the next wednesday evening, after singing-school, maid sally said to master sutcliff, with many a blush and a queer quaking of the voice:
"i have a great desire to see something of the fine ball, but there appeareth no way for me to do it."
master sutcliff laughed at the courage as well as the frightened, anxious face of the maid. he next looked thoughtful for a space, and then said, with nods and bows that made sally's heart leap:
"i play the violin for the company, and must needs have rosin at hand in case a string getteth obstinate. and it might beseem me to have some one nigh to hand me music in the order it must be played."
[pg 178]"oh, but i can't be seen," cried maid sally.
"no more you need, young maid. many fiddlers will be there, and you can have a low seat, even on a cricket hard by the bass viol, and though the players will be on a high platform, you can hide for a little while behind the big instrument and have a good peep at it all."
"how can i get in?" asked sally.
"you can enter under the shadow of my wing," said master sutcliff, "but not long had you best remain. at first no one would notice you, but it might not be easy for you to long hide entirely: we change places once in a while."
"i will go the moment i am bid," said the maiden.
in very truth all the bliss of fairy land opened up to sally the next night.
never before had the maiden had an idea of the glamour, the bewitchment, the splendor of such a scene.
the costumes, or dresses, the dancing, and[pg 179] courtly manners,—the manners of those who are about the court of a king,—the music that thrilled and charmed her, sending all kinds of bright and airy dreams through her mind, all these sent the blood rushing swiftly through the veins of the delighted maid as, spell-bound, she peered from behind the great bass viol.
"oh, it is heaven, heaven!" she panted, as with great starry eyes she looked down upon the splendid company. "and i, i could so enjoy it all, had i only been born to it! was i born to it? oh, no, no, it could not be!"
"who knows?" faintly asked her fairy.
but sally spent not much time in asking longing questions. the room seemed filled with the odor of musk, attar of roses, and cologne, flowers, and perfumes of many kinds.
there was the governor, brilliant as a king, in purple velvet coat, gold lace, a white, flowered waistcoat with great frills of costly lace adown the front and falling over his white hands.
shining knee-buckles flashed back the light[pg 180] from hundreds of candles, which caught also the light from gleaming stones in the buckles of his high-heeled shoes. a man of fancy-fine appearance, but looked upon with eyes that loved him not, but rather despised him.
the ladies were like fairy dreams, in stiff, brocaded-silks, sheeny satins, ribbons, lace, jewels, and necklaces of gold, amber, and medallions—round stones with faces cut on them.
with dazzled eyes, sally gazed upon the courtlike appearance of sir percival grandison, his wife, daughter, and niece. but her eyes lingered long on the lady rosamond earlscourt.
never in her brightest visions had the poor maid watching from the platform beheld such radiance. the powdered hair was cushioned high on her head, and held between the puffs were white plumes and glossy leaves, joined in loops of small gilt chains.
her bodice, or short waist, of pink velvet was laced over gauze puffings and ran down both in front and at the back into long points over an upper skirt of white lace figured all[pg 181] over with threads of gold. the overskirt of gauze and gold was looped high at the sides over a skirt or petticoat of white brocaded satin with a figure of pink roses. on cheek and chin were small black patches bringing out in vivid contrast the whiteness of her skin.
her snowy neck and shoulders were bare, and a string of thick gold beads strung on a wire kept directly in the curve of her throat. gold bracelets with sparkling gems were on her white arms, a spray of pink roses was against her bosom, and the feet that peeped plainly from beneath her skirt were in white laced shoes, with high heels and rosettes from which glistened the bright tints of pink stones.
sally gazed enthralled,—held in a dream,—with a strange pain tugging at her heart.
the question of why, why, was she out of all these things to which her whole nature leaped as if they should be hers by right, was only kept down by the wonder and splendor of all she saw.
but she caught her breath in fresh admiration when her eye fell on her fairy prince.
[pg 182]he had been detained a few moments in the rooms below, and was directly on a line with her eyes when suddenly she beheld him for the first time in more than two years.
"fairy prince! fairy prince!" cried her heart and faintly cried her lips, and she knew it not when master clinton turned around from his bass viol, thinking he heard a strange sound. but he heeded not the rapt gaze of the maiden, for she sat quiet as any mousie while her eyes drank in the vision of her fairy prince.
his thick hair was lightly powdered and curled at the ends. a coat of blue velvet with silver braid and buttons of filagree,—or wrought openwork silver buttons,—fitted as if moulded to his tall, erect young figure. his waistcoat of cloth of gold had frills of rich lace at the front, according to the general fashion of the day, and also at the wrists. a flashing diamond on his finger sent out shoots of red, blue, and yellow light.
he wore knee-breeches of blue velvet with bands of silver braid and jewelled buckles at[pg 183] the knee. his long white silk stockings were clocked, or embroidered at the sides, while high-heeled, glittering dancing-pumps set off his highly arched feet.
sally noted the grace with which he bowed to the ladies and the low curtseys they returned. the ease and fine manners charmed her.
"they are born to it! born to it!" sighed the poor young maiden.
when the dancing began, she still sat entranced, watching chiefly one tall, splendidly arrayed young man who kept perfect time to the music, which rose and fell with a beauty of sound that brought tears to the eyes of maid sally.
master sutcliff, seeing the intense delight on the face of the maiden, said within himself:
"she shall remain until it cometh time to serve the syllabubs, the cream froth and the nectars, then can she slip away without being seen."
it came all too soon, the pause in the merry[pg 184] dancing, for refreshments, when master sutcliff said, kindly:
"now then, young friend, i fear me the time has come when you had best depart. i will go with you to the side door, so that none shall question or trouble you."
as they passed a long room, he said, "peep within a moment."
and sally looked upon tables covered with all kinds of fancy dishes: there were froths, foamy custards, jellies she could almost see through, plum cakes, pound cakes, and the odor of strong, rich coffee, mingled with the scent of flowers.
colored servants were moving to and fro with the slow step of the southern waiter, and everything was orderly, abundant, and inviting.
master sutcliff said something to a man close at hand, and the next moment he was bidding sally good night, at the same time he laid something on her arm.
"merely a cheese-cake," he said, and in the soft moonlight sally saw that she held a heart-shaped[pg 185] cake filled with currants, with thin spires of cocoanut and cheese standing thick all over the top.
she entered the house through the shed at the side, went to her cubby of a room, and sat down on the floor with her head against the bed.
"i am too happy to undress," she said, "or else too full of what i have seen. i must think it all right over."
and there she stayed the livelong night with her shawl about her.
when at last she fell asleep, she saw her fairy prince, in his velvet coat, his rich small-clothes and dancing-shoes, as large as life before her. the music of the violins with the deep note of the bass viol sounded almost as plainly in her ears as they had in the hall of burgesses.
but standing in the full light of the streaming candles was rosamond earlscourt, a lovely creature in silks and jewels, beckoning with an eager finger to the fairy prince.
would he go? he had started toward her[pg 186] when his eye fell on a young maiden who was hiding midst the players on the platform.
this so alarmed the maid that she hid far behind master clinton's bass viol. but peeping around after a few moments, she saw the fairy prince was close at hand.
with a frightened jump she awoke. the sun was streaming into her little room.
"he was going to find me," said maid sally.
