owie, who was under the belief
that they were all mad, made a grasp at the poor girl but missed her,
for Raneilda was overwhelmed with confusion, and ran nimbly out of the
room, leaving her crown behind her! Hans Ericsson hastily picked it up
and ran after her, leaving Fred Temple to explain things to his
astonished friends as he best could.

So that was the end of _that_ matter.

But that was by no means the end of the whole affair. Before the
_Snowflake_ left the fiord, Hans and Raneilda were married, as all true
lovers ought to be.

The fair bride was once again decked out in the queen-like garments
which had formerly filled Sam and Grant with so great surprise and
admiration; and Fred, as he had promised, danced at the Norseman's
wedding. And not only did Fred dance, but so did his friends--ay, and
his whole ship's crew. And it would have done your heart good, reader,
to have seen the way in which the Jack-tars footed it on that occasion
on the green grass, and astonished the Norsemen. But it must also be
told that the Norsemen were not a whit behindhand, for they showed the
tars a number of capers and new steps which they had never before seen
or even dreamed of!

Just before the ball began there was heard a sound resembling the yells
of an exceedingly young pig in its dying agonies. This was a violin.
It was accompanied by a noise somewhat like to the beating of a
flour-mill, which was found to proceed from the heel of the fiddler, who
had placed a wooden board under his left foot. Thus he beat time, and a
drum, as it were, at once. He also beat Paganini and all other fiddlers
hollow. Round this manufacturer of sweet sounds did the lads and lasses
flock and soon gave evidence of their sympathy with the rest of mankind
by beginning to dance.

Certainly elegance is not a characteristic of the Norwegian peasantry!
Having formed a ring, they went to work with the utmost gravity and
decorum. Scarcely a laugh was heard! nothing approaching to a shout
during the whole evening. The nature of their dances was utterly
incomprehensible. The chief object the young men had in view seemed to
be to exhibit their agility by every species of bound and fling of which
the human frame is capable, including the rather desperate feat of
dashing themselves flat upon the ground. The principal care of the
girls seemed to be to keep out of the way of the men, and avoid being
killed by a frantic kick or felled by a random