The succeeding couples, who had only to follow the figures already given, and thus continue the impulsion, were not permitted to drag themselves lazily and listlessly along the parquet.

The step was rhythmic, cadenced, and undulating; the whole form swayed by graceful wavings and harmonious balancings.

They were careful never to advance with too much haste, nor to replace each other as if driven on by some urgent necessity.

On they glided, like swans descending a tranquil stream, their flexile forms swayed by the ebb and swell of unseen and gentle waves.

Sometimes, the gentleman offered the right, sometimes, the left hand to his partner; touching only the points of her fingers, or clasping the slight hand within his own, he passed now to her right, now to her left, without yielding the snowy treasure.