twice, for the
gratification of the many-headed. That done, we began to dance--Heaven
knows how we did it, for there was no room. And we continued dancing
until, being no longer able even to stand, we slipped away quietly, and
came back to the hotel. All the documents connected with this
extraordinary festival (quite unparalleled here) we have preserved; so
you may suppose that on this head alone we shall have enough to show you
when we come home. The bill of fare for supper is, in its amount and
extent, quite a curiosity.

"Now, the phase of character in the Americans which amuses me most was
put before me in its most amusing shape by the circumstances attending
this affair. I had noticed it before, and have since; but I cannot
better illustrate it than by reference to this theme. Of course I can do
nothing but in some shape or other it gets into the newspapers. All
manner of lies get there, and occasionally a truth so twisted and
distorted that it has as much resemblance to the real fact as Quilp's
leg to Taglioni's. But with this ball to come off, the newspapers were
if possible unusually loquacious; and in their accounts of me, and my
seeings, sayings, and doings on the Saturday night and Sunday before,
they describe my manner, mode of speaking, dressing, and so forth. In
doing this, they report that I am a very charming fellow (of course),
and have a very free and easy way with me; 'which,' say they, 'at first
amused a few fashionables;' but soon pleased them exceedingly. Another
paper, coming after the ball, dwells upon its splendor and brilliancy;
hugs itself and its readers upon all that Dickens saw, and winds up by
gravely expressing its conviction that Dickens was never in such
society in England as he has seen in New York, and that its high and
striking tone cannot fail to make an indelible impression on his mind!
For the same reason I am always represented, whenever I appear in
public, as being 'very pale;' 'apparently thunderstruck;' and utterly
confounded by all I see. . . . You recognize the queer vanity which is at
the root of all this? I have plenty of stories in connection with it to
amuse you with when I return."

"_Twenty-fourth February._

"It is unnecessary to say . . . that this letter _didn't_ come by the
sailing packet, and _will_ come by the Cunard boat. After the ball I was
laid up with a very bad sore throat, which confined me to the house four