the orchestra as well. Everybody is
more or less restless--one would guess that something is on their minds.
And so it proves. The last tardy diners are scarcely given time to
finish, before the tables and the debris are shoved into the corner, and
the chairs and the babies piled out of the way, and the real celebration
of the evening begins. Then Tamoszius Kuszleika, after replenishing
himself with a pot of beer, returns to his platform, and, standing up,
reviews the scene; he taps authoritatively upon the side of his violin,
then tucks it carefully under his chin, then waves his bow in an
elaborate flourish, and finally smites the sounding strings and closes
his eyes, and floats away in spirit upon the wings of a dreamy waltz.
His companion follows, but with his eyes open, watching where he treads,
so to speak; and finally Valentinavyczia, after waiting for a little and
beating with his foot to get the time, casts up his eyes to the ceiling
and begins to saw--"Broom! broom! broom!"

The company pairs off quickly, and the whole room is soon in motion.
Apparently nobody knows how to waltz, but that is nothing of any
consequence--there is music, and they dance, each as he pleases, just
as before they sang. Most of them prefer the "two-step," especially the
young, with whom it is the fashion. The older people have dances from
home, strange and complicated steps which they execute with grave
solemnity. Some do not dance anything at all, but simply hold each
other's hands and allow the undisciplined joy of motion to express
itself with their feet. Among these are Jokubas Szedvilas and his wife,
Lucija, who together keep the delicatessen store, and consume nearly
as much as they sell; they are too fat to dance, but they stand in the
middle of the floor, holding each other fast in their arms, rocking
slowly from side to side and grinning seraphically, a picture of
toothless and perspiring ecstasy.

Of these older people many wear clothing reminiscent in some detail
of home--an embroidered waistcoat or stomacher, or a gaily colored
handkerchief, or a coat with large cuffs and fancy buttons. All these
things are carefully avoided by the young, most of whom have learned to
speak English and to affect the latest style of clothing. The girls wear
ready-made dresses or shirt waists, and some of them look quite pretty.
Some of the young men you would take to be Americans, of the type of
clerks, but for the fact that they wear thei