do come round. The aspect of the ladies,
gallantry and an imperfect acquaintance with the language of millinery
forbid one to criticise. Enough to say that they harmonize perfectly
with the gentlemen. The music is generally pretty good on these public
occasions, but apt to be over-brazen. It is often a military band. And
to organize the dancers--not always an easy task in a crowded hall--and
see that the business of introductions goes on duly, a small staff of
energetic professional gentlemen, styled M.C.'s (which in London, you
know, stands for Master of the Ceremonies), flit ever hither and thither
amongst the throng, now catching a wildly errant waltzing couple in
politely resolute arms and sending them back into the regular ring, now
getting up sets for Lancers and quadrilles, and at all points doing
their best to keep the ball a-rolling. Useful members of society, these
M.C.'s--a congenial profession for retired Harlequins and--what is
pretty much the same thing--dancing-masters. And it is their influence,
maybe, in some measure that is accountable for the extraordinary variety
of dances that is apt to be found in the programme of the public ball.
Mazurka, Schottische, Varsoviana, La Tempete and other curiosities of
the art Terpsichorean flourish and abound there, to the distraction of
folk who are not fresh from a dancing academy. Away go our friends,
though, with happy audacity, whether they're certain of the step or not.
If in doubt, make a waltz of it, is the golden rule; and you can't be
wrong in twisting your partner half a dozen times _in loco_ whenever you
seem to have a few bars to spare in a quadrille.

But we have lingered full long enough at the public ball, though indeed
it is quite the correct thing, you know, to go early and stay late at
such, and get one's money's worth for one's money. Jump into a swift
imaginary hansom, and pass on without more delay to what I have ventured
to call, in default of a better name, the semi-public ball. The term
will perhaps serve as well as any other to cover all those balls which,
though nominally private, are given so much as a matter of course, and
on such a large scale, that they tend to exhibit some characteristics of
the public ball, and also those which are got up by subscription amongst
the members of some semi-public body, such as a volunteer corps. The
lady mayoress's annual balls at the Mansion House, and those of the
Devil's Own (the Inns of Court Rifle Vo