A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 139: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

136 A QUEER RACE. vitations to dance as there were young women in the room, They voted me dancing-master by acclamation, and for the remainder of the night we did nothing in the world but waltz. : ‘We are infinitely obliged to you,” said the queen, as J took my leave early in the morning. ‘‘ You have given us a new pleasure.” ‘‘ He has, indeed!” chorused twenty voices. ‘*‘ Weare all infinitely obliged to him!” ‘‘ Waltzing is simply divine!” she continued. ‘‘ We will have another ball—yes, the night after to-morrow. All who are here consider yourselves invited, and perhaps Mr. Erle will kindly teach us something else.” With this request 1 was, of course, only too glad to comply. I taught them the polka and the schottische, and we had a try at the lancers, with all of which the queen and her guests were greatly delighted; and Field told me that if I went on as 1 had begun, I should soon be the most popular person in Fair Island. I was, moreover, often consulted by the queen about the books she was reading. She found in them so many things that were strange to her, so many allusions which she did not understand, that she required almost contin- ual instruction, and I became actually, if not officially, the director of her studies and the superintendent of her new education—for that she called it, and that, in fact, it was. All this augured well for the success of my scheme. I could hardly think that after I had done so much for her she would refuse me the favor I intended to ask. Never- theless, | hesitated and procrastinated, missing more than one seemingly good opportunity of preferring my request. Why, I can hardly say; partly, perhaps, because some- thing told me that it was still too soon—that the propi- tious moment had not yet arrived; partly because the Fair Islanders improved on acquaintance, and that the more I saw of them and their country the less I liked the idea of leaving them.” As for the anonymous letter, I had come to the conc\u- sion that it was either a poor joke or a piece of stuj\id spite, and though | kept the missivein my pocket, it wy soon passed out of my mind. >? Gomicbooks.co a.