"We have just time before the dances to see the people who are celebrating Bellman's day," said Mrs. Lund. Wreaths and flowers decked the bronze bust of the poet. At the foot of the pedestal a man was reciting, and the crowd was very quiet. "How he loved to come here and lie out in the warm sun and sing those same songs that man is reciting!" said Major Lund. They lingered only a few minutes. "This is what I like," said Sigrid, with an air of great content. She and her brothers had hurried ahead of their parents. They sat watching some lively dancing on a large platform. "They have begun 'Weaving Homespun,'" said Erik, as the fiddler and accordion player struck up a quaint air. The peasants faced each other in two lines. Then the men and maidens wove in and out in the figures of the dance. "Like weaving on an old loom," Erik explained to Sigrid. "I wish I could have a red dress and a stiff white cap with pointed ears," said Sigrid, who could not keep her eyes away from one of the dancers. "The crown princess also admires that dress," said Mrs. Lund. "She requires all her maids of honour to wear it, in the forenoon, at Tullgarn. I am sure it is so pretty, I don't believe they mind at all." "No two of those girls are dressed alike," continued Sigrid, who was still interested in costumes. "That is because each maid wears the peasant dress of one of the provinces of Sweden, and there are many provinces. One of those Dalecarlian girls has a dress like the one you wore on Midsummer's Eve. In that part of the country, the girls wear their bright aprons and kerchiefs more than anywhere else in Sweden." "Why, where is Anders?" asked Major Lund. He had been chatting with an old friend and had just returned to his family. Sure enough, the lad had disappeared. The crowd had pressed in close about the platform. Every one was so pleased with these old folk-dances, that they had forgotten the child. "Do you suppose he has gone back to look at the seals or the polar bears?" asked Erik. It was sometime before Major Lund returned from his hunt. But Anders was with him. "Where do you think I found the rogue?" asked Major Lund. "He was drinking raspberry juice with a nice old lady who thought he was lost. Do you know what happens to little boys who run away?" Major Lund looked very stern. But the mother was so glad to find the child that I don't believe anything did happen. CHAPTER VII. THROUGH THE GÖTA CANAL THE gong clanged. The big steamer churned the water into foamy suds as it left the wharf at Stockholm. Sigrid and her father and mother waved their handkerchiefs to the friends on shore as long as they could see them. "Let us find seats in the bow of the boat, where we shall have a good view of the canal," said Mrs. Lund. "I never was in such a large boat before. It is just like a house," cried Sigrid, who was much excited.