64 
THE GOLDEN EIVEE. 
distinction. The light fell on her smooth olive 
skin, and picked out points of brightness in the 
hooped earrings she wore. Some of the men 
with whom she danced were young and good- 
looking, but she rarely smiled, and always her 
dark eyes, mournful and steady, gazed into 
space. She seemed remote and withheld, and 
moved like a figure touched by fate, through the 
intricacies of the dance. 
In her was summed up that baffling sense of 
mystery which enwrapped the whole place. We 
watched her come and go, amongst the other 
couples that swung to the lilt of the music. 
They danced twosteps and a kind of Tango, 
very dignified and stately: and then the 
clapping of hands heralded the forming up for 
the national dance. 
It was something like a country dance, and, 
by degrees, a little vivacity crept into the pro¬ 
ceedings. The dance was rather like Sir Roger 
de Coverly, and as the man and girl in the 
centre bowed and turned each other, the 
onlookers clapped their hands in time to the 
tune. It was graceful and pretty, and there 
was some laughter and fun over a young boy, 
who had to be coached through his part and who 
burlesqued his mistakes to win applause. But 
after that dance was over they went back to the 
Tangos and slow waltzes, and again that 
wistful depression settled upon the dancers. 
We were tired, and slipped away in the dark- 
