A Likely Story

by William Dean Howells

Then she catches hands with them again, and they circle round the table as before, singing,

"Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.

Oh, dear! Stop! I'm dizzy—I shall fall." She spins into a chair, while the men continue solemnly circling by themselves.

Campbell: "It is a sacred dance:

"Sur le pont d'Avignon—"

Welling: "It's an expiation:

"Tout le monde y danse en rond."

Mrs. Campbell, springing from her chair and running to the window: "Stop, you crazy things! Here comes Jane! Come right in here, Jane! Did you get it? Give it to me, Jane!"

Welling: "I think it belongs to me, Mrs. Campbell."

Campbell: "Jane, I am master of the house—nominally. Give me the letter."