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derful step, and in the same moment too would fall upon 

 the broad calf with a hearty thwack, but so quickly 

 that it caused no interruption in the movements of the 

 performers. Then they would snap their fingers, and 

 make a clucking noise with their tongue, and all in 

 time with their steps, and in a sort of tuneful measure ; 

 mixed with these sounds every now and then a shrill 

 cry of delight was uttered, something between a shout 

 and a halloo ; and, before you were aware, before you 

 could conjecture even that such a thing could come 

 within the range of the possible, a head which you 

 had been looking at would suddenly disappear, and two 

 feet were as suddenly in its place; for a second they 

 would perform & pas in the air, and then the missing- 

 head was seen again on a line with the others. As the 

 dancing went round in a circle, he who had kicked off 

 his shoes in order to make less noise, — a thick-set sturdy 

 little fellow, a baker by trade, — had, like the clown in the 

 pantomime, suddenly stood upon his hands, and, flinging 

 his heels over so as to describe a wheel, was again on 

 his feet and going on with the dance before his head 

 was missed. How he contrived this lateral somersault 

 without push or hindrance is to me quite a marvel. For 

 it was not done once only, but every now and then with 

 a sudden plunge down he would go, and you saw legs 

 near the ceiling clapping against each other, as if ap- 

 plauding their own inimitable dexterity. 



" Don't stamp so," cried Pepi, as they beat time on 

 the floor with their heavy shoes; "don't stamp so, I 

 tell ye, 'twill be heard outside, and they'll know ye're 

 dancing !" The thing was, as I afterwards learned, the 

 Bishop had tried to put down dancing on Fridays, and 

 Pepi was afraid of getting into disgrace with the clergy 

 for allowing such wild doings in his house. On any 



