their white teeth in smiles and low laughter, as they recognized some
"young massa," or "ole madam" among the gentlemen and dames who smiled
back upon their faithful, kindly faces.

The dance began with a special contra-dance, in which the performers
copied with great exactness the profound bows and deep courtesies of the
period, mimicking their masters and mistresses with curious grotesque
grace. At the extreme end of the room, near Aunt Dinah, sat the fiddler,
wielding his bow with an extra flourish befitting the occasion. Jan
Steen was a well-known character, and his coming was looked upon as a
special favor, only accorded to the servants because they belonged to
the Verplancks, a family greatly honored and beloved among the Dutch
settlers of Manhattan Island.

After the contra-dance was concluded, amid the applause and laughter of
the spectators, four young slaves were singled out from the others, and
took their places on the floor. Two of these were girls, pretty
mulattoes, and two young, bright-colored negro men as their partners. To
rather slow music they went through with a rhythmic dance, in which
their figures swayed to and fro, chiefly from the waist, a gliding
serpentine dance, evidently copied from the slaves of Martinique, and
brought to New York by the French families. And then, to Peter's great
delight, came the event of the evening, in his eyes,--the dance of
Miranda with her new admirer from Broucklen Heights.

"Miranda is my maid," explained Clarissa to Madam De Lancey and Mrs.
Morris, as they waited for the performers to take their places. "I
fetched her from Connecticut when I was married, and she is, as you see,
very pretty and most graceful. The dance is a species of Spanish dance,
I fancy, for it is done with two scarfs of red and yellow; I purchased