midday
The young men were of indomitable endurance and manifested a crude agility as they sprang about clumsily in time to the scraping of the fiddles , while their partners shuffled bouncingly or sidled mincingly according to their individual persuasion of the most apt expression of elegance . Considered from a critical point of view the dance was singularly devoid of grace -- only one couple illustrating the exception to the rule . The youth it was who was obviously beautiful , of a type as old as the fabled Endymion . His long brown hair hung in heavy curls to the collar of his butternut jeans coat ; his eyes were blue and large and finely set ; his face was fair and bespoke none of the midday toil at the plow-handles that had tanned the complexion of his compeers , for Brent Kayle had little affinity for labor of any sort . He danced with a light firm step , every muscle supplely responsive to the strongly marked pulse of the music , and he had a lithe , erect carriage which imparted a certain picturesque effect to his presence , despite his much creased boots , drawn over his trousers to the knee , and his big black hat which he wore on the back of his head . The face of his partner had a more subtle appeal , and so light and willowy was her figure as she danced that it suggested a degree of slenderness that bordered on attenuation . Her unbonneted hair of a rich blonde hue had a golden lustre in the sun ; her complexion was of an exquisite whiteness and with a delicate flush ; the chiseling of her features was peculiarly fine , in clear , sharp lines -- she was called `` hatchet-faced '' by her undiscriminating friends .