billows tumble on the beach, the dazzling pair whirled away in a
giddy waltz like two bright flames blown suddenly together by the
wind. No language could give an adequate idea of the marvelous
bewitchment and beauty of their united movements, and as they flew
over the dark smooth turf, with the flower-laden trees drooping
dewily about them, and the yellow moonbeams like melted amber
beneath their noiseless feet, ... while the pale sapphire and
white radiations from the dome, sparkling upon them aureole-wise,
gave them the appearance of glittering birds circling through a
limitless space of luminous and never-clouded ether. On, on! ...
and they scarcely touched the earth as they spun dizzily round and
round, their gracefully entwined limbs shining like polished ivory
in the light, ... on, on!--with ever-increasing swiftness they
sped, till their two forms seemed to merge into one, ... when as
though oppressed by their own abandonment of joy they paused
hoveringly, their embracing arms closing round one another, their
lips almost touching, ... their eyes reflecting each other's
ardent looks, ... then, ... their figures grew less and less
distinct, ... they appeared to melt mysteriously into the azure,
pearly light that surrounded them, and finally, like faint clouds
fading on the edge of a sea-horizon, they vanished! The effect of
this brief voluptuous dance, and its equally voluptuous end, was
simply indescribable,--the young men, who had watched it through
in silence and flushed ecstasy, now sprang from their couches with
shouts of rapture and unrestrained excitement, and seizing the
other dancing-maidens who had till now remained in clustered,
half-hidden groups behind the crystalline columns of the hall,
whirled them off into the inviting pleasaunce beyond, where the
little white and gold pavilions peeped through the heavy foliage,
--and before Theos, in the picturesque hurry and confusion of the