only their companionship in this waltz; while the faces of the other
dancers, swimming by, denoted not people but merely blurs of colour.
George became conscious of strange feelings within him: an exaltation
of soul, tender, but indefinite, and seemingly located in the upper
part of his diaphragm.

The stopping of the music came upon him like the waking to an alarm
clock; for instantly six or seven of the calculating persons about the
entry-ways bore down upon Miss Morgan to secure dances. George had to
do with one already established as a belle, it seemed.

"Give me the next and the one after that," he said hurriedly,
recovering some presence of mind, just as the nearest applicant
reached them. "And give me every third one the rest of the evening."

She laughed. "Are you asking?"

"What do you mean, 'asking'?"

"It sounded as though you were just telling me to give you all those
dances."

"Well, I want 'em!" George insisted.

"What about all the other girls it's your duty to dance with?"

"They'll have to go without," he said heartlessly; and then, with
surprising vehemence: "Here! I want to know: Are you going to give me
those--"