Suddenly the dance finished, Loerke and the students rushed out to
bring in drinks. There was an excited clamour of voices, a clinking of
mug-lids, a great crying of 'Prosit--Prosit!' Loerke was everywhere at
once, like a gnome, suggesting drinks for the women, making an obscure,
slightly risky joke with the men, confusing and mystifying the waiter.
He wanted very much to dance with Gudrun. From the first moment he had
seen her, he wanted to make a connection with her. Instinctively she
felt this, and she waited for him to come up. But a kind of sulkiness
kept him away from her, so she thought he disliked her.
'Will you schuhplatteln, gnadige Frau?' said the large, fair youth,
Loerke's companion. He was too soft, too humble for Gudrun's taste. But
she wanted to dance, and the fair youth, who was called Leitner, was
handsome enough in his uneasy, slightly abject fashion, a humility that
covered a certain fear. She accepted him as a partner.
The zithers sounded out again, the dance began.
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