 | A Summer Christmas and a Sonnet upon The S.S. "Ballaarat." |  |
That evening they had a dance,
Due chiefly to the circumstance
That Phil was so in love that he
Had come and listened patiently
Right through the tale to be with Kit,
And had, when Cobham finished it,
Suggested dancing in the hope
That she might be induced to stop
As a spectator, purposing
When he had “done the proper thing”
By waltzing a few rounds, to watch
His opportunity to catch
Her at some moment, when so placed
That she could hardly with good taste
Leave him, and then to make best use
Of what the parley might produce.
Kit saw the danger, yet scarce knew
What there remained for her to do,
The clicking of a billiard-ball
Told her that Lachlan Smith and Hall
Were playing billiards, so that she
Could not go thither decently.
She felt that Phil would follow her
And hang about her everywhere,
So, when she saw him pause, she went
Dnd much to Will's astonishment
Asked him if he would care to dance,
Believing this her only chance.
Due chiefly to the circumstance
That Phil was so in love that he
Had come and listened patiently
Right through the tale to be with Kit,
And had, when Cobham finished it,
Suggested dancing in the hope
That she might be induced to stop
As a spectator, purposing
When he had “done the proper thing”
By waltzing a few rounds, to watch
His opportunity to catch
Her at some moment, when so placed
That she could hardly with good taste
Leave him, and then to make best use
Of what the parley might produce.
Kit saw the danger, yet scarce knew
What there remained for her to do,
The clicking of a billiard-ball
Told her that Lachlan Smith and Hall
Were playing billiards, so that she
Could not go thither decently.
She felt that Phil would follow her
And hang about her everywhere,
So, when she saw him pause, she went
Dnd much to Will's astonishment
Asked him if he would care to dance,
Believing this her only chance.
She knew that if she danced with Will
She might be forced to dance with Phil,
But then one need not hear a word
Excepting of one's own accord
When one is dancing, and she meant,
When it was over, to prevent
A confidential tête-à-tête
By asking him to take her straight
To the piano to express
Her overpowering thankfulness
To the musician—there to stay,
Chatting the interval away
Until another dance began,
As fixed as is Aldeboran.
The plan succeeded and did not,
Like many things which wise folks plot.
Phil could not have his tête-à-tête
And Kit but hurried on her fate.
207
But then one need not hear a word
Excepting of one's own accord
When one is dancing, and she meant,
When it was over, to prevent
A confidential tête-à-tête
By asking him to take her straight
To the piano to express
Her overpowering thankfulness
To the musician—there to stay,
Chatting the interval away
Until another dance began,
As fixed as is Aldeboran.
The plan succeeded and did not,
Like many things which wise folks plot.
Phil could not have his tête-à-tête
And Kit but hurried on her fate.
Of course as soon as she and Will
Their dance had finished, up came Phil
With Maud upon his arm to ask
That he might have the next—a task
Which Maud by no means liked, and Kit
As little liked the granting it.
Their dance had finished, up came Phil
With Maud upon his arm to ask
That he might have the next—a task
Which Maud by no means liked, and Kit
As little liked the granting it.
Kit's dancing, as the reader knows,
Was perfect in its stately pose
And docile movement, light of tread
And true of step, with the fair head
Carried as though she were a queen
Although so gracious in its mien
Was perfect in its stately pose
And docile movement, light of tread
And true of step, with the fair head
Carried as though she were a queen
Although so gracious in its mien
Phil looked a thorough gentleman,
And danced so well as few men can,
And Kit artistic pleasure drew
From dancing with her foe, so true
And perfect was the unison
With which they moved, that everyone
(Excepting poor Maud Morrison,
Who could not to herself deny
Her own inferiority)
Paused to look on with praise unfeigned,
Lil above all, who thought her friend
The autotype of elegance,
And bade her lover ask a dance,
Saying that Kit danced best of all
The girls she'd seen at school or ball,
Which seemed to him a reason why
He should not with her wish comply.
“She will not care to dance with me,
I can't do the new step, and she
Does it so irreproachably.”
“Kit can dance all,” was Lil's reply,
“And so could Maud if she would try,
And Kit is far too highly bred
To speak as rudely as Maud did.”
And danced so well as few men can,
208
From dancing with her foe, so true
And perfect was the unison
With which they moved, that everyone
(Excepting poor Maud Morrison,
Who could not to herself deny
Her own inferiority)
Paused to look on with praise unfeigned,
Lil above all, who thought her friend
The autotype of elegance,
And bade her lover ask a dance,
Saying that Kit danced best of all
The girls she'd seen at school or ball,
Which seemed to him a reason why
He should not with her wish comply.
“She will not care to dance with me,
I can't do the new step, and she
Does it so irreproachably.”
“Kit can dance all,” was Lil's reply,
“And so could Maud if she would try,
And Kit is far too highly bred
To speak as rudely as Maud did.”
So he asked Kit, who answered “yes”
With such a frank sweet graciousness,
Adapting her own step to his
So furtively and with such ease
That he was ready to endorse
Lil's eulogy with tenfold force.
With such a frank sweet graciousness,
Adapting her own step to his
So furtively and with such ease
That he was ready to endorse
Lil's eulogy with tenfold force.
Kit was a girl who if she chose
Might have led most men ‘by the nose,’
And she her safety found to-night
In coming down from her cold height,
And being womanly to all,
Which gave her a brief interval
From present dread, but hurried on
The climax. Phil danced off and on
With her throughout the evening,
In every fibre quivering
With a new sense of fierce delight,
Interpreting the opposite
Of her intentions, and in fear
Lest he should not obtain her ear
While she was in this gentle mood.
Poor Kit! Anticipations wooed
That which she strove to guard against.
Poor Phil! who dreamed they evidenced
Surrender and not armament.
And yet both went to bed content,
She that she'd beaten off the foe,
He that he'd but to strike the blow
To find the fortress at his feet
On any terms which he thought meet.
Might have led most men ‘by the nose,’
And she her safety found to-night
209
And being womanly to all,
Which gave her a brief interval
From present dread, but hurried on
The climax. Phil danced off and on
With her throughout the evening,
In every fibre quivering
With a new sense of fierce delight,
Interpreting the opposite
Of her intentions, and in fear
Lest he should not obtain her ear
While she was in this gentle mood.
Poor Kit! Anticipations wooed
That which she strove to guard against.
Poor Phil! who dreamed they evidenced
Surrender and not armament.
And yet both went to bed content,
She that she'd beaten off the foe,
He that he'd but to strike the blow
To find the fortress at his feet
On any terms which he thought meet.
| A Summer Christmas and a Sonnet upon The S.S. "Ballaarat." | |