older, and could reach the tables, marched about munch~
ing contentedly at meat-bones and bologna sausages.

The room is about thirty feet square, with whitewashed
walls, bare save for a calendar, a picture of a race-horse,
and a family tree in a gilded frame. To the right there
is a door from the saloon, with a few loafers in the door~
way, and in the corner beyond it a bar, with a presiding
genius clad in soiled white, with waxed black mustaches
and a carefully oiled curl plastered against one side of his
forehead. In the opposite corner are two tables, filling a
third of the room and laden with dishes and cold viands,
which a few of the hungrier guests are already munching.
At the head, where sits the bride, is a snow-white cake,
with an Eiffel tower of constructed decoration, with sugar
roses and two angels upon it, and a generous sprinkling
of pink and green and yellow candies. Beyond opens a
door into the kitchen, where there is a glimpse to be had
of a range with much steam ascending from it, and many
women, old and young, rushing hither and thither. In
the corner to the left are the three musicians, upon a little
platform, toiling heroically to make some impression upon
the hubbub; also the babies, similarly occupied, and an
open window whence the populace imbibes the sights and
sounds and odors.

Suddenly some of the steam begins to advance, and,
peering through it, you discern Aunt Elizabeth, Ona's
step-mother -- Teta Elzbieta, as they call her -- bearing
aloft a great platter of stewed duck. Behind her is Ko~
trina, making her way cautiously, staggering beneath a
similar burden; and half a minute later there appears
old Grandmother Majauszkiene, with a big yellow bowl
of smoking potatoes, nearly as big as herself. So, bit by
bit, the feast takes form -- there is a ham and a dish of
sauerkraut, boiled rice, macaroni, bologna sausages, great
piles of penny buns, bowls of milk, and foaming pitchers
of beer. There is also, not six feet from your back, the
bar, where you may order all you please and do not have
to pay for it. _"Eiksz!_Graicziau!"_ screams Marija Ber~

[[4]]

p003 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p004w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p005

v?