The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-07-16

nelu. !Here we're burrows and piles upon
tnose llghteG places, heaps of sticks or
sheaVes, or bundles of weeds for burning
species ana sort became lost in that garish
glitter and everything was jagged light
ana Jagged shadow. Again the music rose.
SLATER ana James and the other man de-
scended by winding path that felt dusty
and smeiled filthy The night was hot,
and In this squalid place it seemed, if DOS
sible, even hotter. When they came to the
bottom, they followed the piping quite
naturally down crooked lane, and the
turn brought them suddenly into small
throng OF folk, standing in front of two
storied house, upon whose whitewashed
front and stuffed panes the moon struck
full and glaring. The lower part was a
cellarlike sort of place, lighted with all
lengths of candle ends, stuck in bottles
and on spikes. Some person inside seemed
to be out of breath with much blowing of
the pipe. Every now and then the instru-
mont gave cultural gurgle, and there
was a little stoppage while the player
wiped his mouth and perhaps took sip
of something, the concertina still ambling
along with two chord accompaniment
until the pipe joined it again Slater and
through the tight knot and looked into the
room with eyes of curiosity, like the others
This is what they saw:
Benches and few casks turned on end,
onions and green rubbish heaped and
pushed away into corners, cleared space
in the middle and large, comedy girl
dancing wild tarantella barefoot to the
playing of couple of men, while short,
hor hoe fIr,1 RI,
incite the dancer, as friends will run be-
side one in long race. The girls bush OF
black hair was fast coming undone; she
pressed it with her hands as if to push it
together, and down it rolled over her
swarthy shoulders and breast cloudy
mass, flying up and down, winding about
her arms, sometimes nearly brushing the
floor as she bent and bounded and whirled.
After while of this she suddenly drop
ped her arms to her sides, her head sank
back and rocked over one shoulder, her
bosom shook like an uncertain sail Tapping
in the breeze. She cast languorous, half
fainting glance around. Instantly the pipe
stopped, leaving the concertina ambling
on with the accompaniment, and ere the
fall could take place a squarely built young
fellow in striped trousers leaped forward
and caught her round the waist, gripping
her tight with one arm and holding in his
other hand a bottle. Some words he said
in her ear, alternately caressing and
threatening, it seemed, while she lay quite
limp against him, her head on his shout.
der, her hair hanging over him like
black mantle, her eyes gazing into his
with lusterless, dazed expression, her
full lips parted as one who dreams heavily.
He put the bottle to her mouth, and she
took little passively, as a child might.
Then light came into her dull look, she
raised hand, took hold of the bottle for
herself, drank long and deeply with greedy
eagerness, and her feet twitched with the
fresh pulse of the dance that was arising
in them. She now struggled little in the
arm that held her, and when the man re.
Taxed her gradually and returned to his
place she put her hands to her head and
stopped, as if in thought, with her hair
hanging still.
Then out shrilled the pipe notes, and in
stantly she flung her head back and sent
her hair round her in great waves, pressed
her hands over her bosom, that swelled as
if to burst her bodice, gripped hold of the
earth floor with her toes and bounded
HIGH like young panther, setting her
teeth and breathing hard-then down
again, twisting swiftly, shifting the play.
ers with her skirt-dancing-- dancing.
dancing as if fire ran in her veins.
1t was strange and thrilling thing tc
see and Slater felt the contagion of move,
ment as never before. He wondered how
the others could refrain from all bursting
also into action
With such italian as he knew, he pres
emily asked what this might be-
An. old woman answered after a mo.
ment.
cit was in the fields this morning, sign.
or, that Mamma there was at work, and
the lazy creature lay down by heap OF
corn to take a nap while we were busy.
Then presently she gives a scream and
jumps up, running to US. We, of course,
killed it at once, the nasty thing-but
there! 1t had bitten her, and right in the
breast too. So we did what we could to
save her-took her here at once and set
her off dancing. BY the saints, she has a
good nights work before her now and
Carlo has kept her up to it well. My own
son had to dance for three days and nights
once, signor, just like this; hasn't been
the same since, though it saved him, OF
course. 1t is as bad bite as I've ever seen,
this time, alas, indeed''-and so on.
They staid there for half an hour and
watched the grim sport, noticing at times
red, angry pustule as the bodice sunk
lower toward the waist and showed more
of the painting breast. Several people took
turn of dancing with her. Then they re-
turned to the vessels and Slater collected
his bets.
Next day the mails were shipped and
the gangways drawn in. And in the in
terval of silence Slater thought he still
heard faint piping far away.
Was it fancy, or was it that Mamma
was still in that squalid cellar with her
lover, MISUNDERSTANDING for her
life?-London Graphic.
Freakish IiphtDin, Nn Tavos