unning the length of the long room.
They were in couples, as they came to the party. Abner played the melody
on his violin, and the fellows and girls sang these words:

"I put my right hand in,
I put my right hand out,
I give my right hand a shake, shake, shake,
And I turn myself about."

As they sang the last line they did turn themselves about so many times
that it seemed a wonder to Quincy, who was an amused spectator, how they
kept upon their feet.

Seeing that one of the young ladies in the line was without a partner,
Quincy took his place beside her and joined in the merriment as heartily
as the rest. Then followed all the changes of "I put my left hand in,"
"I put my right foot in," "I put my left foot in," and so on until the
whole party was nearly as much exhausted as Hiram and Mandy had been.

At this moment the door leading to the parlor opened and Deacon Mason
entered, accompanied by his wife. They were greeted with shouts of
laughter. Quincy looked at them with astonishment, and had it not been
for their familiar faces, which they had not tried to disguise, he would
not have recognized them.

Out of compliment to their guests, the Deacon and his wife had gone back
to the days of their youth. Probably from some old chest in the garret
each had resurrected a costume of fifty years before. They advanced into
the room, smiling and bowing to the delighted spectators on either side.
They went directly to Abner, and the latter bent over to hear what the
Deacon whispered in his ear. The Deacon then went to Strout and
whispered something to him.

Strout nodded, and turning to the company said, "As it's now half past
'leven and most time for honest folks to be abed and rogues a runnin',
out of compliment to Miss Huldy's grandpa and grandma, who have honored
us with their presence this evenin', we will close these festivities
with a good old-fashioned heel and toe Virginia reel. Let 'er go, Abner,
and keep her up till all the fiddle strings are busted."

Like trained soldiers, they sprang to their places. Quincy and his
partner took places near the end of the line. He explained to her that
he had never danced a reel, but thought he could easily learn from
seeing the others, and he told her that when their turn came she need
not fear but that he would do his part.

The Deacon and his wife led off, and their performance caused great
enthusiasm. Sam Hill was not a good dancer, so he resigned