The maids entered, and quickly placed two rows of chairs, back to back, down the centre of the room, placing one less chair than there were children.
When the music sounded they were to march around and around the rows of chairs, but when the music should stop abruptly, they must rush to get a seat. The one child who would be left standing must pay a forfeit.
A stirring march was played, and the children walked around the chairs, and every time that they came to the end of the line they paused, believing that the music would cease, but the musicians played on and on. The laughing children marched gaily, when, in the middle of a lively strain, the music stopped, and they rushed for seats.
It was Nancy who found no chair, and she knew that she must pay a forfeit.
“What shall I do?” she asked, and Russell, who liked Nancy, asked if he might set the task for her.
He was given permission, and turning to her he said: “I'll ask something, Nancy, that I know you can do. I'll beg you to dance for us.”
“Oh, you need not beg,” Nancy said sweetly, “if they will play a waltz, I'll gladly dance for you.”
Softly they played a bewitching melody, and Nancy, running out to an open space, danced till those who watched her were wild with delight. And when the dance was finished they crowded around her, crying in wonder:
“Oh, Nancy, how can you do it so gracefully?”
“You wouldn't wonder if you only knew how long I studied, and how many hours I practised,” she said.