"Did anything happen, Peachie?" asked Mrs. La Grange, unable to wait for the sequel.
"Yes, mother, it did. I believe those girls had dared him to, because he waited until the very last, then he lifted Carolina off her feet clear up into the air, and landed her in front of Mrs. Winchester with a deep bow. Everybody laughed and screamed for a minute, then something in the attitude of both Mrs. Winchester and Carolina made them hush. Cousin Lois’s voice was low, but you could hear it all over the room.
"’Young man,’ she said, ’your name is unknown to me, but let me say to you that you are not a gentleman!’
"What happened then?" cried Mrs. La Grange.
"Mrs. Giddings, of course. She always says the cutting thing. ’You are perfectly right, Lois,’ she said, ’the man is a nobody. We expect such manners from nobodies. Not that the somebodies are any better, if this dance is a sample. This is my first appearance. Rest assured that it will be my last. We Giddings don’t chaperon barn dances!’
"That, from Mrs. Giddings, seemed to sober them. They all moved away leaving Rube Bryan bowing and scraping and trying to square himself. Cousin Lois simply waved him aside as if he were a piccaninny. She asked Carolina if she wanted to go home. Carolina hesitated a minute, then she lifted that chin of hers and said, ’No; a Lee cannot be driven from a ballroom by rudeness. Just let me go and put on my truth!"
"Bless the child!" cried Mrs. La Grange, who was as excited as a spectator at his first horse-race. "Bless her! There is pride! There is what the French call ’race’! And to see the dear _putting on the armour of her religion even in a ballroom_!"
"Mother, Carolina’s religion helps her in everything. Why, she just stepped out of sight behind a row of palms. She went to a window and reached up one arm and leaned her head against it. With the other hand she drew back the curtain and looked up at the stars. I put my arm around her and she said, in a low, distinct voice. ’The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.’ ’And mother, it made the tears come to my eyes. To think of my beautiful Carolina, with nothing but love in her heart for the whole South, to come home to us and be treated so rudely that she had to appeal to God to help her to get through something which ought to have been only a pleasure to her!"