THE NEWFOUNULANJ) KISIIKIUKS. 127 



been (lining uith us, proposed to take us to a ball. 

 "A ball?" cried wc. " Certainly, gentlemen ; come 

 along." 



After threading for some time the nia/e of .streets 

 Avliich lies around the fort, \vc arrivcMl before a 

 M'ooden house, over the threshold of which a llicker- 

 ing lantern was placed, apparently to attract the 

 passers-by. The red glass which adorned the copjjcr 

 framework of the lantern rcmiuded nie of the lamps 

 over a police-station at home; but at the erid of 

 u passage with a damp and sticky lloor was an 

 immense room lighted up Avith Chinese lanterns of 

 coloured paper, and a few candles stuck against tlu; 

 Avails. To the right, Avas a black and smoky chim- 

 ney, and on the shelf above a roAV of pots of all sizes 

 and shapes. To the left, a number of culinary 

 arrangements, and a row of Avooden benches ran all 

 rourul the Avails of the apartnu;nt. These were for 

 the accomnio(hition of the "yoimg ladies" of the 

 neighbourhood, some of Avhom had already arrived, 

 plump even to cxpansiveness, and clad in garments 

 Avhich dazzled, if they did not delight the eye. To 

 say the truth, one might have imagined oneself 

 among the Sfjuaw.f in one of the great wigwams of 

 the Far West. Gradually the room grew fuller of 

 "ladies" and "gentlemen" fishermen, and then the 

 dance began, — a dance which had nothing remark- 

 able, beyond those peculiar contortions which dis- 

 tinguish the cancan of some of the popular Parisian 



