With a fiendish yell, they fell upon her, and tore her, shrieking, off the sofa.

And lo! when she was once launched, she danced up to her husband, and set to him with a meek deliberation that was as funny as any part of the scene.

So then the mover of all this slipped on one side, and let the stone of merriment--roll--and roll it did; there was no swimming, sprawling, or irrelevant frisking; their feet struck the ground for every note of the fiddle, pat as its echo, their faces shone, their hearts leaped, and their poor frozen natures came out, and warmed themselves at the glowing melody; a great sunbeam had come into their abode, and these human motes danced in it.

The elder ones recovered their gravity first, they sat down breathless, and put their hands to their hearts; they looked at one another, and then at the goddess who had revived them.

Their first feeling was wonder; were they the same, who, ten minutes ago, were weeping together?
Yes! ten minutes ago they were rayless, joyless, hopeless.