“‘Oh, aye,’ I answered him, ‘we love to take our ease.’
“‘Do you love that better than all else?’ he asked me slowly.
“I stretched my arms in sleepy comfort and nodded back with a smile. He looked at me slyly—ah, if I had only known what villainy was behind that twinkle in his eye! He rose slowly to his feet.
“‘I shall show you all a pretty dance,’ he said, baring his gums. ‘Just lie there in comfort—it will amuse you—yes, and give me great pleasure, too!’
“Then slowly, gently, he began to shuffle his feet. You would never have thought that he could be so nimble. In and out and round-about he pranced with fancy steps. It was so pleasant to be lying there in the cool shade and watching.... Then it seemed as if he were inviting us to join him. His brawny hands were beckoning; his smile said plainly: ‘Up, up—come along up and dance at my side.’
“First one and then the other of us struggled to his feet, and fell into a merry, jigging step. We laughed at the fun of it—not a laggard in the valley but was dancing with him.
“We grew breathless and tired. We wanted to stop. But we couldn’t! When the toothless man saw this, he burst into a cruel roar of laughter:
“‘You would take your ease, eh?’ he mocked. ‘You loved more than all else to loll in the shade, eh? Well, henceforth you shall jig and dance from noon till night and night till noon in a never-ending wandering. Your ease is gone—and so’s your happiness! From now on, until I come again to free you, you shall be known as the Valley of Dancing Legs. Hee hee!’ and he was gone.”
