Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/238

 222 a glow of radiance illumined the black walls about me.

I waited motionless, holding my breath in fear that some eye might have witnessed the tearing of the paper; but there was no cessation of noise, no evidence of discovery. The band ceased to play, and the murmur of voices in conversation reached me where I clung precariously to the ragged wall. It was a mere monotone, the mingled words indistinguishable, confused by feet moving across the floor. Then some voice announced the next dance, and the band began again.

Assailed by a temptation to view the scene, I found foothold a little higher up, and, clinging to the edge of the hole, brought my eyes to a level with the rent in the paper. The vista was not a wide one, and I dare not enlarge the space, yet I saw sufficient to yield me full knowledge of the party, and its occasion. The floor was crowded, the men almost without exception in Federal uniform. A few of these were dancing together, as thought there was a scarcity of women partners, but the fairer sex were not altogether lacking, and I had little difficulty in distinguishing the officers' wives from the town belles by the cut and material of their gowns. The latter, however, predominated, proving either that the feminine inhabitants of Lewisburg were loyal in their