsomest woman in the room,
and he felt the flattery of her assault.
Besides, he was safely married. So he
drifted to her side. danced with her.
fiirted with her. devoted himself to her
caprices, until every one was noting and
thought that Prudencia would bawl
outright. just in the moment, however
when our nerves We're humming, Don
Guillermo thumped on the door with hir
stick and ordered us all to go to bed.