The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-02

with a sigh of relief my ugly and Ill
fitting gown upon the floor, and with
the aid of many pins draped the dis
colored netting about my slender ng-
ure in such fashion that 1t left my
limbs to perfect freedom of movement,
while it also exposed to view my full
white neck and palpitating bosom.
Quickly then 1 thrust aside my heavy
boots and placed on my small arched
feet the white silk sandals it had been
Groves pleasure to make for my wear
ing. and thus habited, l called impa-
tiently to the old man to come up.
My vanity was much gratified by his
loud expressions of admiration. My
unique attire was undoubtedly becom-
ing, for / know that even my own
critical eyes were we'll satisfied as l
considered myself in the scrap of mir
ror which Grove had set up in the at
tic. l was at that time much interest
ed in my looks, and 1 fear l was rather
given to specializing upon their effect
on others.
OR Suggesting was quite simple
and unconventional. The attic was
really the unfinished upper story of the
little dwelling which Grove had built
for his own USE for which the first
floor amply sufficed. 1t was room
perhaps fifteen by twenty-five feet.
quite unfurnished, Of course. It's sides
were bordered with q miscellaneous ac-
emulation of ancient and useless ar
ticles-for Grove had mania for col
Letting all sorts of discarded rubbish,
and was in manner, the village seaY-
enger. Broken chairs, lame tables,
Ia HESS
stoves, andirons, valuelesS pitchers and
teapots, china indeed, of all sorts and
escriptions-hedged about the square
of smooth boarding wherein l danced.
Three small and dusty windows let In
the daylight through their cobwebby
panes, and admitted the fresh air that
Grove and I loved in equal measure.
The draught from without was often
strong enough to set in motion the
strings of dried fruits and vegetables
which the old man hung on his rafters.
But one bit Of color enlivened the
gray and homely mise-en-scene. Some
years before a wealthy lady had spent
a season in Sheraton, as had my faith
er, for her health's sake. On her de-
parture Grove had fallen heir to many
of her bits of temporary furnishing.
Among these had been two sets of
Oriental portieres, the vivid colorfng
of which was almost a matter of scan
appealed strongly, however, to the
latent aesthetic sensibility in their
new owner, and he had hung them
across one end of the room wherein
he humored his musical instinct, that
his eye might receive qualification at
the same moment with his ear.
Against this background 1 danced.
The old man occupied a broken settle
at the far end of the attic. would sit,
or rather lie, upon heap Of old wool
lens piled upon the floor and forming
q sort of rude couch. Here l lay and
waited, allowing the musician to get
fairly into the spirit of his exercise;
waiting to be filled with saltatory aff1-
atus holding back, until they mutinied
against further repression, my vlbrat-
ing pulses Then a leap, a spring, a
burst of exultant JOY and was on my
feet. Scarcely to touch the floor, how
ever; rather to sway in air, suspended
above material substance, a thing OF
mere aerial motion; an element, not
a body; a zephyr, an involuntary ex-
preston of music and notion human
feather, to be blown hither and yon
at the caprice of the master who di-
rected my movements.
did not wait long that day. Old
Grove had drawn few notes from his
poor fiddle before I found my self-re-
preston vanquished. / cannot say what
he played, anu, perhaps, WSIO W HSe1t
1T now the music would scarce excite
II; me emotion of any sort That day,
however. it was a burning match ap-
piled to a ready mass of combuStible.
From the dingy lair where l crouched
ready for spring I bounded, my whole
being responding not by note to the
strains from the violin. Never had /
known such an impulse of IT. abandon
nent as took possession of me. Never
had | so yielded to the irresistible ap-
peal and prompting of music. Never
had my untutored motions been SO
wanton, my self-possession so invaded
and at fault.
l went literally mad with excess OF
sensibility The unaccustomed freedom
of my body, the rapt admiration OF my
singular audience, the ecstacy Of the
season and of my own dawning woman
hood, famed the fire in my veins till
it played havoc with all maidenly re-
straint. Never was license more boldly,
innocently and ingeniously suggested
than in my dancing that spring morn
ing The coarse and common drapery
that swathed me becoming Embossed as
danced, used Its long eEds as a scarf.
MY flowing chestnut name foated like
Sunny veil about my barred shoulders;
my eyes, of a greenish gray, must have
eIoWed, as it has been said they do at
such times, like bits of dark hematite
ore: my skim the skin of Hebe, of
Hygeia, of fair and healthy youth,
gIowed and burned, hot and flushed
with the riotous circulation Of my eager
blood.
Dishevelled. -half-dressed. and wholly