She Was The Personification Of Grace, But The Dance
Was Weird - Made The More So By The Setting Of Bright Evening Dresses
And Glittering Uniforms.
One never sees a dance of this sort these
days, even in the South, any more than one sees the bright-colored
turban.
Both have passed with the old-time darky.
Of course we recognized Mrs. Barker, more because there was no one
else in our small community who could personify a darky so perfectly,
than because there was any resemblance to her in looks or gesture. The
make-up was artistic, and how she managed the quick transformation
from ball dress to that of the plantation, with all its black paint
and rouge, Mrs. Barker alone knows, and where on this earth she got
that dress and turban, she alone knows. But I imagine she sent to
Virginia for the whole costume. At all events, it was very bright in
her to think of this unusual divertissement for our guests when
dancing was beginning to lag a little. The dance she must have learned
from a mammy when a child. I forgot to say that during the time she
was dancing our fine orchestra played old Southern melodies. And all
this was arranged and done by the quietest woman in the garrison!
Our house was upset from one end to the other to make room for the
dancing, but the putting of things in order again did not take long,
as the house has so very little in it. Still, I always feel rebellious
when anything comes up to interfere with my rides, no matter how
pleasant it may be. There have been a great many antelope near the
post of late, and we have been on ever so many hunts for them. The
greyhounds have not been with us, however, for following the hounds
when chasing those fleet animals not only requires the fastest kind of
a horse and very good riding, but is exceedingly dangerous to both
horse and rider because of the many prairie-dog holes, which are
terrible death traps. And besides, the dogs invariably get their feet
full of cactus needles, which cause much suffering for days.
So we have been flagging the antelope, that is, taking a shameful
advantage of their wonderful curiosity, and enticing them within rifle
range. On these hunts I usually hold the horses of the three officers
and my own, and so far they have not given me much trouble, for each
one is a troop-trained animal.
The antelope are shy and wary little creatures, and possess an
abnormal sense of smell that makes it absolutely necessary for hunters
to move cautiously to leeward the instant they discover them. It is
always an easy matter to find a little hill that will partly screen
them - the country is so rolling - as they creep and crawl to position,
ever mindful of the dreadful cactus. When they reach the highest point
the flag is put up, and this is usually made on the spot, of a red
silk handkerchief, one corner run through the rammer of a Springfield
rifle.
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