hat largest throng of all, which had been
too far away for comprehension at the beginning. There was no mystery
now. A rough, narrow shed, fully fifty feet in length, imposed itself
in an arbitrary line across the face of this crowd, dividing it into two
compact halves. Inside this shed, protected all round by a waist-high
barrier of boards, on top of which ran a flat, table-like covering, were
twenty men in their shirt-sleeves, toiling ceaselessly to keep abreast
of the crowd's thirst for beer. The actions of these bartenders greatly
impressed Theron. They moved like so many machines, using one
hand, apparently, to take money and give change, and with the other
incessantly sweeping off rows of empty glasses, and tossing forward in
their place fresh, foaming glasses five at a time. Hundreds of arms and
hands were continually stretched out, on both sides of the shed, toward
this streaming bar, and through the babel of eager cries rose without
pause the racket of mallets tapping new kegs.

Theron had never seen any considerable number of his fellow-citizens
engaged in drinking lager beer before. His surprise at the facility of
those behind the bar began to yield, upon observation, to a profound
amazement at the thirst of those before it. The same people seemed to
be always in front, emptying the glasses faster than the busy men inside
could replenish them, and clamoring tirelessly for more. Newcomers had
to force their way to the bar by violent efforts, and once there they
stayed until pushed bodily aside. There were actually women to be seen
here and there in the throng, elbowing and shoving like the rest for a
place at the front. Some of the more gallant young men fought their
way outward, from time to time, carrying for safety above their heads
glasses of beer which they gave to young and pretty girls standing on
the fringe of the crowd, among the trees.

Everywhere a remarkable good-humor prevailed. Once a sharp fight broke
out, just at the end of the bar nearest Theron, and one young man was
knocked down. A rush of the onlookers confused everything before the
minister's eyes for a minute, and then he saw the aggrieved combatant up
on his legs again, consenting under the kindly pressure of the crowd to
shake hands with his antagonist, and join him in more beer. The incident
caught his fancy. There was something very pleasingly human, he thought,
in this primitive readiness to resort to fisticuffs, and this frank and