She was
discovered. At previous balls, in the figure, 'all hands round,'
Freda had displayed an inimitable step and variation peculiarly
her own. As the figure was called, the 'Russian Princess' gave
the unique rhythm to limb and body. A chorus of I-told-you-so's
shook the squared roof-beams, when lo! it was noticed that
'Aurora Borealis' and another masque, the 'Spirit of the Pole,'
were performing the same trick equally well. And when two twin
'Sun-Dogs' and a 'Frost Queen' followed suit, a second assistant
was dispatched to the aid of the man at the scales.
Bettles came off trail in the midst of the excitement, descending
upon them in a hurricane of frost. His rimed brows turned to
cataracts as he whirled about; his mustache, still frozen, seemed
gemmed with diamonds and turned the light in varicolored rays;
while the flying feet slipped on the chunks of ice which rattled
from his moccasins and German socks. A Northland dance is quite
an informal affair, the men of the creeks and trails having lost
whatever fastidiousness they might have at one time possessed;
and only in the high official circles are conventions at all
observed. Here, caste carried no significance.
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