The morning times., 1895-07-24
ny fascinating
Partner


myself, which may or may not be the case.
This, however will own up to, whether
it is boasting or not-I do know whether
a man is a good dancer or whether he is
not from the first moment my finger tips
drop upon his arm.
That man abop' whom l was let in for
so much unmerciful chaff at our last
assembly ball is very good case in point.
Whatever were his other dra wbacks, be
was undoubtedly good waltzer-one of
thehest ever danced with.
Certainly, as ii turned out, he dtdnot dance
with any other girls, but l don't see that
that weakens my statement. You can not
judge much of the way man dances by
merely looking at his heels Ur watching the
way he handles his partner.
know most of them would give their ears
now to say that they had danced with him.
They don't say so, of course. They say
they'd never have danced with a man to
whom they had never been introduced.
My fascinating partner and never were
formally introduced. The thing was quite
simple, and l dare say the trick has been
played thousands of times before task your
own brother, ON his honor, If he is innocent
of it.
The assembly hall was n gathering of no
particular clique or set. 1t was a room full
of people who were in great measure
strangers to one another
With this last assembly / was feeling
at first more than usually out OF tune
because although / had been standing by
mamma n good ten minutes / had up till
then only ten names scrawled down on
nay programme, and had 20 others in view
SO when man came up from behind,
bowed, addressed me 10y name aud asked
Talf fiiCt tiTafst tl,-t ylU1
him. He was rather TALL dark, with
black eyes, black mustache, aud good
teeth aud for anything l knew his name
might have been Adam.
l couldn't do less than bow slightly,
and conclude that l had been introduced
to him one of the previous years 1 also
saw fit to give him waltz No - which
he asked for.
And would you take compassion on me
and give me auOther?' SAID ne. Il know
so few people here this year-at least so
lew that l care to dance with. Awfully
obi ged "
1 suppose the compliment was a trifle
broad, but it tickled me at the time, and
l gave him the dance next after supper
BY the way" Said he, "are you en-
gagged for the first eXtra% L suppose they
have such a thing?''
From that very first moment told my
self was IN luck's way; at the first sweep
VI inc NdItL L knew II. by Jne tlIne We
made the first round of the floor | felt
that l could have danced on with that
partner forever
We danced the dance through to its
very last lingering bar, and l said to my
fascinating partner-a thing which l very
rarely allow myself to say to any man
after waltz, lest it should make him uu-
duly conCeited-I said, THANK you"
'Thank you very much" replied he, II
don't think l ever had such q delicious
dance before. Could you give me an
other?"
You have two others already" sug-
gested.
So | gave him the supper dance when
he asked for it, aud the extras after, and
the polka before.
He left me then and for the most part
he stood with his back against pillar,
his hands I'D his pockets, and a very bored
expression on his dark, handsome face
l must confess that we had the fourth
together-another waltz. Those tiresome
men either wouldn't dance or didn't know
me, aud | saw visions of sitting it out in |
single blessedDess when my fascinating
partner came up and saved the situation.
would | again take compassion on
him? Might he? Thanks, so much"
Soon afterward he took me upstairs
and laughed and showed me snug lit
tie sitting out room, which even | had
not known of before He said it belonged
to the manager or someone and was not
supposed to be used
You seem to know the place pretty WELL"
said l, with the idea of trying to find out
who he was, because still / couldn't remem-
ber having ever met him before
Il think L may say 1 know every inch
of it,
''Do you live somewhere near here,
then? I-er-I forget"
Not so fortunate, I'm afraid. The fact
is, I'm cockney. 1 ran down here on pur-
pose for the dance. D'you know" he con-
tinued, laughing, Its an awful jar to my
feelings to discover such q thing, but /
can see you don't recOllect me one little Bit
Its awfully rude of me, Il know; but
you see, L come across so many new faces
that"
Insignificant items are forgotten Pre-
cisely. Well, shall keep up the incog-