Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/316

310 the meantime; the young ladies, with noisy glee, were frolicking, singing, and dancing within; and some of the married ones were preparing the nicknacks, and getting ready the wines, while others were engaged in arranging and ornamenting the room for the dance. Preparation being ended, we were invited in, and took our seats in a row, on one side of the room, while the ladies, in the same order, occupied the other. The sides of the hall, which was twenty by forty feet, were lined with persons of every age. The music, which consisted of two guitars and a violin, occupied one end, while the other was filled up by several tables, upon which were heaped indiscriminately, hats, cloaks, coats, and shawls, and the board bearing the sweet breads, wines, etc., which completed the circle, and occupied a large portion of the room. The hall was well lighted by lamps suspended from the walls and ceiling; in short, every thing was very well regulated, except only the disposition of the sexes. A young Don now stepped into the middle of the floor, gave a few shuffles, and the music commenced. He began to pat, or rather to stamp the tune, flat footed: which he continued, without variation, until he had gone through all the different parts of the hall and back again to his starting place; and so exactly had he calculated the measure of his step that he had occupied precisely the same space of time in accomplishing his circuit that was required by the musician in completing the tune. He then walked up to a young lady and began clapping his hands in her face in a manner that reminded us of a young Hoosier scaring black birds out of a corn field or encouraging a lazy cur to take hold of some rascally pig; but we soon learned that he was only inviting her to dance. So, after clapping his hands half a dozen times, he retired to his seat, and the lady came on to the floor and went through the same patting and stamping which the