"Wait a minute, I will sing you something about love," cried Wawrzecki, and he proceeded to drone an amorous ditty. "Bravo Wawrzecki!" cried the entire company and with that they all abandoned themselves to pure merriment, ceased arguing and babbled any nonsense that came to their lips. "Most esteemed ladies and gentlemen! the sky is beginning to cloud and on earth the bottles are all empty. Let us beat a retreat!" finally suggested Wawrzecki. "But how?" chorused a few voices. "We will go on foot, for it is not more than a mile to Warsaw." "We'll hire some husky fellow to carry the baskets for us. I'll go and see if I can find someone," said Wawrzecki, and he went off in the direction of a monastery. Before he returned all were ready for the homeward journey. The general mood of gayety had even risen, for Mimi was dancing a waltz with Glogowski on the greensward. Topolski was so drunk that he continually kept talking to himself and quarreling with Majkowska. Kotlicki smiled and kept close to Janina who had become very sportive and merry. She smiled at him and conversed with him, hardly remembering his recent proposal. He was sure that the impression of it had merely glided over her soul and sunk away in forgetfulness. They walked in disordered groups as is usual after an outing. Janina was weaving a wreath of oak leaves, while Kotlicki was helping her and amusing her with piquant remarks. She listened to him, but when they entered into a bigger and real wood where the ground was covered with dense underbrush, she suddenly became grave, gazed at the trees with such great joy, touched their trunks and branches with such tenderness, her lips and eyes glowed with such rapture, that Kotlicki asked her, pointing to the trees: "No doubt they must be good friends of yours?" "Yes indeed, good and sincere friends and not comedians!" she replied with a light irony in her voice. "You have a very vengeful memory. You neither believe, nor forgive. I desire only one thing: to be able to convince you . . ." "Then marry me!" she exclaimed quickly, turning towards him. "I beg for your hand!" he murmured in the same tone. They glanced straight into each other's eyes and both suddenly became gloomy. Janina knitted her brows and began unconsciously to tear her unfinished wreath with her teeth, while Kotlicki bowed his head and became silent. "Come, let us hurry, we shall be late for the performance!" called someone, and they hastened to catch up with the rest of the company. "So to-morrow there is to be a read rehearsal of my play?" Glogowski was asking Topolski. "To be exact, it will be only a reading of the play itself, for Dobek has not yet finished writing out the roles," answered Topolski. "Great Scott! and when do you expect to present it?" "Don't fear, the Philistines will hiss and hoot you soon enough, without your hurrying!" Kotlicki twitted him.