l, the theatre was jammed full of people, mostly with shawls, and
cloaks, and bonnets on. Cousin E. E. was right. What is genteel in one
place is vulgar in another--that is fashion.

That child insisted on trying all the seats, to see which she liked
best; but we got settled at last, and just then up went the
picture-curtain with a rush. I screamed right out, for the very first
sight took away my breath. Oh! sisters, I wish you could have seen it.
Such trees, such loads of flowers, such clusters and streams of light!
Oh my! if Eve ever had a paradise like that, she was just the greatest
goose that ever lived to be turned out of it for the sake of one little
knotty apple. I've no patience with her!

While I was looking at this beautiful world, another scream burst from
my lips, for, all in a moment, it was alive with women, so lovely, so
graceful, so full of life, that they almost took away one's breath. At
first, they all came whirling in, as figures do in a dream; but, after a
minute, I just felt like sinking through the floor. Why, sisters, they
might just as well have been dressed in flowers! In short, dress a
full-grown girl in a double poppy, with fringed edges, and you have an
idea of what I couldn't look at. I felt my cheeks glow with fire; my
fingers tingled with shame. It seemed to me that every man in the house
was looking straight into my eyes, to see how I bore it. I lifted my
eyes, and cast one frightened look around me, ready to jump up and run
from the first face turned to mine. Then I just covered my face with my
open fan.

There wasn't a face turned my way. Every soul--men, women, and
children--were looking at those girls, who whirled, and moved, and
tangled themselves up in some sort of a wild, wicked dance, that must
have been the work of Old Nick himself, for nothing less could have made
me look on. My whole heart rose right up against those beautiful
creatures, but somehow they seemed to hold me to my seat. Really,
sisters, you have no idea how very enticing a woman can be who puffs a
lot of gauze around her waist, throws a wreath of flowers over her
shoulders, and dances like a whirlwind.

At first, I just covered my face with my fan, for I could not bring
myself up to a straightforward look. Then, somehow, my fingers would get
apart, and I found myself peeping through the slats just as shamed as
could be, but yet I could not help peeping.

Mercy on me, what a whirl and rush of light! What a f