hoang-ha hiked by the arch announcing the entrance to the `` crystal pool , '' which was now just a brick arch with a translucent glass top over a grassy area where the pool had been , he went past the carousel , the only ride at the park which still operated , though only on weekends , still turning unchanged to its kaleidoscopic music , just as in the 1940s , when soldiers rode it after the warworld war iiits fierce horses and insane jackrabbits whirling up and down around a centerpiece of fluted mirrors and frowning cupids , he hiked past the spanish ballroom where louis prima once played , with its eerie funhouse smell , and where a dozen or more embarrassed couples took dancing lessons every saturday night before a big-band dance who did once upon the cross , al - le - lu - ia !