Wheat."

"Weevily Wheat" was a "donation dance." As it would have been wicked to
have a fiddle to play the music, singers were substituted with stirring
effect, and a song was sung, while the couples bowed and balanced and
swung in rhythm to it:

"Come _hither_, my love, and _trip_ together
In the morning early.
I'll give to _you_ the parting hand,
Although I love you dearly.
But I _won't_ have none of y'r weevily wheat,
An' I _won't_ have _none_ of y'r barley,
But have some flour in a half an hour
To bake a cake for Charley.

"Oh, Charley, _he_ is a fine young man;
Charley, he is a dandy.
Oh, Charley, _he's_ a fine young man,
F'r he buys the girls some candy.
Oh, I _won't_ have none o' y'r weevily wheat,
I won't have _none_ o' y'r barley,
But have some flour in a half an hour
To bake a cake for Charley.

"Oh, Charley, he's," etc.

Milton was soon in the thick of this most charming old-fashioned dance,
which probably dates back to dances on the green in England or Norway.
Bettie was a good dancer, and as she grew excited with the rhythm and
swing of the quaint, plaintive music her form grew supple at the waist
and her large limbs light. The pair moved up and back between the two
ranks of singers, then down the outside, and laughed in glee when they
accelerated the pace at the time when they were swinging down the
center. All faces were aglow and eyes shining.

Bill's red face and bullet eyes were not beautiful, but the grace and
power of his body were unmistakable. He was excited by the music, the
alcohol he had been drinking, and by the presence of the girls, and
threw himself into the play with dangerous abandon.

Under his ill-fitting coat his muscles rolled swift and silent. His tall
boots were brilliantly blue and starred with gold at the top, and his
pantaloons were tucked inside the tops to let their glory strike the
eye. His physical strength and grace and variety of "steps" called forth
many smiles and admiring exclamations from the girls, and caused the
young men to lose interest in "Weevily Wheat."

When a new set was called for, Bill made a determined assault on Bettie
and secured her, for she did not have the firmness to refuse. But the
singers grew weary, and the set soon broke up. A game of forfeit was
substituted. This also dwindled down to a mere excuse for lovers to kiss
each other, and the whole company soon separated into little