Two tin cups rose in swinging circles; and I knew these old men were toasting a certain matron of my acquaintance who weighed two hundred and fifty if she weighed a pound, and had white hair and sizable grandchildren.
“And so then”—Judge Priest was resuming his narration—“and so then, after a spell, the epidemic of kissin' began to sorter die down, though I reckin some of the boys would 'a' been willin' to keep it up plumb till breakfast time. I mind how I was standin' off to one side, fixin' to make my farewells to Miss Sally Machen, when out of the tail of my off eye I seen little Herman Felsburg, over on the other side of the ballroom, lookin' powerful forlorn and lonesome and neglected.
“Doubtless he'd been there all night, without a soul to dance with him, even ef he'd knowed how, or a soul to speak with him, even ef he could have understood whut they said to' him. Doubtless he wasn't exactly whut you'd call happy. Jest about then Miss Sally Machen must 'a' seen him too; and the same thought that had jest come to me must 'a' come to her too. “'It's a shame!' she said—jest like that—under her voice. And in another minute she was walkin' acrost the floor toward Herman.
“I remember jest how she looked. Why, ef I was an artist I could draw a picture of her right now! She was the handsomest girl in town, and the proudest and the stateliest—tall and slender and dark, with great big black eyes, and a skin like one of these here magnolia buds—and she was well off in her own name; and she belonged to a leadin' family. Four or five boys were beauin' her, and it was a question which one of 'em she'd marry. Sometimes, Lew, I think they don't raise very many girls like Miss Sally Machen any more.
“Well, she kept right on goin' till she came to where Herman was scrouged up ag'inst the wall. She didn't say a word to him, but she took him by the hand and led him right out into the middle of the floor, where everybody could see; and then she put those white arms of hers round his neck, with the gold bracelets on her wrists jinglin', and she bent down to him—she had to bend down, bein' a whole head taller than whut he was—and she kissed him on the lips; not a sweetheartin' kiss, but the way his own mother might 'a' kissed him good-bye, ef he'd had a mother and she'd been there.
“Some few started in to laugh, but stopped off short; and some started to cheer, but didn't do that, neither. We-all jest stood and watched them two. Herman's face tum't ez red ez blood; and he looked up at her sideways and started to smile that funny little smile of hisn—he had one front tooth missin', and that made it funnier still. But then his face got serious, and frum clear halfway acrost the hall I could see his eyes were wet. He backed off frum her and bowed purty near to the ground before her. And frum the way he done it I knowed he was somethin' more than jest a little, strange Jew pedlar in a strange land. You have to have the makin's of a gentleman in you to bow like that. You mout learn it in time, with diligent practice, but it comes a sight easier ef you're born with it in you.”
From his flat flask the old Judge toned up the contents of their julep cups. Then, with pauses, during which he took delicate but prolonged sips, he spoke on in the rambling, contemplative fashion that was as much a part of him as his trick of ungrammatical speech or his high bald forehead was, or his wagging white chin-beard:
“Well, purty soon after that we were all down yonder at old Camp Boone, and chiefly engaged, in our leisure hours—which we had blamed few leisure hours, at that—in figurin' out the difference between talkin' about soldierin' and braggin' about it, and actually doin' of it. There wasn't no more dancin' of quadrilles with purty girls then. We done our grand right-and-left with knapsacks on our backs and blisters on our feet. Many and many a feller that had signed up to be a hero made the distressin' discovery what he'd really j'ined on to.
“All this time little old Herman was doin' his share like a major. Long before he could make out the words of command, he'd picked up the manual of arms, jest frum watchin' the others in the same awkward squad with him. He was peart enough that-a-way. Where he was slow was learnin' how to talk' so ez you could make out whut he was aimin' to say. It seemed like that was the only slow thing about him.
“Natchelly the boys poked a heap of fun at him. They kept prankin' with him constantly. But he taken it all in good part and grinned back at 'em, and never seemed to lose his holt on his temper. You jest couldn't help likin' him—only he did cut such funny mon-keyshines with the Queen's English when he tried to talk!