r a few hours of toil, a young
man would arise, and give a pleasant signal. All chairs and benches would
at once be removed; the work-shop would be changed into a ball-room. To
supply the deficiency of an orchestra, one of the spectators defined the
modulations of a dance by some old traditionary song. Young men and women
took each other by the hand, and formed together one of those country
groups which are the elements of the chorographic art. They then parted,
making a rendezvous for the next day, for another hearth-side, but for
similar amusements. All the work-women, returned to their own houses,
where they gaily retailed all the episodes of the evening's events, some
recording merely a silent glance, which met their own, or a furtive clasp
of the hand which had aroused a blush. More than one happy acquaintance
originates in one of those northern evenings--and more than one girl,
who, in the autumn, has a heart free as air, in the spring wears on her
finger the ring of a promised bride.

When the weather was good, Ebba went out sometimes alone, to be present
at these re-unions. All rose to welcome her with a sentiment of respect
and attention, for she was kind to the poor.

The young people silently withdrew, and the matron of the house gave her
the most pleasant seat by the hearth-side. The children, however, to whom
she brought every day fruits and presents, leaped and danced around her.
The old village story-tellers were also glad when she came, for no one
Questioned them with more kindness, or listened with more attention to
their popular tales. Her delicate tournure, her graceful form, her pale
and melancholy look, were in striking contrast with those around her. To
see her motionless and mute amid the merry girls and the robust young
persons, would have induced a belief that she was one of those
supernatural beings, one of those fairy inhabitants of woods and
waters--strange legends about whom she so much delighted in. She entered
and retired silently, and her light feet seemed scarcely to touch the
ground. She flitted away like an aerial being, leaving with all those
whom she visited an indefinable impression, and arousing in some the
vague remembrance of a superstitious being.

One evening, when she was about to leave, a woman, who had looked
Attentively at her, said, "Dear young lady; how feeble and ill she
seems!"

"Yes," said a timid voice, "one might almost think she had joined in the
elfin dance."