"Eric Hermannson's Soul" is a short story by Willa Cather.
[1] In rural Nebraska, Eric Hermannson gives up on girls after seeing a rattlesnake whilst on a date with Lena, and stops playing the violin shortly after; he becomes a good Free Gospeller as his mother wants him to be.
Later, she is riding a mustang from St. Anne back to her village with Eric.
Back in her house, she receives a letter from her fiancé from the East Coast.
After she has left, Eric talks to his pastor and confesses to dancing.