Pierre hung up his hat, removed his gloves slowly, nerving himself to
endure the sharp glances, and opened the door for Jacqueline.
If she had held back tremulously before, something she had seen in the
eyes of those in the first room, something in the whisper and murmur
which rose the moment she started to leave, gave her courage. She
stepped into the dance-hall like a queen going forth to address
devoted subjects. The second ordeal was easier than the first. There
were many times more people in that crowded room, but each was intent
upon his own pleasure. A wave of warmth and light swept upon them, and
a blare of music, and a stir and hum of voices, and here and there the
sweet sound of a happy girl's laughter. They raised their heads, these
two wild rangers of the mountain-desert, and breathed deep of the
fantastic scene.
There was no attempt at beauty in the costumes of the masqueraders.
Here and there some girl achieved a novel and pleasing effect; but on
the whole they strove for cheaper and more stirring things in the line
of the grotesque.
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