of the evening, and the supper was but a silent
meal. But after supper my host proposed a
walk to the fields, where the waggon-loaders
were still at work bringing in the last loads of
wheat, for on the morrow was the harvest-home,
and not a sheaf must remain in the field, except
what is left for the gleaners.

It was a pretty scene: the waggons, like the
one that met me at the station, were each
drawn by four beautiful horses, some were
loaded to the top, that is about twelve feet
high from the bottom, on which eminence some
lads and women were riding home to the granaries
to unload and store the corn, some being
laden and some returning empty from the
granaries for fresh loads. The women wore short
black stuff petticoats, little short-waisted scarlet
jackets with silver buttons, that hung loosely
open over their white long-sleeved shirts, which
went high up to the neck like those of the men,
and with little scarlet caps, that covered
nothing but the very backmost back of their back
hair, of which they all have a profusion. The
lads were in white linen trousers, shirt sleeves,
red braces, and straw hats, ornamented by their
sweethearts with gay ribbons and flowers—all
whistling and working and singing merrily in
the soft smile of the large approving harvest-
moon. It was twelve o'clock before the last
load had left the field, and all the men and
women who did not find room on the top of it,
shouldered their pitchforks and escorted it home
with songs.

My bedroom was situated in a side-gable of
the house, and although the furniture was
homely, the room was delightfully clean and
cozy. The two Gothic windows overlooked
the flower-garden, and it being a sultry night,
I left them open and enjoyed the full benefit
of the fragrances arising from below, as well
as the songs of the nightingales that lived in
every bush and tree of the garden. It seemed
to me as if I had scarcely gone to sleep, when at
three o'clock I was wakened by a tremendous
clattering noise, which I soon ascertained
proceeded from the milk-pails of the dairymaids,
going out into the pastures to milk the cows.
Too tired to go out and witness this performance,
I returned to my bed, and slept till half-past
seven o'clock. On arriving in the hall below, I
found a large assembly of the village peasants,
dressed in their Sunday best, and when I
entered the living-room, Herr and Frau Hillmann,
after making kind inquiries in regard to
my comforts during the night, informed me
that I had just come down in time to witness
the beginning of the ceremonies of the day. It
appeared to be the custom that all the weddings
of the village people were put off till the feast
of the harvest-home—partly, I suppose, because
the people had not the time before, and partly
because the whole expense of the festivity
was in this way transferred to the lord of the
manor. The brides—we had three of them on
this occasion—dress themselves in their best,
consisting of a new black stuff shirt, a very
short-waisted scarlet jacket fastened with silver
buttons, and a white muslin kerchief pinned
across the bosom, and then go up to the manor
house, that the lady may put the finishing touch
to their hair—generally insisting upon having
it curled in front, a glory which they will
undergo much agony to attain—and put on their
crowns! These crowns had been prepared by
Frau Hillmann, and consisted of a mysterious
structure of the shape of a small beehive, built up
with artificial flowers, natural green leaves,
narrow ends of parti-coloured ribbons, and an
abundance of tinsel. When this ornament had been
placed on the head of the bride—which could not
be done till after she had been shedding copious
tears, none but herself knowing at what, and
several times declared that her strength was
forsaking her, and she must inevitably faint,
unless supported by frequent doses of wine—
she presented an object highly suggestive of an
Indian squaw on a high festival.

When Frau Hillmann had performed her
arduous duties towards the three brides, the
whole assembly in the hall, amongst whom were
the three bridegrooms, were fortified with beer
(a kind of beer that was not at all like Bass's
pale ale) and cake, after which four ladder-
waggons, with four sacks each, and drawn by
four horses, clattered up to the door to convey
the party to church. The last of the waggons
carried the musicians with their brass instruments,
and when all had mounted into their
seats, they drove off at a merry trot (how it
must have hurt them on that pavement!),
accompanied by the loud and blatant strains of the
band in the rear.

During the absence of the bridal party, those
who remained behind all assisted at the putting
up and spreading of a long narrow table in the
shade of the lime-trees, at which the whole
village, as well as all the in and out-door servants
of the farm, were to be regaled with a sumptuous
repast, consisting of milk soups, large legs of
roast veal, goose, two huge smoked hams,
potatoes and broad beans, and a second course
of rice boiled in milk, with stewed prunes—to
be washed down with an unlimited supply of
the above-mentioned home-brewed ale, and the
contents of a small keg of home-distilled brandy
for the men.

Punctually at twelve o'clock the waggons
returned from church, and at the first sign of
them the cooks dished up, so that at the same
moment that the wedding party alighted, the
dinner stood smoking on the table. As soon
as the brides had shyly received the congratulations
of the guests, every one took a seat and
applied him—or herself—energetically and
exclusively to the business of the hour. At one
o'clock the dinner was over, and the whole
crowd hurried to one of the barns, where
a large space had been cleared and decorated
with flowers to serve as a ball-room. The ball
had to be opened by the lord of the manor,
and in this wise: Herr Hillmann with the eldest
of the brides, whose young husband had the
honour of Frau Hillmann's hand for the same
"Polonaise "—a kind of mazy march; I had