gain
the main hall, and reach the seats that had been reserved for
the professor. When this was at last accomplished, not without
considerable difficulty, Sylvius Hogg seated himself between Hulda and
Joel.

At precisely half past two o'clock, the door at the rear of the
platform opened, and the president of the lottery appeared, calm
and dignified, and with the commanding mien befitting his exalted
position. Two directors followed, bearing themselves with equal
dignity. Then came six little blue-eyed girls, decked out in flowers
and ribbons, six little girls whose innocent hands were to draw the
lottery.

Their entrance was greeted with a burst of loud applause that
testified both to the pleasure all experienced on beholding the
managers of the Christiania Lottery, and to the impatience with which
the crowd was awaiting the beginning of the drawing.

There were six little girls, as we have remarked before, and there
were also six urns upon a table that occupied the middle of the
platform. Each of these urns contained ten numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 0, representing the units, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of
thousands, and hundreds of thousands of the number one million. There
was no seventh urn, for the million column, because it had been agreed
that six ciphers drawn simultaneously should represent one million, as
in this way the chances of success would be equally divided among all
the numbers.

It had also been settled that the numbers should be drawn in
succession from the urns, beginning with that to the left of the
audience. The winning number would thus be formed under the very eyes
of the spectators, first by the figure in the column of hundreds of
thousands, then in the columns of tens of thousands, and so on until
the column of units was reached, and the reader can judge with what
emotion each person watched his chances of success increase with the
drawing of each figure.

As the clock struck three, the president waved his hand, and declared
the drawing begun.

The prolonged murmur that greeted the announcement lasted several
minutes, after which quiet was gradually established.

The president rose, and though evidently much excited, made a short
speech suited to the occasion, in which he expressed regret that there
was not a prize for each ticket-holder; then he ordered the drawing
of the first series of prizes, which consisted, as we have before
remarked, of ninety prizes, and which wo