Then she dropped his lapel and they proceeded.
She did not put the white rose in her belt, but carried it.
The Square was heaving with a jostling, goodnatured, happy, and constantly
increasing crowd that overflowed on Main Street in both directions; and
the good nature of this crowd was augmented in the ratio that its size
increased. The streets were a confusion of many colors, and eager faces
filled every window opening on Main Street or the Square. Since nine
o'clock all those of the courthouse had been occupied, and here most of
the damsels congregated to enjoy the spectacle of the parade, and their
swains attended, gallantly posting themselves at coignes of less vantage
behind the ladies. Some of the faces that peeped from the dark, old court-
house windows were pretty, and some of them were not pretty; but nearly
all of them were rosy-cheeked, and all were pleasant to see because of the
good cheer they showed. Some of the gallants affected the airy and easy,
entertaining the company with badinage and repartee; some were openly
bashful. Now and then one of the latter, after long deliberation,
constructed a laborious compliment for his inamorata, and, after advancing
and propounding half of it, again retired into himself, smit with a
blissful palsy. Nearly all of them conversed in tones that might have
indicated that they were separated from each other by an acre lot or two.
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