ture and in art,
am I to thank my stars that I must win my daily bread by studying and
caring for all that is miserable and revolting in the world, and hourly
to go about among jaundice, and colic, and disease of the lungs? On this
account I never can be anything but a melancholy creature! Yes, indeed,
if there were not the lilies on the earth, the stars in heaven, and
beyond all these some one Being who must be glorious--and were there not
among mankind the human-rose Eva--the beautiful, fascinating Eva,
then----"

He paused; a tear stood in his eye; but the expression of his
countenance soon was changed when he perceived no less than five young
girls--they danced now the "free choice"--and among them the three
enchanting Miss Aftonstjernas, who, all locked together, came dancing
towards him with a roguish expression. He cast towards them the very
grimmest of his glances, rose up suddenly, and hastened away.

Sara danced the second waltz with Schwartz, yet wilder than the first.
Elise turned her eyes away from her with inward displeasure; but
Petrea's heart beat with secret desire for a dance as wild, and she
followed their whirlings with sparkling eyes.

"Oh," thought she, "if one could only fly through life in a joyful whirl
like that!"

It was the sixth dance, and Petrea was sitting yet. She felt her nose
red and swollen. "See now!" thought she, "farewell to all hopes of
dancing! It must be that I am ugly, and nobody will look at me!" At the
same moment she was aware of the eye of her mother fixed upon her with a
certain expression of discomfort, and that glance was to her like a stab
at the heart; but the next moment her heart raised itself in opposition
to that depressing feeling which seemed about to overcome her. "It is
unpleasant," thought she, "but it cannot be altered, and it is no fault
of mine! And as nobody will give me any pleasure, I will even find some
for myself."

Scarcely had Petrea made this determination, than she felt herself quite
cheered; a spring of independence and freedom bubbled up within her; she
felt as if she were able even to take down the chandelier from the
ceiling, and all the more so when she saw so many life-enjoying people
skipping around her.

At this moment an old gentleman rose up from a bench opposite Petrea,
with a tea-cup in his hand. In a mania of officiousness she rushed
forward in order to assist him in setting it aside. He drew himself
back, and held the cup firml