Think of the face of the County!)
But in spite of their funny holding, or perhaps on account of it, there
is a peculiar movement of the feet, perfect grace and rhythm and glide,
which I have never seen at a real ball. One could understand it was
a pure delight to them, and they felt every note of the music. They
treated Octavia and me with the courtesy fit for queens, and some
of them told us delightful things of shootings and blood-curdling
adventures, and all with a delicious twinkle in the eye, as much as to
say, "We are keeping up the character of the place to please you." We
did enjoy ourselves. The Senator says this quality of perfect respect
for women is universal in the mining camps. Any nice woman is absolutely
safe among them. I think there ought to be mining camps to teach men
manners all over Europe. You will feel I am exaggerating, Mamma, and
talking a great deal about this, but it is so marked and astonishing;
all have that perfect ease and poise of well born gentlemen (the Harry
manner, in fact) completely without self consciousness. I suppose they
get drunk sometimes, and probably there are riotous scenes here, but
I can only tell you of what we saw, and that was people happy, and
behaving as decorously as at a court ball.
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