were!  They have always been the wonder and the despair of all musicians who have played by rule and note.  The very way that the country fiddler held his fiddle against his chest and never against his shoulder like the trained musician!  The very way that the country fiddler grasped his bow, firmly and squarely in the middle, and never lightly at the end like a trained musician!  The very way that he let go and went off and kept on—­the amazing, inimitable spirit, the gayety, the rhythm, the swing!  No trained musician ever heard the music of the country fiddler without wondering at its power, and longing in vain to know the secret of its charm.  It would be worth a good deal to know where and how they learned the tunes that they played.  Possibly these were handed down by ear from one to another; some perhaps have never been pent up in notes, and others may have been given to the note reader under other names than those by which the country fiddlers knew them.  This is said to have been the case with “Old Zip Coon,” and the names of many of them would seem to prove that they belonged to the time and the country.  But there is a delightful uncertainty about the origin and the history of almost all of them—­about “Leather Breeches” and “Sugar in the Gourd” and “Wagoner” and “Cotton-eyed Joe,” and so on through a long list.

On this day the musicians sat in a row on a fallen tree, and the grass beside it was very soon worn away, and the earth before it beaten as hard as any ballroom floor under the gay and ceaseless patting of their feet.  On the other side of the wide level space was a green bower made of freshly cut boughs.  This was a retiring room, intended for the use of any fair dancer whose hair might fall into disorder or whose skirt might be torn in the dancing.  The baskets were all put out of sight till wanted, hidden beneath the bushes that bordered the open space.  But now and then, when the soft warm breeze swayed the leafy screen of green and gold and crimson, there were tantalizing glimpses of the folded table-cloths covering the baskets, like much belated or very early snowdrifts.

Most of the hunters’ daughters came to the dance riding behind their sweethearts, after the pleasant custom of the country.  They were fine girls for their station in life, and well fitted for the hardships which must be their portion.  They were large, strong, brave, simple, good—­healthy in body and mind, warm in heart, and cool in courage, with pleasing faces roughened by exposure, and capable hands hardened by work.  They were dressed in homespun as became their looks, their means, and manner of living.  In all things these future mothers of a great state were the natural and suitable mates for the gallant young state-makers.  And each one of the young hunters now standing beside them, held his head high as he led out the girl of his choice, feeling his own right to be prouder and happier than any of his fellows.