the
bridegroom from the unmarried ones, and they pulled and tore and pushed
unmercifully, amid shouts and laughter, whilst the _polska_ went on its
whirling measure.

It would be almost at the peril of her life that a delicate lady should
enter into such a tumult; but Petrea feared in this moment no other
danger than that of not being able to make herself heard in this wild
uproar. She called and demanded to speak with the host; but her voice
was perfectly swallowed up in the universal din. She then quickly turned
herself, amid the contending and round-about-swinging groups to the two
musicians, who were scraping upon their fiddles with a sort of frenzy,
and beating time with their feet. Petrea caught hold of one of them by
the arm, and prayed him in God's name to leave off for a moment, for
that her business was of life and death. But they paid not the slightest
attention to her; they heard not what she said; they played, and the
others danced with fury.

"That is very mad!" thought Petrea, "but I will be madder still!" and so
thinking, she threw down, upon the musicians, a table which stood near
them covered with bottles and glasses. With this crash the music was
suddenly still. The pause in the music astonished the dancers; they
looked around them. Petrea took advantage of this moment, went into the
crowd and called for the host. The host, who was celebrating his
daughter's wedding, came forward; he was a fat, somewhat pursy man, who
evidently had taken a glass too much.

Petrea related summarily that which had happened; prayed for people to
assist at the carriage, and for some wine and fine bread for an invalid.
She spoke with warmth and determination; but nevertheless the host
demurred, and the crowd, half intoxicated with drink and dancing,
regarded her with a distrustful look, and Petrea heard it whispered
around her--"The mad lady!" "It is the mad lady!" "No, no, it is not
she!" "Yes, it is she!"

And we must confess that Petrea's excited appearance, and the condition
of her toilet after the fatigues of her wandering, gave some occasion
for her being taken for a little crazy; this, and the circumstance of
her being mistaken for another person, may explain the disinclination to
afford her assistance, which otherwise does not belong to the character
of the Swedish peasantry.

Again Petrea exhorted host and peasant to contribute their help, and
promised befitting reward.

The host set himself now in a comma