nine o'clock
Afterward , Roddy would live with them at the Cape until his schooldays were over . In the meantime , they walked in a garden of Eden , for the rains had made the desert bloom , and life offered them its fairest blossoms with both hands . The Leopard It was nine o'clock , and time for the first waltz to strike up . The wide , empty floor of the Falcon Hotel lounge gleamed with a waxen glaze under the brilliant lights , and the dancers ' feet were tingling to begin . Michael Walsh , who always played at the Wankelo dances , sat down at the piano and struck two loud arresting bars , then gently caressed from the keys the crooning melody of the _ Wisteria Waltz _ . Two by two , the dancers drew into the maze of music and movement , and became part of a weaving rhythmic , kaleidoscopic picture .