Mrs. Lund talked to the lad and told him that he could spend the night in one of the outhouses. The next day was a holiday and no one would want a chimney swept.
Sigrid's tender heart was at ease again, and she returned to the dancers. The older people stayed up far into the bright night, but the children soon went to bed. From her chamber window, Sigrid could see the huge bonfires on the hillsides far away. The witches are abroad on Midsummer's Eve, and these fires drive them away.
Every one goes to church on Midsummer's Day, which is also called St. John's Day. So the next morning, the Lund family drove several miles to a little country church. Before they started, Sigrid went to find the sweep. But the little wanderer had started on his travels again.
"Larsson says all the school-children will sing carols, this morning," said Mrs. Lund. "I am sure we shall have a beautiful service."
As they drove along the road, they met many country people on their way to church. The women all carried their hymn-books wrapped neatly in a silk handkerchief.
"Why do the men all sit on one side and the women on the other?" whispered Anders. His family sat in a little gallery of the church. Down below, the altar and the square box pews with doors were banked with lilacs.
"Hush, dear," replied his mother. "You must remember the country people are used to it, so it is not strange to them."
The ride home and the noonday meal seemed endless. As soon as ever they had thanked their parents for their food, the children were out-of-doors again. A big wagon, trimmed with birches and filled with hay, was ready at the door. Midsummer's Day without a picnic in the woods is almost as bad as Christmas without presents.
"Don't forget the nets for the crayfish, Erik," said Major Lund, who was stowing away luncheon baskets in the wagon.
"They are in all right, father. The big kettle in which to boil them and the coffee-pot are under the seat," said Erik.