"It is impossible," he said to himself, "that they dance such a dangerous galop here as they do at the Opéra. However, I will be prudent and not galop; I will confine myself to taking a partner for a contra-dance; that's the wiser way, because the figures are always the same; I know them all, and it isn't possible that I can be thrown down doing the English chain or the pastourelle."
And Dupont, after walking about the hall for some time in search of a particularly shapely partner, invited at last a rather attractive person whose languorous eyes gazed into his with infinite good humor.
They stood up to dance; but Dupont had for vis-à-vis a gaillarde who had been a pupil of the famous Rigolboche, and whose bold and eccentric dancing was so renowned that people fought for places to watch her.
When Dupont executed his avant-deux before that lady, he suddenly received a superb kick full in the face, amid the applause and roars of laughter of the spectators.
Dupont alone did not laugh; his nose was crushed, and he attempted to complain; but the tall gaillarde said to him:
"It's your own fault! You're a donkey, my dear friend; you ought to have known that that was the time when I lift my leg! If you don't know my steps, you shouldn't dance opposite me! Bribri would never have let my foot hit him!"
As Dupont's nose was bleeding and pained him severely, he left the ball and went home to bed, saying to himself:
"I've amused myself enough for to-day."
Several days passed, and, Dupont's nose having healed, he said to himself:
"I'll go to the ball again; I'll stick to it; but this time I won't dance."