guests, and Tamoszius is so short that he pokes them
with his bow whenever he reaches over for the low notes;
but still he presses in, and insists relentlessly that his
companions must follow. During their progress, needless
to say, the sounds of the 'cello are pretty well extin~
guished; but at last the three are at the head, and
Tamoszius takes his station at the right hand of the bride
and begins to pour out his soul in melting strains.

Little Ona is too excited to eat. Once in a while she
tastes a little something, when Cousin Marija pinches her
elbow and reminds her; but, for the most part, she sits gaz~
ing with the same fearful eyes of wonder. Teta Elzbieta is
all in a flutter, like a humming-bird; her sisters, too, keep
running up behind her, whispering, breathless. But Ona
seems scarcely to hear them -- the music keeps calling, and
the far-off look comes back, and she sits with her hands
pressed together over her heart. Then the tears begin to
come into her eyes; and as she is ashamed to wipe them
away, and ashamed to let them run down her cheeks, she
turns and shakes her head a little, and then flushes red
when she sees that Jurgis is watching her. When in the
end Tamoszius Kuszleika has reached her side, and is
waving his magic wand above her, Ona's cheeks are scar~
let, and she looks as if she would have to get up and run
away.

In this crisis, however, she is saved by Marija Berczyn~
skas, whom the muses suddenly visit. Marija is fond of
a song, a song of lovers' parting; she wishes to hear it,
and, as the musicians do not know it, she has risen, and
is proceeding to teach them. Marija is short, but power~
ful in build. She works in a canning factory, and all
day long she handles cans of beef that weigh fourteen
pounds. She has a broad Slavic face, with prominent red
cheeks. When she opens her mouth, it is tragical, but
you cannot help thinking of a horse. She wears a blue
flannel shirt-waist, which is now rolled up at the sleeves,
disclosing her brawny arms; she has a carving-fork in her
hand, with which she pounds on the table to mark the
time. As she roars her song, in a voice of which it is

[[8]]

p007 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p008w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p009

v?