"A telegraph despatch!" he said, "Ha--I must go!"
The girl sprang forward and clutched his sleeve: "Don't go!" she said, "You ask what I can do--I can dance! We will show you, my comrade and I. In a moment the doors will be unlocked; wait until the doors are unlocked! We will give you a performance now, a special performance such as the Tsar himself has heard and seen--Play!"
She waved Her hand to Velasco, and in a moment the violin was out of its wrappings and held to his cheek. He was playing a wild, strange rhythm and Kaya was dancing. The crowd made a circle about them, and the official stood in the centre transfixed, open-mouthed.
The violin was like a creature alive, it sobbed and laughed; and when it sobbed, the little figure of the dancer swayed slowly, languidly, like a flower blown to and fro by the breeze; and when it laughed, the rhythm quickened suddenly in a rush like an avalanche falling, and the figure sprang out into the air, turning, twisting, pirouetting; every movement graceful, intense, full of feeling and passion.
The crowd about the gypsies stood spell-bound; the official never stirred. The bell rang again and again. Every time it rang, a new impetus seemed to seize the dancer. Her feet in the heavy boots seemed scarcely to touch the ground; the green of the velveteen was like the colour of a kaleidoscope, and the gold of her curls glittered and sparkled under the cap. The crowd swayed with the rhythm; they grew drunk with it and their bodies quivered as they watched. The minutes passed like a flash.
Suddenly there came a creak in the lock; the key turned and the great doors opened, the doors towards Germany. Beyond was the long line of paling; the flag with the eagle floating; the sentinels with their muskets over their shoulders. A step and then--
The dancer made a little rush forward, gave a spring in the air and then bowed, snatching off the cap.
She held the cap in her two hands, eagerly, pleadingly, and the silver fell into it. Copecks--ten--twenty--hundreds of them, and roubles, round and heavy; they clinked as they fell.
"I thank you!" cried the gypsey, "Good-bye, Messieurs--Mesdames! Au revoir!"
She bowed again, backing towards the door, the cap still held between her hands, the Violinist following.