Erik walked along slowly, his eyes looking back longingly toward the
dancing, and finally Gerda looked back, too.

"See, Erik," she said, "the boys have finished, and now the girls are
going to dance alone. You would not like to dance with the girls;" and
then he followed her willingly to the other side of the island.

Crowds of people were gathering under the Bellman oak, and the four
children found a seat near-by, where they could see and hear everything
that went on around them.

"We must keep Erik here, or else he will insist on going to blow in the
band," Gerda whispered to her brother, as she saw the Lapp boy watching
the man with the trombone. Then she began to talk about Karl Bellman, the
songs and poems he wrote, and how much the people loved him.

"He is one of our most famous poets," she said earnestly, and Erik looked
at her and repeated solemnly:--

"Cattle die,
Kinsmen die,
One's self dies, too;
But the fame never dies,
Of him who gets a good name."

"Why, Erik!" exclaimed Karen in surprise; "that is from 'The Song of the
High' by Odin, the king of the gods. How did you happen to know it?"

"I know many things," said Erik with an air of importance. But there were