he sets had now increased to four, filling the two parlors, and
crowding the elderly people to the wall or the hallway. Then, luckily,
old Van Quintem bethought himself of the old-fashioned contra-dance, as
a contrivance for bringing his contemporaries on their legs. By an
extraordinary piece of good fortune, the musicians had learned it, and
played it at a silver wedding the week previous.

As the familiar notes, not heard for years, saluted the ears of the
bachelor Bank President, he showed the animation of an old war-horse at
the sound of the trumpet. "Now is our time," said he.

Moved by common impulse, the members of a past generation rose, and took
their places. Old Van Quintem, temporarily forgetting his rheumatism,
led off, escorting Mrs. Crull. The bachelor Bank President took charge
of a widow, in whose breast he had revived feelings that flourished
twenty years before. The retired merchants brought each other's wives
upon the floor. Even Uncle Ith came out from his seclusion in a corner,
where he had been listening to the sound of his own fire bell, rung by
other hands that night, and felt that here, at least, he should make no
blunders. The tall, talkative lady, from whom there seemed to be no
escape, had fastened on him as a partner. The good clergyman was the
only old or middle-aged gentleman who did not take his place in the set,
and he looked on and laughed.

The dance commenced, slow at first, then gradually faster. The younger
people, when they came to understand the simple movement, fell into the
chain couple after couple, until it extended into the hallway, and
through it into the parlors again. Everybody was drawn in now, old and
young, married and unmarried, the minister and his wife only excepted,
and they marked the measure with their heels. Round and round, and
faster and faster, went the chain, with its constantly changing links.
The musicians, playing the same strains over and over again, became
frenzied by the repetition, and doubled the time without knowing it.
Legs that had entered slow and stately upon the interminable maze,
became, without the knowledge or consent of their owners, nimble and
gymnastics.

It was a delightful peculiarity of this wonderful dance, that couples
could withdraw without breaking up the figure. The bride and groom,
acting upon this privilege, slipped out of the flying circle, and
sought, unaccompanied, the solitude of the vine-covered piazza behind
the house,