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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15837-8.txt b/15837-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4f86de --- /dev/null +++ b/15837-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9719 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jerusalem, by Selma Lagerlöf, et al, +Translated by Velma Swanston Howard + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Jerusalem + + +Author: Selma Lagerlöf + +Translator: Velma Swanston Howard + +Release Date: May 16, 2005 [eBook #15837] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JERUSALEM*** + + +E-text prepared by Nicole Apostola + + + +JERUSALEM + +A Novel + +From the Swedish of + +SELMA LAGERLÖF + +Translated by VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD + +With an Introduction by + +HENRY GODDARD LEACH + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +Introduction + +BOOK ONE + + The Ingmarssons + +BOOK TWO + + At the Schoolmaster's + "And They Saw Heaven Open" + Karin, Daughter of Ingmar + In Zion + The Wild Hunt + Hellgum + The New Way + +BOOK THREE + + The Loss of "L'Univers" + Hellgum's Letter + The Big Log + The Ingmar Farm + Hök Matts Ericsson + The Auction + Gertrude + The Dean's Widow + The Departure of the Pilgrims + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +As yet the only woman winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the +prize awarded to Kipling, Maeterlinck, and Hauptmann, is the +Swedish author of this book, "Jerusalem." The Swedish Academy, in +recognizing Miss Selma Lagerlöf, declared that they did so "for +reason of the noble idealism, the wealth of imagination, the +soulful quality of style, which characterize her works." Five years +later, in 1914, that august body elected Doctor Lagerlöf into their +fellowship, and she is thus the only woman among those eighteen +"immortals." + +What is the secret of the power that has made Miss Lagerlöf an +author acknowledged not alone as a classic in the schools but also +as the most popular and generally beloved writer in Scandinavia? +She entered Swedish literature at a period when the cold gray star +of realism was in the ascendant, when the trenchant pen of +Strindberg had swept away the cobwebs of unreality, and people were +accustomed to plays and novels almost brutal in their frankness. +Wrapped in the mantle of a latter-day romanticism, her soul filled +with idealism, on the one hand she transformed the crisp +actualities of human experience by throwing about them the glamour +of the unknown, and on the other hand gave to the unreal--to folk +tale and fairy lore and local superstition--the effectiveness of +convincing fact. "Selma Lagerlöf," says the Swedish composer, +Hugo Alfvén, "is like sitting in the dusk of a Spanish cathedral ... +afterward one does not know whether what he has seen was dream or +reality, but certainly he has been on holy ground." The average +mind, whether Swedish or Anglo-Saxon, soon wearies of heartless +preciseness in literature and welcomes an idealism as wholesome as +that of Miss Lagerlöf. Furthermore, the Swedish authoress attracts +her readers by a diction unique unto herself, as singular as the +English sentences of Charles Lamb. Her style may be described as +prose rhapsody held in restraint, at times passionately breaking +its bonds. + +Miss Lagerlöf has not been without her share of life's perplexities +and of contact with her fellowmen, it is by intuition that she +_works_ rather than by experience. Otherwise, she could not have +depicted in her books such a multitude of characters from all parts +of Europe. She sees character with woman's warm and delicate +sympathy and with the clear vision of childhood. "Selma Lagerlöf," +declared the Swedish critic, Oscar Levertin, "has the eyes of a +child and the heart of a child." This naïveté is responsible for +the simplicity of her character types. Deep and sure they may be, +but never too complex for the reader to comprehend. The more varied +characters--as the critic Johan Mortensen has pointed out--like +Hellgum, the mystic in "Jerusalem," are merely indicated and +shadowy. How unlike Ibsen! Selma Lagerlöf takes her delight, not in +developing the psychology of the unusual, but in analyzing the +motives and emotions of the normal mind. This accounts for the +comforting feeling of satisfaction and familiarity which comes over +one reading the chronicles of events so exceptionable as those +which occur in "Jerusalem." + +In one of her books, "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils," Miss +Lagerlöf has sketched the national character of mart Swedish people +in reference to the various landscapes visited by the wild goose in +its flight. In another romance, "Gösta Berling," she has interpreted +the life of the province at Vermland, where she herself was born +on a farmstead in 1858. A love of starlight, violins, and dancing, +a temperament easily provoked to a laughing abandon of life's +tragedy characterizes the folk of Vermland and the impecunious +gentry who live in its modest manor halls. It is a different folk +to whom one is introduced in "Jerusalem," the people of Dalecarlia, +the province of Miss Lagerlöf's adopted home. They, too, have their +dancing festivals at Midsummer Eve, and their dress is the most +gorgeous in Sweden, but one thinks of them rather as a serious and +solid community given to the plow and conservative habits of +thought. They were good Catholics once; now they are stalwart +defenders of Lutheranism, a community not easily persuaded but, +once aroused, resolute to act and carry through to the uttermost. +One thinks of them as the people who at first gave a deaf ear to +Gustaf Vasa's appeal to drive out the Danes, but who eventually +followed him shoulder to shoulder through the very gates of +Stockholm, to help him lay the foundations of modern Sweden. Titles +of nobility have never prospered in Dalecarlia; these stalwart +landed peasants are a nobility unto themselves. The Swedish people +regard their Dalecarlians as a reserve upon whom to draw in times +of crisis. + +"Jerusalem" begins with the history of a wealthy and powerful +farmer family, the Ingmarssons of Ingmar Farm, and develops to +include the whole parish life with its varied farmer types, its +pastor, schoolmaster, shopkeeper, and innkeeper. The romance +portrays the religious revival introduced by a practical mystic +from Chicago which leads many families to sell their ancestral +homesteads and--in the last chapter of this volume--to emigrate in +a body to the Holy Land. + +Truth is stranger than fiction. "Jerusalem" is founded upon the +historic event of a religious pilgrimage from Dalecarlia in the +last century. The writer of this introduction had opportunity to +confirm this fact some years ago when he visited the parish in +question, and saw the abandoned farmsteads as well as homes to +which some of the Jerusalem-farers had returned. And more than +this, I had an experience of my own which seemed to reflect this +spirit of religious ecstasy. On my way to the inn toward midnight +I met a cyclist wearing a blue jersey, and on the breast, instead +of a college letter, was woven a yellow cross. On meeting me the +cyclist dismounted and insisted on shouting me the way. When we +came to the inn I offered him a krona. My guide smiled as though he +was possessed by a beatific vision. "No! I will not take the money, +but the gentleman will buy my bicycle!" As I expressed my +astonishment at this request, he smiled again confidently and +replied. "In a vision last night the Lord appeared unto me and said +that I should meet at midnight a stranger at the cross-roads +speaking an unknown tongue and 'the stranger will buy thy +bicycle!'" + +The novel is opened by that favourite device of Selma Lagerlöf, the +monologue, through which she pries into the very soul of her +characters, in this case Ingmar, son of Ingmar, of Ingmar Farm. +Ingmar's monologue at the plow is a subtle portrayal of an heroic +battle between the forces of conscience and desire. Although this +prelude may be too subjective and involved to be readily digested +by readers unfamiliar with the Swedish author's method they will +soon follow with intent interest into those pages that describe how +Ingmar met at the prison door the girl for whose infanticide he was +ethically responsible. He brings her back apparently to face +disgrace and to blot the fair scutcheon of the Ingmarssons, but +actually to earn the respect of the whole community voiced in the +declaration of the Dean: "Now, Mother Martha, you can be proud of +Ingmar! It's plain now he belongs to the old stock; so we must +begin to call him '_Big_ Ingmar.'" + +In the course of the book we are introduced to two generations of +Ingmars, and their love stories are quite as compelling as the +religious motives of the book. Forever unforgettable is the scene +of the auction where Ingmar's son renounces his beloved Gertrude +and betroths himself to another in order to keep the old estate +from passing out of the hands of the Ingmars. Thus both of these +heroes in our eyes "play yellow." On the other hand they have our +sympathy, and the reader is tossed about by the alternate undertow +of the strong currents which control the conduct of this farming +folk. Sometimes they obey only their own unerring instincts, as in +that vivid situation of the shy, departing suitor when Karin +Ingmarsson suddenly breaks through convention and publicly over the +coffee cups declares herself betrothed. The book is a succession of +these brilliantly portrayed situations that clutch at the +heartstrings--the meetings in the mission house, the reconciliation +scene when Ingmar's battered watch is handed to the man he felt on +his deathbed he had wronged, the dance on the night of the "wild +hunt," the shipwreck, Gertrude's renunciation of her lover for her +religion, the brother who buys the old farmstead so that his +brother's wife may have a home if she should ever return from the +Holy Land. As for the closing pages that describe the departure of +the Jerusalem-farers, they are difficult to read aloud without a +sob and a lump in the throat. + +The underlying spiritual action of "Jerusalem" is the conflict of +idealism with that impulse which is deep rooted in the rural +communities of the old world, the love of home and the home soil. +It is a virtue unfortunately too dimly appreciated in restless +America, though felt in some measure in the old communities of +Massachusetts and Virginia, and Quaker homesteads near Philadelphia. +Among the peasant aristocracy of Dalecarlia attachment to the +homestead is life itself. In "Jerusalem" this emotion is pitted on +the one hand against religion, on the other against _love_. Hearts +are broken in the struggle _which_ permits Karin to sacrifice the +Ingmar Farm to obey the inner voice that summons her on her +religious pilgrimage, and _which_ leads her brother, on the other +hand, to abandon the girl of his heart and his life's personal +happiness in order to win back the farm. + +The tragic intensity of "Jerusalem" is happily relieved by the +undercurrent of Miss Lagerlöf's sympathetic humour. When she has +almost succeeded in transporting us into a state of religious +fervour, we suddenly catch her smile through the lines and realize +that no one more than she feels the futility of fanaticism. The +stupid blunders of humankind do not escape her; neither do they +arouse her contempt. She accepts human nature as it is with a warm +fondness for all its types. We laugh and weep simultaneously at the +children of the departing pilgrims, who cry out in vain: "We don't +want to go to Jerusalem; we want to go home." + +To the translator of "Jerusalem," Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard, +author and reader alike must feel indebted. Mrs. Howard has already +received generous praise for her translation of "Nils" and other +works of Selma Lagerlöf. Although born in Sweden she has achieved +remarkable mastery of English diction. As a friend of Miss Lagerlöf +and an artist she is enabled herself to pass through the temperament +of creation and to reproduce the original in essence as well as +sufficient verisimilitude. Mrs. Howard is no mere artisan +translator. She goes over her page not but a dozen times, and the +result is not a labored performance, but a work of real art in +strong and confident prose. + + HENRY GODDARD LEACH. +Villa Nova, Pennsylvania. +June 28, 1915. + + + + +BOOK ONE + + + +THE INGMARSSONS + +I + +A young farmer was plowing his field one summer morning. The sun +shone, the grass sparkled with dew, and the air was so light and +bracing that no words can describe it. The horses were frisky from +the morning air, and pulled the plow along as if in play. They were +going at a pace quite different from their usual gait; the man had +fairly to run to keep up with them. + +The earth, as it was turned by the plow, lay black, and shone with +moisture and fatness, and the man at the plow was happy in the +thought of soon being able to sow his rye. "Why is it that I feel +so discouraged at times and think life so hard?" he wondered. "What +more does one want than sunshine and fair weather to be as happy as +a child of Heaven?" + +A long and rather broad valley, with stretches of green and yellow +grain fields, with mowed clover meadows, potato patches in flower, +and little fields of flax with their tiny blue flowers, above which +fluttered great swarms of white butterflies--this was the setting. +At the very heart of the valley, as if to complete the picture, lay +a big old-fashioned farmstead, with many gray outhouses and a large +red dwelling-house. At the gables stood two tall, spreading pear +trees; at the gate were a couple of young birches; in the +grass-covered yard were great piles of firewood; and behind the +barn were several huge haystacks. The farmhouse rising above the +low fields was as pretty a sight as a ship, with masts and sails, +towering above the broad surface of the sea. + +The man at the plow was thinking: "What a farm you've got! Many +well-timbered houses, fine cattle and horses, and servants who are +as good as gold. At least you are as well-to-do as any one in these +parts, so you'll never have to face poverty. + +"But it's not poverty that I fear," he said, as if in answer to his +own thought. "I should be satisfied were I only as good a man as my +father or my father's father. What could have put such silly +nonsense into your head?" he wondered. "And a moment ago you were +feeling so happy. Ponder well this one thing: in father's time all +the neighbours were guided by him in all their undertakings. The +morning he began haymaking they did likewise and the day we started +in to plow our fallow field at the Ingmar Farm, plows were put in +the earth the length and breadth of the valley. Yet here I've been +plowing now for two hours and more without any one having so much +as ground a plowshare. + +"I believe I have managed this farm as well as any one who has +borne the name of Ingmar Ingmarsson," he mused. "I can get more for +my hay than father ever got for his, and I'm not satisfied to let +the weed-choked ditches which crossed the farm in his time remain. +What's more, no one can say that I misuse the woodlands as he did +by converting them into burn-beaten land. + +"There are times when all this seems hard to bear," said the young +man. "I can't always take it as lightly as I do to-day. When father +and grandfather lived, folks used to say that the Ingmarssons had +been on earth such a long time that they must know what was +pleasing to our Lord. Therefore the people fairly begged them to +rule over the parish. They appointed both parson and sexton; they +determined when the river should be dredged, and where gaols should +be built. But me no one consults, nor have I a say in anything. + +"It's wonderful, all the same, that troubles can be so easily borne +on a morning like this. I could almost laugh at them. And still I +fear that matters will be worse than ever for me in the fall. If I +should do what I'm now thinking of doing, neither the parson nor +the judge will shake hands with me when we meet at the church on a +Sunday, which is something they have always done up to the present. +I could never hope to be made a guardian of the poor, nor could I +even think of becoming a churchwarden." + +Thinking is never so easy as when one follows a plow up a furrow +and down a furrow. You are quite alone, and there is nothing to +distract you but the crows hopping about picking up worms. The +thoughts seemed to come to the man as readily as if some one had +whispered them into his ear. Only on rare occasions had he been +able to think as quickly and clearly as on that day, and the +thought of it gladdened and encouraged him. It occurred to him that +he was giving himself needless anxiety; that no one expected him to +plunge headlong into misery. He thought that if his father were +only living now, he would ask his advice in this matter, as he had +always done in the old days when grave questions had come up. + +"If I only knew the way, I'd go to him," he said, quite pleased at +the idea. "I wonder what big Ingmar would say if some fine day I +should come wandering up to him? I fancy him settled on a big farm, +with many fields and meadows, a large house and barns galore, with +lots of red cattle and not a black or spotted beast among them, +just exactly as he wanted it when he was on earth. Then as I step +into the farmhouse--" + +The plowman suddenly stopped in the middle of a furrow and glanced +up, laughing. These thoughts seemed to amuse him greatly, and he +was so carried away by them that he hardly knew whether or not he +was still upon earth. It seemed to him that in a twinkling he had +been lifted all the way up to his old father in heaven. + +"And now as I come into the living-room," he went on, "I see many +peasants seated on benches along the walls. All have sandy hair, +white eyebrows, and thick underlips. They are all of them as like +father as one pea is like another. At the sight of so many people I +become shy and linger at the door. Father sits at the head of the +table, and the instant he sees me he says; 'Welcome, little Ingmar +Ingmarsson!' Then father gets up and comes over to me. 'I'd like to +have a word with you, father,' I say, 'but there are so many +strangers here.' 'Oh, these are only relatives!' says father. 'All +these men have lived at the Ingmar Farm, and the oldest among them +is from way back in heathen times.' 'But I want to speak to you in +private,' I say. + +"Then father looks round and wonders whether he ought to step into +the next room, but since it's just I he walks out into the kitchen +instead. There he seats himself in the fireplace, while I sit down +on the chopping block. + +"'You've got a fine farm here, father,' I say. 'It's not so bad,' +says father, 'but how's everything back home?' 'Oh, everything is +all right there; last year we got twelve kroner for a ton of hay.' +'What!' says father. 'Are you here to poke fun at me, little +Ingmar?' + +"'But with me everything goes wrong' I say. 'They forever telling +me that you were as wise as our Lord himself, but no one cares a +straw for me.' 'Aren't you one of the district councillors?' the +old man asks. 'I'm not on the School Board, or in the vestry, nor +am I a councillor.' 'What have you done that's wrong, little +Ingmar?' 'Well, they say that he who would direct the affairs of +others, first show that he can manage his own properly.' + +"Then I seem to see the old man lower his eyes and sit pondering. +In a little while he says: 'Ingmar, you ought to marry some nice +girl who will make you a good wife.' 'But that's exactly what I +can't do, father,' I reply. 'There is not a farmer in the parish, +even among the poor and lowly, who would give me his daughter.' +'Now tell me straight out what's back of all this, little Ingmar,' +says father, with such a tender note in his voice. + +"'Well, you see, father, four years ago--the same year that I took +over the farm--I was courting Brita of Bergskog.' 'Let me see'-- +says father, 'do any of our folks live at Bergskog?' He seems to +have lost all remembrance of how things are down on earth. 'No, but +they are well-to-do people, and you must surely remember that +Brita's father is a member of Parliament?' 'Yes, of course; but you +should have married one of our people, then you would have had a +wife who knew about our old customs and habits.' 'You're right, +father, and I wasn't long finding that out!' + +"Now both father and I are silent a moment; then the old man +continues: 'She was good-looking, of course?' 'Yes,' I reply. 'She +had dark hair and bright eyes and rosy cheeks. And she was clever, +too, so that mother was pleased with my choice. All might have +turned out well but, you see, the mistake of it was that she didn't +want me.' 'It's of no consequence what such a slip of a girl wants +or doesn't want.' 'But her parents forced her to say "yes."' 'How +do you know she was forced? It's my candid opinion that she was +glad to get a rich husband like you, Ingmar Ingmarsson.' + +"'Oh, no! She was anything but glad. All the same, the banns were +published and the wedding day was fixed. So Brita came down to the +Ingmar Farm to help mother. I say, mother is getting old and +feeble.' 'I see nothing wrong in all that, little Ingmar,' says +father, as if to cheer me up. + +"'But that year nothing seemed to thrive on the farm; the potato +crop was a failure, and the cows got sick; so mother I decided it +was best to put off the wedding a year. You see, I thought it +didn't matter so much about the wedding as long as the banns had +been read. But perhaps it was old-fashioned to think that way.' + +"'Had you chosen one of our kind she would have exercised +patience,' says father. 'Well, yes,' I say. 'I could see that Brita +didn't like the idea of a postponement; but, you see, I felt that I +couldn't afford a wedding just then. There had been the funeral in +the spring, and we didn't want to take the money out of the bank.' +'You did quite right in waiting,' says father. 'But I was a little +afraid that Brita would not care to have the christening come +before the wedding.' 'One must first make sure that one has the +means,' says father. + +"'Every day Brita became more and more quiet and strange. I used to +wonder what was wrong with her and fancied she was homesick, for +she had always loved her home and her parents. This will blow over, +I thought, when she gets used to us; she'll soon feel at home on +the Ingmar Farm. I put up with it for a time; then, one day, I +asked mother why Brita was looking so pale and wild eyed. Mother +said it was because she was with child, and she would surely be her +old self again once that was over with. I had a faint suspicion +that Brita was brooding over my putting off the wedding, but I was +afraid to ask her about it. You know, father, you always said that +the year I married, the house was to have a fresh coat of red +paint. That year I simply couldn't afford it. By next year +everything will be all right, I thought then.'" + +The plowman walked along, his lips moving all the while. He +actually imagined that he saw before him the face of his father. "I +shall have to lay the whole case before the old man, frankly and +clearly," he remarked to himself, "so he can advise me." + +"'Winter had come and gone, yet nothing was changed. I felt at +times that if Brita were to keep on being unhappy I might better +give her up and send her home. However, it was too late to think of +that. Then, one evening, early in May, we discovered that she had +quietly slipped away. We searched for her all through the night, +and in the morning one of the housemaids found her.' + +"I find it hard now to continue, and take refuge in silence. Then +father exclaims: 'In God's name, she wasn't dead, was she?' 'No, +not she,' I say, and father notes the tremor in my voice. 'Was the +child born?' asks father. 'Yes,' I reply, 'and she had strangled +it. It was lying dead beside her.' 'But she couldn't have been in +her right mind.' 'Oh, she knew well enough what she vas about!' I +say. 'She did it to get even with me for forcing myself upon her. +Still she would never have done this thing had I married her. She +said she had been thinking that since I did not want my child +honourably born, I should have no child.' Father is dumb with +grief, but by and by he says to me: 'Would you have been glad of +the child, little Ingmar?' 'Yes,' I answer. 'Poor boy! It's a shame +that you should have fallen in with a bad woman! She is in prison, +of course,' says father. 'She was sent up for three years.' 'And +it's because of this that no man will let you marry a daughter of +his?' 'Yes, but I haven't asked anyone, either.' 'And this is why +you have no standing in the parish?' 'They all think it ought not +to have gone that way for Brita. Folks say that if I had been a +sensible man, like yourself, I would have talked to her and found +out what was troubling her.' 'It's not so easy for a man to +understand a bad woman!' says father. 'No, father, Brita was not +bad, but she was a proud one!' 'It comes to the same thing,' says +father. + +"Now that father seems to side with me, I say: 'There are many who +think I should have managed it in such a way that no one would have +known but that the child was born dead.' 'Why shouldn't she take +her punishment?' says father. 'They say if this had happened in +your time, you would have made the servant who found her keep her +tongue in her head so that nothing could have leaked out.' 'And in +that case would you have married her?' 'Why then there would have +been no need of my marrying her. I would have sent her back to her +parents in a week or so and the banns annulled, on the grounds that +she was not happy with us.' 'That's all very well, but no one can +expect a young chap like you to have an old man's head on him.' +'The whole parish thinks that I behaved badly toward Brita.' 'She +has done worse in bringing disgrace upon honest folk.' 'But I made +her take me.' 'She ought to be mighty glad of it,' says father. +'But, father, don't you think it is my fault her being in prison?' +'She put herself there, I'm thinking.' Then I get up and say very +slowly: 'So you don't think, father, that I have to do anything for +her when she comes out in the fall?' 'What should you do? Marry +her?' 'That's just what I ought to do.' Father looks at me a +moment, then asks: 'Do you love her?' 'No! She has killed my love.' +Father closes his eyes and begins to meditate. 'You see, father, I +can't get away from this: that I have brought misfortune upon some +one.' + +"The old man sits quite still and does not answer. + +"'The last time I saw her was in the courtroom. Then she was so +gentle, and longed so for her child. Not one harsh word did she say +against me. She took all the blame to herself. Many in that +courtroom were moved to tears, and the judge himself had to swallow +hard. He didn't give her more than three years, either.' + +"But father does not say a word. + +"'It will be hard for her when fall comes, and she's sent home. +They won't be glad to have her again at Bergskog. Her folks all +feel that she has brought shame upon them, and they're pretty sure +to let her know it, too! There will be nothing for her but to sit +at home all the while; she won't even dare to go to church. It's +going to be hard for her in every way.' + +"But father doesn't answer. + +"'It is not such an easy thing for me to marry her! To have a wife +that menservants and maidservants will look down upon is not a +pleasant prospect for a man with a big farmstead. Nor would mother +like it. We never invite people to the house, either to weddings +or funerals.' + +"Meanwhile, not a word out of father. + +"Of course at the trial I tried to help her as much as I could. I +told the judge that I was entirely to blame, as I took the girl +against her will. I also said that I considered her so innocent of +any wrong that I would marry her then and there, if she could only +think better of me. I said that so the judge would give her a +lighter sentence. Although I've had two letters from her, there's +nothing in them to show any changed feeling toward me. So you see, +father, I'm not obliged to marry her because of that speech.' + +"Father sits and ponders, but he doesn't speak. + +"'I know that this is simply looking at the thing from the +viewpoint of men, and we Ingmars have always wanted to stand well +in the sight of God. And yet sometimes I think that maybe our Lord +wouldn't like it if we honoured a murderess.' + +"And father doesn't utter a sound. + +"'Think, father, how one must feel who lets another suffer without +giving a helping hand. I have passed through too much these last +few years not to try to do something for her when she gets out. + +"Father sits there immovable. + +"Now I can hardly keep back the tears. 'You see, father, I'm a +young man and will lose much if I marry her. Every one seems to +think I've already made a mess of my life; they will think still +worse of me after this!' + +"But I can't make father say a word. + +"'I have often wondered why it is that we Ingmars have been allowed +to remain on our farm for hundreds of years, while the other farms +have all changed hands. And the thought comes to me that it may be +because the Ingmars have always tried to walk in the ways of God. +We Ingmars need not fear man; we have only to walk in God's ways.' + +"Then the old man looks up and says: 'This is a difficult problem, +my son. I guess I'll go in and talk it over with the other Ingmarssons.' + +"So father goes back to the living-room, while I remain in the +kitchen. There I sit waiting and waiting, but father does not +return. Then, after hours and hours of this, I get cross and go to +him. 'You must have patience, little Ingmar,' says father. 'This is +a difficult question.' And I see all the old yeomen sitting there +with closed eyes, deep in thought. So I wait and wait and, for +aught I know, must go on waiting." + + +Smiling, he followed the plow, which was now moving along very +slowly, as if the horses were tired out and could scarcely drag it. +When he came to the end of the furrow he pulled up the plow and +rested. He had become very serious. + +"Strange, when you ask anyone's advice you see yourself what is +right. Even while you are asking, you discover all at once what you +hadn't been able to find out in three whole years. Now it shall be +as God wills." + +He felt that this thing must be done, but at the same time it +seemed so hard to him that the mere thought of it took away his +courage. "Help me, Lord!" he said. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson was, however, not the only person abroad at that +hour. An old man came trudging along the winding path that crossed +the fields. It was not difficult to guess his occupation, for he +carried on his shoulder a long-handled paint brush and was +spattered with red paint from his cap to his shoe tips. He kept +glancing round-about, after the manner of journeymen painters, to +find an unpainted farmhouse or one that needed repainting. He had +seen, here and there, one and another which he thought might answer +his purpose, but he could not seem to fix upon any special one. +Then, finally, from the top of a hillock he caught sight of the big +Ingmar Farm down in the valley. "Great Caesar!" he exclaimed, and +stopped short. "That farmhouse hasn't been painted in a hundred +years. Why, it's black with age, and the barns have never seen a +drop of point. Here there's work enough to keep me busy till fall." + +A little farther on he came upon a man plowing. "Why, there's a +farmer who belongs here and knows all about this neighbourhood," +thought the painter. "He can tell me all I need know about that +homestead yonder." Whereupon he crossed the path into the field, +stepped up to Ingmar, and asked him if he thought the folks living +over there wanted any painting done. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson was startled, and stood staring at the man as +though he were a ghost. + +"Lord, as I live, it's a painter!" he remarked to himself. "And to +think of his coming just now!" He was so dumbfounded that he could +not answer the man. He distinctly recalled that every time any one +had said to his father: "You ought to have that big, ugly house of +yours painted, Father Ingmar," the old man had always replied that +he would have it done the year Ingmar married. + +The painter put the question a second time, and a third, but Ingmar +stood there, dazed, as if he had not understood him. + +"Are they ready at last with their answer?" he wondered. "Is this a +message from father to say that he wishes me to marry this year?" + +He was so overwhelmed by the thought that he hired the man on the +spot. Then he went on with his plowing, deeply moved and almost +happy. + +"You'll see it won't be so very hard to do this now that you know +for certain it is father's wish," he said. + + + +II + +A fortnight later Ingmar Ingmarsson stood polishing some harness. +He seemed to be in a bad humour, and found the work rather irksome. +"Were I in our Lord's place," he thought, then put in another rub +or two and beg again: "Were I in our Lord's place, I'd see to it +that a thing was done the instant your mind was made up. I +shouldn't allow folks such a long time to think it over, and ponder +all the obstacles. I shouldn't give them time to polish harness and +paint wagons; I'd take them straight from the plow." + +He caught the sound of wagon wheels from the road, and looked out. +He knew at once whose rig it was. "The senator from Bergskog is +coming!" he shouted into the kitchen, where his mother was at work. +Instantly fresh wood was laid on the fire and the coffee mill was +set going. + +The senator drove into the yard, where he pulled up without +alighting. "No, I'm not going into the house," he said, "I only +want a word or two with you, Ingmar. I'm rather pressed for time as +I am due at the parish meeting." + +"Mother is just making some fresh coffee," said Ingmar. + +"Thank you, but I must not be late." + +"It's a good while now since you were here, Senator," said Ingmar +pressingly. + +Then Ingmar's mother appeared in the doorway, and protested: + +"Surely you're not thinking of going without first coming in for a +drop of coffee?" + +Ingmar unbuttoned the carriage apron, and the senator began to +move. "Seeing it's Mother Martha herself that commands me I suppose +I shall have to obey," he said. + +The senator was a tall man of striking appearance, with a certain +ease of manner. He was of a totally different stamp from Ingmar or +his mother, who were very plain looking, with sleepy faces and +clumsy bodies. But all the same, the senator had a profound respect +for the old family of Ingmars, and would gladly have sacrificed his +own active exterior to be like Ingmar, and to become one of the +Ingmassons. He had always taken Ingmar's part against his own +daughter, so felt rather light of heart at being so well received. + +In a while, when Mother Martha had brought the coffee, he began to +state his errand. + +"I thought," he said, and cleared his throat. "I thought you had +best be told what we intend to do with Brita." The cup which Mother +Martha held in her hand shook a little, and the teaspoon rattled in +the saucer. Then there was a painful silence. "We have been +thinking that the best thing we could do would be to send her to +America." He made another pause, only to be met by the same ominous +silence. He sighed at the thought of these unresponsive people. +"Her ticket has already been purchased." + +"She will come home first, of course," said Ingmar. + +"No; what would she be doing there?" + +Again Ingmar was silent. He sat with his eyes nearly closed, as if +he were half asleep. + +Then Mother Martha took a turn at asking questions. "She'll be +needing clothes, won't she?" + +"All that has been attended to; there is a trunk, ready packed, at +Lövberg's place, where we always stop when we come to town." + +"Her mother will be there to meet her, I suppose?" + +"Well, no. She would like to, but I think it best that they be +spared a meeting." + +"Maybe so." + +"The ticket and some money are waiting for her at Lövberg's, so +that she will have everything she needs. I felt that Ingmar ought +to know of it, so he won't have this burden on his mind any longer," +said the senator. + +Then Mother Martha kept still, too. Her headkerchief had slipped +back, and she sat gazing down at her apron. + +"Ingmar should be looking about for a new wife." + +Both mother and son persistently held their peace. + +"Mother Martha needs a helper in this big household. Ingmar should +see to it that she has some comfort in her old age." The senator +paused a moment, wondering if they could have heard what he said. +"My wife and I wanted to make everything right again," he declared +finally. + +In the meantime, a sense of great relief had come to Ingmar. Brita +was going to America, and he would not have to marry her. After all +a murderess was not to become the mistress of the old Ingmar home. +He had kept still, thinking it was not the thing to show at once +how pleased he was, but now he began to feel that it would be only +right and proper for him to say something. + +The senator quietly bided his time. He knew that he had to give +these old-fashioned people time to consider. Presently Ingmar's +mother said: + +"Brita has paid her penalty; now it's our turn." By this the old +woman meant that if the senator wanted any help from the +Ingmarssons, in return for his having smoothed the way for them, +they would not withhold it. But Ingmar interpreted her utterance +differently. He gave a start, as if suddenly awakened from sleep. +"What would father say of this?" he wondered. "If I were to lay the +whole matter before him, what would he be likely to say? 'You must +not think that you can make a mockery of God's judgment,' he would +say. 'And don't imagine that He will let it go unpunished if you +allow Brita to shoulder all the blame. If her father wants to cast +her off just to get into your good graces, so that he can borrow +money from you, you must nevertheless follow God's leading, little +Ingmar Ingmarsson.' + +"I verily believe the old man is keeping close watch of me in this +matter," he thought. "He must have sent Brita's father here to show +me how mean it is to try to shift everything on to her, poor girl! +I guess he must have noticed that I haven't had any great desire to +take that journey these last few days." + +Ingmar got up, poured some brandy into his coffee, and raised the +cup. + +"Here's a thank you to the senator for coming here to-day," he +said, and clinked cups with him. + + + +III + +Ingmar had been busy all the morning, working around the birches +down by the gate. First he had put up a scaffolding, then he had +bent the tops of the trees toward each other so that they formed an +arch. + +"What's all that for?" asked Mother Martha. + +"Oh, it suits my fancy to have them grow that way for a change," +said Ingmar. + +Along came the noon hour, and the men folks stopped their work; +after the midday meal the farm hands went out into the yard and lay +down in the grass to sleep. Ingmar Ingmarsson slept, too, but he +was lying in a broad bed in the chamber off the living-room. The +only person not asleep was the old mistress, who sat in the big +room, knitting. + +The door to the entrance hall was cautiously opened, and in came an +old woman carrying two large baskets on a yoke. After passing the +time of day, she sat down on a chair by the door and took the lids +off the baskets, one of which was filled with rusks and buns, the +other with newly baked loaves of spiced bread. The housewife at +once went over to the old woman and began to bargain. Ordinarily +she kept a tight fist on the pennies, but she never could resist +a temptation to indulge her weakness for sweets to dip in her coffee. + +While selecting her cakes she began to chat with the old woman, +who, like most persons that go from place to place and know many +people, was a ready talker. "Kaisa, you're a sensible person," said +Mother Martha, "and one can rely on you." + +"Yes, indeed," said the other. "If I didn't know enough to keep mum +about most of the things I hear, there'd be some fine hair-pulling +matches, I'm thinking!" + +"But sometimes you are altogether too close-mouthed, Kaisa." + +The old woman looked up; the inference was quite plain to her. + +"May the Lord forgive me!" she said tearfully, "but I talked to the +senator's wife at Bergskog when I should have come straight to +you." + +"So you have been talking to the senator's wife!" And the emphasis +given to the last two words spoke volumes. + +Ingmar had been startled from his sleep by the opening of the +outside door. No one had come in, apparently; still the door stood +ajar. He did not know whether it had sprung open or whether some +one had opened it. Too sleepy to get up, he settled back in bed. +And then he heard talking in the outer room. + +"Now tell me, Kaisa, what makes you think that Brita doesn't care +for Ingmar." + +"From the very start folks have been saying that her parents made +her take him," returned the old woman, evasively. + +"Speak right out, Kaisa, for when I question you, you don't have to +beat about the bush. I guess I'm able to bear anything you may have +to tell me." + +"I must say that every time I was at Bergskog Brit always looked as +if she'd been crying. Once, when she and I were alone in the +kitchen, I said to her: 'It's a fine husband you'll be getting, +Brita.' She looked at me as if she thought I was making fun of her. +Then she came at me with this: 'You may well say it, Kaisa. Fine, +indeed!' She said it in such a way that I seemed to see Ingmar +Ingmarsson standing there before my face and eyes, and he's no +beauty! As I've always had a great respect for all the Ingmarssons, +that thought had never before entered my mind. I couldn't help +smiling a little. Then Brita gave me a look and said once more: +'Fine, indeed'' With that she turned on her heel and ran into her +room, crying as if her heart would break. As I was leaving I said +to myself: 'It will all come out right; everything always comes out +right for the Ingmarssons.' I didn't wonder at her parents doing +what they did. If Ingmar Ingmarsson had proposed to a daughter of +mine, I shouldn't have given myself a moment's peace till she said +yes." + +Ingmar from his bedroom could hear every word that was spoken. + +"Mother is doing this on purpose," he thought. "She's been +wondering about that trip to town to-morrow. Mother fancies I'm +going after Brita, to fetch her home. She doesn't suspect that I'm +too big a coward to do it." + +"The next time I saw Brita," the old woman went on, "was after she +had come here to you. I couldn't ask her just then how she liked it +here, seeing the house was full of visitors; but when I had gone a +ways into the grove she came running after me. + +"'Kaisa!' she called, 'have you been up at Bergskog lately?' + +"'I was there day before yesterday,' I replied. + +"'Gracious me! were you there day before yesterday? And I feel as +if I hadn't been at home in years!' It wasn't easy to know just +what to say to her, for she looked as if she couldn't bear the +least little thing and would be ready to cry at whatever I might +say. 'You can surely go home for a visit?' I said. 'No; I don't +think I shall ever go home again.' 'Oh, do go,' I urged. 'It's +beautiful up there now; the woods are full of berries; the bushes +are thick with red whortleberries.' 'Dear me!' she said, her eyes +growing big with surprise, 'are there whortleberries already?' +'Yes, indeed. Surely you can get off a day, just to go home and eat +your fill of berries?' 'No, I hardly think I want to,' she said. +'My going home would make it all the harder to come back to this +place.' 'I've always heard that the Ingmars are the best kind of +folks to be with,' I told her. 'They are honest people.' 'Oh, yes,' +she said, 'they are good in their way.' 'They are the best people +in the parish,' I said, 'and so fair-minded.' 'It is not considered +unfair then to take a wife by force.' 'They are also very wise.' +'But they keep all they know to themselves.' 'Do they never say +anything?' 'No one ever says a word more than what is absolutely +necessary.' + +"I was just about to go my way, when it came to me to ask her where +the wedding was going to be held--here or at her home. 'We're +thinking of having it here, where there is plenty of room.' 'Then +see to it that the wedding day isn't put off too long,' I warned. +'We are to be married in a month,' she answered. + +"But before Brita and I parted company, it struck me that the +Ingmarssons had had a poor harvest, so I said it was not likely +that they would have a wedding that year. 'In that case I shall +have to jump into the river,' she declared. + +"A month later I was told that the wedding had been put off and, +fearing that this would not end well, I went straight to Bergskog +and had a talk with Brita's mother. 'They are certainly making a +stupid blunder down at the Ingmar Farm,' I told her. 'We are +satisfied with their way of doing things,' she said. 'Every day we +thank God that our daughter has been so well provided for.'" + +"Mother needn't have given herself all this bother," Ingmar was +thinking, "for no one from this farm is going to fetch Brita. There +was no reason for her being so upset at the sight of the arch: that +is only one of those things a man does so that he can turn to our +Lord and say: 'I wanted to do it. Surely you must see that I meant +to do it.' But doing it is another matter." + +"The last time I saw Brita," Kaisa vent on, "was in the middle of +the winter after a big snowfall. I had come to a narrow path in the +wild forest, where it was heavy walking. Soon I came upon some one +who was sitting in the snow, resting. It was Brita. 'Are you all by +yourself up here?' I asked. 'Yes, I'm out for a walk.' she said. I +stood stockstill and stared at her; I couldn't imagine what she was +doing there. 'I'm looking round to see if there are any steep hills +hereabout,' she then said. 'Dear heart! are you thinking of casting +yourself from a cliff?' I gasped, for she looked as if she was +tired of life. + +"'Yes,' she said. 'If I could only find a hill that was high and +steep I'd certainly throw myself down.' 'You ought to be ashamed to +talk like that, and you so well cared for.' 'You see, Kaisa, I'm a +bad lot.' 'I'm afraid you are.' 'I am likely to do something +dreadful, therefore I might better be dead.' 'That's only silly +gabble, child.' 'I turned bad as soon as I went to live with those +people.' Then, coming quite close to me, with the wildest look in +her eyes, she shrieked: 'All they think about is how they can +torture me, and I think only of how I can torture them in return.' +'No, no, Brita; they are good people.' 'All they care about is to +bring shame upon me.' 'Have you said so to them?' 'I never speak to +them. I only think and wonder how I'm going to get even with them. +I'm thinking of setting fire to the farm, for I know he loves it. +How I'd like to poison the cows! they are so old and ugly and white +around the eyes that one would think they were related to him.' +'Barking dogs never bite,' I said. 'I've got to do something to +him, or I'll never have any peace of mind.' 'You don't know what +you are saying, child,' I protested. 'What you are thinking of +doing would forever destroy your peace of mind.' + +"All at once she began to cry. Then, after a little, she became +very meek and said that she had suffered so from the bad thoughts +that came to her. I then walked home with her and, as we parted +company, she promised me that she would do nothing rash if I would +only keep a close mouth. + +"Still I couldn't help thinking that I ought to talk to some one +about this," said Kaisa. "But to whom? I felt kind of backward +about going to big folk like yourselves--" + +Just then the bell above the stable rang. The midday rest was over. +Mother Martha suddenly interrupted the old woman: "I say, Kaisa, do +you think things can ever be right again between Ingmar and Brita?" + +"What?" gasped the old woman in astonishment. + +"I mean, if by chance she were not going to America, do you suppose +she would have him?" + +"Well, I should say not!" + +"Then you are quite sure she would give him no for an answer." + +"Of course she would." + +Ingmar sat on the edge of the bed, his legs dangling over the side. + +"Now you got just what you needed, Ingmar," he thought; "and now I +guess you'll take that journey to-morrow," he said, pounding the +edge of the bed with his fist. "How can mother think she'll get me +to stay at home by showing me that Brita doesn't like me!" + +He kept pounding the side of the bed, as if in thought he were +knocking down something that was resisting him. + +"Anyway, I'm going to chance it once more," he decided. "We Ingmars +begin all over again when things go wrong. No man that is a man can +sit back calmly and let a woman fret herself insane over his +conduct." + +Never had he felt so keenly his utter defeat, and he was determined +to put himself right. + +"I'd be a hell of a man if I couldn't make Brita happy here!" he +said. + +He dealt the bedpost a last blow before getting up to go back to +his work. + +"As sure as you're born it was Big Ingmar that sent old Kaisa here, +in order to make me tale that trip to the city." + + + +IV + +Ingmar Ingmarsson had arrived in the city, and was walking slowly +toward the big prison house, which was beautifully situated on the +crest of a hill overlooking the public park. He did not glance +about him, but went with eyes downcast, dragging himself along with +as much difficulty as though he were some feeble old man. He had +left off his usual picturesque peasant garb on this occasion, and +was wearing a black cloth suit and a starched shirt which he had +already crumpled. He felt very solemn, yet all the while he was +anxious and reluctant. + +On coming to the gravelled yard in front of the jail he saw a guard +on duty and asked him if this was not the day that Brita Ericsson +was to be discharged. + +"Yes, I think there is a woman coming out to-day," the guard +answered. + +"One who has been in for infanticide," Ingmar explained. + +"Oh, that one! Yes, she'll be out this forenoon." + +Ingmar stationed himself under a tree, to wait. Not for a second +did he take his eyes off the prison gate. "I dare say there are +some among those who have gone in there that haven't fared any too +well," he thought. "I don't want to brag, but maybe there's many a +one on the inside that has suffered less than I who am outside. +Well, I declare, Big Ingmar has brought me here to fetch my bride +from the prison house," he remarked to himself. "But I can't say +that little Ingmar is overpleased at the thought; he would have +liked seeing her pass through a gate of honour instead, with her +mother standing by her side, to give her to the bridegroom. And +then they should have driven to the church in a flower-trimmed +chaise, followed by a big bridal procession, and she should have +sat beside him dressed as a bride, and smiling under her bridal +crown." + +The gate opened several times. First, a chaplain come out, then it +was the wife of the governor of the prison, and then some servants +who were going to town. Finally Brita came. When the gate opened he +felt a cramp at the heart. "It is she," he thought. His eyes +dropped. He was as if paralyzed, and could not move. When he had +recovered himself, he looked up; she was then standing on the steps +outside the gate. + +She stood there a moment, quite still; she had pushed back her +headshawl and, with eyes that were clear and open, she looked out +across the landscape. The prison stood on high ground, and beyond +the town and the stretches of forest she could see her native +hills. + +Suddenly she seemed to be shaken by some unseen force; she covered +her face with her hands and sank down upon the stone step. Ingmar +could hear her sobs from where he stood. + +Presently he went over to her, and waited. She was crying so hard +that she seemed deaf to every other sound; and he had to stand +there a long time. At last he said: + +"Don't cry like that, Brita!" + +She looked up. "O God in Heaven!" she exclaimed, "are you here?" + +Instantly all that she had done to him flashed across her mind--and +what it must have cost him to come. With a cry of joy she threw her +arms around his neck and began to sob again. + +"How I have longed that you might come!" she said. + +Ingmar's heart began to beat faster at the thought of her being so +pleased with him. "Why, Brita, have you really been longing for +me?" he said, quite moved. + +"I have wanted so much to ask your forgiveness." + +Ingmar drew himself up to his full height and said very coldly: + +"There will be plenty of time for that I don't think we ought to +stop here any longer." + +"No, this is no place to stop at," she answered meekly. + +"I have put up at Lövberg's," he said as they walked along the +road. + +"That's where my trunk is." + +"I have seen it there," said Ingmar. "It's too big for the back of +the cart, so it will have to be left there till we can send for +it." + +Brita stopped and looked up at him. This was the first time he had +intimated that he meant to take her home. + +"I had a letter from father to-day. He says that you also think +that I ought to go to America." + +"I thought there was no harm in our having a second choice. It +wasn't so certain that you would care to come back with me." + +She noticed that he said nothing about wanting her to come, but +maybe it was because he did not wish to force himself upon her a +second time. She grew very reluctant. It couldn't be an enviable +task to take one of her kind to the Ingmar Farm. Then something +seemed to say: + +"Tell him that you will go to America; it is the only service you +can render him. Tell him that, tell him that!" urged something +within her. And while this thought was still in her mind she heard +some one say: "I'm afraid that I am not strong enough to go to +America. They tell me that you have to work very hard over there." +It was as if another had spoken, and not she herself. + +"So they say," Ingmar said indifferently. + +She was ashamed of her weakness and thought of how only that +morning she had told the prison chaplain that she was going out +into the world a new and a better woman. Thoroughly displeased with +herself, she walked silently for some time, wondering how she +should take back her words. But as soon as she tried to speak, she +was held back by the thought that if he still cared for her it +would be the basest kind of ingratitude to repulse him again. "If I +could only read his thoughts!" she said herself. + +Presently she stopped and leaned against a wall. "All this noise +and the sight of so many people makes my bead go round," she said. +He put out his hand, which she took; then they went along, hand in +hand. Ingmar was thinking, "Now we look like sweethearts." All the +same he wondered how it would be when he got home, how his mother +and the rest of the folks would take it. + +When they came to Lövberg's place, Ingmar said that his horse was +now thoroughly rested, and if she had no objection they might as +well cover the first few stations that day. Then she thought: "Now +is the time to tell him that you won't go. Thank him first, then +tell him that you don't want to go with him." She prayed God that +she might be shown if he had come for her only out of pity. In the +meantime Ingmar had drawn the cart out of the shed. The cart had +been newly painted, the dasher shone, and the cushions had fresh +covering. To the buckboard was attached a little half-withered +bouquet of wild flowers. The sight of the flowers made her stop +and think. Ingmar, meanwhile, had gone back to the stable and +harnessed the horse, and was now leading him out. Then she +discovered another bouquet of the same sort between the harness, +and began to feel that after all he must like her. So it seemed +best not to say anything. Otherwise he might think she was +ungrateful and that she did not understand how big a thing he was +offering her. + +For a time they drove along without exchanging a word. Then, in +order to break the silence, she began to question him about various +home matters. With every question he was reminded of some one or +other whose judgment he feared. How so and so will wonder and how +so and so will laugh at me, he thought. + +He answered only in monosyllables. Time and again she felt like +begging him to turn back. "He doesn't want me," she thought. "He +doesn't care for me; he is doing this only out of charity." + +She soon stopped asking questions. They drove on for miles in deep +silence. When they came to their first stopping place, which was an +inn, there were coffee and hot biscuits in readiness for them; and +on the tray were some more flowers. She knew then that he had +ordered this the day before, when passing. Was that, too, done only +out of kindness and pity? Was he happy yesterday? Was it only to-day +that he had lost heart, after seeing her come out of prison? +To-morrow, when he had forgotten this, perhaps all would be well +again. + +Sorrow and remorse had softened Brita: she did not grant to cause +him any more unhappiness. Perhaps, after all, he really-- + + +They stayed at the inn overnight and left early the next morning. +By ten o'clock they were already within sight of their parish +church. As they drove along the road leading to the church it was +thronged with people, and the bells were ringing. + +"Why, it's Sunday!" Brita exclaimed, instinctively folding her +hands. She forgot everything else in the thought of going to church +and praising God. She wanted to begin her new life with a service +in the old church. + +"I should love to go to church," she said to Ingmar, never thinking +that it might be embarrassing for him be seen there with her. She +was all devotion and gratitude! Ingmar's first impulse was to say +that she couldn't; he felt somehow that he had not the courage to +face the curious glances and gossiping tongues of these people. "It +has got to be met sooner or later," he thought. "Putting it off +won't make it any easier." + +He turned and drove in on the church grounds. The service had not +yet started; and many persons were sitting in the grass and on the +stone hedge, watching the people arrive. The instant they saw +Ingmar and Brita they began to nudge each other, and whisper, and +point. Ingmar glanced at Brita. She sat there with clasped hands, +quite unconscious of the things about her. She saw no persons, +apparently, but Ingmar saw them only too well. They came running +after the wagon, and did not wonder at their running or their +stares. They must have thought that their eyes had deceived them. +Of course, they could not believe that he had come to the house of +God with her--the woman who had strangled his child. "This is too +much!" he said. "I can't stand it. + +"I think you'd better go inside at once, Brita," he suggested. + +"Why, certainly," she answered. To attend service was her only +thought; she had not come there to meet people. + +Ingmar took his own time unharnessing and feeding the horse. Many +eyes were fixed upon him, but nobody spoke to him. By the time he +was ready to go into the church, most of the people were already in +their pews, and the opening hymn was being sung. Walking down the +centre isle, he glanced over at the side where the women were +seated. All the pews were filled save one, and in that there was +only one person. He saw at once that it was Brita and knew, of +course, that no one had cared to sit with her. Ingmar went and sat +down beside her. Brita looked up at him in wonderment. She had not +noticed it before, but now she understood why she had the pew to +herself. Then the deep feeling of devotion, which she had but just +experienced, was dispelled by a sense of black despair. "How would +it all end?" she wondered. She should never have come with him. + +Her eyes began to fill. To keep from breaking down she took up an +old prayerbook from the shelf in front of her, and opened it. She +kept turning the leaves of both gospels and epistles without being +able to see a word for the tears. Suddenly something bright caught +her eye. It was a bookmark, with a red heart, which lay between the +leaves. She took it out and slipped it toward Ingmar. She saw him +close his big hand over it and steal a glance at it. Shortly +afterward it lay upon the floor. "What is to become of us?" thought +Brita, sobbing behind the prayerbook. + +As soon as the preacher had stepped down from the pulpit they went +out. Ingmar hurriedly hitched up the horse, with Brita's help. By +the time the benediction was pronounced and the congregation was +beginning to file out, Brita and Ingmar were already off. Both +seemed to be thinking the same thought: one who has committed such +a crime cannot live among people. The two fell as if they had been +doing penance by appearing at church. "Neither of us will be able +to stand it," they thought. + +In the midst of her distress of mind, Brita caught a glimpse of the +Ingmar Farm, and hardly knew it again. It looked so bright and red. +She remembered having heard that the house was to be painted the +year Ingmar married. Before, the wedding had been put off because +he had felt that he could not afford to pay out any money just +then. Now she understood that he had always meant to have everything +right; but the way had been made rather hard for him. + +When they arrived at the farm the folks were at dinner. "Here comes +the boss," said one of the men, looking out. Mother Martha got up +from the table, scarcely lifting her heavy eyelids. "Stay where you +are, all of you!" she commanded. "No one need rise from the table." + +The old woman walked heavily across the room. Those who turned to +look after her noticed that she had on her best dress, with her +silk shawl across her shoulders, and her silk kerchief on her head, +as if to emphasize her authority. When the horse stopped she was +already at the door. + +Ingmar jumped down at once, but Brita kept her seat. He went over +to her side and unfastened the carriage apron. + +"Aren't you going to get out?" he said. + +"No," she replied, then covering her face with her hands, she burst +into tears. + +"I ought never to have come back," she sobbed. + +"Oh, do get down!" he urged. + +"Let me go back to the city; I'm not good enough for you." + +Ingmar thought that maybe she was right about it, but said nothing. +He stood with his hand on the apron, and waited. + +"What does she say?" asked Mother Martha from the doorway. + +"She says she isn't good enough for us," Ingmar replied, for +Brita's words could scarcely be heard for her sobs. + +"What is she crying about?" asked the old woman. + +"Because I am such a miserable sinner," said Brita, pressing her +hands to her heart which she thought would break. + +"What's that?" the old woman asked once more. + +"She says she is such a miserable sinner," Ingmar repeated. + +When Brita heard him repeat her words in a cold and indifferent +tone, the truth suddenly flashed upon her. No, he could never have +stood there and repeated those words to his mother had he been fond +of her, or had there been a spark of love in his heart for her. + +"Why doesn't she get down?" the old woman then asked. + +Suppressing her sobs, Brita spoke up: "Because I don't want to +bring misfortune upon Ingmar." + +"I think she is quite right," said the old mistress. "Let her go, +little Ingmar! You may as well know that otherwise I'll be the one +to leave: for I'll not sleep one night under the same roof with the +likes of her." + +"For God's sake let me go!" Brita moaned. + +Ingmar ripped out an oath, turned the horse, and sprang into the +cart. He was sick and tired of all this and could not stand any +more of it. + +Out on the highway they kept meeting church people. This annoyed +Ingmar. Suddenly he turned the horse and drove in on a narrow +forest road. + +As he turned some one called to him. He glanced back. It was the +postman with a letter for him. He took the letter, thrust it into +his pocket, and drove on. + +As soon as he felt sure that he could not be seen from the road, he +slowed down and brought out the letter. Instantly Brita put her +hand on his arm. "Don't read it!" she begged. + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Never mind reading it; it's nothing." + +"But how can you know?" + +"It's a letter from me." + +"Then tell me yourself what's in it." + +"No, I can't tell you that." + +He looked hard at her. She turned scarlet, her eyes growing wild +with alarm. "I guess I will read that letter anyway," said Ingmar, +and began to tear open the envelope. + +"O Heavenly Father!" she cried, "am I then to be spared nothing? +Ingmar," she implored, "read it in a day or two--when I am on my +way to America." + +By that time he had already opened the letter and was scanning it. +She put her hand over the paper. "Listen to me, Ingmar!" she said. +"It was the chaplain who got me to write that letter, and he +promised not to send it till I was on board the steamer. Instead he +sent it off too soon. You have no right to read it yet; wait till +I'm gone, Ingmar." + +Ingmar gave her an angry look and jumped out of the wagon, so that +he might read the letter in peace. Brita was as much excited now as +she had been in the old days, when things did not go her way. + +"What I say in that letter isn't true. The chaplain talked me into +writing it. I _don't_ love you, Ingmar." + +He looked up from the paper and gazed at her in astonishment. Then +she grew silent, and the lessons in humility which she had learned +in prison profited her now. After all she suffered no greater +embarrassment than she deserved. + +Ingmar, meanwhile, stood puzzling over the letter. Suddenly, with +an impatient snarl, he crumpled it up. + +"I can't make this out!" he said, stamping his foot. "My head's all +in a muddle." + +He went up to Brita and gripped her by the arm. + +"Does it really say in the letter that you care for me?" His tone +was shockingly brutal, and the look of him was terrible. + +Brita was silent. + +"Does the letter say that you care for me?" he repeated savagely. + +"Yes," she answered faintly. + +Then his face became horribly distorted. He shook her arm and +thrust it from him. "How you can lie!" he said, with a hoarse and +angry laugh. "How you can lie!" + +"God knows I have prayed night and day that I might see you again +before I go!" she solemnly avowed. + +"Where are you going?" + +"I'm going to America, of course." + +"The hell you are!" + +Ingmar was beside himself. He staggered a few steps into the woods +and cast himself upon the ground. And now it was his turn to weep! + +Brita followed him and sat down beside him, she was so happy that +she wanted to shout. + +"Ingmar, little Ingmar!" she said, calling him by his pet name. + +"But you think I'm so ugly!" he returned. + +"Of course I do." + +Ingmar pushed her hand away. + +"Now let me tell you something," said Brita. + +"Tell away." + +"Do you remember what you said in court three years ago?" + +"I do." + +"That if I could only get to think differently of you, you would +marry me?" + +"Yes, I remember." + +"It was after that I began to care for you. I had never imagined +that any mortal could say such a thing. It seemed almost +unbelievable your saying it to me, after all I had done to you. As +I saw you that day, I thought you better looking than all the +others, and you were wiser than any of them, and the only one with +whom it would be good to share one's life. I fell so deeply in love +with you that it seemed as if you belonged to me, and I to you. At +first I took it for granted that you would come and fetch me, but +later I hardly dared think it." + +Ingmar raised his head. "Then why didn't you write?" he asked. + +"But I did write." + +"Asking me to forgive you, as if that were anything to write +about!" + +"What should I have written?" + +"About the other thing." + +"How would I have dared--I?" + +"I came mighty near not coming at all." + +"But Ingmar! do you suppose I could have written love letters to +you after all I had done! My last day in prison I wrote to you +because the chaplain said I must. When I gave him the letter, he +promised not to send it until I was well on my way." + +Ingmar took her hand and flattened it against the earth, then +slapped it. + +"I could beat you!" he said. + +"You may do with me what you will, Ingmar." + +He looked up into her face, upon which suffering had wrought a new +kind of beauty. "And I came so near letting you go!" he sighed. + +"You just had to come, I suppose." + +"Let me tell you that I didn't care for you." + +"I don't wonder at that." + +"I felt relieved when I heard that you were to be sent to America." + +"Yes, father wrote me that you were pleased." + +"Whenever I looked at mother, I felt somehow that I couldn't ask +her to accept a daughter-in-law like you." + +"No, it would never do, Ingmar." + +"I've had to put up with a lot on your account; no one would notice +me because of my treatment of you." + +"Now you are doing what you threatened to do," said Brita. "You're +striking me." + +"I can't begin to tell you how mad I am at you." + +She kept still. + +"When I think of all I've had to stand these last few weeks--" he +went on. + +"But Ingmar--" + +"Oh, I'm not angry about that, but at the thought of how near I +came to letting you go!" + +"Didn't you love me, Ingmar?" + +"No, indeed." + +"Not during the whole journey home?" + +"No, not for a second! I was just put out with you." + +"When did you change?" + +"When I got your letter." + +"I saw that your love was over; that was why I did not want you to +know that mine was but just beginning." + +Ingmar chuckled. + +"What amuses you, Ingmar?" + +"I'm thinking of how we sneaked out of church, and of the kind of +welcome we got at the Ingmar Farm." + +"And you can laugh at that?" + +"Why not as well laugh? I suppose we'll have to take to the road, +like tramps. Wonder what father would say to that?" + +"You may laugh, Ingmar, but this can't be; it can't be." + +"I think it can, for now I don't care a damn about anything or +anybody but you!" + +Brita was ready to cry, but he just made her tell him again and +again how often she had thought of him, and how much she had longed +for him. Little by little he became as quiet as a child listening +to a lullaby. It was all so different from what Brita had expected. +She had thought of talking to him about her crime, if he came for +her, and the weight of it. She would have liked to tell either him +or her mother, or whoever had come for her, how unworthy she was +of them. But not a word of this had she been allowed to speak. + +Presently he said very gently: + +"There is something you want to tell me?" + +"Yes." + +"And you are thinking about it all the time?" + +"Day and night!" + +"And it gets sort of mixed in with everything?" + +"That's true." + +"Now tell me about it, so there will be two instead of one to bear +it." + +He sat looking into her eyes; they were like the eyes of a poor, +hunted fawn. But as she spoke they became calmer. + +"Now you feel better," he said when she had finished. + +"I feel as if a great weight had been lifted from my heart." + +"That is because we are two to bear it. Now, perhaps, you won't +want to go away." + +"Indeed I should love to stay!" she said. + +"Then let us go home," said Ingmar, rising. + +"No, I'm afraid!" + +"Mother is not so terrible," lie laughed, "when she sees that one +has a mind of one's own." + +"No, Ingmar, I could never turn her out of her home. I have no +choice but to go to America." + +"I'm going to tell you something," said Ingmar, with a mysterious +smile. "You needn't be the least bit afraid, for there is some one +who will help us." + +"Who is it?" + +"It's father. He'll see to it that everything comes out right." + +There was some one coming along the forest road. It was Kaisa. But +as she was not bearing the familiar yoke, with the baskets, they +hardly knew her at first. + +"Good-day to you!" greeted Ingmar and Brita, and the old woman came +up and shook hands with them. + +"Well, I declare, here you sit, and all the folks from the farm out +looking for you! You were in such a hurry to get out of church," +the old woman went on, "that I never got to meet you at all. So I +went down to the farm to pay my respects to Brita. When I got there +who should I see but the Dean, and he was in the house calling +Mother Martha at the top of his lungs before I even had a chance to +say 'how d'ye do.' And before he had so much as shaken hands with +her, he was crying out: 'Now, Mother Martha, you can be proud of +Ingmar! It's plain now that he belongs to the old stock; so we must +begin to call him _Big_ Ingmar.' + +"Mother Martha, as you know, never says very much; she just stood +there tying knots in her shawl. 'What's this you're telling me?' +she said finally. 'He has brought Brita home,' the Dean explained, +'and, believe me, Mother Martha, he will be honoured and respected +for it as long as he lives.' 'You don't tell me,' said the old +lady. 'I could hardly go on with the service when I saw them +sitting in church; it was a better sermon than any I could ever +preach. Ingmar will be a credit to us all, as his father before him +was.' 'The Dean brings us great news,' said Mother Martha. 'Isn't +he home yet?" asked the Dean. 'No, he is not at home; but they may +have stopped at Bergskog first.'" + +"Did mother really say that?" cried Ingmar. + +"Why, of course she did; and while we sat waiting for you to +appear, she sent out one messenger after the other to look for +you." + +Kaisa kept up a steady stream of talk, but Ingmar no longer heard +what she said. His thoughts were far away. "I come into the living-room, +where father sits with all the old Ingmars. 'Good-day to you, Big +Ingmar Ingmarsson,' says father, rising and coming toward me. 'The +same to you, father,' says I, 'and thank you for your help.' 'Now +you'll be well married,' says father, 'and then the other matters +will all right themselves.' 'But, father, it could never have +turned out so well if you hadn't stood by me.' 'That was nothing,' +says father. 'All we Ingmars need do is to walk in the ways of +God.'" + + + + +BOOK TWO + + +AT THE SCHOOLMASTER'S + +In the early eighties there was no one in the parish where the old +Ingmarsson family lived who would have thought of embracing any new +kind of faith or attending any new form of sacred service. That new +sects had sprung up, here and there, in other Dalecarlian parishes, +and that people went out into rivers and lakes to be immersed in +accordance with the new rites of the Baptists, was known; but folks +only laughed at it all and said: "That sort of thing may suit those +who live at Applebo and in Gagnef, but it can never touch our +parish." + +The people of that parish clung to their old customs and habits, +one of which was a regular attendance at church on Sundays; every +one that could go went, even in the severest winter weather. Then, +of all times, it was almost a necessity; with the thermometer at +twenty below zero outside, it would have been beyond human +endurance to sit in the unheated church had it not been packed to +the doors with people. + +It could not be said of the parishioners that they turned out in +such great numbers because they had a particularly brilliant pastor +or one who had any special gift for expounding the Scriptures. In +those days folks went to church to praise God and not to be +entertained by fine sermons. On the way home, when fighting against +the cutting wind on an open country road, one thought: "Our Lord +must have noticed that you were at church this cold morning." That +was the main thing. It was no fault of theirs if the preacher had +said nothing more than he had been heard to say every Sunday since +his appointment to the pastorate. + +As a matter of fact, the majority seemed perfectly satisfied with +what they got. They knew that what the pastor read to them was the +Word of God, and therefore they found it altogether beautiful. Only +the schoolmaster and one or two of the more intelligent farmers +occasionally said among themselves: "The parson seems to have only +one sermon; he talks of nothing but God's wisdom and God's +government. All that is well enough so long as the Dissenters keep +away. But this stronghold is poorly defended and would fall at the +first attack." + +Lay preachers generally passed by this parish. "What's the good of +going there?" they used to say. "Those people don't want to be +awakened." Not only the lay preachers, but even all the "awakened +souls" in the neighbouring parishes looked upon the Ingmarssons and +their fellow-parishioners as great sinners, and whenever they +caught the sound of the bells from their church they would say the +bells were tolling, "Sleep in your sins! Sleep in your sins!" + +The whole congregation, old and young alike, were furious when they +learned that people spoke in that way of their bells. They knew +that their folks never forgot to repeat the Lord's Prayer whenever +the church bells rang, and that every evening, at the time of the +Angelus, the menfolk uncovered their heads, the women courtesied, +and everybody stood still about as long as it takes to say an Our +Father. All who have lived in that parish must acknowledge that God +never seemed so mighty and so honoured as on summer evenings, when +scythes were rested, and plows were stopped in the middle of a +furrow, and the seed wagon was halted in the midst of the loading, +simply at the stroke of a bell. It was as if they knew that our +Lord at that moment was hovering over the parish on an evening +cloud--great and powerful and good--breathing His blessing upon the +whole community. + +None of your college-bred men had ever taught in that parish. The +schoolmaster was just a plain, old-fashioned farmer, who was +self-taught. He was a capable man who could manage a hundred +children single-handed. For thirty years and more he had been the +only teacher there, and was looked up to by everybody. The +schoolmaster seemed to feel that the spiritual welfare of the +entire congregation rested with him, and was therefore quite +concerned at their having called a parson who was no kind of a +preacher. However, he held his peace as long as it was only a +question of introducing a new form of baptism, and elsewhere at +that; but on learning that there had also been some changes in the +administration of the Holy Communion and that people were beginning +to gather in private homes to partake of the Sacrament, he could no +longer remain passive. Although a poor man himself, he managed to +persuade some of the leading citizens to raise the money to build a +mission house. "You know me," he said to them. "I only want to +preach in order to strengthen people in the old faith. What would +be the natural result if the lay preachers were to come upon us, +with their new baptism and their new Sacrament, if there were no +one to tell the people what was the true doctrine and what the +false?" + +The schoolmaster was as well liked by the clergyman as by every one +else. He and the parson were frequently seen strolling together +along the road between the schoolhouse and the parsonage, back and +forth, back and forth, as if they had no end of things to say to +each other. The parson would often drop in at the schoolmaster's of +an evening to sit in the cozy kitchen by an open fire and chat with +the schoolmaster's wife, Mother Stina. At times he came night after +night. He had a dreary time of it at home; his wife was always +ailing, and there was neither order nor comfort in his house. + +One winter's evening the schoolmaster and his wife were sitting by +the kitchen fire, talking in earnest whispers, while a little girl +of twelve played by herself in a corner of the room. The little +girl was their daughter, and her name was Gertrude. She was a fair +little lass, with flaxen hair and plump, rosy cheeks, but she did +not have that wise and prematurely old look which one so often sees +in the children of schoolmasters. + +The corner in which she sat was her playground. There she had +gathered together a variety of things: bits of coloured glass, +broken teacups and saucers, pebbles from the banks of the river, +little square blocks of wood, and more rubbish of the same sort. + +She had been let play in peace all the evening; neither her father +nor her mother had disturbed her. Busy as she was she did not want +to be reminded of lessons and chores. It didn't look as if there +were going to be any extra sums to do for father that night, she +thought. + +She had a big work in hand, the little girl back there in her +corner. Nothing less than making a whole parish! She was going to +build up the entire district with both church and schoolhouse; the +river and the bridge were also to be included. Everything had to be +quite complete, of course. + +She had already got a good part of it done. The whole wreath of +hills that went round the parish was made up of smaller and larger +stones. In all the crevices she had planted forests of little +spruce twigs, and with two jagged stones she had erected Klack +Mountain and Olaf's Peak on either side of the Dal River. The long +valley in between the mountains had been covered with mould taken +from one of her mother's flowerpots. So far everything was all +right, only she had not been able to make the galley blossom. But +she comforted herself by pretending it was early springtime, before +grass and grain had sprouted. + +The broad, beautiful Dal River that flows through the valley she +had managed to lay out effectively with a long and narrow piece of +glass, and the floating bridge connecting both sides of the parish, +had been making on the water this long while. The more distant +farms and settlements were marked off by pieces of red brick. +Farthest north, amid fields and meadows, lay the Ingmar Farm. To +the east was the village of Kolasen, at the foot of the mountain. +At the extreme south, where the river, with rapids and falls, +leaves the valley and rushes under the mountain, was Bergsana +Foundry. + +The entire landscape was now ready, with country roads laid out +along the river, sanded and gravelled. Groves had also been set +out, here and there, on the plains and near the cottages. The +little girl had only to cast a glance at her structure of glass and +stone and earth and twigs to see before her the whole parish. And +she thought it all very beautiful. + +Time after time she raised her head to call her mother and show her +what she had done, then changed her mind. She had always found it +wiser not to call attention to herself. But the most difficult work +of all was yet to come: the building up of the town on both sides +of the river. It meant much shifting about of stones and bits of +glass. The sheriff's house wanted to crowd out the merchant's shop; +there was no room for the judge's house next door to the doctor's. +There were the church and the parsonage, the drug-store and post-office, +the peasant homesteads, with their barns and outhouses, the inn, +the hunter's lodge, the telegraph station. To remember everything +was no small task! + +Finally, the whole town of white and red houses stood embedded in +green. Now there was only one thing left: she had worked hard to +get everything else done so as to begin on the schoolhouse. She +wanted plenty of space for the school, which was to be built on the +riverside, and must have a big yard, with a flagpole right in the +middle of the lawn. + +She had saved all her best blocks for the schoolhouse. Now she +wondered how she had best go about it. She wanted it to be just +like their school, with a big classroom on the ground floor and +another upstairs; then there was the kitchen and also the big room +where she and her parents lived. But all that would take a good +while. "They won't leave me in peace long enough," she said to +herself. + +Just then footsteps were heard in the entry; some one was stamping +off snow. In a twinkling she went ahead with her building. "Here +comes the parson to chat with father and mother," she thought. Now +she would have the whole evening to herself. And with renewed +courage she began to lay the foundation of a schoolhouse as big as +half the parish. + +Her mother, who had also heard the steps in the hall, got up +quickly and drew an old armchair up to the fireplace. Then turning +to her husband, she said: "Shall you tell him about it to-night?" + +"Yes," answered the schoolmaster, "as soon as I can get round to +it." + +Presently the pastor came in, half frozen and glad to be in a warm +room where he could sit by an open fire. He was very talkative, as +usual. It would be hard to find a more likable man than the parson +when he came in of an evening to chat about all sorts of things, +big and little. He spoke with such ease and assurance of everything +pertaining to this world, that one could scarcely believe that he +and the dull preacher were one and the same person. But if you +happened to speak to him about spiritual things he grew red in the +face, began fishing for words, and never said anything that was +convincing, unless he chanced to mention that "God governs wisely." + +When the parson had settled himself comfortably, the schoolmaster +suddenly turned to him and said in a cheery tone: + +"Now I must tell you the news: I'm going to build a mission house." + +The clergyman became as white as a sheet and sank back in his +chair. + +"What are you saying, Storm?" he gasped. "Are they really thinking +of building a mission house here? Then what's to become of me and +the church? Are we to be dispensed with?" + +"The church and the pastor will be needed just the same," returned +the schoolmaster with a confident air. "It is my purpose that the +mission house shall promote the welfare of the church. With so many +schisms cropping up all over the country, the church is sorely in +need of help." + +"I thought you were my friend, Storm," said the parson, mournfully. +Only a few moments before he had come in confident and happy, and +now all at once his spirit was gone, and he looked as if he were +entirely done for. + +The schoolmaster understood quite well why the pastor was so +distressed. He and every one else knew that at one time the +clergyman had been a man of rare promise; but in his student days +he had "gone the pace," so to speak, and, in consequence, had +suffered a stroke. After that he was never the same. Sometimes he +seemed to forget that he was only the ruin of a man; but when +reminded of it, a sense of deep despondency came over him. Now he +sat there as if paralyzed. It was a long time before any one +ventured to speak. + +"You mustn't take it like that, Parson," the schoolmaster said at +last, trying to make his voice very soft and low. + +"Hush, Storm! I know that I'm not a great preacher; still I +couldn't have believed it possible that you would wish to take the +living from me." + +Storm made a gesture of protest, which said, in effect, that +anything of the sort had never entered his mind, but he had not the +courage to put it into words. + +The schoolmaster was a man of sixty and, despite all the work and +responsibility which had fallen to his lot, he was still master of +his forces. There was a great contrast between him and the parson. +Storm was one of the biggest men in Dalecarlia. His head was +covered with a mass of black bushy hair, his skin was as dark as +bronze, and his features were strong and clear cut. He looked +singularly powerful beside the pastor, who was a little +narrow-chested, bald-headed man. + +The schoolmaster's wife thought that her husband, as the stronger, +ought to give in, and motioned to him to drop the matter. Whatever +of regret he may have felt, there was nothing in his manner to +indicate that he had any idea of relinquishing his project. + +Then the schoolmaster began to speak plainly and to the point. He +said he was certain that before long the heretics would invade +their parish; therefore, it was very necessary that they should +have a meeting place where one could talk to the people in a more +informal way than at a regular church service; where one might +choose one's own text, expound the whole Bible, and interpret its +most difficult passages to the people. + +His wife again signed to him to keep still. She knew what the +clergyman was thinking while her husband talked. "So I haven't +taught them anything, and I haven't given them any sort of +protection against unbelief? I must be a poor specimen of a pastor +when the schoolmaster in my own parish thinks himself a better +preacher than I." + +The schoolmaster, however, did not keep still, but went on talking +of all that must be done to protect the flock from the wolves. + +"I haven't seen any wolves," said the pastor. + +"But I know they are on their way." + +"And you, Storm, are opening the door to them," declared the +minister, rising. The schoolmaster's talk had irritated him. The +blood mounted to his face, and he regained a little of his old +dignity. + +"My dear Storm, let us drop the subject," he said. Then turning to +the housewife, he passed some pleasant remark about the last pretty +bride she had dressed. For Mother Stina dressed all the brides in +the parish. + +Peasant woman though she was, she understood how it must hurt him +to be so cruelly reminded of his own impotence. She wept from +compassion, and could not answer him for the tears; so the pastor +had to do most of the talking. + +Meanwhile, he kept thinking: "Oh, if I only had some of the power +and the capacity of my younger days, I would convince this peasant +at once of the wrong he is doing." With that he turned again to the +schoolmaster: + +"Where did you get the money, Storm?" he asked. + +"A company has been formed," Storm explained; then he mentioned the +names of several men who had pledged their support, just to show +the parson that they were the kind of people who would harm neither +the church nor its pastor. + +"Is Ingmar Ingmarsson in it, too?" the parson exclaimed. The effect +of this was like a deathblow. "And to think that I was as sure of +Ingmar Ingmarsson as I had been of you, Storm!" + +He said nothing more about this just then, but instead turned to +Mother Stina and talked to her. He must have seen that she was +crying, but acted as if he had not noticed it. In a little while he +again addressed the schoolmaster. + +"Drop it, Storm!" he begged. "Drop it for my sake. You wouldn't +like it if somebody put up another school next to yours." + +The schoolmaster sat gazing at the floor and reflected a moment. +Presently he said, almost reluctantly, "I can't, Parson." + +For fully ten minutes there was a dead silence. Where upon the +pastor put on his overcoat and cap, and went toward the door. + +The whole evening he had been trying to find words with which to +prove to Storm that he was not only doing harm to the pastor with +this undertaking, but he was undermining the parish. Although +thoughts and words kept crowding into his head, he could neither +arrange them into an orderly sequence nor give utterance to them, +because he was a broken man. Walking toward the door, he espied +Gertrude sitting in her corner playing with her blocks and bits of +glass. He stopped and looked at her. Evidently she had not heard a +word of the conversation, for her eyes sparkled with delight and +her cheeks were like fresh-blown roses. + +The pastor was startled at the sight of all this innocent happiness +of the child in contrast to his own heart heaviness. + +"What are you making?" he asked, and went up to her. + +The little girl had got through with her parish long before that; +in fact, she had already pulled it down and started something new. + +"If you had only come a minute sooner!" exclaimed the child. "I had +made such a beautiful parish, with both church and schoolhouse--" + +"But where is it now?" + +"Oh, I've destroyed the parish, and now I'm building a Jerusalem, +and--" + +"What?" interrupted the parson. "Have you destroyed the parish in +order to build a Jerusalem?" + +"Yes," said Gertrude, "and it was such a fine parish! But we read +about Jerusalem yesterday in school, and now I have pulled down the +parish to build a Jerusalem." + +The preacher stood regarding the child. He put his hand to his +forehead and thought a moment, then he said: "It is surely someone +greater than you that speaks through your mouth." + +The child's words seemed to him so extraordinarily prophetic that +he kept repeating them to himself, over and over. Gradually his +thoughts drifted back into their old groove, and he began to ponder +the ways of Providence and the means by which He works His will. + +Presently he went back to the schoolmaster, his eyes shining with a +new light, and said in his usual cheery tone: + +"I'm no longer angry at you, Storm. You are only doing what you +must do. All my life I have been pondering the ways of Providence, +and I can't seem to get any light on them. Nor do I understand this +thing, but I understand that you are doing what you needs must do." + + + +"AND THEY SAW HEAVEN OPEN" + +The spring the mission house was built there was a great thaw, and +the Dal River rose to an alarming height. And what quantities of +water that spring brought! It came in showers from the skies; it +came rushing down in streams from the mountainsides, and it welled +out of the earth; water ran in every wheel rut and in every furrow. +All this water found its way to the river, which kept rising higher +and higher, and rolled onward with greater and greater force. It +did not present its usual shiny and placid appearance, but had +turned a dirty brown from all the muddy water that kept flowing in. +The surging stream, filled with logs and cakes of ice, looked +strangely weird and threatening. + +At first the grown folks paid no special heed to the spring flood; +only the children ran down to the banks to watch the raging river +and all that it carried along. + +But timber and ice floes were not the only things that went +floating by! Presently the stream came driving with washing piers +and bath houses, then with boats and wreckage of bridges. + +"It will soon be taking our bridge, too!" the children exclaimed. +They felt a bit uneasy, but were glad at the same time that +something so extraordinary was likely to happen. + +Suddenly a huge pine, root and branch, came sailing past, followed +by a white-stemmed aspen tree, its spreading branches thick with +buds which had swelled from being so long in the water. Close upon +the trees came a little hay shed, bottom upward; it was still full +of hay and straw, and floated on its roof like a boat on its keel. + +But when things of that sort began to drift past, the grown-ups, +too, bestirred themselves. They realized now that the river had +overflowed its banks somewhere up north, and hurried down to the +shores with poles and boat hooks, to haul up on land buildings and +furniture. + +At the northern end of the parish, where the houses were scattered +and people were scarce, Ingmar Ingmarsson alone was standing on the +bank, gazing out at the river. He was then almost sixty, and looked +even older. His face was weatherbeaten and furrowed, his figure +bent; he appeared to be as awkward and helpless as ever. He stood +leaning on a long, heavy boat hook, his dull, sleepy-looking eyes +fixed on the water. The river raged and foamed, arrogantly marching +past with all that it had matched from the shores. It was as if it +were deriding the peasant for his slowness. "Oh, you're not the one +to wrest from me any of the things I'm carrying away!" it seemed to +say. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson made no attempt to rescue any of the floating +bridges or boat hulls that passed quite close to the bank. "All +that will be seen to down at the village," he thought. Not for a +second did his gaze wander from the river. He took note of +everything that drifted past. All at once he sighted something +bright and yellow floating on some loosely nailed boards quite a +distance up the river. "Ah, this is what I have been expecting all +along!" he said aloud. At first he could not quite make out what +the yellow was; but for one who knew how little children in +Dalecarlia are dressed it was easy to guess. "Those must be +youngsters who were out on a washing pier playing," he said, "and +hadn't the sense to get back on land before the river took them." + +It was not long until the peasant saw that he had guessed rightly. +Now he could distinctly see three little children, in their yellow +homespun frocks and round yellow hats, being carried downstream on +a poorly constructed raft that was being slowly torn apart by the +swift current and the moving ice floes. + +The children were still a long way off. Big Ingmar knew there was a +bend in the river where it touched his land. If God in His mercy +would only direct the raft with the children into this current, he +thought, he might be able to get them ashore. + +He stood very still, watching the raft. All at once it seemed as if +some one had given it a push; it swung round and headed straight +for the shore. By that time the children were so close that he +could see their frightened little faces and hear their cries. But +they were still too far out to be reached by the boat hook, from +the bank at least; so he hurried down to the water's edge, and +waded into the river. + +As he did so, he had a strange sort of feeling that some one was +calling to him to comeback. "You are no longer a young man, Ingmar; +this may prove a perilous business for you!" a voice said to him. + +He reflected a moment, wondering whether he had the right to risk +his life. The wife, whom he had once fetched from the prison, had +died during the winter, and since her going his one longing had +been that he might soon follow. But, on the other hand, there was +his son who needed a father's care, for he was only a little lad +and could not look after the farm. + +"In any case, it must be as God wills," he said. + +Now Big Ingmar was no longer either awkward or slow. As he plunged +into the raging river, he planted his boat hook firmly into the +bottom, so as not to be carried away by the current, and he took +good care to dodge the floating ice and driftwood. When the raft +with the children was quite near, he pressed his feet down in the +river bed, thrust out his boat hook, and got a purchase on it. + +"Hold on tight!" he shouted to the children, for just then the raft +made a sudden turn and all its planks creaked. But the wretched +structure held together, and Big Ingmar managed to pull it out of +the strongest current. That done, he let go of it, for he knew that +the raft would now drift shoreward by itself. + +Touching bottom with his boat hook again, he turned to go back to +the bank. This time, however, he failed to notice a huge log that +was coming toward him with a rush. It caught him in the side just +below the armpit. It was a terrific blow, for the log was hurled +against him with a violent force that sent him staggering in the +water. Yet he kept a tight grip on the boat hook until he reached +the bank. When he again stood on firm ground, he hardly dared touch +his body, for he felt that his chest had been crushed. Then his +mouth suddenly filled with blood. "It's all up with you, Ingmar!" +he thought, and sank down on the bank, for he could not go a step +farther. The little children whom he had rescued gave the alarm, +and soon people came running down to the bank, and Big Ingmar was +carried home. + +The pastor was called in, and he remained at the Ingmar Farm the +whole afternoon. On his way home, he stopped at the schoolmaster's. +He had experienced things in the course of the day which he felt +the need of telling to some one who would understand. + +Storm and Mother Stina were deeply grieved, for they had already +heard that Ingmar Ingmarsson was dead. The clergyman, on the other +hand, looked almost radiant as he stepped into the schoolmaster's +kitchen. + +Immediately Storm asked the pastor if he had been in time. + +"Yes," he said, "but on this occasion I was not needed." + +"Weren't you?" said Mother Stina. + +"No," answered the pastor with a mysterious smile. "He would have +got on just as well without me. Sometimes it is very hard to sit by +a deathbed," he added. + +"It is indeed," nodded the schoolmaster. + +"Particularly when the one who is passing from among us happens to +be the best man in your parish." + +"Just so." + +"But things can also be quite different from what one had imagined." + +For a moment the pastor sat quietly gazing into space; his eyes +looked clearer than usual behind the spectacles. + +"Have you, Strong, or you, Mother Stina, ever heard of the +wonderful thing that once happened to Big Ingmar when he was a +young man?" he asked. + +The schoolmaster said that he had heard many wonderful things about +him. + +"Why, of course; but this is the most wonderful of all! I never +knew of it myself until to-day. Big Ingmar had a good friend who +has always lived in a little cabin on his estate," the pastor +continued. + +"Yes, I know," said the schoolmaster. "He is also named Ingmar; +folks call him Strong Ingmar by way of distinction." + +"True," said the pastor; "his father named him Ingmar in honour of +the master's family. One Saturday evening, at midsummer, when the +nights are almost as light as the days, Big Ingmar and his friend, +Strong Ingmar, after finishing their work, put on their Sunday +clothes and went down to the village in quest of amusement." + +The pastor paused a moment, and pondered. "I can imagine that the +night must have been a beautiful one," he went on, "clear and +still--one of those nights when earth and sky seem to exchange +hues, the sky turning a bright green while the earth becomes veiled +in white mists, lending to everything a white or bluish tinge. When +Big Ingmar and Strong Ingmar were crossing the bridge to the +village, it was as if some one had told them to stop and look +upward. They did so. And they saw heaven open! The whole firmament +had been drawn back to right and left, like a pair of curtains, and +the two stood there, hand in hand, and beheld all the glories of +heaven. Have you ever heard anything like it, Mother Stina, or you, +Storm?" said the pastor in awed tones. "Only think of those two +standing on the bridge and seeing heaven open! But what they saw +they have never divulged to a soul. Sometimes they would tell a +child or a kinsman that they had once seen heaven open, but they +never spoke of it to outsiders. But the vision lived in their +memories as their greatest treasure, their Holy of Holies." + +The pastor closed his eyes for a moment, and heaved a deep sigh. "I +have never before heard tell of such things." His voice shook a +little as he proceeded. "I only wish I had stood on the bridge with +Big Ingmar and Strong Ingmar, and seen heaven open! + +"This morning, immediately after Big Ingmar had been carried home, +he requested that Strong Ingmar be sent for. At once a messenger +was dispatched to the croft to fetch him, only to find that Strong +Ingmar was not at home. He was in the forest somewhere, chopping +firewood, and was not easy to find. Messenger after messenger went +in search of him. In the meantime, Big Ingmar felt very anxious +lest he should not get to see his old friend again in this life. +First the doctor came, then I came, but Strong Ingmar they couldn't +seem to find. Big Ingmar took very little notice of us. He was +sinking fast. 'I shall soon be gone, Parson,' he said to me. 'I +only wish I might see Strong Ingmar before I go.' He was lying on +the broad bed in the little chamber off the living-room. His eyes +were wide open and he seemed to be looking all the while at +something that was far, far away, and which no one else saw. The +three little children he had rescued sat huddled at the foot of his +bed. Whenever his eyes wandered for an instant from that which he +saw in the distance, they rested upon the children, and then his +whole face was wreathed in smiles. + +"At last they had succeeded in finding the crofter. Big Ingmar +glanced away from the children with a sigh of relief when he heard +Strong Ingmar's heavy step in the hallway. And when his friend came +over to the bedside, he took his hand and patted it gently, saying: +'Do you remember the time when you and I stood on the bridge and +saw heaven open?' 'As if I could ever forget that night when we two +had a vision of Paradise!' Strong Ingmar responded. Then Big Ingmar +turned toward him, his face beaming as if he had the most glorious +news to impart. 'Now I'm going there,' he said. Then the crofter +bent over him and looked straight into his eyes. 'I shall come +after,' he said. Big Ingmar nodded. 'But you know I cannot come +before your son returns from the pilgrimage.' 'Yes, yes, I know,' +Big Ingmar whispered. Then he drew in a few deep breaths and, +before we knew it, he was gone." + +The schoolmaster and his wife thought, with the pastor, that it was +a beautiful death. All three of them sat profoundly silent for a +long while. + +"But what could Strong Ingmar have meant," asked Mother Stina +abruptly, "when he spoke of the pilgrimage?" + +The pastor looked up, somewhat perplexed. "I don't know," he +replied. "Big Ingmar died just after that was said, and I have not +had time to ponder it." He fell to thinking, then he spoke kind of +half to himself: "It was a strange sort of thing to say, you're +right about that, Mother Stina." + +"You know, of course, that it has been said of Strong Ingmar that +he can see into the future?" she said reflectively. + +The pastor sat stroking his forehead in an effort to collect his +thoughts. "The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the +finite mind," he mused. "I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know +them is the most satisfying thing in all the world." + + + +KARIN, DAUGHTER OF INGMAR + +Autumn had come and school was again open. One morning, when the +children were having their recess, the schoolmaster and Gertrude +went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, where Mother Stina +served them with coffee. Before they had finished their cups a +visitor arrived. + +The caller was a young peasant named Halvor Halvorsson, who had +lately opened a shop in the village. He came from Tims Farm, and +was familiarly known as Tims Halvor. He was a tall, good-looking +chap who appeared to be somewhat dejected. Mother Stina asked him +also to have some coffee; so he sat down at the table, helped +himself, and began to talk to the schoolmaster. + +Mother Stina sat by the window knitting; from where she was seated +she could look down the road. All at once she grew red in the face +and leaned forward to get a better view. Trying to appear +unconcerned, she said with feigned indifference: "The grand folk +seem to be out walking to-day." + +Tims Halvor thought he detected a certain something in her tone +that sounded a bit peculiar, and he got up and looked out. He saw a +tall, stoop-shouldered woman and a half-grown boy coming toward the +schoolhouse. + +"Unless my eyes deceive me, that's Karin, daughter of Ingmar!" said +Mother Stina. + +"It's Karin all right," Tims Halvor confirmed. He said nothing +more, but turned away from the window and glanced around the room, +as if trying to discover some way of escape; but in a moment he +quietly went back to his seat. + +The summer before, when Big Ingmar was still alive, Halvor had paid +court to Karin Ingmarsson. The courtship had been a long one, with +many ifs and buts on the part of her family. The old Ingmars were +not quite sure that he was good enough for Karin. It had not been +a question of money, for Halvor was well-to-do; his father, +however, had been addicted to drink, and who could say but that +this failing had been transmitted to the son. However, it was +finally decided that Halvor should have Karin. The wedding day was +fixed and they had asked to have the banns published. But before +the day set for the first reading Karin and Halvor made a journey +to Falun, to purchase the wedding ring and the prayerbook. They +were away for three days, and when they got back Karin told her +father that she could not marry Halvor. She had no fault to find +with him save that on one occasion he had taken a drop too much, +and she feared he might become like his father. Big Ingmar then +said that he would not try to influence her against her better +judgment, so Halvor was dismissed, and the engagement was off. + +Halvor took it very much to heart. "You are heaping upon me shame +that will be hard to bear," he said. "What will people think if you +throw me over in this way? It isn't fair to treat a decent man like +that." + +But Karin was not to be moved, and ever since Halvor had been +morose and unhappy. He could not forget the injustice that had been +done him by the Ingmarssons. And here sat Halvor, and there came +Karin! What would happen next? This much was certain: a +reconciliation was out of the question. Since the previous autumn +Karin had been married to one Elof Ersson. She and her husband +lived at the Ingmar Farm, which they had been running since the +death of Big Ingmar, in the spring. Big Ingmar had left five +daughters and one son, but the son was too young to take over the +property. + +Meanwhile Karin had come in. She was only about two and twenty, but +was one of those women who never look real young. Most people +thought her exceedingly plain, for she favoured her father's family +and had their heavy eyelids, their sandy hair, and hard lines about +the mouth. But the schoolmaster and his wife were pleased to think +that she bore such a striking resemblance to the old Ingmars. When +Karin saw Halvor, her face did not change. She moved about, slowly +and quietly, and greeted each of them in turn; when she offered her +hand to Halvor, he put out his, and they barely touched each other +with the tips of their fingers. Karin always stooped a little and, +as she stood before Halvor, with head bowed, she seemed to be more +bent than usual, while Halvor looked taller and straighter than +ever. + +"So Karin has really ventured out to-day?" said Mother Stina, +drawing up the pastor's chair for her. + +"Yes," she answered. "It's easy walking now that the frost has set +in." + +"There has been a hard frost during the night," the schoolmaster +put in. + +This was followed by a dead silence, which lasted several minutes. +Presently Halvor got up, and the others started, as if suddenly +awakened from a sound sleep. + +"I must get back to the shop," said Halvor. + +"What's your hurry?" asked Mother Stina. + +"I hope Halvor isn't going on my account," said Karin meekly. + +As soon as Halvor was gone the tension was broken, and the +schoolmaster knew at once what to say. He looked at the lad Karin +had brought with her, and of whom no one had taken any notice +before. He was a little chap who could not have been much older +than Gertrude. He had a fair, soft baby face, yet there was +something about him that made him appear old for his years. It was +easy to tell to what family he belonged. + +"I think Karin has brought us a new pupil," said Storm. + +"This is my brother," Karin replied. "He is the present Ingmar +Ingmarsson." + +"He's rather little for that name," Storm remarked. + +"Yes, father died too soon!" + +"He did indeed," said the schoolmaster and his wife, both in the +same breath. + +"He has been attending the school in Falun," Karin explained. +"That's why he hasn't been here before." + +"Aren't you going to let him go back this year, too?" + +Karin dropped her eyes and a sigh escaped her. "He has the name of +being a good student," she said, evading his question. + +"I'm only afraid that I can't teach him anything. He must know as +much as I do." + +"Well, I guess the schoolmaster knows a good deal more than a +little chap like him." Then came another pause, after which Karin +continued: "This is not only the question of his attending school, +but I would also like to ask whether you and Mother Stina would let +the boy come here to live." + +The schoolmaster and his wife looked at each other in astonishment, +but neither of them was prepared to answer. + +"I fear our quarters are rather close," said Storm, presently. + +"I thought that perhaps you might be willing to accept milk and +butter and eggs as part payment." + +"As to that--" + +"You would be doing me a great service," said the rich peasant +woman. + +Mother Stina felt that Karin would never have made this singular +request had there not been some good reason for it; so she promptly +settled the matter. + +"Karin need say no more. We will do all that we can for the +Ingmarssons." + +"Thank you," said Karin. + +The two women talked over what had best be done for Ingmar's +welfare. Meantime, Storm took the boy with him to the classroom, +and gave him a seat next to Gertrude. During the whole of the first +day Ingmar never said a word. + +*** + +Tims Halvor did not go near the schoolhouse again for a week or +more; it was as if he were afraid of again meeting Karin there. But +one morning when it rained in torrents, and there was no likelihood +of any customers coming, he decided to run over and have a chat +with Mother Stina. He was hungry for a heart-to-heart talk with +some kindly and sympathetic person. He had been seized by a +terrible fit of the blues. "I'm no good, and no one has any respect +for me," he murmured, tormenting himself, as he had been in the +habit of doing ever since Karin had thrown him over. + +He closed his shop, buttoned his storm coat, and went on his way to +the school, through wind and rain and slush. Halvor was happy to be +back once more in the friendly atmosphere of the schoolhouse, and +was still there when the recess bell rang, and Storm and the two +children came in for their coffee. All three went over to greet +him. He arose to shake hands with the schoolmaster, but when little +Ingmar put out his hand, Halvor was talking so earnestly to Mother +Stina that he seemed not to have noticed the boy. Ingmar remained +standing a moment, then he went up to the table and sat down. He +sighed several times, just as Karin had done the day she was there. + +"Halvor has come to show us his new watch," said Mother Stina. + +Whereupon Halvor took from his pocket a new silver watch, which he +showed to them. It was a pretty little timepiece, with a flower +design engraved on the case. The schoolmaster opened it, went into +the schoolroom for a magnifying glass, adjusted it to his eye, and +began examining the works. He seemed quite carried away as he +studied the delicate adjustment of the tiny wheels, and said he had +never seen finer workmanship. Finally he gave the watch back to +Halvor, who put it in his pocket, looking neither pleased nor +proud, as folks generally do when you praise their purchases. + +Ingmar was silent during the meal, but when he had finished his +coffee, he asked Storm whether he really knew anything about +watches. + +"Why, of course," returned the schoolmaster. "Don't you know that I +understand a little of everything?" + +Ingmar then brought out a watch which he carried in his vest +pocket. It was a big, round, silver _turnip_ that looked ugly and +clumsy as compared with Halvor's watch. The chain to which it was +attached was also a clumsy contrivance. The case was quite plain +and dented. It was not much of a watch: it had no crystal, and the +enamel on its face was cracked. + +"It has stopped," said Storm, putting the watch to his ear. + +"Yes, I kn-n-ow," stammered the boy. "I was just wondering if you +didn't think it could be mended." + +Storm opened it and found that all the wheels were loose. "You must +have been hammering nails with this watch," he said. "I can't do +anything with it." + +"Don't you think that Eric, the clockmaker, could fix it?" + +"No, no more than I. You'd better send it to Falun and have new +works put in." + +"I thought so," said Ingmar, and took the watch. + +"For heaven's sake, what have you been doing with it?" the +schoolmaster exclaimed. + +The boy swallowed hard. "It was father's watch," he explained, "and +it got damaged like that when father was struck by the whirling +log." + +Now they all grew interested. + +With an effort to control his feelings, Ingmar continued: "As you +know, it happened during Holy Week, when I was at home. I was the +first person to reach father when he lay on the bank. I found him +with the watch in his hand. 'Now it's all over with me, Ingmar,' he +said. 'I'm sorry the watch is broken, for I want you to give it, +with my greetings, to some one that I have wronged.' Then he told +me who was to have the watch, and bade me take it along to Falun +and have it repaired before presenting it. But I never went back to +Falun, and now I don't know what to do about it." + +The schoolmaster was wondering whether he knew of any one who was +soon going to the city, when Mother Stina turned to the boy: + +"Who was to have the watch, Ingmar?" she asked. + +"I don't know as I ought to tell," the boy demurred. + +"Wasn't it Tims Halvor, who is sitting here?" + +"Yes," he whispered. + +"Then give Halvor the watch just as it is," said Mother Stina. +"That will please him best." + +Ingmar obediently rose, took out the watch and rubbed it in the +sleeve of his coat, to shine it up a bit. Then he went over to +Halvor. + +"Father asked me to give you this with his compliments," he said, +holding out the watch. + +All this while Halvor had sat there, silent and glum. And when the +boy went over to him, he put his hand up to his eyes, as if he did +not want to look at him. Ingmar stood a long time holding out the +watch; finally, he glanced appealingly at Mother Stina. + +"Blessed are the peacemakers," she said. + +Then Storm put in a word. "I don't thick you could ask for a better +amend, Halvor," he said. "I've always maintained that if Ingmar +Ingmarsson had lived he would have given you full justice long +before this." + +The next they saw was Halvor reaching out for the watch, almost as +if against his will. But the moment he had got it into his hand, he +put it in the inside pocket of his vest. + +"There's no fear of any one taking that watch from him," said the +schoolmaster with a laugh, as he saw Halvor carefully buttoning his +coat. + +And Halvor laughed, too. Presently he got up, straightened himself, +and drew a deep breath. The colour came into his cheeks, and his +eyes shone with a new-found happiness. + +"Now Halvor must feel like a new man," said the schoolmaster's +wife. + +Then Halvor put his hand inside his overcoat and drew out his +brand-new watch. Crossing over to Ingmar, who was again seated at +the table, he said: "Since I have taken your father's watch from +you, you must accept this one from me." + +He laid the watch on the table and went out, without even saying +good-bye. The rest of the day he tramped the roads and bypaths. A +couple of peasants who had come from a distance to trade with him +hung around outside the shop from noon till evening. But no Tims +Halvor appeared. + +*** + +Elof Ersson, the husband of Karin Ingmarsson, was the son of a +cruel and avaricious peasant, who had always treated him harshly. +As a child he had been half starved, and even after he was grown up +his father kept him under his thumb. He had to toil and slave from +morning till night, and was never allowed any pleasures. He was not +even allowed to attend the country dances like other young folk, +and he got no rest from his work even on Sundays. Nor did Elof +become his own master when he married. He had to live at the Ingmar +Farm and be under the domination of his father-in-law; and also at +the Ingmar Farm hard work and frugality were the rule of the day. +As long as Ingmar Ingmarsson lived Elof seemed quite content with +his lot, toiling and slaving with never so much as a complaint. +Folks used to say that now the Ingmarssons had got a son-in-law +after their own hearts, for Elof Ersson did not know that there was +anything else in life than just toil and drudgery. + +But as soon as Big Ingmar was dead and buried, Elof began to drink +and carouse. He made the acquaintance of all the rounders in the +parish, and invited them down to the Farm, and went with them to +dance halls and taverns. He quit work altogether, and drank himself +full every day. In the space of two short months he became a poor +drunken wretch. + +The first time Karin saw him in a state of intoxication she was +horrified. "This is God's judgment upon me for my treatment of +Halvor," was the thought that came to her. To the husband she said +very little in the way of rebuke or warning. She soon perceived +that he was like a blasted tree, doomed to wither and decay, and +she could not hope for either help or protection from him. + +But Karin's sisters were not so wise as she was. They resented his +escapades, blushed at his ribald songs and coarse jokes, by turns +threatening and admonishing him. And although their brother-in-law +was on the whole rather good-natured, he sometimes got into a rage +and had words with them. Then Karin's only thought was how she +should get her sisters away from the house, that they might escape +the misery in which she herself had to live. In the course of the +summer she managed to marry off the two older girls, and the two +younger ones she sent to America, where they had relatives who were +well-to-do. + +All the sisters received their proportion of the inheritance, which +amounted to twenty thousand kroner each. The farm had been left to +Karin, with the understanding that young Ingmar was to take it over +when he became of age. + +It seemed remarkable that Karin, who was so awkward and diffident, +should have been able to send so many birds from the nest, find +mates for them, and homes. She arranged it all herself, for she +could get no help whatever from her husband, who had now become +utterly worthless. + +Her greatest concern, however, was the little brother--he who was +now Ingmar Ingmarsson. The boy exasperated Karin's husband even +more than the sisters had done. He did it by actions rather than +words. One time he poured out all the corn brandy Elof had brought +home; another time the brother-in-law caught him in the act of +diluting his liquor with water. + +When autumn came Karin demanded that the boy be sent back to high +school that year, as in former years, but her husband, who was also +his guardian, would not hear of it. + +"Ingmar shall be a farmer, like his father and me and my father," +said Elof. "What business has he at high school? When the winter +comes, he and I will go into the forest to put up charcoal kilns. +That will be the best kind of schooling for him. When I was his +age, I spent a whole winter working at the kiln." + +As Karin could not induce him to alter his mind, she had to make +the best of it and keep Ingmar at home for the time being. + +Elof then tried to win the confidence of little Ingmar. Whenever he +went anywhere he always wanted the boy to accompany him. The lad +went, of course, but unwillingly. He did not like to go with him on +his sprees. Then Elof would coax the boy, and vow that he was not +going any farther than the church or the shop. But when once he got +Ingmar in the cart, he would drive off with him, down to the +smithies at Bergsana, or the tavern in Karmsund. + +Karin was glad that her husband took the boy along; it was at least +a safeguard against Elof being left in a ditch by the roadside, or +driving the horse to death. + +Once, when Elof came home at eight in the morning, Ingmar was +sitting beside him in the cart, fast asleep. + +"Come out here and look after the boy!" Elof shouted to Karin, "and +carry him in. The poor brat's as full as a tick, and can't walk a +step." + +Karin was so shocked that she almost collapsed. She was obliged to +sit down on the steps for a moment, to recover herself, before she +could lift the boy. The minute she took hold of him she discovered +that he was not really asleep, but stiff from the cold, and +unconscious. Taking the boy in her arms, she carried him into the +bedroom, locked the door after her, and tried to bring him to. +After a while she stepped into the living-room, where Elof sat +eating his breakfast. She walked straight up to him and put her +hand on his shoulder. + +"You'd better lay in a good meal while you're about it," she said, +"for if you have made my brother drink himself to death, you'll +soon have to put up with poorer fare than you're getting on the +Ingmar Farm." + +"How you talk! As if a little brandy could hurt him!" + +"Mark what I say! If the boy dies, you'll get twenty years in +prison, Elof." + +When Karin returned to the bedroom, the boy had come out of his +stupor, but was delirious and unable to move hand or foot. He +suffered agonies. + +"Do you think I'm going to die, Karin?" he moaned. + +"No, dear, of course not," Karin assured him. + +"I didn't know what they were giving me." + +"Thank God for that!" said Karin fervently. + +"If I die, write to my sisters and tell them I didn't know it was +liquor," wailed the boy. + +"Yes, dear," soothed Karin. + +"Really and truly I didn't know--I swear it!" + +All day Ingmar lay in a raging fever. "Please don't tell father +about it!" he raved. + +"Father will never know of it," she said. + +"But suppose I die, then father would surely find it out, and I +would be shamed before him." + +"But it wasn't your fault, child." + +"Maybe father will think that I shouldn't have taken what Elof +offered me? Don't you suppose the whole parish must know that I +have been full?" he asked. "What do the hired men say, and what +does old Lisa say, and Strong Ingmar?" + +"They're not saying anything," Karin replied. + +"You will have to tell them how it happened. We were at the tavern +in Karmsund, where Elof and some of his pals had been drinking the +whole night. I was sitting in a corner on a bench, half asleep, +when Elof came over and roused me. 'Wake up, Ingmar,' he said very +pleasantly, 'and I'll give you something that will make you warm. +Drink this,' he urged, holding a glass to my lips. 'It's only hot +water with a little sugar in it.' I was shivering with the cold +when I awoke and, as I drank the stuff, I only noticed that it was +hot and sweet. But he had gone and mixed something strong with it! +Oh, what will father say?" + +Then Karin opened the door leading to the living-room, where Elof +still lingered over his meal. She felt that it would be well for +him to hear this. + +"If only father were living, Karin, if only father were living!" + +"What then, Ingmar?" + +"Don't you think he'd kill him?" + +Elof broke into a loud laugh, and when the boy heard him, he turned +so pale with fright that Karin promptly closed the door again. + +It had this good effect upon Elof, at all events: he put up no +objection when Karin decided to take the boy to Storm's school. + +*** + +Soon after Halvor had received the watch, his shop was always full +of people. Every farmer in the parish, when in town, would stop at +Halvor's shop in order to hear the story of Big Ingmar's watch. The +peasants in their long white fur coats stood hanging over the +counter by the hour, their solemn, furrowed faces turned toward +Halvor as he talked to them. Sometimes he would take out the watch, +and show them the dented case and the cracked face. + +"So it was there the blow caught him," the peasants would say. And +they seemed to see before them what had happened when Big Ingmar +was hurt. "It is a great thing for you, Halvor, to have that +watch!" + +When Halvor was showing the watch he would never let it out of his +hands, but would always keep a tight grip on the chain. + +One day Halvor stood talking to a group of peasants, telling them +the usual story, and at the climax the watch was of course brought +out. As it was being passed from one to the other (he holding the +chain) there fell upon all a solemn hush. In the meantime Elof had +come into the shop, but as every one's attention was riveted upon +the watch, no one had remarked his presence. Elof had also heard +the story of his father-in-law's watch, and knew at once what was +going on. He did not begrudge Halvor his souvenir; he was simply +amused at the sight of him and the others standing there looking so +solemn over nothing but an old and battered silver watch. + +Elof stole quietly up behind the men, reached over, and snatched +the watch from Halvor. It was only meant in fun. He had no thought +of taking the watch only from Halvor; he just wanted to tease him a +bit. + +When Halvor tried to snatch it again, Elof stepped back and held it +up, as if he were holding out a lump of sugar to a dog. Then Halvor +vaulted the counter; and he looked so angry that Elof got +frightened and, instead of standing still and handing him back the +watch, he ran for the door. + +Outside were some badly worn wooden steps; Elof's foot caught in a +hole, and down he went. Halvor fell upon him, seized the watch, +then gave him several hard kicks. + +"You'd better quit kicking me, and find out what's wrong with my +back," said Elof. + +Halvor stopped at once, but Elof made no move to raise himself. + +"Help me up," he said. + +"You can help yourself when you've slept off your jag." + +"I'm not full," Elof protested. "The fact is, as I started to run +down the stairs I thought I saw Big Ingmar coming toward me, to +take the watch. That's how I got such an ugly fall." + +Then Halvor bent down and gave the poor wretch a lift, for his back +was broken. He had to be put into a wagon and driven home. He would +never again have the use of his legs. From that time forth Elof was +confined to his bed, a helpless cripple. But he could talk, and all +day long he kept begging for brandy. The doctor had left strict +orders with Karin not to give him any spirits, lest he drink +himself to death. Then Elof tried to get what he wanted by +shrieking and making the most hideous noises, especially at night. +He behaved like a madman, and disturbed every one's rest. + +That was Karin's most trying year. Her husband sometimes tormented +her until it seemed as though she could not stand it any longer. +The very air became polluted by his vile talk and profanity, so +that the home was like a hell. Karin begged the Storms to keep +little Ingmar with them also during the holidays; she did not want +her brother to be at home with her for a day, not even at +Christmas. + +All the servants at the Ingmar Farm were distantly related to the +family, and had always lived on the place. But for the feeling that +they belonged to the Ingmarssons, they could not have gone on +serving under such conditions. There were precious few nights that +they were allowed to sleep in peace. Elof was constantly hitting +upon new ways of tormenting both the servants and Karin, to make +them give in to his demands. + +In this misery Karin passed a winter and a summer and another +winter. + +But Karin had a retreat to which she would flee at times in order +to be alone with her thoughts. Behind the hop garden there was a +narrow seat upon which she often sat, with her elbows on her knees +and her chin resting in her hands, staring straight ahead, yet +seeing nothing. Fronting her were great stretches of cornfields, +beyond which was the forest, and in the distance the range of hills +and Mount Klack. + +One evening in April she sat on her bench, feeling tired and +listless, as one often does in the springtime when the snow turns +to slush and the ground is still unwashed by spring rains. The hops +lay sleeping under a cover of fir brush. Over against the hills +hung a thick mist, such as always accompanies a thaw. The birch +tops were beginning to turn brown, but all along the skirt of the +forest there was still a deep border of snow. Spring would soon +be there in earnest, and the thought of it made her feel even more +tired. She felt that she could never live through another summer +like the last one. She thought of all the work ahead of her--sowing +and haymaking; spring baking and spring cleaning; weaving and +sewing--and wondered how she would ever get through with it all. + +"I might better be dead," she sighed. "I seem to be here for no +other purpose than to prevent Elof killing himself with drink." + +Suddenly she looked up, as if she had heard some one calling her. +Leaning against the hedge, looking straight at her, stood Halvor +Halvorsson. She did not know just when he had come, but apparently +he had been standing there a good while. + +"I thought I should find you over here," Halvor said. + +"Oh, did you?" + +"I remembered how in days gone by you used to step away, and come +here to sit and brood." + +"I didn't have much to brood over at that time." + +"Then your troubles were mostly imaginary." + +Karin mused as she looked at Halvor: "He must be thinking what a +fool I was not to have married him, who is such a handsome and +dignified man. Now he's got me where he can crow over me, and he +has come only to laugh at me." + +"I've been inside talking with Elof," Halvor enlightened. "It was +really him I wanted to see." + +Karin made no reply, but sat there, frigid and unresponsive, her +eyes fixed on the ground and her hands crossed, prepared to meet +all the scorn she fancied Halvor would now heap upon her. + +"I said to him," Halvor continued, "that I considered myself +largely to blame for his misfortune, since it was at my place that +he got hurt." He paused a moment, as if waiting for some expression +from her, either of approval or disapproval. But Karin was silent. +"So I have asked him to come and live with me for a while. It would +at least be a change, and he could see more people than he meets +here." + +Then Karin raised her eyes, but otherwise remained as motionless as +before. + +"We have arranged to have him sent to my place to-morrow morning. I +know he'll come, because he thinks he can get his liquor. But, of +course, you must know, Karin, that that's out of the question. No, +indeed! It's no more to be had with me than with you. I shall +expect him to-morrow. He is to occupy the little room off the shop, +and I've promised him that I'll let his door stand open, so that he +may see all persons who come and go." + +At Halvor's first words Karin wondered whether this was not +something he had made up, but gradually it dawned on her that he +was in earnest. + +As a matter of fact, Karin had always imagined that Halvor had +courted her only because of her money and good connections. It had +never occurred to her that he might have loved her for herself +alone. She probably knew she was not the kind of girl that men care +for. Nor had she herself been in love, either with Halvor or Elof. +But now that Halvor had come to her in her trouble, and wanted to +help her, she was completely overwhelmed by the bigness of the man. +She marvelled that he could be so kind. She felt that surely he +must like her a little, since he had come like that, to help her. + +Karin's heart began to beat violently and anxiously. She awoke to +something she had never before experienced, and wondered what it +meant. Then all at once she realized that Halvor's kindness had +thawed her frozen heart, and that love was beginning to flame up in +her. Halvor went on unfolding his plan, fearing all the while that +she might oppose him. "It's hard for Elof, too," he pleaded. "He +needs a change of scene, and he won't make as much trouble for me +as he has made for you. It will be quite different when he's got a +man to reckon with." + +Karin hardly knew what she should do. She felt that she could not +make a movement or say a word without letting Halvor see that she +was in love with him; yet she knew she would have to give him some +kind of an answer. + +Presently Halvor stopped talking and simply looked at her. + +Then Karin rose, involuntarily went up to him, and patted him on +the hand. "God bless you, Halvor!" she said in broken tones. "God +bless you!" + +Despite all her precautions, Halvor must have divined something, +for he quickly grasped her hands and drew her to him. + +"No! No!" she cried in alarm, freeing herself; then she hurried +away. + +*** + +Elof had gone to live with Halvor. All summer he lay in the little +bedroom off the shop. Halvor was not troubled with the care of him +for a great while, for in the autumn he died. + +Shortly after his death Mother Stina said to Halvor: "Now you must +promise me one thing: promise me that you will exercise patience as +regards Karin." + +"Of course I'll have patience," Halvor returned, wonderingly. + +"She's somebody worth winning, even if one has to wait seven long +years." + +But it was not so easy for Halvor to have patience, for he soon +learned that this one and that one was paying court to Karin. This +began within a fortnight of Elof's funeral. + +One Sunday afternoon Halvor sat on the steps in front of his shop, +watching the people coming and going. Presently it occurred to him +that an unusual number of fine rigs were moving in the direction of +the Ingmar Farm. In the first carriage sat an inspector from +Bergsana Foundry, in the second was the son of the proprietor of +the Karmsund Inn, and last came the Magistrate Berger Sven Persson, +who was the richest man in western Dalecarlia, and a sensible and +highly esteemed man, too. He was not young, to be sure; he had been +twice married, and was now a widower for the second time. + +When Halvor saw Berger Sven Persson driving by, he could not +contain himself any longer. He jumped to his feet and started down +the road; in almost no time he was over the bridge and on the side +of the river where the Ingmar Farm lay. + +"I'd like to know where all those carriages have gone to," he said +to himself. He followed the wheel ruts, half running, but all the +while becoming more and more determined. "I know this is stupid of +me," he thought, remembering Mother Stina's warning. "But I'm only +going as far as the gate, to see what they're up to down there." + +In the best room at the Ingmars sat Berger Sven Persson and two +other men, drinking coffee. Ingmar Ingmarsson, who still lived at +the schoolhouse, was at home over Sunday. He sat at table with them +and acted as host, for Karin had excused herself, saying she had +some work to do in the kitchen, as the maids had gone down to the +mission house to hear the schoolmaster preach. + +It was deadly dull in the parlour. All the men sat drinking their +coffee without exchanging a word. The suitors were practically +strangers to one another, and all three of them were watching for +an opportunity to slip into the kitchen for a private word with +Karin. + +Presently the door opened and in stepped another caller, who was +received by Ingmar, and conducted to the table. + +"This is Tims Halvor Halvorsson," said Ingmar, introducing the +newcomer to Berger Sven Persson. + +Sven Persson did not rise, but greeted Halvor with a sweep of the +hand, saying, somewhat facetiously: + +"It is a pleasure to meet so distinguished a personage." + +Ingmar noisily drew up a chair for Halvor, so that he was spared +the embarrassment of replying. + +From the moment Halvor entered the room, all the suitors became +chatty and began to talk big. Each in turn praised and championed +the others. It was as if they had all agreed among themselves to +stand together until Halvor was well out of the game. + +"The magistrate is driving a fine horse to-day," the inspector +began. + +Berger Sven Persson took up the fun by complimenting the inspector +on having shot a bear the winter before. Then the two turned to the +innkeeper's son, and said something in praise of a house his father +was building. + +Finally all three of them bragged about the wealth of Bergen Sven +Persson. They waxed eloquent, and with every word they gave Halvor +to understand that he was too lowly a man to think of pitting +himself against them. And Halvor certainly did feel very +insignificant, and bitterly regretted having come. + +Just then Karin came along with fresh coffee. At sight of Halvor +she brightened for an instant; then it occurred to her that his +calling on her so soon after her husband's death looked rather bad. +"If he is in such a hurry, people will surely say that he hadn't +given Elof proper care, and that he wanted him out of the way so he +could marry me." She would rather he had waited two or three years +before coming; that would have been long enough to make folks see +that he had not been impatient for Elof's departure. "Why need he +be in such haste?" she wondered. "Surely he must know that I don't +want anyone but him." + +Every one had stopped talking the moment Karin appeared, wondering +how she and Halvor would greet each other. They barely touched +hands. .At which the magistrate expressed his delight by a short +whistle, while the inspector broke into a loud guffaw. Haldor +quietly turned to him. "What are you laughing at?" he said. + +The inspector was at a loss for an answer. With Karin there he did +not wish to say anything that might give offence. + +"He is thinking of a hound that raises a hare and allows some one +else to catch it," remarked the innkeeper's son, insinuatingly. + +Karin turned blood red, but refilled the coffee cups. "Berger Sven +Persson and the rest of you will have to be satisfied with plain +coffee," she said. "We no longer serve spirits to any one on this +farm." + +"Nor do I at my home," said the magistrate approvingly. + +The inspector and the innkeeper's son kept quiet; they understood +that Sven Persson had scored heavily. + +The magistrate straightway began to discourse on temperance and its +salutary effects. Karin listened to him with interest, and agreed +with all that he said. Seeing that this was the kind of talk that +would appeal to her, the magistrate began to spread himself, and +delivered long-winded harangue on the curse of liquor and +drunkenness. Karin recognized all her own thoughts on the subject, +and was glad to find that they were shared by so intelligent a man +as the magistrate. + +In the middle of his monologue Berger Sven Persson glanced over at +Halvor, who sat at the table, looking glum and sulky, his coffee +cup untouched. + +"It's pretty rough on him," thought Berger Sven Persson, +"particularly if there's any truth in what people say about his +having given Elof a little lift on his way into the next world. +Anyway, he did Karin a good service by relieving her of that +dreadful sot." And since the magistrate seemed to think that he had +as good as won the game, he felt rather friendly toward Halvor. +Raising his cup, he said: "Here's to you, Halvor! You certainly +did Karin a good turn when you took her drunken sot of a husband +off her hands." + +Halvor did not respond to the toast. He sat looking the man +straight in the eyes, and wondered how he should take this. + +The inspector again burst out laughing. "Yes, yes, a good turn," he +haw-hawed, "a real good turn." + +"Yes, yes, a real good turn," echoed the innkeeper's son, with a +chuckle. + +Before they were done laughing, Karin had vanished like a shadow +through the kitchen door; but she could hear from the kitchen all +that was said inside. She was both sorry and distressed over +Halvor's untimely visit. It would probably result in her never +being able to marry Halvor. It was plain that the gossips were +already spreading evil reports. "I can't bear the thought of +losing him," she sighed. + +For a time no sound came from the sitting-room, but presently she +heard a noise as if a chair were being pushed back. Some one had +evidently risen. + +"Are you going already, Halvor?" young Ingmar was heard to say. + +"Yes," Halvor replied. "I can't stop any longer. Please say good-bye +to Karin for me." + +"Why don't you go into the kitchen and say it for yourself?" + +"No," Halvor was heard to answer, "we two have nothing more to say +to each other." + +Karin's heart began to pump hard, and thoughts came rushing into +her head, as if on wings. Now Halvor was angry at her--and no +wonder! She had hardly dared even to shake hands with him, and when +the others had scoffed at him, she never opened her mouth in his +defence, but quietly sneaked away. Now he must think she did not +care for him, and was therefore going, never to return. She could +not understand why she should have treated him so shabbily--she who +was so fond of him. Then, all at once her father's old saying came +to her: "The Ingmarssons need have no fear of men; they have only +to walk in the ways of God." + +Karin hastily opened the door, and stood facing Halvor before he +could manage to leave the room. + +"Are you leaving so soon, Halvor?" she asked. "I thought you were +going to stay to supper." + +Halvor stood staring at Karin. She seemed to be completely changed; +her cheeks were aglow, and there was something tender and appealing +about her which he had never seen before. + +"I'm going, and I'm not coming back," said Halvor. He had not +caught her meaning, apparently. + +"Do stay and finish your coffee," she urged. Then she took him by +the hand and led him back to the table. She turned both white and +red, and several times she all but lost her courage. Just the same +she braved it out, although there was nothing she feared so much as +scorn and contempt. "Now he will at least see that I'm willing to +stand by him," she thought. Turning toward her guests, she said: +"Berger Sven Persson and all of you! Halvor and I have not spoken +of this matter--as I have so recently become a widow--but now it +seems best that you should all know that I would rather marry +Halvor than any one else in the world." She paused to get control +of her voice, then concluded: "Folks may say what they like about +this, but Halvor and I have done nothing wrong." + +When Karin had finished speaking, she drew nearer to Halvor, as if +seeking protection against all the cruel slander that would come +now. + +The men were speechless, mostly from astonishment at Karin +Ingmarsson, who looked younger and more girlish than ever before in +her life. + +Then Halvor said in a voice vibrant with feeling: "Karin, when I +received your father's watch, I felt that nothing greater could +have happened to me; but this thing which you have just done +transcends everything." + +Whereupon Berger Sven Persson, who was in many ways an excellent +man, arose. + +"Let us all congratulate Karin and Halvor," he said, graciously, +"for every one must know that he whom Karin, daughter of Ingmar, +has chosen is a man of sterling worth." + + + +IN ZION + +That an old country schoolmaster should sometimes be a little too +self-confident is not surprising: for well nigh a lifetime he has +imparted knowledge and given advice to his fellowmen. He sees that +all the peasants are living by what he has taught, and that not one +among them knows more than what he, their schoolmaster, has told +them. How can he help but regard all the people in the parish as +mere school children, however old they may have grown? It is only +natural that he should consider himself wiser than every one else. +It seems almost an impossibility for one of these regular old +school persons to treat any one as a grown-up, for he looks upon +each and every one as a child with dimpled cheeks and wide innocent +baby eyes. + +One Sunday, in the winter, just after service, the pastor and the +schoolmaster stood talking together in the vestry; the conversation +had turned upon the Salvation Army. + +"It's a singular idea to have hit upon," the pastor remarked. "I +never imagined that I should live to see anything of that sort!" + +The schoolmaster glanced sharply at the pastor; he thought his +remark entirely irrelevant. Surely the pastor could never think +that such an absurd innovation would find its way into their +parish. + +"I don't believe you are likely to see it, either," he said +emphatically. + +The pastor, knowing that he himself was a weak and broken-down man, +let the schoolmaster have things pretty much his own way, but all +the same, he could not refrain from chaffing him a little, +occasionally. + +"How can you feel so cocksure that we shall escape the Salvation +Army, Storm?" he said. "You see, when pastor and schoolmaster stand +together, there's no fear of any nuisance of that sort crowding in. +Yet I'm not altogether certain, Storm, that you do stand by me. You +preach to suit yourself in your Zion." + +To this the schoolmaster did not reply at once. Presently he said, +quite meekly: "The pastor has never heard me preach." + +The mission house was a veritable rock of offence. The clergyman +had never set foot in the place. And now that this mooted question +had come up, both men were sorry they had said anything to hurt +each other's feelings. "Perhaps I'm unjust to Storm," thought the +pastor. "During the four years that he has been holding his +afternoon Bible Talks, on Sundays, there has been a larger +attendance at the morning church services than ever before, and I +haven't seen the least sign of division in the church. Storm has +not destroyed the parish, as I feared he would. He is a faithful +friend and servant, and I mean to show him how much I appreciate +him." + +The little misunderstanding of the forenoon resulted in the +pastor's attending the schoolmaster's meeting in the afternoon. + +"I'll give Storm a pleasant surprise," he thought. "I will go to +hear him preach in his Zion." + +On the way to the mission house the pastor's thoughts went back to +the time it was built. How full the air had been of prophecies, and +how firmly he had believed that God had intended it to be something +great! But nothing much had happened. "Our Lord must have changed +His mind," he thought, amused at his entertaining such queer ideas +regarding our Lord. + +The schoolmaster's Zion was a large hall with light-coloured walls. +On either side hung wood engravings of Luther and Melanchton, in +fur-trimmed cloaks; along the borders, close to the ceiling, ran +highly illuminated Bible texts, embellished with flowers and +heavenly trumpets and bassoons. At the front of the room, above the +speaker's platform, hung an oleograph representing the Good +Shepherd. + +The large bare room was full of people, which was all that seemed +necessary to create an atmosphere of impressive solemnity. Most of +the people were dressed in the picturesque peasant costume of the +parish, and the starched and flaring white headgear of the women +made the room look as if it were filled with large white-winged +birds. + +Storm had already commenced his address, when he saw the pastor +come down the aisle, and take a seat in the front row. + +"You're a wonderful man, Storm!" thought the school-master. +"Everything comes your way. Here's the pastor himself to do you +honour." + +During the time that the schoolmaster had been holding meetings, +he had explained the Bible from cover to cover. That afternoon he +spoke of the Heavenly Jerusalem and everlasting bliss, as given in +the Book of the Revelation. He was so pleased at the parson having +come, that he kept thinking to himself: "For my part I shouldn't +ask for anything better than to stand on a platform through all +eternity, teaching good and obedient children; and if, on occasion, +our Lord Himself should drop in to hear me, as the pastor has done +to-day, no one in heaven would be more delighted than I." + +The pastor became interested when the schoolmaster began to talk +about Jerusalem, and the strange misgivings which he had had long +ago flashed through his mind again. In the middle of the service +the door opened, and a number of people came in. There were about +twenty, and they stopped at the door so as not to disturb the +meeting. "Ah!" thought the parson. "I knew something was going to +happen." + +Storm had no sooner said "Amen" than a voice, coming from some one +in the group down by the door, piped up: "I should very much like +to say a few words." + +"That must be Hök Matts Ericsson," thought the pastor, and others +with him. For no one else in the parish had such a sweet and +childlike treble. + +The next moment a little meek-faced man made his way up to the +platform, followed by a score of men and women who seemed to be +there for the purpose of supporting and encouraging him. + +The pastor, the schoolmaster, and the entire congregation sat in +suspense. "Hök Matts has come to tell us of some awful calamity," +they thought. "Either the king is dead, or war has been declared, +or perhaps some poor creature has fallen into the river and been +drowned." Still Hök Matts did not look as if he had any bad news to +impart. He seemed to be in earnest and somewhat stirred, but at the +same time he looked so pleased that he could hardly keep from +smiling. + +"I want to say to the schoolmaster and to the congregation," he +began, "that Sunday before last, while I was sitting at home with +my family, the Spirit descended upon me, and I began to preach. We +couldn't get down here to listen to Storm, on account of the ice +and sleet, and we sat longing to hear the Word of God. Then all at +once I had the feeling that I could speak myself. I've been +preaching now for two Sundays, and all my folks at home and our +neighbours, too, have told me that I ought to come down here and +let all the people hear me." + +Hök Matts also said he was astonished that the gift of speech +should have fallen upon so humble a man. "But the schoolmaster +himself is only a peasant," he added, with a little more +confidence. + +After this preamble, Hök Matts folded his hands and was ready to +begin preaching at once. But by that time the schoolmaster had +recovered from his first shock of surprise. + +"Do you think of speaking here now, Hök Matts--immediately?" + +"Yes, that's my intention," the man replied. He grew as frightened +as a child when Storm glowered at him. "It was my purpose, of +course, to first ask leave of the schoolmaster and the rest," he +stammered. + +"We're all through for the day," said Storm, conclusively. + +Then the meek little man began to beg with tears in his voice: +"Won't you please let me say a few words? I only want to tell of +the things that have come to me when walking behind the plow and +when working by myself at the kiln; and now they want to come out." + +But the schoolmaster, though he had had such a day of triumph +himself, felt no pity for the poor little man. "Matts Ericsson +comes here with his own peculiar notions, and claims that they are +messages from God," he declared rebukingly. + +Hök Matts dared not venture a protest, and the schoolmaster opened +the hymnbook. + +"Let us all join in singing hymn one hundred and eighty-seven," +he said. Whereupon he read out the hymn in stentorian tones, then +he began to sing at the top of his voice, "Are your windows open +toward Jerusalem." + +Meanwhile, he thought: "It was well after all that the pastor +happened in to-day; now he can see that I know how to maintain +order in my Zion." + +But no sooner was the hymn finished than a man jumped to his feet. +It was proud and dignified Ljung Björn Olafsson, who was married to +one of the Ingmar girls, and was the owner of a large farmstead in +the heart of the parish. + +"We down at this end think that the schoolmaster might have +consulted our wishes before turning Matts Ericsson down," he +mildly protested. + +"Oh, you think so, do you, Sonny?" The schoolmaster spoke in +just the kind of tone he would have used in reproving some young +whippersnapper. "Then let me tell you that no one but myself has +any say here, in this hall." + +Ljung Björn turned blood red. He had not meant to provoke a quarrel +with Storm, but had simply wished to soften the blow for Hök Matts, +who was an inoffensive man. Just the same, he could not help +feeling chagrined over the reply he had got; but before he could +think of a retort, one of the men who had come in with Hök Matts +spoke up: + +"Twice I have heard Hök Matts preach, and must say that he is +wonderful. I believe that every one present would be helped by +hearing him." + +The schoolmaster answered pleasantly enough, but in the old +admonishing tone of the classroom: "Surely you understand, Krister +Larsson, that I can't allow this. Were I to let Hök Matts preach +to-day, then you, Krister, would want to preach next Sunday, and +Ljung Björn the Sunday after!" + +At this several persons laughed; but Ljung Björn was ready with a +sharp rejoinder: "I see no reason why Krister and I shouldn't be +as well qualified to preach as the schoolmaster," he said. + +Thereupon Tims Halvor arose and tried to quiet them and to prevent +possible strife. "Those of us who have furnished the money to build +and run this mission should be consulted before any new preacher is +allowed to speak." + +By that time Krister Larsson had become aroused and was on his feet +again. "I recall to mind that when we built this hall we were all +agreed that it should be a free-for-all meetinghouse and not a +church where only one man is allowed to preach the Word." + +When Krister had spoken every one seemed to breathe freer. Only one +short hour before it had not occurred to them that they could ever +wish to hear any speaker but the schoolmaster. Now they thought it +would be a treat to hear something different. "We'd like to hear +something new and to see a fresh face behind the rostrum," somebody +muttered. + +In all likelihood there would have been no further disturbance if +only Bullet Gunner had remained away that day. He, too, was a +brother-in-law of Tims Halvor and a tall, gaunt-looking fellow, +with a swarthy skin and piercing eyes. Gunner, as well as every one +else, liked the schoolmaster, but what he liked even more was a +good scrap. + +"There was a lot of talk about freedom while we were building this +house," said Gunner "but I haven't heard a liberal word since the +place was first opened." + +The schoolmaster grew purple. Gunner's remark was the first +evidence of any actual hostility or revolt. "Let me remind you, +Bullet Gunner, that here you have heard the true freedom preached, +as Luther taught it; but here there has been no license to preach +the kind of new-fangled ideas that spring up one day and fall to +the ground the next." + +"The schoolmaster would have us think that everything new is +worthless as soon as it touches upon doctrine," Gunner replied +soothingly and half regretfully. "He approves of our using new +methods of caring for our cattle, and wants us to adopt the latest +agricultural machinery; but we are not allowed to know anything +about the new implements with which God's acres are now being +tilled." + +Storm began to think that Bullet Gunner's bark was worse than his +bite. "Is it your meaning," he said, adopting a facetious tone, +"that we should preach a different doctrine here from the +Lutheran?" + +"It is not a question of a new doctrine," roared Gunner, "but as to +who shall preach; and, as far as I know, Matts Ericsson is as good +a Lutheran as either the schoolmaster or the parson." + +For the moment the schoolmaster had forgotten about the parson; but +now he glanced down at him. The clergyman sat quietly musing, his +chin resting upon the knob of his cane. There was a curious gleam +in his eyes, which were fixed upon Storm, never leaving him for a +second. + +"After all, perhaps it would have been just as well if the parson +hadn't come to-day," thought the schoolmaster. What was then taking +place reminded Storm of something he had experienced before. It +could be just like this in school sometimes, on a bright spring +morning, when a little bird perched itself outside the schoolroom +window and warbled lustily. Then all at once the children would +tease and beg to be excused from school; they abandoned their +studies and made so much fuss and noise that it was almost +impossible to bring them to order. Something of the same sort had +come over the congregation after Hök Matts's arrival. However, the +schoolmaster meant to show the pastor and all of them that he was +man enough to quell the mutiny. "First, I will leave them alone and +let the ringleaders talk themselves hoarse," he thought, and went +and sat down on a chair behind the table on which the water bottle +stood. + +Instantly there arose against him a perfect storm of protests; for +by that time every one had become inflated with the idea that they +were all of them just as good as the schoolmaster. "Why should he +alone be allowed to tell us what to believe and what not to +believe!" they shouted. + +These ideas seemed to be new to most of them, yet from the talk it +became evident that they had been germinating in their minds ever +since the schoolmaster had built the mission house, and shown them +that a plain, ordinary man can preach the Word of God. + +After a bit Storm remarked to himself: "The tempest of the children +must have spent itself by this. Now is the time to show them who is +master here." Whereupon he rose up, pounded the table with his +fist, and thundered: "Stop! What's the meaning of all this +racketing? I'm going now, and you must go, too, so that I may put +out the lights and lock up." + +Some of them actually did get up, for they had all gone to Storm's +school, and knew that when their teacher rapped on the table it +meant that everybody had to mind. Yet the majority stoically kept +their seats. + +"The schoolmaster forgets that now we are grown men," said one; +"but he still seems to think we should run just because he happens +to rap on the table!" said another. + +They went right on talking about their wanting to hear some new +speakers, and which ones they should call in. They were already +quarrelling among themselves as to whether it should be the +Waldenstromites or colporteurs from the National Evangelical +Union. + +The schoolmaster stood staring at the assemblage as if he were +looking at some weird monstrosity. For up to that time he had seen +only the child in each individual face. But now all the round baby +cheeks, the soft baby curls, and the mild baby eyes had vanished, +and he saw only a gathering of adults, with hard, set faces; he +felt that over such as these he had no control. He did not even +know what to say to them. + +The tumult continued, growing louder and louder. The schoolmaster +kept still and let them rage. Bullet Gunner, Ljung Björn, and +Krister Larsson led the attack. Hök Matts, who was the innocent +cause of all the trouble, rose to his feet time and again and +begged them to be quiet, but no one listened to him. + +Once again the schoolmaster glanced down at the parson, who was +still quietly musing, the same gleam in his eyes, which were fixed +on the schoolmaster. + +"He's probably thinking of that evening four years ago when I told +him I would build a mission," thought Storm. "He was right, too. +Everything has turned out just as he said it would: heresy, revolt, +and division. Perhaps we might have escaped all this if I hadn't +been so bent upon building my Zion." + +The instant this became clear to the schoolmaster, his head went +up and his backbone straightened. He drew from his pocket a small +key of polished steel. It was the key to Zion! He held it toward +the light so that it could be seen from all parts of the hall. + +"Now I'm going to lay this key upon the table," he said, "and I +shall never touch it again, for I see now that it has unlocked the +door to everything which I had hoped to shut out." + +Whereupon the schoolmaster put the key down, took up his hat, and +walked straight over to the pastor. + +"I want to thank you, Parson, for coming to hear me to-day," he +said; "for if you hadn't come to-day you never could have heard +me." + + + +THE WILD HUNT + +There were many who thought that Elof Ersson should have found no +peace in his grave for the shameful way in which he had dealt with +Karin and young Ingmar. He had deliberately made way with all of +his and Karin's money, so she would suffer hardship after his +death. And he left the farm so heavily mortgaged, that Karin would +have been forced to turn it over to the creditors, had not Halvor +been rich enough to buy in the property and pay off the debts. +Ingmar Ingmarsson's twenty thousand kroner, of which Elof had been +sole trustee, had entirely disappeared. Some people thought that +Elof had buried the money, others that he had given it away; in any +case, it was not to be found. + +When Ingmar learned that he was penniless, he consulted Karin as to +what he should do. Ingmar told his sister that of all things he +would prefer to be a teacher, and begged her to let him remain with +the Storms until he was old enough to enter college. Down at the +village he would always be able to borrow books from the +schoolmaster or the pastor, he said, and, moreover, he could help +Storm at the school, by reading with the children; that would be +excellent practice. + +Karin turned this over in her mind before answering. "I suppose you +wouldn't care to remain at home, since you can't become master +here?" she said. + +When Storm's daughter heard that Ingmar was coming back, she pulled +a long face. It seemed to her that if they must have a boy living +with them, they might better have the judge's good-looking son, +Bertil, or there was jolly Gabriel, the son of Hök Matts Ericsson. + +Gertrude liked both Gabriel and Bertil, but as for Ingmar, she +couldn't exactly tell what her feelings were toward him. She liked +him because he helped her with her lessons and minded her like a +slave; but she could also become thoroughly put out with him +sometimes, because he was clumsy and tiresome and did not know how +to play. She had to admire his diligence and his aptitude for +learning, yet at times she fairly despised him for not being able +to show off what he could do. + +Gertrude's head was always full of droll fancies and dreams, which +she confided to Ingmar. If the lad happened to be away for a few +days, she grew restless, and felt that she had no one to talk to; +but as soon as he got back she hardly knew what she had been +longing for. + +The girl had never thought of Ingmar as a boy of means and good +family connections, but treated him rather as though he were a +little beneath her. Yet when she heard that Ingmar had become poor, +she wept for him, and when he told her that he would not try to get +back his property, but meant to earn his own living as a teacher, +she was so indignant she could hardly control herself. + +The Lord only knows all she had dreamed that he would be some day! + +The children at Storm's school were given very rigid training. They +were held strictly to their tasks, and only on rare occasions were +they allowed any amusements. However, all this was changed the +spring Storm gave up his preaching. Then Mother Stina said to him: +"Now, Storm, we must let the young folks be young. Remember that +you and I were young once. Why, when we were seventeen, we danced +many a night from sundown to sunup." + +So, one Saturday night, when young Gabriel and Gunhild, the +councilman's daughter, paid a visit to the Storms, they actually +had a dance at the schoolhouse. + +Gertrude was wild with delight at being allowed to dance, but +Ingmar would not join in. Instead, he took up a book, and went +and sat down on the sofa by the window. Time and again Gertrude +tried to make him lay down his book, but Ingmar, sulky and shy, +refused to budge. Mother Stina looked at him and shook her head. +"It's plain he comes of an old, old stock," she thought. "That kind +can never be really young." + +The three who did dance had such a good time! They talked of going +to a regular dance the next Saturday evening, and asked the +schoolmaster and Mother Stina what they thought about it. + +"If you will do your dancing at Strong Ingmar's, I give my +consent," said Mother Stina; "for there you will meet only +respectable folk." + +Then Storm also made it conditional. "I can't allow Gertrude to go +to a dance unless Ingmar goes along to look after her," he said. + +Whereupon all three rushed up to Ingmar and begged him to accompany +them. + +"No!" he growled, without even glancing up from his book. + +"It's no good asking him!" said Gertrude in a tone that made Ingmar +raise his eyes. Gertrude looked radiantly beautiful after the +dance. She smiled scornfully, and her eyes flashed as she turned +away. It was plainly to be seen how much she despised him for +sitting there so ugly and sulky, like some crotchety old man. +Ingmar had to alter his mind and say "yes"--there was no way out +of it. + +A few evenings later while Gertrude and Mother Stina sat spinning +in the kitchen, the girl suddenly noticed that her mother was +getting uneasy. Every little while she would stop her spinning-wheel +and listen. "I can't imagine what that noise is," she said. "Do you +hear anything, Gertrude?" + +"Yes, I do," replied the girl. "There must be some one upstairs in +the classroom." + +"Who could be there at this hour?" Mother Stina flouted. "Only +listen to the rustling and the pattering from one end of the room +to the other!" + +And there certainly was a rustling and a pattering and a bumping +about over their heads, that made both Gertrude and her mother +feel creepy. + +"There must surely be some one up there," insisted Gertrude. + +"There can't be," Mother Stina declared. "Let me tell you that this +thing has been going on every night since you danced here." + +Gertrude perceived that her mother imagined the house had been +haunted since the night of the dance. If that idea were allowed to +become fixed in Mother Stina's mind, there would be no more dancing +for Gertrude. + +"I'm going up there to see what it is," said the girl, rising; but +her mother caught hold of her skirt. + +"I don't know whether I dare let you go," she said. + +"Nonsense, mother! It's best to find out what this is." + +"Then I'd better go with you," the mother decided. + +They crept softly up the stairs. When they got to the door they +were afraid to open it. Mother Stina bent down and peeped through +the keyhole. Presently she gave a little chuckle. + +"What pleases you, mother" asked Gertrude. + +"See for yourself, only be very quiet!" + +Then Gertrude put her eye to the keyhole. Inside, benches and desks +had been pushed against the wall, and in the centre of the +schoolroom, amid a cloud of dust, Ingmar Ingmarsson was whirling +round, with a chair in his arms. + +"Has Ingmar gone mad!" exclaimed Gertrude. + +"Ssh!" warned the mother, drawing her away from the door and down +the stairs. "He must be trying to teach himself to dance. I suppose +he wants to learn how, so he'll be able to dance at the party," she +added, with smirk. Then Mother Stina began to shake with laughter. +"He came near frightening the life out of me," she confessed. +"Thank God he can be young for once!" When she had got over her fit +of laughing, she said: "You're not to say a word about this to +anybody, do you hear!" + +*** + +Saturday evening the four young people stood on the steps of the +schoolhouse, ready to start. Mother Stina looked them over +approvingly. The boys had on yellow buckskin breeches and green +homespun waistcoats, with bright red sleeves. Gunhild and Gertrude +wore stripe skirts bordered with red cloth, and white blouses, with +big puffed sleeves; flowered kerchiefs were crossed over their +bodices, and they had on aprons that were as flowered as their +kerchiefs. + +As the four of them walked along in the twilight of a perfect +spring evening, nothing was said for quite a long time. Now and +then Gertrude would cast a side glance at Ingmar thinking of how +he had worked to learn to dance. Whatever the reason--whether it +was the memory of Ingmar's weird dancing, or the anticipation of +attending a regular dance--her thoughts became light and airy. She +managed to keep just a little behind the others, that she might +muse undisturbed. She had made up quite little story about how the +trees had come by their new leaves. + +It happened in this way, she thought: the trees, after sleeping +peacefully and quietly the whole winter, suddenly began to dream. +They dreamt that summer had come. They seemed to see the fields +dressed in green grass and waving corn; the hawthorn shimmered with +new-blown roses; brooks and ponds were spread with the leaves of +the water-lily; the stones were hidden under the creeping tendrils +of the twin flower, and the forest carpet was thick with star +flowers. And amid all this that was clothed and decked out, the +trees saw themselves standing gaunt and naked. They began to feel +ashamed of their nakedness, as often happens in dreams. + +In their confusion and embarrassment, the trees fancied that all +the rest were making fun of them. The bumblebees came buzzingly up +to mock at them, the magpies laughed them to scorn, while the other +birds sang taunting ditties. + +"Where shall we find something to put on?" asked the trees in +despair; but they had not a leaf to their names on either twig or +branch, and their distress was so terrible that it awakened them. + +And glancing about, drowsy like, their first thought was: "Thank +God it was only a dream! There is certainly no summer hereabout. +It's lucky for us that we haven't overslept." + +But as they looked around more carefully, they noticed that the +streams were clear of ice, grass blades and crocuses beeped out +from their beds of soil, and under their own ark the sap was +running. "Spring is here at all events," said the trees, "so it +was well we awoke. We have slept long enough for this year; now +it's high time we were getting dressed." + +So the birches hurriedly put on some sticky pale green leaves, and +the maples a few green flowers. The leaves of the alder came forth +in such a crinkly and unfinished state that they looked quite +malformed, but the slender leave: of the willow slipped out of +their buds smooth and shapely from the start. + +Gertrude smiled to herself as she walked along and thought this +up. She only wished she had been alone with Ingmar so she could +have told it all to him. + +They had a long way to go to get to the Ingmar Farm--more than an +hour's tramp. They followed the riverside; all the while Gertrude +kept walking a little behind the others. Her fancy had begun to +play around the red glow of the sunset, which flamed now above the +river, now above the strand. Gray alder and green birch were +enveloped by the shimmer, flashing red one instant, the next taking +on their natural hues. + +Suddenly Ingmar stopped, and broke off in the middle of something +he was telling. + +"What's the matter, Ingmar?" asked Gunhild. + +Ingmar, pale as a ghost, stood gazing at something in front of him. +The others saw only a wide plain covered with grain fields and +encircled by a range of hills, and in the centre of the plain a big +farmstead. At that moment the glow of sunset rested upon the farm; +all the window pans glittered, and the old roofs and walls had a +bright red glimmer about them. + +Gertrude promptly stepped up to the others, and after a quick +glance at Ingmar, she drew Gunhild and Gabriel aside. + +"We mustn't question him about anything around here," she said +under her breath. "That place over yonder is the Ingmar Farm. The +sight of it has probably made him sad. He hasn't been at home in +two years--not since he lost all his money." + +The road which they had taken was the one leading past the farm +and down to Strong Ingmar's cabin, at the edge of the forest. + +Soon Ingmar came running after, calling, "Hadn't we better go this +way instead?" Then he led them in on a bypath that wound around the +edge of the forest, and by which they could reach the cabin without +having to cross the farm proper. + +"You know Strong Ingmar, I suppose?" said Gabriel. + +"Oh, yes," young Ingmar replied. "We used to be good friends in the +old days." + +"Is it true that he understands magic?" asked Gunhild. + +"Well--no!" Ingmar answered rather hesitatingly, as if half-believing +it himself. + +"You may as well tell us what you know," persisted Gunhild. + +"The schoolmaster says we mustn't believe in such things." + +"The schoolmaster can't prevent a person seeing what he sees and +believing what he knows," Gabriel declared. + +Ingmar wanted to tell them all about his home; memories of his +childhood came back to him at sight of the old place. "I can tell +you about something that I saw once," he said. "It happened one +winter when father and Strong Ingmar were up in the forest working +at the kiln. When Christmas came around, Strong Ingmar offered to +tend the kiln by himself, so that father could come home for the +holidays. The day before Christmas, mother sent me up to the forest +with a basket of good fare for Strong Ingmar. I started early, so +as to be there before the midday dinner hour. When I came up, +father and Strong Ingmar had just finished drawing a kiln, and all +the charcoal had been spread on the ground to cool. It was still +smoking and, where the coals lay thickest, it was ready to take +fire, which is something that must not happen. To prevent that is +the most important part of the entire process of charcoal making. +Therefore, father said as soon as he saw me: 'I'm afraid you'll +have to go home alone, little Ingmar. I can't leave Strong Ingmar +with all this work.' Strong Ingmar walked along the side of the +heap where the smoke rose thickest. 'You can go, Big Ingmar,' he +said. 'I've managed worse things than this.' In a little while the +smoke grew less. 'Now let's see what kind of a Christmas treat +Brita has sent me,' said Strong Ingmar, taking the basket from me. +'Come, let me show you what a fine house we've got here.' Then he +took me into the hut where he and father lived. At the back was a +rude stone, and the other walls were made up of branches of spruce +and blackthorn. 'Well, my lad, you never guessed that your father +had a royal castle like this in the forest, eh?' said Strong +Ingmar. 'Here are walls that keep out both storm and frost,' he +laughed, thrusting his arm clean through the spruce branches. + +"Soon father came in laughing. He and the old man were black with +soot and reeking with the odour of sour charcoal smoke. But never +had I seen father so happy and full of fun. Neither of them could +stand upright in the hut, and the only furniture in the place were +two bunks made of spruce twigs and a couple of flat stones on which +they had built a fire; yet they were perfectly contented. They sat +down, side by side, on one of the bunks, and opened the basket. 'I +don't know whether you can have any of this,' said Strong Ingmar to +father, 'for it's my Christmas dinner, you know.' 'Seeing it's +Christmas Eve you must be a good to me,' said father. 'At a time +like this I suppose it would never do to let a poor old charcoal +burner starve,' Strong Ingmar then said. + +"They carried on like that all the time they were eating. Mother +had sent a little brandy along with the food. I marvelled that +people could be so happy over food and drink. 'You'll have to tell +your mother that Big Ingmar has eaten up everything,' said the old +man, 'and that she will have to send more to-morrow.' 'So I see,' +said I. + +"Just then I was startled by a crackling noise in the fireplace. It +sounded as if some one had cast a handful of pebbles on the stones. +Father did not notice it, but at once Strong Ingmar said: 'What, so +soon?' Yet he went on eating. Then there was more crackling; this +time it was much louder. Now it sounded as if a shovelful of stones +had been thrown on the fire. 'Well, well, is it so urgent!' Strong +Ingmar exclaimed. Then he went out. 'The charcoal must be afire!' +he shouted back. 'Just you sit still, Big Ingmar. I'll attend to +this myself.' Father and I sat very quiet. + +"In a little while Strong Ingmar returned, and the fun began anew. +'I haven't had such a merry Christmas in years,' he laughed. He had +no sooner got the words out of his mouth than the crackling started +afresh. 'What, again? Well, I never!' and out he flew in a jiffy. +The charcoal was afire again. When the old man came back for the +second time, father said to him: 'I see now that you have such good +help up here that you can get along by yourself.' 'Yes, you can +safely go home and keep your Christmas, Big Ingmar, for here there +are those who will help me.' Then father and I went home, and +everything was all right. And never, either before or afterward, +was any kiln tended by Strong Ingmar known to get afire." + +Gunhild thanked Ingmar for his story, but Gertrude walked on in +silence, as if she had become frightened. It was beginning to get +dark; everything that had looked so rosy a while ago was now either +blue or gray. Here and there in the forest could be seen a shiny +leaf that gleamed in the twilight like the red eye of a troll. + +Gertrude was astonished at Ingmar having talked so much and so +long. He seemed like another person since coming in on home ground; +he carried his head higher than usual, and stepped with firmer +tread. Gertrude did not quite like this change in him; it made her +feel uneasy. All the same she spunked up, and began to tease Ingmar +about his going home to dance. + +Then at last they came to a little gray hut. Candles were burning +inside, the windows being too small to let in much light. They +caught the sound of violin music and the clatter of dancing feet. +Still the girls paused, wonderingly. "Is it here?" they questioned. +"Can any one dance here? The place looks too small to hold even one +couple." + +"Go along inside," said Gabriel; "the hut isn't as tiny as looks." + +Outside the door, which was open, stood a group of boys and girls +who had danced themselves into a warm glow; the girls were fanning +themselves with their headshawls, and the boys had pulled off their +short black jackets in order to dance in their bright green red-sleeved +waistcoats. + +The newcomers edged their way through the crowd by the door into +the hut. The first person they saw was Strong Ingmar--a little fat +man, with a big head and a long beard. + +"He must be related to the elves and the trolls," thought Gertrude. +The old man was standing upon the hearth, playing his fiddle, so as +not to be in the way of the dancers. + +The hut was larger than it had appeared from the outside, but it +looked poor and dilapidated. The bare pine walls were worm-eaten, +and the beams were blackened by smoke. There were no curtains at +the windows, and no cover on the table. It was evident that Strong +Ingmar lived by himself. His children had all left him and gone to +America, and the only pleasure the old man had in his loneliness +was to gather the young folks around him on a Saturday evening, and +let them dance to his fiddle. + +It was dim in the hut, and suffocatingly close. Couple after couple +were whirling around in there. Gertrude could scarcely breathe, and +wanted to hurry out again, but it was an impossibility to get past +the tight wedge of humanity that blocked the doorway. + +Strong Ingmar played with a sure stroke and in perfect time, but +the instant that young Ingmarsson came into the room he drew his +bow across the strings, making a rasping noise that brought all the +dancers to a stop. "It's nothing," he shouted. "Go on with the +dance!" + +Ingmar placed his arm around Gertrude's waist to dance out the +figure. Gertrude seemed very much surprised at his wanting to +dance. But they could get nowhere, for the dancers followed each +other so closely that no one who had not been there at the start +could squeeze in between them. + +The old man stopped short, rapped on the fender with his bow, and +said in a commanding voice: "Room must be made for Big Ingmar's son +when there's any dancing in my shack!" + +With that every one turned to have a look at Ingmar, who became so +embarrassed that he could not stir. Gertrude had to take hold of +him and fairly drag him across the floor. + +As soon as the dance was finished, the fiddler came down to greet +Ingmar. When he felt Ingmar's hand in his, the old man pretended to +be very much concerned, and instantly let go of it. "My goodness!" +he exclaimed, "be careful of those delicate schoolmaster hands! A +clumsy old fellow like me could easily crush them." + +He took young Ingmar and his friends up to the table, driving away +several old women who were sitting there, looking on. Presently he +went over to the cupboard and brought out some bread and butter and +root beer. + +"I don't, as a rule, offer refreshments at these affairs," he said. +"The others have to be content with just music and dancing, but +Ingmar Ingmarsson must have a bite to eat under my roof." + +Drawing up a little three-legged stool, the old man sat down in +front of Ingmar, and looked sharply at him. + +"So you're going to be a school-teacher, eh?" he queried. + +Ingmar closed his eyes for a moment, and there was the shadow of a +smile on his lips, but all the same he answered rather mournfully: +"They have no use for me at home." + +"No use for _you_?" cried the old man. "You don't know how soon you +may be needed on the farm. Elof lived only two years, and who knows +how long Halvor will hold out?" + +"Halvor is a strong, hearty fellow," Ingmar reminded. + +"You must know, of course, that Halvor will turn the farm over to +you as soon as you're able to buy it back." + +"He'd be a fool to give up the Ingmar Farm now that it has fallen +into his hands." + +During this colloquy Ingmar sat gripping the edge of the plain deal +table. Suddenly a noise was heard as of something cracking. Ingmar +had broken off a corner of the table. "If you become a school-teacher, +he'll never let you have the farm," the old man went on. + +"You think not?" + +"Think--think? Well it's plain how you have been brought up. Have +you ever driven a plow?" + +"No." + +"Or tended a kiln, or felled a huge pine?" + +Ingmar sat there looking quite placid, but the table kept crumbling +under his fingers. Finally the old man began to take notice. + +"See here, young man!" he said when he saw what was happening, "I +shall have to take you in hand once more." Then he picked up some +of the splinters of the table and tried to fit them into place. +"You rogue! You ought to be going around to fairs, showing your +tricks for money!" he laughed, and dealing Ingmar a hard whack on +the shoulder, he remarked: "Oh, you'd make a fine school-teacher, +you would!" + +In a twinkling he was back at the fireplace, fiddling away. Now +there was a snap and a go to his performance. He beat time with his +foot and set the dancers whirling. "This is young Ingmar's polka," +he called out. "Hoop-la! Now the whole house must dance for young +Ingmar!" + +Two such pretty girls as Gertrude and Gunhild had to be in every +dance, of course. Ingmar did not do much dancing. He stood talking +most of the time with some of the older men at the farther end of +the room. Between dances the people crowded around him as if it did +them good just to look at him. + +Gertrude thought Ingmar had entirely forgotten her, which made her +quite miserable. "Now he feels that he is the son of Big Ingmar, +and that I am only the school-master's Gertrude," she pouted. It +seemed strange to her that she should take this so to heart. +Between the dances some of the young folks went out for a breath of +air. The night had grown piercingly cold. It was quite dark, and as +no one wanted to go home, they all said: "We'd better wait a little +while; the moon will soon be out. Now it's too dark to start for home." + +Once, when Ingmar and Gertrude happened to be standing outside the +door, the old man came and drew the boy away. "Come, let me show +you something," he said, and taking Ingmar by the hand, he led him +through a thicket a short distance away from the house. "Stand +still now and look down!" he said presently. Then Ingmar found +himself looking down a cleft, at the bottom of which something +white shimmered. "This must be Langfors Rapids," said young Ingmar. + +"Right you are," nodded the old man. "Now what do you suppose a +waterfall like that can be used for, eh?" + +"It might be used to run a mill," said Ingmar thoughtfully. + +The old man laughed to himself. He patted Ingmar on the back, then +gave him a dig in the ribs that almost sent him into the rapids. +"But who's going to put up a mill here? Who's going to get rich, +and who's going to buy the Ingmar Farm, eh?" he chuckled. + +"I'd just like to know," said Ingmar. + +Then the old man began unfolding a big plan he had in mind: Ingmar +was to persuade Tims Halvor to put up a sawmill below the rapids, +and afterward lease it to him. For many years the old man's dream +had been to find a way by which Big Ingmar's son might come into +his own again. Ingmar stood quietly looking down at the foaming +rapids. + +"Come, let's go back to the house and the dancing!" said the old +man, but as Ingmar did not stir he waited patiently. "If he's the +right sort, he won't reply to this today, nor yet to-morrow," he +remarked to himself. "An Ingmarsson has to have time to consider." + +And as they stood there, all at once they heard a sharp and angry +bark that seemed to come from some dog running loose in the forest. + +"Do you hear that, Ingmar?" asked the old man. + +"Yes; that must be a dog on the rampage." + +Then they heard the bark more distinctly; it seemed to be coming +nearer, as if the beast were heading straight for the hut. The old +man seized Ingmar by the wrist. "Come, boy!" he said. "Get into the +house as quick as you can!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Ingmar, astonished. + +"Get in, I tell you!" + +As they made for the hut, the angry barking sounded as if it were +quite close to them. + +"What kind of dog is it?" Ingmar asked, again and again. + +"Get inside, only get inside!" cried the old man, fairly pushing +Ingmar into the narrow passageway. Before closing the outer door he +shouted: "If there are any of you outside, come in at once!" As he +stood holding the door open, people came running from all +directions. "In with you, in with you!" he shrieked at them, and +stamped impatiently. + +Meanwhile the people in the hut were becoming alarmed. They all +wanted to know what was amiss. When the old man had made sure that +everybody was inside, he closed and bolted the door. + +"Are you mad, to be running about when you hear the mountain dog!" +At that moment the barking was heard just outside the hut; it was +as if the mountain dog were chasing round and round the house, +emitting hideous yowls. + +"Isn't it a real dog?" asked a young rustic. + +"You can go out and call to it if you like, Nils Jansson." + +Then all were silent, listening to the howling thing which +continued to go round and round without a stop. It sounded weird +and dreadful. They began to shudder and shake, and some turned as +white as death. No, indeed, this was no ordinary dog; anybody could +tell that! It was doubtless some demon let loose from hell, they +thought. + +The little old man was the only one who moved about. First he +closed the flue, then he went around and snuffed out the candles. + +"No, no!" cried the womenfolk, "don't put out the lights!" + +"You must let me do what is best for all of us," said the old man. + +One of the girls caught hold of his coat. "Is the mountain dog +dangerous?" she asked. + +"No, not he, but what comes after." + +"And what comes after?" + +Again the old man listened. Presently he said: "Now we must all be +very still." + +Instantly there was breathless silence. Once again the terrible +howling seemed to circle the hut, but it grew less distinct as it +went across the marsh and up the mountains on the other side of the +valley. Then came an ominous stillness. Presently some man, who +couldn't hold in any longer, said that the _dog_ was gone. + +Without a word Strong Ingmar raised his hand and dealt the man a +blow across the mouth. + +From far away at the top of Mount Flack came a piercing sound; it +was like a howling wind, but it could also have been a blast from a +horn. Now and again prolonged blare could be heard, then roaring +and tramping and snorting. + +All at once the thing came dashing down from the mountain with an +awful roar. They could tell when it had reached the foot of the +slope; they could tell when it swept the skirt of the forest; and +when it was directly above them. It was like the rolling of thunder +across the face of the earth; it was as if the whole mountain had +come tumbling into the valley. When it seemed to be almost upon +them, every head went down. "It will crush us," they all thought. +"It will surely crush us." + +But what they felt was not so much the fear of death, as terror +lest it might be the prince of darkness himself coming, with all +his demons. What frightened them most were the shrieks and moans +that could be heard above the other noises. There were wails and +groans, laughter and bellowings, whines and hisses. When that which +they had supposed was a big thunderstorm was right upon them, it +seemed to be a mingling of groans and curses, of sobs and angry +cries, of the blast of horns, of crackling fire, of the plaints of +doomed spirits, of the mocking laughter of demons, of the flapping +of huge wings. + +They thought all the furies of the infernal regions had been let +loose that night, and would overwhelm them. The ground trembled, +and the hut swayed as if it were going to topple over. It was as if +wild horses were prancing on the roof; as if howling ghosts rushed +past the door, and as if owls and bats were beating their wings +against the chimney. + +While this was happening, some one put an arm around Gertrude's +waist and drew her to her knees. Then she heard Ingmar whisper: "We +must kneel down, Gertrude, and ask God to help us." + +Only the moment before Gertrude had imagined she was dying, so +terrible was the fear that held her. "I don't mind having to die," +she thought; "the awful part of it is that the powers of evil are +hovering over us." + +But Gertrude had no sooner felt Ingmar's protecting arm around her +than her heart began to beat once more, and the feeling of numbness +in her limbs was gone. She snuggled close to him. She was not +frightened now. How wonderful! Ingmar must have felt afraid also, +yet he was able to impart to her a sense of security and +protection. + +Finally the terrible noises died away; they heard only the faintest +echoes of them in the distance. They seemed to have followed in the +trail of the dog, down through the marsh and up into the mountain +passes beyond Olaf's Peak. + +And yet the silence in Strong Ingmar's but was unbroken. No one +moved, no one spoke; at times it was as if fear had extinguished +all life there. Now and then through the stillness a deep sigh was +heard. No one moved for a long, long time. Some of the people were +standing up against the walls, others had sunk down on the benches, +but most of them were kneeling upon the floor in anxious prayer. +All were motionless, stunned by fear. + +Thus hour after hour passed, and during that time there was many a +one in that room who ransacked his soul and resolved to live a new +life--nearer to God and farther away from His enemies, for each of +those present thought: "It is something that _I_ have done which +has brought this upon us. This has happened because of _my_ sins. I +could hear how the fiends kept calling to me and threatening me, +and shrieking my name, as they rushed by." + +As for Gertrude, her only thought was: "I know now that I can never +live without Ingmar; I must always be near him because of that +feeling of confidence he gives one." + +Then gradually the day began to break, the faint light of dawn came +stealing into the hut, revealing the many blanched faces. The +twitter of a bird was heard, then of another, and another. Strong +Ingmar's cow began to low for her breakfast, and his cat, who never +slept in the house on nights when there was dancing, came to the +door and mewed. But no one inside moved until the sun rolled up +from behind the eastern hills. Then, one by one, they stole out +without a word or even a good-bye. + +Outside the house the departing guests beheld the signs of the +night's devastation. A huge pine, which had stood close to the +gate, had been torn up by the roots and thrown down; branches and +fence posts were littered over the ground; bats and owls had been +crushed against the side walls of the hut. + +Along the broad roadway leading to the top of Mount Klack all the +trees had been blown down. No one could bear to look at this long, +so they all hurried on toward the village. + +It was Sunday, and most people were still in their beds, but a few +persons were already out tending to their cattle. An old man had +just emerged from his house with his Sunday coat, to brush and air +it. From another house came father, mother, and children--all +dressed up for a holiday outing. It was a great relief to see +people quietly going about their business, unconscious of the awful +things that had happened in the forest during the night. + +At last they came to the riverside, where the houses were less +scattered, and then to the village. They were glad to see the old +church and everything else. It was comforting to see that +everything down here looked natural: the sign-board in front of the +shop creaked on its hinges as usual; the post-office horn was in +its regular place; and the inn-keeper's dog lay sleeping, as +always, outside his kennel. It was also a gladsome surprise to them +to see a little bird-berry bush that had blossomed overnight, and +the green seats in the pastor's garden, which must have been put +out late in the evening. All this was decidedly reassuring. But +just the same no one ventured to speak until they had reached their +several homes. + +When Gertrude stood on the steps of the schoolhouse, she said to +Ingmar: "I have danced my last dance, Ingmar." + +"And I, too," Ingmar solemnly declared. + +"And you'll become a clergyman, won't you, Ingmar? And if you can't +become a preacher, you must at least be a teacher. There is so much +evil in the world one has to fight against." + +Ingmar looked straight at Gertrude. "What did those voices say to +you?" he asked. + +"They said that I had been caught in the toils of sin, and that the +devil would come and take me, because I was so fond of dancing." + +"Now I must tell you what I heard," said Ingmar. "It seemed to me +that all the old Ingmarssons were threatening and cursing me +because I wanted to be something more than a peasant, and to do +something besides just tilling the soil and working in the forest." + + + +HELLGUM + +The night of the dance at Strong Ingmar's, Tims Halvor was away +from home, and his wife, Karin, slept alone in the little chamber +off the living-room. In the night Karin had a frightful dream. She +dreamt that Elof was alive and was holding a big revel. She could +hear him in the next room clinking glasses, laughing loudly, and +singing ribald songs. She thought, in the dream, that Elof and his +boon companions were getting noisier and noisier, and at last it +sounded as though they were trying to break up both tables and +chairs. Then Karin became so frightened that she awoke. But even +after she had awakened the noise continued. The earth shook, the +windows rattled, the tiles on the roof were loosened, and the old +pear trees at the gables lashed the house with their stout +branches. It was as if Judgment Day had come. + +Just when the noise was at its height a window pane was sprung, +and the shattered glass fell jingling against the floor. A violent +gust of wind rushed through the room, and then Karin thought she +heard a laugh quite close to her ear--the same kind of laugh that +she had heard in the dream. She fancied she was about to die. Never +had she felt such a sense of terror; her heart stopped, and her +whole body became numb and cold as ice. + +All at once the noise died down, and Karin, as it were, came back +to life. The raw night wind came sweeping into the room; so after a +little Karin decided to get up and stuff something into the broken +window pane. As she stepped out of the bed, her legs gave way, and +she found that she could not walk. She did not cry for help, but +quietly laid down again. "I'll surely be able to walk when I feel +more composed," she thought. In a few moments she made another +attempt. This time, too, her legs failed her, and she fell prone on +the floor beside the bed. + +In the morning, when people were astir in the house, the doctor was +called in. He was at a loss to understand what had come over Karin. +She did not appear to be ill, nor was she paralyzed. He was of the +opinion that her trouble had been brought on by fright. + +"You'll soon be all right again," he assured her. Karin listened to +the doctor, but said nothing. She felt certain that Elof had been +in the room during the night, and that he was the cause of her +trouble. She also had the feeling that she would never recover from +this shock. + +All that morning she sat up in bed, and brooded. She tried to +reason out why God had let this trial come upon her. She examined +her conscience thoroughly, but could not discover that she had +committed any special sin that merited such a terrible punishment. +"God is unjust to me," she thought. + +In the afternoon she was taken to Storm's mission house, where at +that time a lay preacher named Dagson led the meetings. She hoped +that he could tell her why she had been punished in this way. + +Dagson was a popular speaker, and never had he had so many hearers +as on that afternoon. My, but what a gathering of people down at +the mission house! And no one talked of anything but what had +happened in the night at Strong Ingmar's hut. The whole community +was in a state of terror, and had turned out in full force, in +order to hear the Word of God preached with a force that would +annihilate their fears. Hardly a quarter of the people could get +inside; but windows and doors were wide open, and Dagson had such a +powerful voice that he could be heard even by those on the outside. +Of course he knew what had occurred, and what the people wanted to +hear. He opened his address with a terror-striking word picture of +hell and the prince of darkness. He reminded them of the evil one +who skulks about in the dark to capture souls, who lays the snares +of sin and sets the traps of vice. The people shuddered. They +seemed to see a world full of devils, tempting and enticing them to +destruction. Everything was a sin and a danger. They were wandering +among pitfalls, hunted and tormented like the wild beasts of the +forest. When Dagson talked in this strain, his voice pierced the +room like a blasting wind, and his words were like tongues of fire. + +All who heard Dagson's sermon likened it to a roaring torrent of +flame. With all this talk about demons and fire and smoke, they had +the same feeling as when trapped in a burning forest--when the fire +creeps along the moss upon which you are treading, and smoke clouds +fill the air you breathe, and the heat singes your hair, while the +roar of the fire fills your ears, and flying sparks set fire to +your clothing. + +Thus did Dagson drive the people through flame and smoke and +desolation. They had fire in front of them, fire behind them, and +fire to left and right of them, and saw only destruction ahead of +them. Yet, after taking them through all these horrors, he finally +led them to a green spot in the forest, where it was peaceful and +cool and safe. In the centre of a flowery meadow sat Jesus, with +His arms outstretched toward the fleeing and hunted men and women +who cast themselves at His feet. Now all danger was past, and they +suffered no further distress nor persecution. + +Dagson spoke as he himself felt. If he could only lay himself down +at Jesus' feet, a sense of great peace and serenity would come to +him, and he had no more fear of the snares of the world. + +After the service there was great emotional excitement. Many +persons rushed up to the speaker and thanked him, with tears +streaming down their faces. They told him that his words had +awakened them to a true faith in God. But all this time Karin sat +unmoved. When Dagson had finished speaking, she raised her heavy +eyelids and looked up at him, as if reproaching him for not having +given her anything. Just then some one outside cried in a voice +loud enough to be heard by the entire congregation: + +"Woe, woe, woe to those who give stones for bread! Woe, woe, woe to +those who give stones for bread!" + +Whereupon everybody rushed out, curious to see who it was that had +spoken those words, and Karin was left sitting there in her +helplessness. Presently members of her own household came back, and +told her that the person who had cried out like that was a tall, +dark stranger. He and a pretty, fair-haired woman had been seen +coming down the road, in a cart, during the service. They had +stopped to listen, and just as they were about to drive on, the man +had risen up and spoken. Some folks thought they knew the woman. +They said she was one of Strong Ingmar's daughters--one of those +who had gone to America and married there. The man was evidently +her husband. Of course it is not so easy to recognize a person whom +one has known as a young girl in the ordinary peasant costume, when +she comes back a grown woman dressed up in city clothes. + +Karin and the stranger were evidently of the same mind regarding +Dagson. Karin never went to the mission house again. But later in +the summer, when a Baptist layman came to the parish, baptizing and +exhorting, she went to hear him, and when the Salvation Army began +to hold meetings in the village, she also attended one of these. + +The parish was in the throes of a great religious upheaval. At all +the meetings there were awakenings and conversions. The people +seemed to find what they had been seeking. Yet among all those whom +Karin had heard preach, not one could give her any consolation. + +*** + +A blacksmith named Birger Larsson had a smithy close by the +highroad. His shop was small and dark, with a low door, and an +aperture in place of a window. Birger Larsson made common knives, +mended locks, put tires on wheels and on sled runners. When there +was nothing else to be done, he forged nails. + +One evening, in the summer, there was a rush of work at the smithy. +At one anvil stood Birger Larsson flattening the heads of nails; +his eldest son was at another anvil forging iron rods and cutting +off pins. A second son was blowing the bellows, a third carried +coal to the forge, turned the iron, and, when at white heat, +brought it to the smiths. The fourth son, who was not more than +seven years old, gathered up the finished nails and threw them into +a trough filled with water, afterward bunching and tying them. + +While they were all hard at work a stranger came up and stationed +himself in the doorway. He was a tall, swarthy-looking man, and he +had to bend almost double to look in. Birger Larsson glanced up +from his work to see what the man wanted. + +"I hope you don't mind my looking in, although I have no special +errand here," said the stranger. "I was a blacksmith myself in my +younger days, and can never pass by a smithy without first stopping +to glance in at the work." + +Birger Larsson noticed that the man had large, sinewy hands--regular +blacksmith's hands. He at once began to question him as to who he +was and whence he came. The man answered pleasantly, but without +disclosing his identity. Birger thought him clever and likable, +and after showing him around the shop, he went outside with him +and began to brag about his sons. He had seen hard times, he said, +before the boys were big enough to help with the work; but now +that all of them were able to lend a hand, everything went well. +"In a few years I expect to be a rich man," he declared. + +The stranger smiled a little at that and said he was pleased to +hear that Birger's sons were so helpful to him. Placing his heavy +hand on Birger's shoulder, and looking him square in the eyes, he +said: "Since you have had such good aid from your sons in a +material way, I suppose you also let them help you in the things +that pertain to the spirit?" Birger stared stupidly. "I see that +this is a new thought to you," the stranger added. "Ponder it till +we meet again." Then he went on his way smiling, and Birger +Larsson, scratching his head, returned to his work. But the +stranger's query haunted his mind for several days. "I wonder what +made him say that?" he mused. "There must be something back of it +all that I don't understand." + +*** + +The day after the stranger had talked with Birger Larsson an +extraordinary thing took place at Tims Halvor's old shop, which +since his marriage to Karin had been turned over to his +brother-in-law, Bullet Gunner. Gunner was away at the time, and, in +his absence, Brita Ingmarsson tended the shop. Brita was named +after her mother, Big Ingmar's handsome wife, whose good looks she +had inherited. Moreover, she had the distinction of being the +prettiest girl ever born and reared on the Ingmar Farm. Although +she bore no outward resemblance to the old Ingmars, she was, +nevertheless, quite as conscientious and upright as any of them. + +When Gunner was absent Brita always ran the business in her own +way. Whenever old Corporal Felt would come stumbling in, tipsy and +shaky, and ask for a bottle of beer, Brita would give him a blunt +"No," and when poor Kolbjörn's Lena came and wanted to buy a fine +brooch, Brita sent her home with several pounds of rye meal. The +peasant woman who dropped in to buy some light flimsy fabric was +told to go home and weave suitable and durable cloth on her own +loom. And no children dared come into the shop to spend their poor +coppers for candy and raisins when Brita was in charge there. + +That day Brita had not many customers. So for hours and hours she +sat quite alone, staring into vacancy, despair burning in her eyes. +By and by she got up and took out a rope; then she moved a little +stepladder from the shop into the back room. After that she made a +loop in one end of the rope, and fastened the other end to a hook +in the ceiling. Just as she was about to slip her head into the +noose, she happened to look down. + +At that moment the door opened and in walked a tall, dark man. He +had evidently entered the shop without her having heard him, and on +finding no one in attendance, had stepped behind the counter and +opened the door to the next room. + +Brita quietly came down from the ladder. The man did not speak, but +withdrew into the shop, Brita slowly following him. She had never +seen the man before. She noticed that he had black curly hair, +throat whiskers, keen eyes, and big, sinewy hands. He was well +dressed, but his bearing was that of a labourer. After seating +himself on a rickety chair near the door, he began to stare hard at +Brita. + +By that time Brita was again standing behind the counter. She did +not ask him what he wanted; she only wished he would go away. The +man just stared and stared, never once taking his eyes off her. +Brita felt that she was being held by his gaze, and could not move. +Presently she grew impatient, and said, in her mind: "What's the +use of your sitting there watching me? Can't you understand that +I'm going to do what I want to do, anyhow, as soon as I'm left +alone? If this were only something that could be helped," Brita +argued mentally, "I wouldn't mind your hindering me, but it can't +be remedied now." + +All the while the man sat gazing intently at her. + +"Let me say to you that we Ingmars are not fitted to be +shopkeepers," Brita continued in her thoughts. "You don't know +how happy we were, Gunner and I, till he took up with this +business. Folks certainly warned me against marrying him; they +didn't like him, on account of his black hair, his piercing eyes, +and his sharp tongue. But we two were fond of each other, you see, +and there was never a cross word between us till Gunner took over +the shop. But since then all has not been well. I want him to +conduct the business in my way. I can't abide his selling wine and +beer to drunkards, and it seems to me that he ought to encourage +people in buying only such things as are useful and necessary; but +Gunner thinks this a ridiculous notion. Neither of us will give in +to the other, so we are forever wrangling, and now he doesn't care +for me any more." + +She gave the man a savage look, amazed at his not yielding to her +mute entreaties. + +"Surely you must understand that I cannot go on living under the +shame of knowing that he lets the bailiff serve executions upon +poor people and take from them their only cow or a couple of sheep! +Can't you see that this thing will never come right? Why don't you +go, and let me put an end to it all!" + +Brita, under the man's gaze, gradually became quieter in her mind, +and in a little while she began to cry softly. She was touched by +his sitting there and protecting her against herself. + +As soon as the man saw that Brita was weeping, he rose and went +toward the door. When he was on the doorstep, he turned and again +looked straight into her eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Do +thyself no harm, for the time is nearing when thou shalt live in +righteousness." + +Then he went his way. She could hear his heavy footsteps as he +walked, down the road. Brita ran into the little room, took down +the rope, and carried the stepladder back into the shop. Then she +dropped down on a box, where she sat quietly musing for two full +hours. She felt, somehow, that for a long time she had wandered in +a darkness so thick that she could not see her hand before her. She +had lost her way and knew not whither she had strayed, and with +every step she had been afraid of sinking into a quagmire or +stumbling headlong into an abyss. Now some one had called to her +not to go any farther, but to sit down and wait for the break of +day. She was glad that she would not have to continue her perilous +wanderings; now she sat quietly waiting for the dawn. + +*** + +Strong Ingmar had a daughter who was called Anna Lisa. She had +lived in Chicago for a number of years, and had married there a +Swede named John Hellgum, who was the leader of a little band of +religionists with a faith and doctrine of their own. The day after +the memorable dance night at Strong Ingmar's, Anna Lisa and her +husband had come home to pay a visit to her old father. + +Hellgum passed his time taking long walks about the parish. He +struck up an acquaintance with all whom he met on the way. He +talked with them at first of commonplace things; but just before +parting with a person, he would always place his large hand upon +his or her shoulder, and speak a few words of comfort or warning. + +Strong Ingmar saw very little of his son-in-law, for that summer +the old man and young Ingmar, who had now gone back to the Ingmar +Farm to live, were hard at work daytimes putting up a sawmill below +the rapids. It was a proud day for Strong Ingmar when the sawmill +was ready and the first log had been turned into white planks by +the buzzing saws. + +One evening on his way home from work, the old man met Anna Lisa on +the road. She looked frightened, and wanted to run away. Strong +Ingmar, seeing this, quickened his pace, thinking all was not well +at home. When he reached his but he stopped short, frowning. As far +back as he could remember, a certain rosebush had been growing +outside the door. It had been the apple of his eye. He had never +allowed any one to pluck a rose or a leaf from that bush. Strong +Ingmar had always guarded the bush very tenderly, because he +believed it sheltered elves and fairies. But now it had been cut +down. Of course it was his son-in-law, the preacher, who had done +this, as the sight of the bush had always been an eyesore to him. + +Strong Ingmar had his axe with him, and his grip on the handle +tightened as he entered the hut. Inside sat Hellgum with an open +Bible before him. He raised his eyes and gave the old man a +piercing look, then went on with his reading; this time aloud: + +"Even as ye think, we will be as the heathen, as the families of +the countries, to serve wood and stone, it shall not be at all as +ye think. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, +and with stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule +over you--" + +Without a word Strong Ingmar turned and walked out of the house. +That night he slept in the barn. The following day he and Ingmar +Ingmarsson set out for the forest to burn charcoal and fell timber. +They were to be gone the whole winter. + +On two or three occasions Hellgum had spoken at prayer meetings and +outlined his teaching, which he maintained was the only true +Christianity. But Hellgum, who was not as eloquent a speaker as +Dagson, had made no converts. Those who had met him outside and had +only heard him say a few telling words, expected great things from +him; but when he tried to deliver a lengthy address he became +heavy, prosy, and tiresome. + +*** + +Toward the close of summer Karin became utterly despondent over her +condition. She rarely spoke. All day long she sat motionless in her +chair. She went to hear no more preachers, but stayed at home, +brooding over her misfortune. Once in a while she would repeat to +Halvor her father's old saying about the Ingmars not having +anything to fear so long as they walked in the ways of God. Now she +had come to the conclusion that there was no truth even in that. + +Halvor, not knowing what to do, on one occasion suggested that she +talk with the newest preacher, but Karin declared that she would +never again look to a parson for help. + +One Sunday, toward the end of August, Karin sat at the window in +the living-room. A Sabbath stillness rested over the farm, and she +could hardly keep awake. Her head kept sinking nearer and nearer +her breast, and presently she dropped into a doze. + +She was suddenly awakened by the sound of a voice just outside her +window. She could not see who the speaker was, but the voice was +strong and deep. A more beautiful voice she had never heard. + +"I know, Halvor, that it doesn't seem reasonable to you that a +poor, uneducated blacksmith should have found the truth, when so +many learned men have failed," said the voice. + +"I don't see how you can be so sure of that," Halvor questioned. + +"It's Hellgum talking to Halvor," thought Karin, trying to close +the window, which she was unable to reach. + +"It has been said, as you know," Hellgum went on, "that if somebody +strikes us on one cheek we must turn the other cheek also, and that +we should not resist evil, and other things of the same sort; all +of which none of us can live up to. Why, people would rob you of +your house and home, they'd steal your potatoes and carry off your +grain, if you failed to protect what was yours. I guess they'd take +the whole Ingmar Farm from you." + +"Maybe you're right," Halvor admitted. + +"Well, then, I suppose Christ didn't mean anything when He said all +that; He was just talking into the air, eh?" + +"I don't know what you're driving at!" said Halvor. + +"Now here's something to set you thinking," Hellgum continued. "We +are supposed to be very far advanced in our Christianity. There's +no one nowadays who steals, no one who commits murder or wrongs the +widow and the fatherless, and of course no one hates or persecutes +his neighbour any more, and it wouldn't occur to any of us, who +have such a good religion, to do any wrong!" + +"There are many things that aren't just as they ought to be," +drawled Halvor. He sounded sleepy, and anything but interested. + +"Now if you had a threshing machine that wouldn't work, you'd find +out what was wrong with it. You wouldn't give yourself any rest +till you had discovered wherein it was faulty. But when you see +that it is simply impossible to get people to lead a Christian +life, shouldn't you try to find out whether there is anything the +matter with Christianity itself?" + +"I can't believe there are any flaws in the teachings of Jesus," +said Halvor. + +"No, they were unquestionably sound from the start; but it may be +that they have become a little rusty, as it were, from neglect. In +any perfect mechanism, if a cog happens to slip--only one tiny +little cog--instantly the whole machinery stops!" + +He paused a moment as if searching for words and proofs. + +"Now let me tell you what happened to me a few years ago," he +resumed. "I then tried for the first time in my life to really live +by the teachings. Do you know what the result was? I was at that +time working in a factory. When my fellow-workmen found out what +manner of man I was, they let me do a good share of their work in +addition to my own. In thanks they took the job away from me by +conniving to throw the blame on me for a theft committed by one of +them. I was arrested, of course, and sent to the penitentiary." + +"One doesn't ordinarily run across such bad people," returned +Halvor indifferently. + +"Then said I to myself: It wouldn't be very hard to be a Christian +if one were only alone on this earth, and there were no fellow +humans to be reckoned with. I must confess that I really enjoyed +being in prison, for there I was allowed to lead a righteous life, +undisturbed and unmolested. But after a time I began to think that +this trying to be good in solitude was about as effective as the +automatic turning of a mill when there's no corn in the grinder. +Inasmuch as God had seen fit to place so many people in the world," +I reasoned, "it must have been done with the idea that they should +be a help and a comfort to one another, and not a menace. It +occurred tome, finally, that Satan must have taken something away +from the Bible, so that Christianity should go to smash." + +"But surely he never had the power to do that," said Halvor. + +"Yes; he has taken out this precept: _Ye who would lead a Christian +life must seek help among your fellowmen_." + +Halvor did not venture a reply, but Karin nodded approvingly. She +had listened very carefully, and had not missed a word. + +"As soon as I was released from prison," Hellgum continued, "I went +to see an old friend, and asked him to help me lead a righteous +life. And, mind, when we were two about it, at once it became +easier. Soon a third party joined with us, then a fourth, and it +became easier and easier. Now there are thirty of us who live +together in a house in Chicago. All our interests are common +interests; we share and share alike. We watch over each other's +lives, and the way of righteousness lies before us, smooth and +even. We are able to deal with one another in a Christly manner, +for one brother does not abuse the kindness of another, nor trample +him down in his humility." + +As Halvor remained silent, Hellgum spoke on convincingly: "You +know, of course, that he who wishes to do something big always +allies himself with others who help him. Now you couldn't run this +farm by yourself. If you wanted to start a factory, you'd have to +organize a company to coöperate with you, and if you wanted to +build a railway, just think how many helpers you'd have to take on! + +"But the most difficult work in the world is to live a Christian +life; yet that you would accomplish single-handed and without the +support of others. Or maybe you don't even try to do so, since you +know beforehand that it can't be done. But we--I and those who have +joined me back there in Chicago--have found a way. Our little +community is in truth the New Jerusalem come down from Heaven. You +may know it by these signs: the gifts of the Spirit which descended +upon the early Christians, have also fallen upon us. There are some +among us who hear the Voice of God, others who prophesy, and +others, again, who heal the sick--" + +"Can you heal the sick?" Halvor broke in eagerly. + +"Yes," answered Hellgum. "I can heal those who have faith in me." + +"It's rather hard to believe something different from what one was +taught as a child," said Halvor thoughtfully. + +"Nevertheless, I feel certain, Halvor, that very soon you will give +your full support to the upbuilding of the New Jerusalem," Hellgum +declared. + +Then came a moment of silence, after which Karin heard Hellgum say +good-bye. + +Presently Halvor went into the house. On seeing Karin seated by the +open window, he remarked: "You must have heard all that Hellgum +said." + +"Yes," she replied. + +"Did you hear him say that he could heal any one who had faith in +him?" + +Karin reddened a little. She had liked what Hellgum said better +than anything she had heard that summer. There was something sound +and practical about his teaching which appealed to her common +sense. Here were works and service and no mere emotionalism, which +meant nothing to her. However, she would not admit this, for she +had made up her mind to have no further dealings with preachers. So +she said to Halvor: "My father's faith is good enough for me." + +*** + +A fortnight later Karin was again seated in the living-room. Autumn +had just set in; the wind howled round the house and a fire +crackled on the hearth. There was nobody in the room but herself +and her baby daughter, who was almost a year old and had just +learned to walk. The child was sitting on the floor at her mother's +feet, playing. + +As Karin sat watching the child, the door opened, and in came a +tall, dark man, with keen eyes and large sinewy hands. Before Karin +had heard him say a word, she guessed that it was Hellgum. + +After passing the time of day, the man asked after Halvor. He +learned that Karin's husband had gone to a town meeting, and was +expected home shortly. Hellgum sat down. Now and then he +glanced over at Karin, and after a little he said: + +"I've been told that you are ill." + +"I have not been able to walk for the past six months," Karin +replied. + +"I have been thinking of coming here to pray for you," volunteered +the preacher. + +Karin closed her eyes and retired within herself. + +"You have perhaps heard that by the Grace of God I am able to +heal the sick?" + +The woman opened her eyes and sent him a look of distrust. "I'm +much obliged to you for thinking of me," she said, "but it isn't +likely that you can help me, as I'm not the kind that changes faith +easily." + +"Possibly God will help you, anyhow, since you have always tried to +live an upright life." + +"I'm afraid I don't stand well enough in the sight of God to expect +help from Him in this matter." + +In a little while Hellgum asked her if she had looked within to get +at the cause of this affliction. "Has Mother Karin ever asked +herself why this affliction has been visited upon her?" + +Karin made no reply; again she seemed to retire within herself. + +"Something tells me that God has done this that His Name might be +glorified," said Hellgum. + +At that Karin grew angry and two bright red spots appeared in her +cheeks. She thought it very presumptuous in Hellgum to think this +illness had come upon her simply to give him an opportunity to +perform a miracle. + +Presently the preacher got up and went over to Karin. Placing his +heavy hand on her head, he asked: "Do you want me to pray for you?" + +Karin immediately felt a current of life and health shoot through +her body, but she was so offended at the man for his obtrusiveness +that she pushed away his hand and raised her own as if to strike +him. Her indignation was beyond words. + +Hellgum withdrew toward the door. "One should not reject the help +which God sends, but accept it thankfully." + +"That's true," Karin returned. "Whatever God sends one is obliged +to accept." + +"Mark well what I say to you! This day shall salvation come unto +this house," the man proclaimed. + +Karin did not answer. + +"Think of me when you receive the help!" he said. The next instant +he was gone. + +Karin sat bolt upright in her chair, the red spots still burning in +her cheeks. "Am I to have no peace even in my own house?" she +muttered. "It's singular how many there are nowadays who think +themselves sent of God." + +Suddenly Karin's little girl got up and toddled toward the +fireplace. The bright blaze had attracted the child, who, shrieking +with delight, was making for it as fast as her tiny feet could +carry her. + +Karin called to her to come back, but the child paid no heed to +her; at that moment she was trying to clamber up into the +fireplace. After tumbling down a couple of times, she finally +managed to get upon the hearth, where the fire blazed. + +"God help me! God help me!" cried Karin. Then she began to shout +for help, although she knew there was no one near. + +The little girl bent laughingly over the fire. Suddenly a burning +ember rolled out and fell on her little yellow frock. Instantly +Karin sprang to her feet, rushed over to the fireplace, and +snatched the child in her arms. Not until she had brushed away all +the sparks from the child's dress, and had made sure that her baby +was unharmed, did she realize what had happened to herself. She was +actually on her feet; she had been walking again, and would always +be able to walk! + +Karin experienced the greatest mental shake-up she had ever felt in +her life, and at the same time the greatest sense of happiness. She +had the feeling that she was under God's special care and +protection, and that God Himself had sent a holy man to her house +to strengthen her and to heal her. + +*** + +That autumn Hellgum often stood on the little porch of Strong +Ingmar's cottage, looking out across the landscape. The country +round about was growing more beautiful every day: the ground was +now a golden brown, and all the leafy trees had turned either a +bright red or a bright yellow. Here and there loomed stretches of +woodland that shimmered in the breeze like a billowy sea of gold. +Against the shadowy background of the fir-clad hills could be seen +splashes of yellow; they were the leaf trees that had strayed in +among the pines and spruces and taken root there. + +As an humble gray hut, when ablaze, gives out light and brilliancy, +thus did this humble Swedish landscape flame into a marvel of +splendour. Everything was so wondrously golden, exactly as one +might imagine that a landscape on the surface of the sun would +look. + +Hellgum was thinking, as he viewed this scene, that a time was +coming when God would let the land reflect the brightness of His +Glory, and when the seeds of Truth which had been sawn during the +summer would yield golden harvests of righteousness. + +Then, to and behold, one evening Tims Halvor came over to the croft +and invited Hellgum and his wife to come with him to the Ingmar +Farm! + +On arriving they found everything in holiday order; around the +house all the old dry birch leaves had been cleared away; farm +implements and carts, which at other times were scattered about the +yard, had now been put out of sight. + +"They must be having a number of visitors here," thought Anna Lisa. +Just then Halvor opened the front door, and they stepped inside. + +The living-room was full of people who were seated upon benches all +along the walls, solemnly expectant. Hellgum noticed that they were +the leading people of the parish. The first persons he recognized +were Ljung Björn Olofsson and his wife, Martha Ingmarsson; also +Bullet Gunner and his wife. Then he saw Krister Larsson and Israel +Tomasson with their wives, all of whom were members of the Ingmar +family. Presently he saw Hök Matts Ericsson and his son Gabriel, +the councillor's daughter Gunhild, and several persons besides. +Altogether there were about twenty people present. + +When Hellgum and Anna Lisa had gone round and shaken hands with +every one, Tims Halvor said: + +"We who are assembled here have been thinking over the things +Hellgum has said to us during the summer. Most of us belong to an +old family whose wish it has ever been to walk in the ways of God. +If Hellgum can help us do this, we are ready to follow him." + +The next day the news spread like wildfire throughout the parish +that a new religious sect had sprung up on the Ingmar Farm, which +was supposed to embody the only correct and true principles of +Christianity. + + + +THE NEW WAY + +In the spring, soon after the snow had disappeared, young Ingmar +and Strong Ingmar returned to the village to start the sawmill. +They had been up in the forest the whole winter cutting timber and +making charcoal. And when Ingmar got back to the lowlands he fell +like a bear that had just crawled out from its lair. He could +hardly accustom himself to the glaring sunlight of an open sky, and +blinked as if the light hurt him. The roaring of the rapids and the +sound of human voices seemed almost intolerable to him, and all the +noises on the farm were a veritable torture to his ears. At the +same time he was glad; heaven knows he did not show it, either in +speech or manner, but that spring he felt as young as the fresh +shoots on the birches. + +Oh, but it seemed good to him to sleep once more in a comfortable +bed, and to eat properly cooked food! And then to be at home with +Karin, who looked after his comfort as tenderly as a mother! She +had ordered new clothes for him; and she had a way of coming in +from the kitchen and handing him some dainty or other, as if he +were still a little boy. And what wonderful things had happened at +home while he was up in the forest! Ingmar had heard only a few +vague rumours about Hellgum's teachings; but now Karin and Halvor +told him of the great happiness that had come to them, and of how +they and their friends were trying to help one another to walk in +the ways of God. + +"We are sure you will want to join us," said Karin. + +Ingmar replied that maybe he would, but that he must think it over +first. + +"All winter I longed for you to come home and share our bliss," the +sister went on, "for now we no longer live upon earth, but in 'The +New Jerusalem which is come down from Heaven!'" + +Ingmar said he was glad to hear that Hellgum was still in the +neighbourhood. The summer before the preacher had often dropped in +at the mill to chat with Ingmar, and the two had become good +friends. Ingmar thought him the finest chap he had ever met. Never +had he come across any one who was so much of a man, so firm in his +convictions, and so sure of himself. Sometimes, when there had been +a great rush of work at the mill, Hellgum had pulled off his coat +and given them a lift. Ingmar had been amazed at the man's +cleverness; he had never seen any one who was so quick at his work. +Just then Hellgum happened to be away for a few days, but was +Expected back shortly. + +"Once you've talked with Hellgum, I think that you will join us," +Karin said. Ingmar thought so, too, although he felt a little +reluctant about accepting anything which had not been approved by +his father. + +"But wasn't it father himself who taught us that we must always +walk in the ways of God?" argued Karin. + +Everything seemed to be so bright and so promising! Ingmar had +never dreamed that it would be so delightful to get back among +people once more. There was only one thing wanting: no one ever +spoke of the schoolmaster and his wife, or of Gertrude, which was +most disquieting to him. He had not seen Gertrude for a whole year. +In the summer he had never been without news of her; for then +hardly a day went by that some one did not speak of the Storms. He +thought that perhaps this silence regarding his old friends was +accidental. When one feels timid about asking questions, and when +no one voluntarily speaks of that which one longs above everything +to hear about, it is mighty provoking, to say the least. + +But if young Ingmar seemed to be happy and content, the same could +not be said of Strong Ingmar. The old man had of late become sullen +and taciturn and difficult to get on with. + +"I believe you are homesick for the forest," Ingmar said to him one +afternoon as they sat on separate logs eating their sandwiches. + +"God knows I am!" the old man burst forth. "I only wish I had never +come back at all!" + +"Why, what's gone wrong at home?" + +"How can you ask! You must know as well as I that Hellgum has been +raising the deuce around here." + +Ingmar answered that, on the contrary, he had heard that Hellgum +had become a big man. + +"Yes, he has grown so big and strong that he's been able to upset +the whole parish," Strong Ingmar sneered. + +It seemed strange to Ingmar that the old man never evinced a +particle of affection for any of his own kin. He cared for nobody +and for nothing save the Ingmarssons and the Ingmar Farm. Therefore +Ingmar felt that he must stand up for the son-in-law. + +"I think his doctrine a good one," he said. + +"Oh, you do, do you?" snapped the old man; and he gave him a +withering look. "Do you think Big Ingmar would have thought so?" + +Ingmar replied that his father would have upheld any one who worked +for righteousness. + +"It's your belief, then, that Big Ingmar would have approved of +calling all persons who do not belong to Hellgum's band devils and +anti-Christs, and that he would have refused to associate with his +old friends because they held to their old faith?" + +"I hardly think that such people as Hellgum and Halvor and Karin +would behave in that way," said Ingmar. + +"Just you try to oppose them once, and you'll soon hear what they +think of you!" + +Ingmar cut off a big corner of his sandwich and stuffed his mouth +full, so he would not have to talk. It irritated him to see Strong +Ingmar in such bad humour. + +"Heigho, hum! It's a queer world," sighed the old man. "Here you +sit, the son of Big Ingmar, with nothing to say, while my Anna Lisa +and her husband are living on the fat of your land. The best people +in the parish bow and scrape to them, and every day they're being +fêted, here, there, and everywhere." + +Ingmar kept on munching and swallowing. There was nothing he could +say. Strong Ingmar, however, went at him again. + +"Yes, it's a fine doctrine that Hellgum is spreading! That's why +half the parish has gone over to him. No one has ever had such +absolute influence over the people, not even Strong Ingmar himself. +He separates children from their parents by preaching that those +who are of his fold must not live among sinners. Hellgum need only +beckon, and brother leaves brother, friend leaves friend, and the +lover deserts his betrothed. He has used his power to create strife +and dissension in every household. Of course, Big Ingmar would have +been pleased to death with that sort of thing! Doubtless he would +have backed Hellgum up in all this! I can just picture him doing +it!" + +Ingmar looked up and down; he wanted to get away. He knew, to be +sure, that the old man had been drawing heavily on his imagination, +but all the same this talk depressed him. + +"I don't deny that Hellgum has done wonders," he modified. "The way +in which he manages to hold his people together, and the way he can +get those who formerly would have nothing to do with each other to +live on friendly terms, is certainly remarkable. And look how he +takes from the rich to give to the poor, and how he makes each +person protect the other's welfare. I'm only sorry for those on the +outside, who are called children of the devil and are not allowed +in the game. But, of course, you don't feel that way." + +Ingmar was thoroughly put out with the old man for speaking so +disparagingly of Hellgum. + +"There used to be such peace and harmony in this parish!" the old +man rattled on. "But that's all past and gone. In Big Ingmar's time +we lived in such unity that we had the name of being the friendliest +people in all Dalecarlia. Now there are angels bucking against +devils, and sheep against goats." + +"If we could only get the saws going," thought Ingmar, "I wouldn't +have to hear any more of this talk!" + +"It won't be long either till it's all over between you and me," +Strong Ingmar continued. "For if you join Hellgum's _angels_ it +isn't likely that they will let you associate with me." + +With an oath Ingmar jumped to his feet. "If you go on talking in +this strain it may turn out just as you say," he warned. "You may +as well understand, once for all, that it is of no use your trying +to turn me against my own people, or against Hellgum, who is the +grandest man I know." + +That silenced the old man. In a little while he left his work, +saying that he was going down to the village to see his friend +Corporal Felt. He had not talked with a sensible person for a long +time, he declared. + +Ingmar was glad to have him go. Naturally, when a person has been +away from home for a long time he does not care to be told +unpleasant things, but wants every one around him to be bright and +cheerful. + +At five the next morning Ingmar got down to the mill, but Strong +Ingmar was there ahead of him. + +"To-day you can see Hellgum," the old man began. "He and Anna Lisa +got back late last night. I think they must have hurried home from +their round of feasts in order to convert you." + +"So you're at it again!" scowled Ingmar. The old man's words had +been ringing in his ears all night, and he could not help wondering +who was in the right. But now he did not want to listen to any more +talk against his relatives. The old man held his peace for a time; +presently he began to chuckle. + +"What are you laughing at?" Ingmar demanded, his hand on the sluice +gate ready to set the sawmill going. + +"I was just thinking of the schoolmaster's Gertrude." + +"What about her?" + +"They said down at the village yesterday that she was the only +person who had any influence over Hellgum--" + +"What's Gertrude got to do with Hellgum?" + +Ingmar, meanwhile, had not opened the sluice gate, for with the +saws going he could not have heard a word. The old man eyed him +questioningly. Ingmar smiled a little. "You always manage somehow +to have your own way," he said. + +"It was that silly goose, Gunhild, Councillor Clementsson's +daughter, who--" + +"She's no silly goose!" Ingmar broke in. + +"Oh, call it anything you like, but she happened to be at the +Ingmar Farm when this new sect was founded. As soon as she got +home, she informed her parents that she had accepted the only true +faith, and that she would there fore have to leave them and make +her home at the Ingmar Farm. Her parents asked her, of course, why +she wanted to leave home. So she'd be able to lead a righteous +life, she up and told them. But they seemed to think that could be +done just as effectively at home with them. Oh, no, that wouldn't +be possible, she declared, unless one could live with those who +were of the same faith. Her father then asked her if all of them +were going to live on the Ingmar Farm. No, only herself; the others +had true Christians in their own homes. Now Clementsson is a pretty +good sort, as you know, and both he and his wife tried to reason +with Gunhild in all kindness, but she stood firm. At last her +father became so exasperated that he just took her and locked her +up in her room, telling her she'd have to stay there till this +crazy fit had passed." + +"I thought you were going to tell me about Gertrude," Ingmar +reminded him. + +"I'll get round to her by and by, if you'll only have patience. I +may as well tell you at once that early the next morning, while +Gertrude and Mother Stina were sitting in the kitchen spinning, +Mrs. Clementsson called to see them. When they saw her they became +alarmed. She, who was usually so happy and light of heart, now +looked as if she'd been crying her eyes out. 'What's the matter? +What has happened? And why do you look so forlorn?' they asked. +Then Mother Clementsson answered that when one has lost one's +dearest treasure, one can't very well look cheerful. I'd like to +give them a good beating!" said the old man. + +"Who?" asked Ingmar. + +"Why, Hellgum and Anna Lisa. They marched themselves down to +Clementsson's in the night and kidnapped Gunhild." + +A cry of amazement escaped Ingmar. + +"I'm beginning to think my Anna Lisa is married to a brigand!" said +the old man. "In the middle of the night they came and tapped on +Gunhild's window, and asked her why she wasn't at the Ingmar Farm. +She told them about her parents having locked her in. "'Twas Satan +who made 'em do it,' said Hellgum. All this her father and mother +overheard." + +"Did they really?" + +"Yes, they slept in the next room, and the door between was partly +open; so they heard all that Hellgum said to entice their daughter." + +"But they could have sent him away." + +"They felt that Gunhild should decide for herself. How could they +think she would want to leave them, after all they had done for +her? They lay there expecting her to say that she would never +desert her old parents." + +"Did she go?" + +"Yes, Hellgum wouldn't budge till the girl went along with them. +When Clementsson and his wife realized that she couldn't resist +Hellgum, they let her go. Some folks are like that, you see. In the +morning the mother regretted it, and begged the father to drive +down to the Ingmar Farm and get their daughter. 'No indeed!' he +said, 'I'll do nothing of the sort, and what's more, I never want +to set eyes on her again unless she comes home of her own accord.' +Then Mrs. Clementsson hurried down to the school to see if Gertrude +wouldn't go and talk to Gunhild." + +"Did Gertrude go?" + +"Yes; she tried to reason with Gunhild, but Gunhild wouldn't +listen." + +"I have not seen Gunhild at our house," said Ingmar thoughtfully. + +"No, for now she is back with her parents. It seems that when +Gertrude left Gunhild she met Hellgum. 'There stands the one who is +to blame for all this,' she thought, and then she went straight up +to him, and gave him a tongue lashing. She wouldn't have minded +striking him." + +"Oh, Gertrude can talk all right," said Ingmar approvingly. + +"She told Hellgum that he had behaved like a heathen warrior and +not as a Christian preacher, in skulking about like that in the +night and abducting a young girl." + +"What did Hellgum say to that?" + +"He stood quietly listening for a while; then he said as meek as +you please that she was right, he had acted in haste. And in the +afternoon he took Gunhild back to her parents and made everything +right again." + +Ingmar glanced up at the old man with a smile. "Gertrude is +splendid," he said, "and Hellgum is a fine fellow, even if he is a +little eccentric." + +"So that's the way you take it, eh? I thought you would wonder why +Hellgum had given in like that to Gertrude." + +Ingmar did not reply to this. + +After a moment's reflection the old man began again. "There are +many in the village who want to know on which side you stand." + +"I don't see as it matters which party I belong to." + +"Let me remind you of one thing," said the old man: "In this parish +we are accustomed to having somebody that we can look up to as a +leader. But now that Big Ingmar is gone, and the schoolmaster has +lost his power over the people, while the pastor, as you know, was +never any good at ruling, they run after Hellgum, and they're going +to follow him just as long as you choose to remain in the +background." + +Ingmar's hands dropped; he looked quite worn out. "But I don't know +who is in the right," he protested. + +"The people are looking to you for deliverance from Hellgum. You +may be sure that we were spared a lot of unpleasantness by being +away from home all winter. It must have been something dreadful in +the beginning, before people had got used to this converting craze +and to being called devils and hellhounds. But the worst of all was +when the converted children started in to preach!" + +"You don't mean to tell me that even the children preached," said +Ingmar doubtingly. + +"Oh, yes!" the old man returned. "Hellgum told them that they +should serve the Lord instead of playing, so they started in to +convert their elders. They lay in ambush along the roadside, and +pounced upon innocent passers-by with such ravings as these: +'Aren't you going to begin the fight against the devil? Shall you +continue to live in sin?'" + +Young Ingmar did not want to believe what Strong Ingmar was +recounting. "Old man Felt must have put all that into your head," +he concluded. + +"By the way, this was what I wanted to tell you," said Strong +Ingmar: "Felt is done for, too! When I think that all this mischief +has been hatched on the Ingmar Farm, I feel ashamed to look people +in the face." + +"Have they wronged Felt in any way?" asked Ingmar. + +"It was the work of those youngsters, drat them! One evening, when +they had nothing else to do, they took it into their heads to go +and convert Felt, for of course they had heard that he was a great +sinner." + +"But in the old days all the children were as afraid of Felt as +they were of witches and trolls," Ingmar reminded. + +"Oh, these youngsters were scared, too, but they must have had +their hearts set upon doing something very heroic. So one evening, +as Felt sat stirring his evening porridge, they stormed his cabin. +When they opened the door and saw the old Corporal, with his +bristling moustaches, his broken nose, and his game eye, sitting +before the fire, they were terribly frightened, and two of the +littlest ones ran away. The dozen or so that went in knelt in a +circle around the old man, and began to sing and pray." + +"And didn't he drive them out?" asked Ingmar. + +"If only he had!" sighed the old man. "I don't know what had come +over the Corporal. The poor wretch must have been sitting there +brooding over the loneliness and desolation of his old age. And +then I suppose it was because those who had come to him were +children. The fact that children had always been afraid of him must +have been a source of grief to the old man; and when he saw all +those baby faces, with their upturned eyes filled with shining +tears, he was powerless. The children were only waiting for him to +rush at them and strike them. Although they kept right on singing +and praying, they were ready to cut and run the instant he made a +move. Presently a pair of them noticed that Felt's face was +beginning to twitch. 'Now he'll go for us,' they thought, getting +up to flee. But the old man blinked his one good eye, and a tear +rolled down his cheek. 'Hallelujah!' the youngsters shouted, and +now, as I've already told you, it's all up with Felt. Now he does +nothing but run about to meetings, and fasts and prays, and fancies +he hears the voice of God." + +"I don't see anything hurtful in all that," said Ingmar. "Felt was +killing himself with drink when the Hellgumists took him into +camp." + +"Well, you've got so many friends to lose that a little thing like +this wouldn't matter to you. No doubt you would have liked it if +the children had succeeded in converting the schoolmaster." + +"I can't imagine those poor little kids trying to tackle Storm!" +Ingmar was dumfounded. What Strong Ingmar had said about the parish +being turned upside down must be true after all, he thought. + +"But they did, though," Strong Ingmar replied. "One evening, as +Storm was sitting in the classroom writing, a score of them came +in and began preaching to him." + +"And what did Storm do?" asked Ingmar, unable to keep from laughing. + +"He was so astounded at first that he couldn't say or do a thing. +But, as luck would have it, Hellgum had arrived a few moments +before and was in the kitchen talking with Gertrude." + +"Was Hellgum with Gertrude?" + +"Yes; Hellgum and Gertrude have been friends ever since the day +that he acted upon her advice in the little matter with Gunhild. +When Gertrude heard the racket in the schoolroom, she said: 'You're +just in time to see something new, Hellgum. It would seem that +henceforth the children are to instruct the schoolmaster.' Then +Hellgum laughed, for he comprehended that this sort of thing was +ludicrous. He promptly drove the children out, and abolished the +nuisance." + +Ingmar noticed that the old man was eying him in a peculiar way; +it was as if a hunter were looking at a wounded bear and wondering +whether he should give it another shot. + +"I don't know what you expect of me," said Ingmar. + +"What could I expect of you, who are only a boy! Why, you haven't a +penny to your name. All you've got in the world are your two empty +hands." + +"I verily believe you want me to throttle Hellgum!" + +"They said down at the village that this would soon blow over if +you could only induce Hellgum to leave these parts." + +"Whenever a new religious sect springs up there's always strife and +dissension," said Ingmar. "So this is nothing out of the common." + +"All the same, this will be a good way for you to show people what +sort of stuff you're made of," the old man persisted. + +Ingmar turned away and set the saws going. He would have liked +above everything to ask how Gertrude was getting along, and whether +she had already joined the Hellgumists; but he was too proud to +betray his fears. + +At eight o'clock he went home to his breakfast. As usual, the table +was heaped with tempting dishes, and both Halvor and Karin were +especially nice to him. Seeing them so kind and gentle, he could +not believe a word of Strong Ingmar's chatter. He felt light of +heart once more, and positive that the old man had exaggerated. In +a little while his anxiety about Gertrude returned, with a force so +overwhelming that it took away his appetite, and he could not touch +his food. Suddenly he turned to Karin and said abruptly: + +"Have you seen anything of the Storms lately?" + +"No!" replied Karin stiffly. "I don't care to associate with such +ungodly people." + +Here was an answer that set Ingmar thinking. He wondered whether he +had better speak or be silent. If he were to speak it might end in +a break with his family; at the same time he did not want them to +think that he up held them in matters that were altogether wrong. +"I have never seen any signs of ungodliness about the schoolmaster's +folks," he retorted. "And yet I have lived with them for four +years." + +The very thought that had occurred to Ingmar the moment before, now +came to Karin. She, too, wondered whether she should or should not +speak. But she felt that she would have to hold to the truth, even +if it hurt Ingmar; therefore she said that if people would not +hearken to the voice of God, one could not help but think them +ungodly. + +Then Halvor joined in. "The question of the children is a vital +one," he said. "They should be given the right kind of training." + +"Storm has trained the entire parish, and you, too, Halvor," Ingmar +reminded him. + +"But he has not taught us how to live rightly," said Karin. + +"It seems to me that you have always tried to do that, Karin." + +"Let me tell you how it was to live by the old teaching. It was +like trying to walk upon a round beam: one minute you were up, the +next you were down. But when I let my fellow-Christians take me by +the hand and support me, I can tread the straight and narrow path +of Righteousness without stumbling." + +"I dare say," Ingmar smiled; "but that's too easy." + +"Even so, it's quite difficult enough, but no longer impossible." + +"But what about the Storms?" + +"Those who belong with us took their children out of the school. +You see we didn't want the children to absorb any of the old +teaching." + +"What did the schoolmaster say to that?" + +"He said it was against the law to take children away from school, +and promptly sent a constable over to Israel Tomasson's and Krister +Larsson's to fetch their children." + +"And now you are not on friendly terms with the Storms?" + +"We simply keep to ourselves." + +"You seem to be at odds with every one." + +"We only keep away from those who would tempt us to sin." + +As the three went on talking, they lowered their voices. They were +all very fearful of every word they let drop, for they felt that +the conversation had taken a painful turn. + +"But I can give you greetings from Gertrude," said Karin, trying to +assume a more cheerful tone. "Hellgum had many talks with her last +winter; he says that she expects to join us this evening." + +Ingmar's lips began to quiver. It was as if he had been going about +blindfolded all day, expecting to be shot, and now the shot had +come; the bullet had pierced his heart. + +"So she wants to become one of you!" he murmured faintly. "Many +things can happen here while one is up in the dark forest." Ingmar +seemed to think that all this time Hellgum had been ingratiating +himself with Gertrude, and had laid snares to catch her. "But +what's to become of me?" he asked suddenly. And there was a +strange, helpless appeal in his voice. + +"You must embrace our faith," said Halvor decisively. "Hellgum is +back now, and if he talks to you once, you'll soon become +converted." + +"But maybe I don't care to be converted!" + +Halvor and Karin stared at Ingmar in speechless amazement. + +"Maybe I don't want any faith but my father's." + +"Don't say anything until you have had a talk with Hellgum," begged +Karin. + +"But if I don't join you I suppose you won't want me to remain +under your roof?" said Ingmar, rising. As they did not reply, it +seemed to him that all at once he had been cut off from everything. +Then he pulled himself together and looked more determined. "Now I +want to know what you're going to do about the sawmill!" he +demanded, thinking it was best to have this matter settled once for +all. + +Halvor and Karin exchanged glances; both were afraid of committing +themselves. + +"You know, Ingmar, that there is no one in the world who is more +dear to us than you," said Halvor. + +"Yes, yes; but what about the sawmill?" Ingmar insisted. + +"The principal thing is to get all your timber sawed." + +At Halvor's evasive reply, Ingmar drew his own conclusions. "Maybe +Hellgum wants to run the sawmill, too?" + +Karin and Halvor were perplexed at Ingmar's show of temper; since +telling him that about Gertrude, they could not seem to get +anywhere near him. + +"Let Hellgum talk to you," pleaded Karin. + +"Oh, I'll let him talk to me," said Ingmar, "but first I'd like to +know just where I stand." + +"Surely, Ingmar, you must know that we wish you well!" + +"But Hellgum is to run the sawmill?" + +"We must find some suitable employment for Hellgum so that he may +remain in his own country. We have been thinking that possibly you +and he might become business partners, provided you accept the only +true faith. Hellgum is a good worker." This from Halvor. + +"Since when have you been afraid to speak plainly, Halvor?" said +Ingmar. "All I want to know is whether Hellgum is to have the +sawmill." + +"He is to have it if you resist God," Halvor declared. + +"I'm obliged to you for telling me what a good stroke of business +it would be for me to adopt your faith." + +"You know well enough it wasn't meant in that way," said Karin +reprovingly. + +"I understand quite well what you mean," returned Ingmar. "I'm to +lose Gertrude and the sawmill and the old home unless I go over to +the Hellgumists." Then Ingmar turned suddenly and walked out of the +house. + +Once outside, the thought came to him that he might as well end +this suspense, and find out at once where he stood with Gertrude. +So he went straight down to the school-house. When Ingmar opened +the gate a mild spring rain was falling. In the schoolmaster's +beautiful garden all things had started sprouting and budding. The +ground was turning green so rapidly that one could almost see the +grass growing. Gertrude was standing on the steps watching the +rain, and two large bird-cherry bushes, thick with newly sprung +leaves, spread their branches over her. Ingmar paused a moment, +astonished at finding everything down here so lovely and peaceful. +He was already beginning to feel less disquieted. Gertrude had not +yet seen him. He closed the gate very gently, then went toward her. +When he was quite close he stopped and gazed at her in rapt wonder. +When he had last seen her she was hardly more than a child, but in +one short year she had developed into a dignified and beautiful +young lady. She was now tall and slender and quite grown up, her +head was finely poised on a graceful neck; her skin was soft and +fair, shading into a fresh pink about the cheeks; her eyes were +deep and thoughtful, and her mouth, around which mischief and +merriment had once played, now expressed seriousness and wistful +longing. + +On seeing Gertrude so changed, a sense of supreme happiness came to +Ingmar. A peaceful stillness pervaded his whole being; it was as +though he were in the presence of something great and holy. It was +all so beautiful that he wanted to go down on his knees and thank +God. + +But when Gertrude saw Ingmar she suddenly stiffened, her eyebrows +contracted, and between her eyes there appeared the shadow of a +wrinkle. He saw at once that she did not like his being there, and +it cut him to the quick. "They want to take her from me," he +thought; "they have already taken her from me." The feeling of +Sabbath peace vanished, and the old fear and anxiety returned. +Waving all ceremony, he asked Gertrude if it was true that she +intended to join Hellgum and his followers. She answered that it +was. Then Ingmar asked her if she had considered that the +Hellgumists would not allow her to associate with persons who did +not think as they did. Gertrude quietly answered that she had +carefully considered this matter. + +"Have you the consent of your father and mother?" asked Ingmar. + +"No," she replied; "they know nothing as yet." + +"But, Gertrude--" + +"Hush, Ingmar! I must do this to find peace. God compels me." + +"No," he cried, "not God, but--" + +Gertrude suddenly turned toward him. + +Then Ingmar told her that he would never join the Hellgumists. "If +you go over to them, that will part us for ever." + +Gertrude looked at him as much as to say that she did not see how +this could affect her. + +"Don't do it, Gertrude!" he implored. + +"You mustn't think that I'm acting heedlessly, for I have given +this matter very serious thought." + +"Then think it over once more before you act." + +Gertrude turned from him impatiently. + +"You should also think it over for Hellgum's sake," said Ingmar +with rising anger, seizing her by the arm. + +She shook off his hand. "Are you out of your senses, Ingmar?" she +gasped. + +"Yes," he answered; "these doings of Hellgum are driving me mad. +They must be stopped!" + +"What must be stopped?" + +"You'll find out before long." + +Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude!" he said in a choking voice. "And remember +what I tell you. You will never join the Hellgumists!" + +"What do you intend to do, Ingmar?" asked the girl, for she was +beginning to feel uneasy. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude, and think of what I have said!" Ingmar shouted +back, for by that time he was halfway down the gravel walk. + +Then he went on his way. "If I were only as wise as my father!" he +mused. "But what can I do? I'm about to lose all that is dearest to +me, and I see no way of preventing it." There was one thing, +however, of which Ingmar was certain: if all this misery was to be +forced upon him, Hellgum should not escape with his skin. + +He went down to Strong Ingmar's but in the hope of meeting the +preacher. When he got to the door, he caught the sound of loud and +angry voices. There seemed to be a number of visitors inside, so he +turned back at once. As he walked away he heard a man say in angry +tones: "We are three brothers who have come a long way to call you +to account, John Hellgum, for what has befallen our younger +brother. Two years ago he went over to America, where he joined +your community. The other day we received a letter telling us that +he had gone out of his mind, brooding over your teaching." + +Then Ingmar hurried away. Apparently there were others besides +himself who had cause for complaint against Hellgum, and they were +all of them equally helpless. + +He went down to the sawmill, which had already been set going by +Strong Ingmar. Above the buzzing noise of the saws and the roar +of the rapids he heard a shriek; but he paid no special heed to it. +He had no thought for anything save his strong hatred of Hellgum. +He was going over in his mind all that this man had robbed him of: +Gertrude and Karin, his home and his business. + +Again he seemed to hear a cry. It occurred to him that possibly a +quarrel had arisen between Hellgum and the strangers. "There would +be no harm done if they were to beat the life out of him," he +thought. + +Then he heard a loud shout for help. Ingmar dropped his work and +went rushing up the hill. The nearer he approached the hut the +plainer he heard Hellgum's cries of distress, and when he finally +reached the cabin it seemed as if the very earth around it shook +from the scuffling and struggling inside. + +He cautiously opened the door and tiptoed in. Over against the wall +stood Hellgum defending himself with an axe. The three strangers-- +all of them big, powerful men--were attacking him with clubs. +They carried no guns, so it was evident that they had come simply +to give Hellgum a sound thrashing. But because he had put up a good +fight, they were so enraged that they went at him with intent to +kill. They hardly noticed Ingmar; they regarded him as nothing but +a lank gawk of a boy who had just happened in. + +For a moment Ingmar stood quietly looking on. To him it was like +a dream, wherein the thing one desires most suddenly appears +without one's knowing whence or how it came about. Now and again +Hellgum cried for help. + +"Surely you can't think I'm such a fool as to help you!" Ingmar +said in his mind. + +Suddenly one of the men dealt Hellgum a terrific blow on the head +that made him let go his hold on the axe and fall to the floor. +Then the others threw down their clubs, drew their knives, and cast +themselves upon him. Instantly a thought flashed across Ingmar's +mind. There was an old saying about the folk of his family, to the +effect that every one of them was destined at some time or other +during his lifetime to commit a dastardly and wrong deed. Was it +his turn now, he wondered? + +All at once one of the assailants felt himself in the grip of a +pair of strong arms that lifted him off his feet and threw him +bodily out of the house; the second one had hardly time to think of +rising before the same thing happened to him; and the third, who +had managed to scramble to his feet, got a blow that sent him +headlong after the others. + +After Ingmar had thrown them all out, he went and stood in the +doorway. "Don't you want to come back?" he challenged laughingly. +He would not have minded their attacking him; testing his strength +was good sport. + +The three brothers seemed quite ready to renew the fight, when one +of them shouted that they had better take to their heels he had +seen a figure coming along the path behind the elms. They were +furiously disappointed at not having finished Hellgum, and, as they +turned to go, one of them ran back, pounced upon Ingmar, and +stabbed him in the neck. + +"That's for meddling with our affair!" he shouted. + +Ingmar sank down, and the man ran off, with a taunting laugh. + +A few minutes later Karin came along and found Ingmar sitting on +the doorstep with a wound in his neck, and inside she discovered +Hellgum, who by that time had got to his feet again and was now +leaning against the wall, axe in hand and his face covered with +blood. Karin had not seen the fleeing men; she supposed that +Ingmar was the one who had attacked Hellgum and wounded him. She +was so horrified that her knees shook. "No, no!" she thought, "it +can't be possible that any one in our family is a murderer." Then +she recalled the story of her mother. "That accounts for it," she +muttered, and hurried past Ingmar over to Hellgum. + +"Ingmar first!" cried Hellgum. + +"The murderer should not be helped before his victim," said Karin. + +"Ingmar first! Ingmar first!" Hellgum kept shouting. He was so +excited that he raised his axe against her. "He has fought the +would-be murderers and saved my life!" he said. + +When Karin finally understood, and turned to help Ingmar, he was +gone. She saw him stagger across the yard, and ran after him, +calling, "Ingmar! Ingmar!" + +Ingmar went on without even turning his head. But she soon caught +up with him. Placing her hand on his arm, she said: + +"Stop, Ingmar, and let me bind up your wound!" + +He shook off her hand and went ahead like a blind man, following +neither road nor bypath. The blood from his open wound trickled +down underneath his clothes into one of his shoes. With every step +that he made, blood was pressed out of the shoe, leaving a red +track on the ground. + +Karin followed him, wringing her hands. "Stop, Ingmar, stop!" +she implored. "Where are you going? Stop, I say!" + +Ingmar wandered on, straight into the wood, where there was no +one to succor him. Karin kept her eyes fixed on his shoe, which +was oozing blood. Every second the footprints were becoming +redder and redder. + +"He's going into the forest to lie down and bleed to death!" +thought Karin. "God bless you, Ingmar, for helping Hellgum!" she +said gently. "It took a man's courage to do that, and a man's +strength, too!" + +Ingmar tramped straight ahead, paying no heed whatever to his +sister. Then Karin ran past him and planted herself in his way. He +stepped aside without so much as glancing at her. "Go and help +Hellgum!" he muttered. + +"Let me explain, Ingmar! Halvor and I were very sorry for what +we said to you this morning, and I was just on' my way to Hellgum +to let him know that, whichever way it turned out, you were to keep +the sawmill." + +"Now you can give it to Hellgum," was Ingmar's answer. He walked +on, stumbling over stones and tree stumps. + +Karin kept close behind, trying her best to conciliate him. "Can't +you forgive me for my mistake of a moment in thinking you had +fought with Hellgum? I could hardly have thought differently." + +"You were very ready to believe your own brother a murderer," +Ingmar retorted, without giving her a look. He still walked on. +When the grass blades he had trampled down came up again, blood +dripped from them. It was only after Karin had noticed the peculiar +way in which Ingmar had spoken Hellgum's name, that she began to +realize how he hated the preacher. At the same time she saw what a +big thing he had done. + +"Every one will be singing your praises for what you did to-day, +Ingmar; it will be known far and wide," she said. "You don't want +to die and miss all the honours, do you?" + +Ingmar laughed scornfully. Then he turned toward her a face that +was pale and haggard. "Why don't you go home, Karin?" he said. "I +know well enough whom you would prefer to help." His steps became +more and more uncertain, and now, where he had walked, there was a +continuous streak of blood on the ground. + +Karin was about beside herself at the sight of all this blood. The +great love which she had always felt or Ingmar kindled with new +ardour. Now she was proud of her brother, and thought him a stout +branch of the good old family tree. + +"Oh, Ingmar!" she cried, "you'll have to answer before God and your +fellowmen if you go on spilling your life's blood in this way. You +know, if there is anything I can do to make you want to live, you +have only to speak." + +Ingmar halted, and put his arm around the stem of a tree to hold +himself up. Then, with a cynical laugh, he said: "Perhaps you'll +send Hellgum back to America?" + +Karin stood looking down at the pool of blood that was forming +around Ingmar's left foot, pondering over the thing her brother +wanted her to do. Could it be that he expected her to leave the +beautiful Garden of Paradise where she had lived all winter, and go +back to the wretched world of sin she had come out of? + +Ingmar turned round squarely; his face was waxen, the skin across +his temples was tightly drawn, and his nose was like that of a dead +person; but his under lip protruded with a determination that he +had never before shown, and the set look about the mouth was +sharply defined. It was not likely that he would modify his demand. + +"I don't think that Hellgum and I can live in the same parish," he +said, "but it's plain enough that I must make way for him." + +"No," cried Karin quickly, "if you will only let me care for you, +so that your life may be spared to us, I promise you that I will +see that Hellgum goes away. God will surely find us another +shepherd," thought Karin, "but for the time being it seems best to +let Ingmar have his way." + +After she had staunched the wound, she helped Ingmar home and put +him to bed. He was not badly wounded. All he needed was to rest +quietly for a few days. He lay abed in a room upstairs, and Karin +tended him and watched over him like a baby. + +The first day Ingmar was delirious, and lived over all that had +happened to him in the morning. Karin soon discovered that Hellgum +and the sawmill were not the only things that had caused him +anxiety. By evening his mind was clear and tranquil; then Karin +said to him: "There is some one who wishes to speak to you." + +Ingmar replied that he felt too tired to talk to any one. + +"But I think this will do you good." + +Directly afterward Gertrude came into the room. She looked quite +solemn and troubled. Ingmar had been fond of Gertrude even in the +old days, when she was full of fun, and provoking. But at that time +something within him had always fought against his love. But now +Gertrude had passed through a trying year of longing and unrest, +which had wrought such a wonderful change in her that Ingmar felt +an uncontrollable longing to win her. When Gertrude came over to +the bed, Ingmar put his hand up to his eyes. + +"Don't you want to see me?" she asked. + +Ingmar shook his head. He was like a wilful child. + +"I only want to say a few words to you," said Gertrude. + +"I suppose you've come to tell me that you have joined the +Hellgumists?" + +Then Gertrude knelt down beside the bed and lifted his hand from +his eyes. "There is something which you don't know, Ingmar," she +whispered. + +He looked inquiringly at her, but did not speak. Gertrude blushed +and hesitated. Finally she said: + +"Last year, just as you were leaving us, I had begun to care for +you in the right way." + +Ingmar coloured to the roots of his hair, and a look of joy came +into his eyes; but immediately he became grave and distrustful +again. + +"I have missed you so, Ingmar!" she murmured. + +He smiled doubtingly, but patted her hand a little as thanks for +her wanting to be kind to him. + +"And you never once came back to see me," she said reproachfully. +"It was as if I no longer existed for you." + +"I didn't want to see you again until I was a well-to-do man and +could propose to you," said Ingmar, as if this were a self-evident +matter. + +"But I thought you had forgotten me!" Gertrude's eyes filled up. +"You don't know what a terrible year it has been. Hellgum has been +very kind, and has tried to comfort me. He said my heart would be +at rest if I would give it wholly to God." + +Ingmar now looked at her with a newborn hope in his gaze. + +"I was so frightened when you came this morning," she confessed, "I +felt that I couldn't resist you, and that the old struggle would +begin anew." + +Ingmar's face was beaming. + +"But this evening, when I heard about your having helped the one +man whom you hated, I couldn't hold out any longer." Gertrude grew +scarlet. "I felt somehow that I had not the strength to do a thing +that would part me from you." Then she bowed her head over Ingmar's +hand, and kissed it. + +And it seemed to Ingmar as if great bells were ringing in a holy +day. Within reigned Sabbath peace and stillness, while love, honey +sweet, rested upon his lips, filling his whole being with a +blissful solace. + + + + +BOOK THREE + + +LOSS OF "L'UNIVERS" + +One misty night in the summer of 1880--about two years before the +schoolmaster's mission house was built and Hellgum's return from +America--the great French liner _L'Univers_ was steaming across the +Atlantic, from New York and bound for Havre. + +It was about four o'clock in the morning and all the passengers, as +well as most of the crew, were asleep in their berths. The big +decks were entirely empty of people. + +Just then, at the break of day, an old French sailor lay twisting +and turning in his hammock, unable to rest. There was quite a sea +on, and the ship's timbers creaked incessantly; but it was +certainly not this that kept him from falling asleep. He and his +mates occupied a large but exceedingly low compartment between +decks. It was lighted by a couple of lanterns, so that he could see +the gray hammocks, which hung in close rows, slowly swinging to and +fro with their slumbering occupants. Now and again a strong gust of +wind swept in through one of the hatches, which was so searchingly +cold and damp that it brought to his mind's eye a vivid picture of +the vast sea around him, rolling its grayish green waves beneath +its veil of mists. + +"There's nothing like the sea!" thought the old sailor. + +As he lay there musing, all at once everything became strangely +still around him, he heard neither the churning of the propeller, +nor the rattling of the rudder chains, nor the lapping of the +waves, nor the whistling of the wind, nor any other sound. It +seemed to him that the ship had suddenly gone to the bottom, and +that he and his mates would never be shrouded or laid in their +coffins, but must remain hanging in their gray hammocks in the +depths of the sea till the Day of Judgment. + +Before, he had always dreaded the thought that his end might be a +watery grave, but now the idea of it was pleasing to him. He was +glad it was the moving and transparent water that covered him, and +not the heavy, black, suffocating mould of the churchyard. "There's +nothing like the sea," he thought again. + +Then he fell to thinking of something that made him uneasy. He +wondered whether his lying at the bottom of the ocean without +having received Extreme Unction would not be bad for his soul; he +began to fear that now his soul would never be able to find its way +up to Heaven. + +At that moment his eye caught a faint glimmer of light coming from +the forecastle. He raised himself, and leaned over the side of the +hammock to see what it was. Presently he saw two persons coming, +each of whom was carrying a lighted candle. He bent still farther +forward so as to see who they were. The hammocks were hung so close +together and so near to the floor that any one wanting to pass +through the room, without pushing or knocking against those who +were sleeping there, would have to crawl on hands and knees. The +old seaman wondered who the persons could be that were able to pass +in this crowded place. He soon discovered that they were two +diminutive acolytes, in surplice and cassock, each bearing a +lighted candle. + +The sailor was not at all surprised. It seemed only natural that +such little folk should be able to walk with burning candles under +hammocks. "I wonder if there is a priest with them?" he said. +Immediately he heard the tinkling sound of a little bell, and saw +some one following them. However, it was no priest, but an old +woman who was not much bigger than the boys. + +The old woman looked familiar to him. "It must be mother," he +thought. "I've never seen any one as tiny as mother, and surely no +one but mother could be coming along so softly and quietly without +waking people." + +He noticed that his mother wore over her black dress a long white +linen surplice, edged with a wide border of lace, such as is worn +by priests. In her hand she held the large missal with the gold +cross which he had seen hundreds of times lying on the altar in the +church at home. + +The little acolytes now placed their candles at the side of his +hammock and knelt down, each swinging a censer. The old sailor +caught the sweet odour of burning incense, saw blue clouds ascend, +and heard the rhythmical click, click of the censer chains. In the +meantime, his mother had opened the big book and was reading the +prayers for the dead. Now it seemed good to him to be lying at the +bottom of the sea--much better than being in the churchyard. He +stretched himself in the hammock, and for a long time he could hear +his mother's voice mumbling Latin words. The smoke of the incense +curled round him as he listened to the even click, click of the +moving censers. + +Then it all ceased. The acolytes took up their candles and walked +away, followed by his mother, who suddenly closed the book with a +bang. He saw all three disappear beneath the gray hammocks. + +The instant they had gone the silence was at an end. He heard the +breathing of his comrades, the timbers creaked, the wind whistled, +and the waves swish-swashed against the ship. Then he knew that he +was still among the living, and on top of the sea. + +"Jesu Maria! What can be the meaning of the things I have seen this +night?" he asked himself. + +Ten minutes later _L'Univers_ was struck amidships. It was as if +the steamer had been cut in two. + +"This was what I expected," thought the old seaman. + +During the terrible confusion that ensued while the other sailors, +only half awake, rolled out of their hammocks, he carefully dressed +himself in his best clothes. He had had a foretaste of death which +was sweet and mild, and it seemed to him that the sea had already +claimed him as its own. + +*** + +A little cabin boy lay sleeping in the deckhouse near the dining +salon when the collision occurred. Startled by the shock, he sat +up in his bunk, half dazed, and wondering what had happened. Just +over his head there was a small porthole, through which he peered. +All he could see was fog and some shadowy gray object which had, as +it were, sprung from the fog. He seemed to see monstrous gray +wings. A mammoth bird must have swooped down on the ship, he +thought. The steamer rolled and heeled as the huge monster went at +it with claws and beak and flapping wings. + +The little cabin boy thought he would die from fright. In a second +he was wide awake. Then he discovered that a large sailing vessel +had collided with the steamer. He saw great sails and a strange +deck, where men in oilskin coats were rushing about in mad terror. +The wind freshened, and the sails became as taut as drums. The +masts bulged, while the yards snapped with a succession of reports +that sounded like pistol shots. A great three-master, which in the +dense fog had sailed straight into _L'Univers_, had somehow got her +bowsprit wedged into the side of the liner, and could not free +herself. The passenger steamer listed considerably, but its +propellers went right on working, so that now both ships moved +along together. + +"Lord God!" exclaimed the cabin boy as he rushed out on deck, "that +poor boat has run into us, and now it will surely sink!" + +It never occurred to him that the steamer could be imperilled, big +and fine as she was. The officers came hurrying up; but when they +saw it was only a sailing vessel that had collided with their ship, +they felt quite safe, and with the utmost confidence took the +necessary steps for getting the boats clear of each other. + +The little cabin boy stood on the deck barelegged, his shirt +fluttering in the wind, and beckoned to the unhappy men on the +sailing vessel to come over to the steamer and save themselves. At +first no one seemed to take any notice of him, but presently a big +man with a red beard began motioning to him. + +"Come over here, boy!" the man shouted, running to the side of the +vessel. "The steamer is sinking!" + +The little boy had not the faintest notion of going over to the +sailing vessel. He shouted as loud as he could that the people on +the doomed boat should come over to _L'Univers_, and save their +lives. + +While the other men on the three-master were working with poles and +boat hooks to free their vessel from the steamer, the man with the +red beard could think of nothing but the little cabin boy, for whom +he had evidently conceived an extraordinary pity. He put his hands +to his mouth, trumpet-like, and called: "Come over here, come over +here!" + +The little lad looked forlorn and cold, standing on the deck in his +thin shirt. He stamped his foot and shook his fist at the men on +the other boat, because they would not mind him and board the +steamer. A huge greyhound like _L'Univers_, with six hundred +passengers and a crew of two hundred men, couldn't possibly go +down, he reasoned. And, of course, he could see that both the +captain and the sailors were just as calm as he was. + +Of a sudden the man with the red beard seized a boat hook, thrust +it out toward the boy, got him by the shirt, and tried to pull him +on to the other ship. The boy was dragged as far as the ship's +railing, but there he managed to free himself of the hook. He was +not going to let himself be dragged over to a strange vessel that +was doomed. + +Immediately afterward another crash was heard. The bowsprit of the +three-master had snapped, and the two ships were now clear of each +other. As the liner steamed ahead, the boy saw the big broken +bowsprit dangling in the bow of the other vessel, and he also saw +great clouds of sails drop down upon the crew. + +The liner proceeded on her course at full speed, and the sailing +vessel was soon lost to sight in the fog. The last thing the boy +saw was the men trying to get out from under the mass of sails. +Thereupon the vessel disappeared as completely as if it had slipped +in behind a great wall. "It has already gone down," thought the +lad. And now he stood listening for distress calls. + +Then a rough and powerful voice was heard to shout across to the +steamer: "Save your passengers! Put out your boats!" + +Again there was silence, and again the boy listened for distress +calls. Then the voice was heard as if from far away: "Pray to God, +for you are lost!" + +At that moment an old sailor stepped up to the captain. "We have a +big hole amidships; we are going down," he said, quietly and +impressively. + +*** + +Soon after the nature of the accident had become known on the +steamer, a little lady appeared on deck. She had come from one of +the first-class cabins with certain and determined step. She was +dressed from top to toe, and her bonnet strings were tied in a +natty bowknot. She was a little old lady, with crimped hair, round, +owlish-looking eyes, and a florid complexion. + +During the short time the voyage had lasted she had managed to +become acquainted with every one on board. Everybody knew that her +name was Miss Hoggs, and she had told them all--the crew as well as +passengers--time and again, that she was never afraid. She didn't +see why she need have any fear, she would have to die at one time +or another, she had said, and whether it happened soon or late was +immaterial to her. Nor was she afraid now; she had gone up on deck +simply to see if anything interesting or exciting was going on +there. + +The first thing she saw was two sailors darting past with wild, +terrified faces. Stewards, half dressed, came running out from +their quarters to go down and waken the passengers and get them on +deck. An old sailor came up with an armful of life belts, which he +tossed on the deck. A little cabin boy in his shirt was crouching +in a corner, sobbing and shrieking that he was going to die. The +captain was on his bridge, and Miss Hoggs heard him give orders to +stop the engines and to man the lifeboats. + +Engineers and stokers came rushing up the grimy ladder leading from +the engine room, shouting that the water had already reached the +fires. Miss Hoggs had hardly been on deck a moment before it was +thronged with steerage passengers, who had come up in a body, +shrieking that they would have to hurry and make for the boats, +otherwise none but the first and second class passengers would be +saved. + +As the excitement and confusion increased, Miss Hoggs began to +realize that they were in actual danger; so she quietly slipped +away to the upper deck, where several life-boats hung in their +davits, just outside the railing. Up here there was not a soul, and +Miss Hoggs, without being seen, climbed over the railing and +scrambled into one of the boats suspended above the watery abyss. +As soon as she was well inside, she congratulated herself upon her +wisdom and foresight. That was the advantage of having a clear and +cool head, she thought. She knew that when once the boat was +lowered there would be a wild scramble for it; the crush in the +gangway and on the companion ladder would be something awful. Again +and again she congratulated herself on having thought of getting +into the boat beforehand. + +Miss Hoggs's boat was hung far aft, but by leaning over the edge of +it she could see the companion ladder. Then she saw that a boat had +been manned, and that people were getting into it. Suddenly a +terrible cry went up. Some one in the excitement had fallen +overboard. This must have frightened the others, for cries arose +from all sides of the ship, and the passengers heedlessly crowded +the gangway, pushing and fighting their way toward the ladder. In +the struggle many of them went overboard. A few persons, who saw +that it would be impossible to get to the ladder, jumped into the +sea, thinking they would swim to the boat. Just then the lifeboat, +already loaded to its full capacity, rowed away. The people that +were in it drew their knives and threatened to cut of the fingers +of any one who attempted to get inside. + +Miss Hoggs saw one boat after another launched. She also saw one +boat after another capsize under the weight of those who hurled +themselves down into them. + +The lifeboats near to hers were .lowered, but for some +unaccountable reason no one had touched the one in which she was +seated. "Thank God they are leaving my boat alone till the worst is +over," she thought. + +And Miss Hoggs heard and saw dreadful things. It seemed to her that +she was suspended over a hell. She could not see the deck itself, +but from the sounds that reached her, she gathered that a frightful +struggle was taking place there. She heard pistol shots and saw +blue smoke clouds rise in the air. + +At last there came a moment when everything was hushed. "This would +be the right time to lower my boat," thought Miss Hoggs. She was +not at all afraid, but sat back with perfect composure until the +steamer began to settle. Then, for the first time, it dawned on +Miss Hoggs that _L'Univers_ was sinking, and that her boat had been +forgotten. + +*** + +On board the steamer was a young American matron, a Mrs. Gordon, +who was on her way to Europe to visit her parents, who for some +years had been living in Paris. She had her two little boys with +her, and all three were asleep in their cabin when the accident +occurred. The mother was immediately awakened, and soon managed to +get the children partly dressed; then throwing a cloak over her +night robe, she went out into the narrow passageway between the +cabins. + +The passage was full of people who had rushed out from their +staterooms to hurry on deck. Here it was not difficult to pass; but +in the companionway there was a terrible crush. She saw people +pushing and crowding, with no thought of any one but themselves, as +more than a hundred persons, all at one time, tried to rush up. The +young American woman stood holding her two children by the hand. +She looked longingly up the stairway, wondering how she could +manage to press through the throng with her little ones. The people +fought and struggled, thinking only of themselves. No one even +noticed her. + +Mrs. Gordon glanced anxiously about in the hope of finding some one +who would take one of the boys and carry him to the deck, while she +herself took the other. But she saw no one she dared approach. The +men came dashing past, dressed every which way. Some were wrapped +in blankets, others had on ulsters over their nightshirts, and many +of them carried canes. When she saw the desperate look in the eyes +of these men, she felt that it would not be safe to speak to them. + +Of the women, on the other hand, she had no fear; but there was +not one, even among them, to whom she would dare entrust her child. +They were all out of their senses, and could not have comprehended +what she wanted of them. She stood regarding them, wondering +whether there might not be one, perhaps, who had a bit of reason +left. But seeing them rush wildly past--some hugging the flowers +they had received on their departure from New York, others +shrieking and wringing their hands--she knew it was useless to +appeal to such frenzied people. Finally, she attempted to stop a +young man who had been her neighbour at table, and had shown her +marked attention. + +"Oh, Mr. Martens--" + +The man glowered at her with the same fixed savage stare that she +had seen in the eyes of the other men. He raised his cane +threateningly, and had she tried to detain him, he would have +struck her. + +The next moment she heard a howl, which was hardly a howl, but +rather an angry murmur, as when a strong and sweeping wind becomes +bottled up in a narrow passage. It came from the people on the +companionway, whose progress had been suddenly impeded. + +A cripple had been borne part way up the stairs--a man who was so +entirely helpless that he had to be carried to and from the table. +He was a large, heavy man, and his valet had with the greatest +difficulty managed to bear him on his back halfway up the stairs, +where he had paused to take breath. In the meantime, the pressure +from behind had become so tremendous that it had forced him to his +knees; and he and his master were taking up the whole width of the +stairway, thus creating an impassable obstruction. + +Presently Mrs. Gordon saw a big, rough-looking man bend down, lift +up the cripple, and throw him over the banister. She also marked +that, horrible as was this spectacle, no one seemed to be either +shocked or moved by it. For nobody thought of anything save to rush +ahead. It was as if a stone lying in the road had been picked up +and tossed into the ditch--nothing more. + +The young American mother saw that among these people there was no +hope of being saved; she and her children were doomed. + +*** + +There were a young bride and groom on board who were on their +honeymoon. Their cabin was far down in the body of the ship, and +they had slept so soundly that they had not even heard the +collision. Nor was there much commotion in their part of the boat +afterward. And as no one had thought of calling them, they were +still asleep when every one else was on deck fighting for the +lifeboats. But they woke when the propeller, which the whole night +had been revolving directly under their heads, suddenly stopped. +The husband hurriedly drew on a garment or two, and ran out to see +what was up. In a few minutes he returned. He carefully closed the +cabin door after him before uttering a word. Then he said: + +"The ship is sinking." + +At the same time he sat down, and when his wife would have rushed +out, he begged her to remain with him. + +"The boats have all gone," he said. "Most of the passengers have +been drowned, and those who are still on the ship are now up on +deck, fighting desperately for rafts and life belts." He told her +that in the gangway he was obliged to step over a woman who had +been trampled to death, and that he had heard the cries of the +doomed on all sides. "There's no chance of our being saved, so +don't go out! Let us die together!" + +The young bride felt that he was right, and resignedly sat down +beside him. + +"You wouldn't like to see all those people struggling and +fighting," he said. "Since we've got to die anyway, let us at least +have a peaceful death." + +She knew that it was no more than right that she should stay there +with him the few short moments of life still left to them. Had she +not promised to give him a whole life time of devotion? + +"I had hoped," he went on, "that after we had been married many, +many years, you would be sitting by me when I lay on my deathbed, +and I would thank you for a long and happy life partnership." + +At that moment she saw a thin streak of water trickling in through +the crack under the door. This was too much for her. She threw up +her arms in despair. "I can't!" she cried. "Let me go! I can't stay +shut in here waiting for death. I love you, but I can't do it!" + +She rushed out just as the ship heeled over before going down. + +*** + +Young Mrs. Gordon was lying in the water, the steamer had sunk, her +children were lost, and she herself had been deep under the sea. +She had then come to the surface for the third time and knew that +in another moment she would be sinking again, and that that would +mean death. + +Then her mind no longer dwelt upon her husband or children, or upon +anything else of this earth. She thought only of lifting up her +soul to God. And her soul rose like a liberated prisoner. Her +spirit, rejoicing in the thought of casting off the heavy shackles +of human existence, jubilantly prepared to ascend to its real home. +"Is death so easy?" she mused. + +As that thought came to her the medley of confusing noises around +her--the surging of the waves, the murmur of the wind, the shrieks +of the drowning, and the noises made by the colliding of the +various objects that were drifting around on the water--all seemed +to resolve themselves into words in the same way as shapeless +clouds sometimes form themselves into pictures. And this was what +she heard: + +"It is a fact that death is easy, but to live, that is the +difficult thing!" + +"Ah, so it is!" she thought, and wondered what was needed to make +living as easy as dying. + +Round about her the shipwrecked people fought and struggled for the +floating wreckage and the overturned boats. But amid the mad cries +and curses, again the noises resolved themselves into clear and +powerful words: + +"That which is needed to make life as easy as death is UNITY, +UNITY, UNITY." + +It seemed to her that the Lord of all the earth had converted these +noises into a speaking tube, through which He himself had answered +her. + +While the words that had been spoken were still ringing in her +ears, she was rescued. She had been drawn up into a small boat in +which there were only three persons besides herself--a brawny old +sailor dressed in his best, an elderly woman with round, owlish +eyes, and a poor little heartbroken boy, who had on nothing but a +torn shirt. + +*** + +Late in the afternoon of the following day a Norwegian ship sailed +along the great banks of Newfoundland in the direction of the +fishing grounds. The sky was clear, and the sea was like a mirror. +The vessel could make but little headway. All the sails were set so +as to catch the last breaths of the dying breeze. + +The sea looked very beautiful. It was a clear blue and smooth as +glass, but where the faintest breeze passed over it, it was a +silvery white. + +When the afternoon stillness had continued for a while, the ship's +crew sighted a dark object floating on the water. Gradually it came +nearer, and soon they discovered that it was a human body. As it +was being carried by the current past the ship, they could tell by +the clothing that it was the body of a sailor. It was lying on its +back, with eyes wide open, and with a look of peace on its face. +Evidently the body had not been long enough in the water to become +disfigured. It was as if the sailor were complacently letting +himself be rocked by the tiny rippling wavelets. + +When the sailors turned their gaze in the opposite direction, they +let out a cry. Before they could turn their faces, another body +appeared on the surface close to the bow of the boat. They came +near passing over it, but at the last moment it was washed away by +the swell. Now they all rushed to the side of the ship and looked +down. This time they saw the body of a child, a daintily dressed +little girl. "Dear, dear!" said the sailors, drying their eyes. +"The poor little kiddie!" + +As the body of the little girl drifted past it seemed as if the +child were looking up at them. And there was such a serious +expression in its wistful eyes-as if it were out upon some very +urgent errand. Immediately after, one of the sailors shouted that +he saw another body, and the same thing was said by one who was +looking in an opposite direction. All at once they saw five bodies, +they saw ten, and then there were so many they could not count +them. + +The ship moved slowly on among all these dead people, who +surrounded the vessel as if they wanted something. Some came +floating in large groups; they looked like driftwood that had been +carried away from land; but they were just a mass of dead bodies. + +The sailors stood aghast, afraid to move. They could hardly believe +that what they saw was real. All at once they seemed to see an +island rising up out of the sea. From a distance it looked like +land, but, on coming nearer, they saw hundreds of bodies floating +close together, and surrounding the vessel on all sides. They moved +with the ship, as if wanting to make the voyage across the water in +its company. Then the skipper turned the rudder, so as to coax a +little wind into the sails; but it did not help much. The sails +hung limp, and the dead bodies continued to follow. + +The sailors turned ashen, and silence fell upon them. The ship had +so little headway that she could not seem to get clear of the dead. +They were fearful lest it should go on like this the whole night. +Then a Swedish seaman stood up in the bow and repeated the Lord's +Prayer. Thereupon, he began to sing a hymn. When he had got half +through the hymn the sun went down, and the evening breeze came +along and carried the ship away from the region of the dead. + + + +HELLGUM'S LETTER + +An old woman came out from her little log cabin in the woods. +Although it was only a week day, she was dressed in her best, as if +for church. After locking her door she put the key in its usual +place, under the stoop. + +When the old woman had gone a few paces, she turned round to look +at her cabin, which appeared very small and very gray under the +shadow of the towering snow-clad fir trees. She glanced at her +humble home with an affectionate gaze. "Many a happy day have +I spent in that little old hut!" she mused solemnly. "Ah me! The +Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." + +Then she went on her way, down the forest road. She was very old +and exceeding fragile, but she was one of those who hold themselves +erect and firm, however much old age may try to bend them. She had +a sweet face and soft white hair. She looked so mild and gentle +that it was surprising to hear her speak with a voice that was as +strident and solemn as that of some old evangelist. + +She had a long tramp ahead of her, for she was going down to the +Ingmar Farm to a meeting of the Hellgumists. Old Eva Gunnersdotter +was one of the most zealous converts to Hellgum's teachings. "Ah, +those were glorious times," she mumbled to herself as she trudged +on, "in the beginning when half the parish had gone over to +Hellgum! Who would have thought that so many were going to +backslide, and that after five years there would be hardly more +than a score of us left--not counting the children, of course!" + +Her thoughts went back to the time when she, who for many years had +lived in solitude in the heart of the forest, forgotten by every +one, all at once had found a lot of brothers and sisters who came +to her in her loneliness, who never forgot to clear a path to her +cabin after a big snowfall, and who always kept her little shed +well filled with dry firewood--and all without her having to ask +for it. She recalled to mind the time when Karin, daughter of +Ingmar, and her sisters, and many more of the best people in the +parish, used to come and hold love feasts in her little gray cabin. + +"Alas, that so many should have abandoned the only true way of +salvation!" she sighed. "Now retribution will come upon us. Next +summer we must all perish because so few among us have heard the +call, and because those who have heard it have not continued +steadfast." + +The old woman then fell to pondering over Hellgum's letters, those +letters which the Hellgumists regarded as Apostolic writings and +read aloud at all their meetings, as the Bible is read in the +churches. "There was a time when Hellgum was as milk and honey to +us," she reflected. "Then he commanded us to be kind and tolerant +toward the unconverted, and to show gentle forbearance toward those +who had fallen away; he taught the rich that in their works of +charity they must treat the just and the unjust alike. But lately +he has been as wormwood and gall. He writes about nothing but +trials and punishments." + +The old woman had now reached the edge of the forest, from where +she could look down over the village. It was a lovely day in +February. The snow had spread its white purity over the whole +district; all the trees were deep in their winter sleep, and not a +breath of wind stirred. But she was thinking that all this +beautiful country, wrapped in peaceful slumber, would soon be +awakened only to be consumed by a rain of fire and brimstone. +Everything that was now lying under a cover of snow, she seemed to +see enveloped in flame. + +"He hasn't put it into plain words," thought the old woman, "but +he keeps writing all the while about a _sore trial_. Mercy me! Who +could wonder at it if this parish were to be punished as was Sodom, +and overthrown like Babylon!" + +As Eva Gunnersdotter wandered through the village, she could not +look up at a single house without picturing to herself how the +coming earthquake would shake it and crumble it into dust and +ashes. And when she met people along the way, she thought of how +the monsters of hell would soon hunt and devour them. + +"Ah, here comes the schoolmaster's Gertrude!" she remarked to +herself as she saw a pretty young girl coming down the road. "Her +eyes sparkle like sunbeams on the snow. She feels happy now because +she expects to be married in the fall to young Ingmar Ingmarsson. I +see she has a bundle of thread tucked under her arm. She is going +to weave table covers and bed hangings for her new home. But before +that weaving is done, destruction will be upon us." + +The old woman cast dark glances about her. She could see that the +village had grown and developed into an astonishing thing of +beauty, but she thought that all these pretty white-and-yellow +houses, with their fancy gables and their big bowed windows, would +collapse the same as her humble gray cabin, where moss grew in the +cracks between the logs, and the windows were only holes in the +wall. When she reached the heart of the town, she stopped short and +struck her cane hard against the pavement. A sudden feeling of +indignation had seized her. "Woe, woe!" she cried, in so loud a +voice that people in the street paused and looked round. "Yea, in +all these houses live such as have rejected the Gospel of Christ +and cling to the enemy's teaching. Why didn't they listen to the +call and turn away from their sins? On their account we must all +perish. God's hand strikes heavily. It strikes both the just and +the unjust." + +When she had crossed the river she was overtaken by some of the +other Hellgumists. They were Corporal Felt and Bullet Gunner and +his wife, Brita. Shortly afterward, they were joined by Hök Matts +Ericsson, his son Gabriel, and Gunhild, the daughter of Councilman +Clementsson. + +All these people in their gayly coloured national costumes made a +pretty picture walking along the snow-covered road. But to the mind +of Eva Gunnersdotter, they were only doomed prisoners being led to +the place of execution, like cattle driven to slaughter. + +The Hellgumists looked quite dejected. They walked along, their +eyes on the ground, as if weighed down by a terrible load of +discouragement. They had all expected that the Celestial Kingdom +would suddenly spread over the whole earth, and that they would +live to see the day when the New Jerusalem should come down from +the clouds of heaven. But now that they had become so few in +number, and could not help seeing that theirs was a forlorn hope, +it was as if something within them had snapped. They moved slowly +and with dragging steps. Now and then a sigh would escape them, but +they seemed to have nothing to say to each other. For this had been +a matter of supreme earnest with them. They had staked their all +upon it, and had lost. + +"Why do they look so down-in-the-mouth?" wondered the old woman. +"They don't seem to believe the worst, and don't want to understand +what Hellgum writes. I've tried to explain his words to them, but +they won't even listen to me. Alas! those who live on the lowlands, +under an open sky, can never understand what it is to be afraid. +They don't think the same thoughts as do those of us who live in +the solitude of the dark forest." + +She could see that the Hellgumists were uneasy because Halvor had +called them together on a week day. They feared that he was going +to tell them of more desertions from their ranks. They glanced +anxiously at one another, with a look of distrust in their eyes +that seemed to say: "How long will you hold out? And you--and you?" + +"We might as well stop right now," they thought, "and break up the +Society at once. After all, sudden death would be easier than +slowly wasting away." + +Alas! that this little community with its gospel of peace, this +blissful life of unity and brotherly love which had meant so much +to all of them, that this should now be doomed. + +As these disheartened people walked along toward the farm the +sparkling winter sun rolled merrily on across the blue sky. From +the glistening snow rose a refreshing coolness, which should have +put life and courage into them; while from the fir-clad hills +encircling the parish, there fell a soothing peace and stillness. + +At last they were at the Ingmar Farm. + +In the living-room of the farmhouse, close to the ceiling, hung an +old picture which had been painted by some local artist a hundred +years before their time. It represented a city surrounded by a high +wall, above which could be seen the roofs and gables of many +buildings, some of which were red farmhouses with turf roofs. +Others were white manor houses with slate roofs. Others, again, +showed massive copper-plated towers, after the manner of the +Kistine Church at Falun. Outside the city wall were promenading +gentlemen, in kneebreeches and buckled shoes, who carried Bengal +canes. A coach was seen driving out of the gateway of the town, in +which were seated ladies in powdered wigs and wearing Watteau hats. +Beyond the wall were trees, with a profusion of dark green foliage; +and on the ground, between patches of tall, waving grass, ran +little shimmering brooklets. At the bottom of the picture was +painted in large, ornate letters: "This is God's Holy City +Jerusalem." + +The old canvas being hung like that, so close to the ceiling, it +seldom attracted any notice. Most of the people who visited the +Ingmar Farm did not even know of its being there. + +But that day it was enframed in a wreath of green whortleberry +twigs, so that it instantly caught the eye of the caller. Eva +Gunnersdotter saw it at once, and remarked under her breath: "Aha! +Now the folks on the Ingmar Farm know that we must perish. That's +why they want us to turn our eyes toward the Heavenly City." + +Karin and Halvor came forward to greet her, looking even more +gloomy and low spirited than the other Hellgumists. "It's plain +they know now that the end is near," she thought. + +Eva Gunnersdotter, being the oldest person present, was placed at +the head of the long table. In front of her lay an opened letter, +with American stamps on the envelope. + +"Another letter has come from our dear brother Hellgum," said +Halvor. "This is why I have called the brothers and sisters +together." + +"I gather that you must think this a very important document, +Halvor," said Bullet Gunner, thoughtfully. + +"I do," replied Halvor. "Now we shall learn what Hellgum meant when +he wrote in his last letter that a great trial of our faith was +before us." + +"I don't think that any of us will be afraid to suffer in the +Lord's cause," Gunner assured him. + +All the Hellgumists had not yet arrived, and there was a long wait +before the last one finally made his appearance. Old Eva +Gunnersdotter, with her far-sighted eyes, meanwhile sat gazing at +Hellgum's letter. She was reminded of the letter with the seven +seals, in Revelation, and fancied that the instant any human hand +should touch that letter, the Angel of Destruction would come +flying down from Heaven. + +She raised her eyes and glanced up at the Jerusalem picture. "Yes, +yes," she mumbled, "of course I want to go to that city whose gates +are of gold and whose walls are of crystal!" And she began reading +to herself: "'And the foundations of the wall of the city were +garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation +was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the +fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the +seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the +tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an +amethyst."' + +The old woman was so deep in her precious Book of Revelation that +she started as if she had been caught napping when Halvor went over +to that end of the table where the letter lay. + +"We will open our meeting with a hymn," Halvor announced. "Let us +all join in singing number two hundred and forty-four." And the +Hellgumists sang in unison, "Jerusalem, my happy home." + +Eva Gunnersdotter heaved a sigh of relief because the dreaded +moment had been put off for a little. "Alack-a-day! that a +doddering old woman like me should be so afraid to die," she +thought, half ashamed of her weakness. + +At the close of the hymn Halvor took up the letter and began +unfolding it. Whereupon the Spirit moved Eva Gunnersdotter to +arise and offer up a lengthy prayer for grace to receive in a +proper spirit the message contained therein. Halvor, with the +letter in his hand, stood quietly waiting till she had finished. +Then he began reading it in a tone he might have used had he been +delivering a sermon: + +"My dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. + +"Hitherto I had thought that I and you, who have embraced my +teaching, were alone in this our faith. But, praise be to God! here +in Chicago we have found brethren who are likeminded, who think +and act in accordance with the principles. + +"For be it known unto you that here, in Chicago, there lived in the +early eighties a man by the name of Edward Gordon. He and his wife +were God-fearing people. They were sorely grieved at seeing so much +distress in the world, and prayed God that grace might be given +them to help the sorrowing ones. + +"It so happened that the wife of Edward Gordon had to make a long +voyage across the sea, where she suffered shipwreck and was cast +upon the waters. When she found herself in the most extreme peril, +the Voice of God spoke to her. And the Voice of God commanded her +to teach mankind to live in unity. + +"And the woman was saved from the sea and the peril of death, and +she returned to her husband and told him about the message from +God. 'This is a great command our Lord hath given unto us--that we +should live in unity--and we must follow it. So great is this +message that in all the world there is but one spot worthy of +receiving it. Let us, therefore, gather our friends together and go +with them to Jerusalem, that we may proclaim God's holy commandment +from the Mount of Zion.' + +"Then Edward Gordon and his wife, together with thirty others who +wanted to obey the Lord's last holy commandment, set out for +Jerusalem, where all of them are now living in concord under one +roof. They share with one another all their worldly goods, and +serve one another, each protecting the other's welfare. + +"And they have taken into their home the children of the poor, and +they nurse the sick, they care for the aged, and succour all who +appeal to them for aid, without expecting either money or gifts in +return. + +"But they do not preach in the churches or on street corners, for +they say, 'It is our works that shall speak for us.' + +"But the people who heard of their way of living said of them: +'They must be fools and fanatics.' And those who decried them the +loudest were the Christians who had come to Palestine to convert +Jews and Mohammedans, by preaching and teaching. And they said: +'What sort of persons are these who do not preach? No doubt they +have come hither to lead an evil life and to indulge their sinful +lusts among the heathen.' + +"And they raised a cry against these good people that travelled +across the seas all the way to their own country. But amongst those +who had settled in Jerusalem there was a rich widow, with her two +half-grown children. She had left a brother in her native land, to +whom every one was saying, 'How can you allow your sister to live +among those dreadful people, who are so loose lived? They are +nothing but idlers who live upon her bounty.' So the brother began +legal proceedings against the sister, in order to compel her to +send her children back to America to be reared there. + +"And on account of these proceedings, the widow, with her children, +returned to Chicago, accompanied by Edward Gordon and his wife. At +that time they had been living in Jerusalem fourteen years. + +"When they came back from that far country, the newspapers had much +to say of them; and some called them lunatics and some said they +were impostors." + +When Halvor had read thus far, he paused a moment, and presently +repeated the substance of what he had read in his own words, so +that everybody would understand it. After which, he went on reading: + +"But there is in Chicago a home of which you have heard. And the +occupants of this home are people who try to serve God in spirit +and in truth, who share all things in common, and watch over each +other's lives. + +"We who live in this home read something in a newspaper about these +'lunatics' who had come back from Jerusalem, and said among +ourselves, 'These people are of our faith; they are banded together +to work for righteousness, the same as ourselves. We would like to +meet these persons who share our ideals.' + +"And we wrote and asked them to come to see us, and those who had +come back from Jerusalem accepted the invitation and called; and we +compared our teachings with theirs, and found that our principles +of faith were the same. 'It is by the grace of God that we have +found each other,' we said. + +"They told us of the glories of the Holy City, that city which lies +resplendent on its white mountain, and we deemed them fortunate in +that they had been privileged to tread the paths our Saviour had +trod. + +"Then one of our own brethren said: 'Why shouldn't we go along with +you to Jerusalem?' + +"They answered: 'You must not accompany us thither, for God's Holy +City is full of strife and dissension, of want and sickness, of +hate and poverty.' + +"Instantly another of our brethren cried: 'Mayhap God has sent you +to us because it is His meaning that we shall go with you to that +far country, to help you fight all this?' + +"Then one and all of us heard the voice of the Spirit in our hearts +say, 'Yea, this is My will!' + +"Then we asked them whether they would be willing to receive us +into their fold, although we were poor and unlettered. And they +answered that they would. + +"Then we determined to become brethren in the fullest sense. And +they accepted our faith, and we theirs--and all the while the +Spirit was upon us, and we were filled with a great gladness. And +we said: 'Now we know that God loves us, since He sends us to that +land where once He sent His own Son. And now we know that our +teaching is the right teaching, inasmuch as God wants it proclaimed +from his holy mountain Zion.' + +"And then a third member of our own household said: 'And there are +our brothers and sisters at home in Sweden.' So we told the +brethren from Jerusalem that there were more of us than they saw +here; that we also had some brothers and sisters in Sweden. We +said: 'They are being sorely tried in their fight for righteousness, +many of them have fallen away, and the few who have remained +steadfast are obliged to live among unbelievers.' + +"Then the travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'Let your brothers +and sisters in Sweden follow us to Jerusalem, and share our holy +work.' + +"At first we were pleased at the thought of your following us, and +living with us at Jerusalem, in peace and harmony. But afterward we +began to feel troubled, and said: 'They will never leave their fine +farms and old occupations.' + +"And the Jerusalem travellers answered: 'Fields and meadows we +cannot offer them, but they will be allowed to wander along the +pathways where Jesus' feet have trod.' + +"But we were still doubtful and said to them, 'They will never +journey to a strange land where no one understands their speech.' + +"And the travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'They will understand +what the stones of Palestine have to tell them about their +Saviour.' + +"We said: 'They will never divide their property with strangers and +become poor as beggars; nor will they renounce their authority, for +they are the leading people of their own parish.' + +"The travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'We have neither power nor +worldly possessions to offer them; but we invite them to become +participants in the sufferings of Christ their Redeemer.' + +"When that was said, we were again filled with gladness, and felt +that you would come. And now, my dear brothers and sisters, when +you have read this, do not talk it over among yourselves, but be +still and listen. And whatever the Spirit bids you do, that do." + +Halvor folded the letter, saying, "Now we must do as Hellgum +writes; we must be still, and listen." + +There was a long silence in the living-room at the Ingmar Farm. + +Old Eva Gunnersdotter was as silent as were the others, waiting +for the Voice of God to speak to her. She interpreted it all in +her own way. "Why, of course," she thought, "Hellgum wants us to +go to Jerusalem so that we may escape the great destruction. The +Lord would save us from the flood of brimstone, and preserve us +from the rain of fire; and those of us who are righteous will hear +the Voice of God warning us to flee the wrath to come." + +It never for a moment occurred to the old woman that it could be a +sacrifice for any one to leave his home and his native land, when +it came to a question of this sort. It never entered her mind that +any one could doubt the wisdom of leaving his native woodlands, his +smiling river, and his fertile fields. Some of the Hellgumists +thought with fear and trepidation of their having to change their +manner of living, of renouncing fatherland, parents, friends, and +relatives; but not she. To her it simply meant that God wanted to +spare them as He had once spared Noah and Lot. Were they not being +called to a life of supernal glory in God's Holy City? It was to +her as if Hellgum had written that they would be bodily taken up +into heaven, like the prophet Elijah. + +They were all sitting with closed eyes, deep in meditation. Some +were suffering such intense mental agony that cold sweat broke out +on their foreheads. "Ah, this is indeed the trial which Hellgum +foretold!" they sighed. + +The sun was at the horizon, and shot its piercing rays into the +room. The crimson glow from the setting sun cast a blood-red glare +upon the many blanched faces. Finally Martha Ingmarsson, the wife +of Ljung Björn Olofsson, slipped down from her chair on to her +knees. Then, one after another, they all went down on their knees. +All at once several of them drew a deep breath, and a smile lighted +up their faces. + +Then Karin, daughter of Ingmar, said in a tone of wonderment: "I +hear God's voice calling me!" + +Gunhild, the daughter of Councillor Clementsson, lifted up her +hands in ecstasy, and tears streamed down her face. "I, too, am +going," she cried. "God's voice calls me." + +Whereupon Krister Larsson and his wife said, almost in the same +breath: "It cries into my ear that I must go. I can hear God's +voice calling me!" + +The call came to one after another, and with it all anguish of mind +and all feeling of regret vanished. A great sense of joy had come +to them. They thought no more of their farms or their relatives; +they were thinking only of how their little colony would branch out +and blossom anew, and of the wonder of having been called to the +Holy City. + +The call had now come to most of them. But it had not yet reached +Halvor Halvorsson; he was wrestling in anguished prayer, thinking +God would not call him as He had called the others. "He sees that I +love my fields and meadows more than His word," he said to himself. +"I am unworthy." + +Karin then went up to Halvor and laid her hand upon his brow. "You +must be still, Halvor, and listen in silence." + +Halvor wrung his hands so hard that the joints of his fingers +cracked. "Perhaps God does not deem me worthy to go," he said. + +"Yes, Halvor, you will be let go, but you must be still," said +Karin. She knelt down beside him and put her arm around him. "Now +listen quietly, Halvor, and without fear." + +In a few moments the tense look was gone from his face. "I hear +I hear something far, far away," he whispered. + +"It is the harps of angels announcing the presence of the Lord," +said the wife. "Be quite still now, Halvor." Then she nestled very +close to him--something she had never done before in the presence +of others. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Now I have heard it. It +spoke so loudly that it was as thunder in my ears. 'You shall go to +my Holy City, Jerusalem,' it said. Have you all heard it in the +same way?" + +"Yes, yes," they cried, "we have all heard it." + +But now old Eva Gunnersdotter began to wail. "I have heard nothing. +I can't go along with you. I'm like Lot's wife, and may not flee +the wrath to come, but must be left behind. Here I must stay and be +turned into a pillar of salt." + +She wept from despair, and the Hellgumists all gathered round to +pray with her. Still she heard nothing. And her despair became a +thing of terror. "I can't hear anything!" she groaned. "But you've +got to take me along. You shan't leave me to perish in the lake of +fire!" + +"You must wait, Eva," said the Hellgumists. "The call may come. It +will surely come, either to-night or in the morning." + +"You don't answer me," cried the old woman, "you don't tell what I +want to know. Maybe you don't intend to take me along if no call +comes to me!" + +"It will come, it will come!" the Hellgumists shouted. + +"You don't answer me!" screamed the old woman in a frenzy. + +"Dear Eva, we can't take you along if God doesn't call you!" the +Hellgumists protested. "But the call will come, never fear." + +Then the old dame suddenly rose from her kneeling attitude, +straightened her rickety old body, and brought her cane down on the +floor with a thud. "You people mean to go away and leave me to +perish!" she thundered. "Yes, yes, yes, you mean to go and let me +perish!" She had become furiously angry, and once more they saw +before them Eva Gunnersdotter as she had been in her younger days-- +strong and passionate and fiery. + +"I want nothing more to do with you!" she shrieked. "I don't want +to be saved by you. Fie upon you! You would abandon wife and +children, father and mother, to save yourselves. Fie! You're a +parcel of idiots to be leaving your good farms. You're a lot of +misguided fools running after false prophets, that's what you are! +It's upon you that fire and brimstone will rain. It is you who must +perish. But we who remain at home, we shall live." + + + +THE BIG LOG + +At dusk, on this same beautiful February day, two young lovers +stood talking together in the road. The youth had just driven down +from the forest with a big log, which was so heavy that the horse +could hardly pull it. All the same he had driven in a roundabout +way so that the log might be hauled through the village and past +the big white schoolhouse. + +The horse had been halted in front of the school, and a young woman +had come out to have a look at the log. She couldn't seem to say +enough in praise of it--how long and thick it was, and how +straight, and what a lovely tan bark it had, and how firm the wood +was, and how flawless! + +The young man then told her very impressively that it had been +grown on a moor far north of Olaf's Peak, and when he had felled +it, and how long it had been lying in the forest to dry out. He +told her exactly how many inches it measured, both in circumference +and diameter. + +"But, Ingmar," she said, "it is only the first!" + +Pleased as she was, the thought that Ingmar had been five years +getting down the first bit of timber toward the building of their +new home made her feel uneasy. But Ingmar seemed to think that all +difficulties had now been met. + +"Just you wait, Gertrude!" he said. "If I can only get the timber +hauled while the roads are passable, we'll soon have the house up." + +It was turning bitterly cold. The horse stood there all of a +shiver, shaking its head and stamping its hoofs, its mane and +forelock white with hoar frost. But the youth and the maid did not +feel the cold. They kept themselves warm by building their house, +in imagination, from cellar to attic. When they had got the house +done, they set about to furnish it. + +"We'll put the sofa over against the long wall here in the +living-room," Ingmar decided. + +"But I don't know that we've got any sofa," said Gertrude. + +The young man bit his lip. He had not meant to tell her, until +some time later, that he had a sofa in readiness at the +cabinetmaker's shop; but now he had unwittingly let out the secret. + +Then Gertrude, too, came out with something which she had kept from +him for five years. She told him that she had made up hair into +ornaments and had woven fancy ribbons for sale, and with the money +she had earned in this way she had bought all sorts of household +things--pots and pans, platters and dishes, sheets and pillow +slips, table covers and rugs. + +Ingmar was so pleased over what Gertrude had accomplished that he +could not seem to commend her enough. In the middle of his praises +he broke off abruptly and gazed at her in speechless adoration. He +thought it was too good to be true that anything so sweet and so +beautiful would some day be his very own. + +"Why do you look at me so strangely?" asked the girl. + +"I'm just thinking that the best of it all is that you will be +mine." + +Gertrude could not say anything, but she ran her hand caressingly +over the big log which was to form a portion of the wall of that +house in which she and Ingmar were to live. She felt that protection +and love were in store for her, for the man she was going to marry +was good and wise, noble and faithful. + +Just then an old woman passed by. She walked rapidly, muttering +to herself, as if terribly incensed over something: "Aye, aye, +their happiness shall last no longer than from daybreak to rosy +dawn. When the trial comes, their faith will be broken as though it +were a rope spun from moss, and their lives shall be as a long +darkness." + +"Surely she can't mean us!" said the young girl. + +"How could that apply to us?" laughed the young man. + + + +THE INGMAR FARM + +It was the day after the meeting of the Hellgumists, and a +Saturday. A blizzard was raging. The pastor, who had been called to +the bedside of a sick person who lived way up at the north end of +the great forest, was driving homeward late in the evening under +great difficulties. His horse sank deep in the snowdrifts, and the +sledge was time after time on the point of being upset. Both the +pastor and his hired man were continually getting out to kick away +the snow for a path. Happily it was not very dark. The moon came +rolling out from behind the snow clouds, big and full, shedding its +silvery light upon the ground. Glancing upward, the pastor noticed +that the air was thick with whirling and flying snowflakes. + +In some places they made their way quite easily. There were short +stretches of road where the flying snow had not settled, and others +where the snow was deep, but loose and even. The really troublesome +thing was trying to get over the ground where the drifts were piled +so high that one could not even look over them, and where they were +obliged to turn from the road, and to drive across fields and +hedges, at the risk of being dumped into a ditch or having the +horse spiked on a fence rail. + +Both the pastor and his servant spoke with much concern of the +drift which always, after a heavy snow, was banked against a high +boarding close to the Ingmar Farm. "If we can only clear that we +are as good as at home," they said. + +The pastor remembered how often he had asked Big Ingmar to remove +the high boarding that was the cause of so much snow drifting +toward that particular spot. But nothing had ever been done about +it. Even though everything else on the Ingmar Farm had undergone +changes, certainly those old boards were never disturbed. + +At last they were within sight of the farm. And, sure enough, there +was the snowdrift in its usual place, as high as a wall and as hard +as a rock! Here there was no possibility of their turning to one +side; they had no choice but to drive right over it. The thing +looked impossible, so the servant asked whether he hadn't better go +down to the farm and get some help. But to this the pastor would +not consent. He had not exchanged a word with either Karin or +Halvor in upward of five years, and the thought of meeting old +friends with whom one is no longer on speaking terms, was no more +pleasant to him than it is to most people. + +So up the drift the horse had to mount. The icy crust held until +the animal had reached the top, then it gave way and the horse +suddenly disappeared from sight, as if into a grave, while the two +men sat gazing down helplessly. One of the traces had snapped; so +they could not have gone farther even if they had been able to get +the horse out of the drift. + +A few minutes later the pastor stepped into the living-room at the +Ingmar Farm. A blazing log fire was burning on the hearth. The +housewife sat at one side of the fireplace spinning fine carded +wool; behind her were the maids, seated in a long row, spinning +flax. The men had taken possession of the other side of the +fireplace. They had just come in from their work; some were +resting, others, to pass the time, had taken up some light work, +such as whittling sticks, sharpening rakes, and making axe handles. + +When the pastor told of his mishap, they all bestirred themselves, +and the menservants went out to dig the horse out of the drift. +Halvor led the pastor up to the table, and asked him to sit down. +Karin sent the maids into the kitchen to make fresh coffee and to +prepare a special supper. Then she took the pastor's big fur coat +and hung it in front of the fire to dry, lighted the hanging lamp, +and moved her spinning wheel up to the table, so that she could +talk with the menfolk. + +"I couldn't have had a better welcome had Big Ingmar himself +been alive," thought the pastor. + +Halvor talked at length about the weather and the state of the +roads, then he asked the clergyman if he had got a good price for +his grain, and if he had succeeded in getting certain repairs made +that he had been wanting for such a long time. Karin then asked +after the pastor's wife, and hoped that there had been some +improvement in her health of late. + +At that point the pastor's man came in and reported that the horse +had been dug out, the trace mended, and that all was in readiness +to start. But Karin and Halvor pressed the pastor to stay to +supper, and would not take no for an answer. + +The coffee tray was brought in. On it were the large silver coffee +urn and the precious old silver sugar bowl, which was never used +save at such high functions as weddings and funerals, and there +were three big silver cake baskets full of fresh rusks and cookies. + +The pastor's small, round eyes grew big with astonishment; he sat +as if in a trance, afraid of being awakened. + +Halvor showed the pastor the skin of an elk, which had been shot in +the woods on the Ingmar Farm. The skin was then spread out upon the +floor. The pastor declared that he had never seen a larger or more +beautiful hide. Then Karin went up to Halvor and whispered in his +ear. Immediately Halvor turned to the clergyman, and asked him to +accept the skin as a gift. + +Karin bustled back and forth, between the table and the cupboard, +and brought out some choice old silverware. She had spread a fine +hemstitched cloth on the table, which she was dressing as if for a +grand party. She poured milk and unfermented beer into huge silver +jugs. + +When they had finished supper, the pastor excused himself, and rose +to go. Halvor Halvorsson and two of his hired men went with him to +open a way through the drifts, steadying the sledge whenever it was +about to upset, and never leaving him till he was safe within his +own dooryard. + +The parson was thinking how pleasant it was to renew old +friendships, as he bade Halvor a hearty good-bye. Halvor stood +feeling for something in his pocket. Presently he pulled out a slip +of folded paper. He wondered whether the pastor would mind taking +it now. It was an announcement which was to be read after the +service in the morning. If the pastor would be good enough to take +it, it would save him the bother of sending it to the church by a +special messenger. + +When the pastor had gone inside, he lighted the lamp, unfolded the +paper, and read: + +"In consequence of the owner's contemplated removal to Jerusalem, +the Ingmar Farm is offered for sale--" + +He read no farther. "Well, well, so now it has come upon us," he +murmured, as if speaking of a storm. "This is what I've been +expecting for many a long year!" + + + +HÖK MATTS ERICSSON + +It was a beautiful day in spring. A peasant and his son were on +their way to the great ironworks, which are situated close to the +southern boundary of the parish. As they lived up at the north end, +they had to traverse almost the entire length of the parish. They +went past newly sown fields, where the grain was just beginning to +spring up. They saw all the green rye fields and all the fine +meadows, where the clover would soon be reddening and sending forth +its sweet fragrance. + +They also walked past a number of houses which were being +repainted, and fitted up with new windows and glass-enclosed +verandas, and past gardens where spading and planting were going +on. All whom they met along the way had muddy shoes and grimy hands +from working in fields and vegetable gardens, where they had been +planting potatoes, setting out cabbages, and sowing turnips and +carrots. + +The peasant simply had to stop and ask them what kind of potatoes +they were planting and just when they had sown their oats. At sight +of a calf or a foal, he at once began to figure out how old it was. +He calculated the number of cows they would be likely to keep at +such and such a farm, and wondered how much this or that colt would +fetch when broken. + +The son tried time after time to turn his father's thought away +from such things. "I'm thinking that you and I will soon be +wandering through the valley of Sharon and the desert of Judea," he +said. + +The father smiled, and his face brightened for a moment. "It will +indeed be a blessed privilege to walk in the footsteps of our dear +Lord Jesus," he answered. But the next minute, on seeing a couple +of cartloads of quicklime, his thoughts were diverted. "I say, +Gabriel, who do you suppose is hauling lime? Folks say that lime as +a fertilizer makes a rich crop. That will be something to feast +your eyes on in the fall." + +"In the fall, father!" said the son reprovingly. + +"Yes, I know," returned the farmer, "that by fall I shall be +dwelling in the tents of Jacob and labouring in the Lord's +vineyard." + +"Amen!" cried the son. "So be it. Amen!" + +Then they walked on in silence for a space, watching the signs of +spring. Water trickled in the ditches, and the road itself was +badly broken up from the spring rains. Whichever way they looked +there was work to be done. Every one wanted to turn to and help, +even when crossing some field other than his own. + +"To tell the truth," said the farmer thoughtfully, "I wish I had +sold my property some fall, when the work was over. It's hard +having to leave it all in the springtime, just when you'd like to +take hold with might and main." + +The son only shrugged; he knew that he would have to let the old +man talk. + +"It's just thirty-one years now since I, as a young man, bought a +piece of waste land on the north side of this parish," said the +farmer. "The ground had never been touched by a spade. Half of it +was bog, the other half a mass of stones. It looked pretty bad. On +that very land I worked like a slave, digging up stones until my +back was ready to break. But I think I laboured even harder with +the swamp, before I finally got it drained and filled in." + +"Yes, you have certainly worked hard, father," the son admitted. +"This is why God thinks of you, and summons you to His Holy Land." + +"At first," the farmer went on, "I lived in a hovel that wasn't +much better than a charcoaler's hut. It was made of unstripped +logs, with only sod for a roof. I could never make that but water +tight; so the rains always came in. It was mighty uncomfortable, +especially at night. The cow and the horse fared no better than I; +the whole of the first winter they were housed in a mud cave that +was as dark as a cellar." + +"Father, how can you be so attached to a place where you have +suffered such hardships?" + +"But only think of the joy of it when I was able to build a big +barn for the animals, and when year by year my livestock increased +so that I was always having to add new extensions for housing them. +If I were not going to sell the place now, I should have to put a +new roof on the barn. This would have been just the time to do it-- +as soon as I'd finished with the sowing." + +"Father, you are to do your sowing in that land where some seeds +fall among thorns, some on stony ground, some by the wayside, and +some on good ground." + +"And the old cottage," the farmer pursued, "which I built after the +first hut, I had thought of pulling down this year, to put up a +fine new dwelling house. What's to be done now with all the timber +that we two hauled home in the winter? It was mighty tough work +getting it down. The horses were hard driven, and so were we." + +The son began to feel troubled. He thought his father was slipping +away from him. He feared that the old man was not going to offer +his property to the Lord in the right spirit. "Well," he argued, +"but what are new houses and barns as compared with the blessed +privilege of living a pure life among people who are of one mind?" + +"Hallelujah!" cried the father. "Don't you suppose I know that a +wonderful portion has been allotted to us? Am I not on my way to +the works to sell my property to the Company? When I come back this +way everything will be gone, and I shall have nothing I can call +mine." + +The son did not reply, but he was pleased to hear that his father +still held to his decision. + +Presently they came to a farm beautifully situated on a hill. There +was a white-painted dwelling house, with a balcony and a veranda, +and round the house were tall poplars whose pretty silvery stems +were swollen with sap. + +"Look!" said the farmer. "That was just the sort of house I meant +to have--with a veranda and a balcony and a lot of ornamental +woodwork, and with just such a well-mown lawn in front. Wouldn't +that have been nice, Gabriel?" + +As the son said nothing, the farmer concluded that he must be tired +of hearing about the farm, so he, too, lapsed into silence although +his thoughts were still upon his home. He wondered how the horses +would fare with their new owners, and how things in general would +be run on the place. "My goodness!" he muttered under his breath, +"I'm surely doing a foolish thing in selling out to a corporation! +They'll go and cut down all the trees, and let the farm go to +waste. It would be just like them to allow the land to become +marshy again, and to let the birch woods grow down into the +fields." + +They had at last reached the works, where the farmer's interest +was again roused. There he saw ploughs and harrows of the latest +pattern, and was suddenly reminded that for a long time he had been +thinking of getting a new reaper. Gazing fondly at his good-looking +son, he pictured him sitting on a fine, red-painted reaper, +cracking his whip over the horses, and mowing down the thick, +waving grass, as a war hero mows down his enemies. And as he +stepped into the office he seemed to hear the clicking noise of the +reaper, the soft swish of falling grass and the shrill chirp and +light flutter of frightened birds and insects. + +On the desk in there lay the deed. The negotiations had been +concluded, and the price settled upon; all that was needed to +complete the deal was his signature. + +While the deed was being read to him he sat quietly listening. He +heard that there were so and so many acres of woodland, and so and +so many of arable land and meadow, so and so many head of cattle, +and such and such household furnishings, all of which he must turn +over. His features became set. + +"No," he said to himself, "it mustn't happen." + +After the reading he was about to say that he had changed his +mind, when his son bent down and whispered to him: + +"Father, it's a choice between me and the farm, for I'm going +anyway no matter what you do." + +The peasant had been so completely taken up with thoughts of his +farm that it had not occurred to him that his son would leave him. +So Gabriel would go in any case! He could not quite make this out. +He would never have thought of leaving had his son decided to +remain at home. But, naturally, wherever his son went, he, too, +must go. + +He stepped up to the desk, where the deed was now spread out for +him to sign. The manager himself handed him the pen, and pointed to +the place where he was to write his name. + +"Here," he said, "here's where you write your name in full--'Hök +Matts Ericsson.'" + +When he took the pen it flashed across his mind how, thirty-one +years back, he had signed a deed whereby he had acquired a bit of +barren land. He remembered that after writing his name, he had gone +out to inspect his new property. Then this thought had come to him: +"See what God has given you! Here you have work to keep you going a +lifetime." + +The manager, thinking his hesitancy was due to uncertainty as to +where he should write his name, again pointed to the place. + +"The name must be written there. Now write 'Hök Matts Ericsson.'" + +He put the pen to the paper. "This," he mused, "I write for the +sake of my faith and my soul's salvation; for the sake of my dear +friends the Hellgumists, that I may be allowed to live with them in +the unity of the spirit, and so as not to be left alone here when +they all go." + +And he wrote his first name. + +"And this," he went on thinking, "I write for the sake of my son +Gabriel, so I shan't have to lose the dear, good lad who has always +been so kind to his old father, and to let him see that after all +he is dearer to me than aught else." + +And then he wrote his middle name. + +"But this," he thought as he moved the pen for the third time, "why +do I write this?" Then, all at once, his hand began to move, as of +itself, up and down the page, leaving great black streaks upon the +hateful document. "This I do because I'm an old man and must go on +tilling the soil--go on plowing and sowing in the place where I +have always worked and slaved." + +Hök Matts Ericsson looked rather sheepish when he turned to the +manager and showed him the paper. + +"You'll have to excuse me, sir," he said. "It really was my +intention to part with my property, but when it came to the +scratch, I couldn't do it." + + + +THE AUCTION + +One day in May there was an auction sale at the Ingmar Farm, and +what a perfect day it was!--quite as warm as in the summertime. The +men had all discarded their long white sheepskin coats and were +wearing their short jackets; the women already went about in the +loose-sleeved white blouses which belonged with their summer dress. + +The schoolmaster's wife was getting ready to attend the auction. +Gertrude did not care to go, and Storm was too busy with his class +work. When Mother Stina was all ready to start, she opened the door +to the schoolroom, and nodded a good-bye to her husband. Storm was +then telling the children the story of the destruction of the great +city of Nineveh, and the look on his face was so stern and +threatening that the poor youngsters were almost frightened to +death. + +Mother Stina, on her way to the Ingmar Farm, stopped whenever she +came to a hawthorn in bloom, or a hillock decked with white, +sweet-scented lilies of the valley. + +"Where could you find anything lovelier than this," she thought, +"even if you were to go as far away as Jerusalem?" + +The schoolmaster's wife, like many others, had come to love the +old parish more than ever since the Hellgumists had called it a +second Sodom and wanted to abandon it. She plucked a few of the +tiny wild flowers that grew by the roadside, and gazed at them +almost tenderly. "If we were as bad as they try to make us out," +she mused, "it would be an easy matter for God to destroy us. He +need only let the cold continue and keep the ground covered with +snow. But when our Lord allows the spring and the flowers to +return, He must at least think us fit to live." + +When Mother Stina finally reached the Ingmar Farm she halted and +glanced round timidly. "I think I'll go back," she said to herself. +"I could never standby and see this dear old home broken up." But +all the same she was far too curious to find out what was to be +done with the farm to turn back. + +As soon as it became known that the farm was for sale, Ingmar put +in a bid for it. But Ingmar had only about six thousand kroner, and +Halvor had already been offered twenty-five thousand by the +management of the big Bergsana sawmills and ironworks. Ingmar +succeeded in borrowing enough money to enable him to offer an +equally large sum. The Company then raised its bid to thirty +thousand, which was more than Ingmar dared offer; for he could not +think of assuming so heavy a debt. The worst of it was, that not +only would the homestead by this means pass out of the hands of the +Ingmars for all time--for the Company was never known to part with +anything once it became its property--but moreover it was not +likely that it would allow Ingmar to run the sawmill at Langfors +Falls, in which case he would be deprived of his living. Then he +would have to give up all thought of marrying Gertrude in the fall, +as had been planned. It might even be necessary for him to go +elsewhere, to seek employment. + +When Mother Stina thought of this, she did not feel very pleasantly +disposed toward Karin and Halvor. "I hope to goodness that Karin +won't come up and speak to me!" she muttered to herself. "For if +she does, I'll just have to let her know what I think of her +treatment of Ingmar. After all, it's her fault that the farm does +not already belong to him. I've been told that they'll need a lot +of money for the journey. Just the same it seems mighty strange +that Karin can have the heart to sell the old place to a +corporation that would cut down all the timber and let the fields +go to waste." + +There was some one outside the corporation who wished to buy the +place; it was the rich district judge, Berger Sven Persson. Mother +Stina felt that such an arrangement would be better for Ingmar, as +Sven Persson was a generous man, who would surely let him keep the +sawmill. "Sven Persson will not forget that he was once a poor +goose boy on this farm," she reflected; "and that it was Big Ingmar +who first took him in hand and gave him a start in life." + +Mother Stina did not go into the house, but remained in the yard, +as did most of the people who had come to attend the sale. She sat +down on a pile of boards, and began to glance about her very +carefully, as one is wont to do when taking a last look at some +beloved spot. + +Surrounding the farmyard on three sides were ranges of outbuildings, +and in the centre was a little storehouse propped on four posts. +Nothing looked particularly old, with the exception of the porch +with the carved moulding at the entrance to the dwelling-house, and +another one, still older, with stout twisted pillars, at the +entrance of the washhouse. + +Mother Stina thought of all the old Ingmarssons whose feet had trod +the yard. She seemed to see them coming home from their work in the +evening, and gathering around the hearth, tall and somewhat bent, +always afraid of intruding themselves, or of accepting more than +they felt was their due. + +And she thought of the industry and honesty which had always been +practised on this farm. "It ought never to be allowed!" was her +thought as regards the auction. "The king should be told of it!" +Mother Stina took it more to heart than if it had been a question +of parting with her own home. + +The sale had not yet begun, but a good many people had arrived. +Some had gone into the barns to look over the live stock; others +remained out in the yard examining the farm implements placed there +for inspection. Mother Stina on seeing a couple of peasant women +come out of a cowshed grew indignant. "Just look at Mother Inga and +Mother Stava!" she muttered. "Now they've been in and picked out a +cow apiece. Think how they'll be going around bragging that they've +got a cow of the old breed from the Ingmar Farm!" + +When she saw old Crofter Nils trying to choose a plow she smiled a +little scornfully. + +"Crofter Nils will think himself a real farmer when he can drive a +plough that Big Ingmar himself has used." + +More and more people kept gathering round the things to be +auctioned off. The men looked wonderingly at many of the farming +tools, which were of such old-time make that it was difficult to +guess what they had been used for. A few spectators had the +temerity to laugh at the old sleighs some of which were from +ancient times and were gorgeously painted in red and green; and the +harnesses that went with them were studded with white shells, and +fringed with tassels of many colours. + +Mother Stina seemed to see the old Ingmarssons driving slowly in +these old sleighs, going to a party or coming home from a church +wedding, with a bride seated beside them. "Many good people are +leaving the parish," she sighed. For to her it was as if all the +old Ingmars had gone on living at the farm up to that very day, +when their implements and their old carts and sleds were being +hawked about. + +"I wonder where Ingmar is keeping himself, and how he feels? When +it seems so dreadful to me, what must it be for him?" + +The weather being so fine, the auctioneer proposed that they carry +out all the things that were to go under the hammer, so as to avoid +any overcrowding of the rooms. So maids and farm hands carried out +boxes and chests, all painted in tulips and roses, Some of them had +been standing in the attic, undisturbed, for centuries. They also +brought out silver jugs and old-fashioned copper kettles, spinning-wheels +and carders, and all kinds of odd-looking weaving appliances. The +peasant women gathered around all these old treasures, picking them +up and turning them over. + +Mother Stina had not intended to buy anything, when she remembered +that there was supposed to be a loom here on which could be woven +the finest damask, and went up to look for it. Just then a maid +came out with a huge Bible, which, with its thick leather bindings +and its brass clasps and mountings, was so heavy that she could +hardly carry it. + +Mother Stina was as astounded as if some one had struck her in the +face; and went back to her seat. She knew, of course, that no one +nowadays reads these old Bibles, with their obsolete and antiquated +language, but just the same it seemed strange that Karin would want +to sell it. + +It was perhaps the very Bible the old housewife was reading when +they came and told her that her husband, the great-grandfather of +young Ingmar, had been killed by a bear. Everything that Mother +Stina saw had something to tell her. The old silver buckles lying +on the table had been taken from the trolls in Mount Klack by an +Ingmar Ingmarsson. In the rickety chaise over yonder the Ingmar +Ingmarsson who had lived during her childhood had driven to church. +She remembered that every time he had passed by her and her mother +on their way to church, the mother had nudged her and said: "Now +you must curtsy, Stina, fox here comes Ingmar Ingmarsson." + +She used to wonder why it was that her mother always wanted her to +curtsy to Ingmar Ingmarsson; she had never been so particular when +it came to the judge or the bailiff. + +Afterward she was told that when her mother was a little girl and +went to church with her mother, the latter had always nudged her +and said: 'Now you must curtsy, Stina, for here comes Ingmar +Ingmarsson." + +"God knows," sighed Mother Stina, "it's not only because I had +expected that Gertrude would some day have been mistress here that +I grieve, but it seems to me as if the whole parish were done for." + +Just then the pastor came along, looking solemn and depressed. He +did not stop an instant, but went straight to the house. Mother +Stina surmised that he had come to plead Ingmar's cause with Karin +and Halvor. + +Shortly after, the manager of the sawmills at Bergsåna arrived, and +also judge Persson. The manager, who was there in the interest of +the corporation, straightway went inside, but Sven Persson walked +about in the yard for a while and looked at the things. Presently +he stopped in front of a little old man with a big beard, who was +sitting on the same pile of boards as Mother Stina. + +"I don't suppose you happen to know, Strong Ingmar, whether Ingmar +Ingmarsson has decided to buy the timber I offered him?" + +"He says no," the old man answered, "but I shouldn't be surprised +if he were to change his mind soon." At the same time he winked and +jerked his thumb in the direction of Mother Stina, thus cautioning +Sven Persson not to let her hear what they were talking about. + +"I should think he'd be satisfied to accept my terms," said the +Judge. "I don't make these offers everyday; but this I'm doing for +Big Ingmar's sake." + +"You're right about its being a good offer," the old man agreed, +"but he says that he has already made a deal else where." + +"I wonder if he has really considered what it is that he's losing?" +said Sven Persson, and walked on. + +Thus far none of the Ingmarsson family had been seen about the +yard; but presently young Ingmar was discovered standing leaning +against a wall, quite motionless, and with his eyes half closed. +Now a number of people got up to go over and shake hands with him, +but when they were quite close, they bethought themselves and went +back to their seats. + +Ingmar was deathly pale, and every one who looked at him could see +that he was suffering keenly; therefore, no one ventured to speak +to him. He stood so quietly that many had not even noticed that he +was there. But those who had could think of nothing else. Here +there was none of the merriment which usually prevails at auctions. +With Ingmar standing there, hugging the wall of the old home he was +about to lose, they felt no inclination to laugh or to joke. + +Then came a moment for the opening of the auction. The auctioneer +mounted a chair, and began to offer the first lot--an old plow. + +Ingmar never moved. He was more like a statue than a human being. + +"Good heavens! why can't he go away?" said the people. "He doesn't +have to stay here and witness this miserable business. But the +Ingmarssons never behave like other folks." + +The hammer then fell for the first sale. Ingmar started as if it +had caught him; but in a moment he again became motionless. But at +every ring of the hammer a shudder went through him. + +Two peasant women passed just in front of Mother Stina; they were +talking about Ingmar. + +"Think! If he had only proposed to some rich farmer's daughter he +might have had enough money to buy the farm; but of course he's +going to marry the schoolmaster's Gertrude," said one. + +"They say that a rich and influential man has offered to give him +the Ingmar Farm as a wedding present, if he will marry his +daughter," said the other. "You see, they don't mind his being +poor, because he belongs to such a good family." + +"Anyway, there's some advantage in being the son of Big Ingmar." + +"It would indeed have been a good thing if Gertrude had had a +little, so that she could have given him a lift," thought Mother +Stina. + +When all the farming implements had been sold, the auctioneer moved +over to another part of the yard, where the household linens were +piled. He then bean to offer for sale home-woven fabrics--table +cloths, bed linen, and hangings, holding them up so that the +embroidered tulips and the various fancy weaves could be seen all +over the yard. + +Ingmar must have noticed the light flutter of the linen pieces as +they were being held aloft, for he involuntarily glanced up. For a +moment his tired eyes looked out upon the desecration, then he +turned away. + +"I've never seen the like of that," said a young peasant girl. "The +poor boy looks as if he were dying. If he'd only go away instead of +standing here tormenting himself!" + +Mother Stina suddenly jumped to her feet as if to cry out that this +thing must be stopped; then she sat down again. "I mustn't forget +that I'm only a poor old woman," she sighed. + +All at once there was a dead silence, which made Mother Stina look +up. The silence was due to the sudden appearance of Karin, who had +just come out from the house. Now it was quite plain what they all +thought of Karin and her dealings, for as she went across the yard +every one drew back. No one put out a hand to greet her, no one +spoke to her; they simply stared disapprovingly. + +Karin looked tired and worn, and stooped more than usual. A bright +red spot appeared on both cheeks, and she looked as miserable as in +the days when she had had her struggles with Elof. She had come out +to find Mother Stina and ask her to go inside. "I didn't know till +just now that you were here, Mother Storm," she said. + +Mother Stina at first declined, but was finally persuaded. + +"We want all the old antagonisms to be forgotten now that we are +going away," said Karin. + +While they were going toward the house Mother Stina ventured: "This +must be a trying day for you, Karin." + +Karin's only response was a sigh. + +"I don't see how you can have the heart to sell all these old +things, Karin." + +"It is what one loves most that one must first and foremost +sacrifice to the Lord," said Karin. + +"Folks think it strange--" Mother Stina began, but Karin cut her +short. + +"The Lord, too, would think it strange if we held back anything we +had offered in His Name." + +Mother Stina bit her lip. She could not bring herself to say +anything further. All the reproaches which she had meant to heap +upon Karin stuck in her throat. There was an air of lofty dignity +about Karin that disarmed people; therefore, no one had the courage +to upbraid her. When they were on the broad step in front of the +porch, Mother Stina tapped Karin on the shoulder. + +"Have you noticed who is standing over there?" she asked, and +pointed to Ingmar. + +Karin winced a little, but was careful not to look over at her +brother. "The Lord will find a way out for him," she murmured. "The +Lord will surely find away out." + +To all appearances the living-room was not much changed by reason +of the auction, for in there the seats and cupboards and bedsteads +were stationary. But shining copper utensils no longer adorned the +walls, the built-in bedsteads looked bare, stripped of their +coverings and hangings, and the doors of the blue-painted +cupboards, which in the old days were always left standing half +open, to let visitors see the great silver jugs and beakers that +filled its shelves, were now closed; which meant that there was +nothing inside worth showing. The only wall decoration the room +boasted was the Jerusalem canvas, which on that day had a fresh +wreath around it. + +The large room was thronged with relatives and coreligionists of +Halvor and Karin. One after another, they were conducted with much +ceremony to a large, well-spread table, for refreshments. + +The door to the inside room was closed. In there negotiations for +the sale of the farm itself were pending. The talking was loud and +heated, especially on the part of the pastor. + +In the living-room, on the other hand, the people were very quiet, +and when any one spoke, it was in hushed tones; for every one's +thoughts were in the little room where the fate of the farm was +being settled. + +Mother Stina turned to Gabriel, saying: "I suppose there's no +chance of Ingmar getting the farm?" + +"The bidding has gone far beyond his figure by now," Gabriel +replied. "The innkeeper from Karmsund is said to have offered +thirty-two thousand, and the Company's bid has been raised to +thirty-five. The pastor is now trying to persuade Karin and Halvor +to let it go to the innkeeper rather than to the Company." + +"But what about Berger Sven Persson?" + +"It seems that he has not made any bid to-day." + +The pastor was still talking. He was evidently pleading with some +one. They could not hear what he said, but they knew that no +decision had been reached or the pastor would not have gone on +talking. + +Then came a moment of silence, after which the innkeeper was heard +to say, not exactly loudly, but with a clearness that made every +word carry: "I bid thirty-six thousand, not that I think the place +is worth that much, but I can't bear the thought of its becoming a +corporation property." + +Immediately after there was a noise as of some one striking a table +with his fist, and the manager of the Company was heard to shout: +"I bid forty thousand, and more than that Karin and Halvor are not +likely to get." + +Mother Stina, who had turned as white as a sheet, got up and went +back to the yard. It was dreary enough out there, but not as +insufferable as sitting in the close room listening to the haggling. + +The sale of linen was over; the auctioneer had again changed his +place, and was about to cry out the old family silverware--the +heavy silver jugs inlaid with gold coin, and the beakers bearing +inscriptions from the seventeenth century. When he held up the +first jug, Ingmar started forward as if to stop the sale, but +restrained himself at once, and went back to his place. + +A few minutes later an old peasant came bearing the silver jug, +which he respectfully deposited at Ingmar's feet. "You must keep +this as a souvenir of all that by right should have been yours," he +said. + +Again a tremor passed through Ingmar's body; his lips quivered, +and he tried to say something. + +"You needn't say anything now," said the old peasant. "That will +keep till another time." He withdrew a few paces, then suddenly +turned back. "I hear that folks are saying you could take over the +farm if you cared to. It would be the greatest service you could +render this parish." + +There were a number of old servants living at the farm, who had +been there from early youth. Now that old age had overtaken them +they still stayed on, and over these hung a pall of uncertainty +such as had not touched the others. They feared that under a new +master they would be turned out of their old home to become +beggars. Or, whatever happened, they knew in their hearts that no +stranger would care for them as their old master and mistress had +done. These poor old pensioners wandered restlessly about the +farmyard all day long. Seeing them shrink past, frail and helpless, +with a look of hopeless appeal in their weak, watery eyes, every +one felt sorry for them. + +Finally one old man, who was nearly a hundred, hobbled up to +Ingmar, and sat down on the ground quite close to him. It seemed to +be the only place where he could be at ease, for there he remained +quietly, resting his shaky old hands on the crook of his cane. And +as soon as old Lisa and Cowhouse Martha saw where Pickaxe Bengt had +taken refuge, they, too, came tottering up, and sat down at Ingmar's +feet. They did not speak to him, but somehow they must have had a +vague idea that he would be able to protect them--he who was now +Ingmar Ingmarsson. + +Ingmar no longer kept his eyes closed. He stood looking down at +them, as if he were counting up all the years and all the trials +through which they had lived, serving his people; and it seemed to +him that his first duty was to see that they be allowed to live out +their days in their old home. He glanced out over the yard, caught +the eye of Strong Ingmar, and nodded to him, significantly. + +Whereupon Strong Ingmar, without a word, went straight to the +house. He passed through the living-room to the inner room, and +stationed himself by the door, where he waited for an opportunity +to deliver his message. + +The pastor was standing in the middle of the room talking to Karin +and Halvor, who were sitting as stiff and motionless as a pair of +mummies. The manager from Bergsåna was at the table looking +confident, for he knew that he was in a position to outbid all the +others. The innkeeper from Karmsund was standing at the window, in +such a fever of agitation that great beads of sweat came out on his +forehead, and his hands shook. Berger Sven Persson sat on the sofa +at the far end of the room, twiddling his thumbs, his hands clasped +over his stomach, his big commanding face impassive. + +The pastor was done talking, and Halvor glanced over at Karin for +advice; but she sat as if in a trance, staring blankly at the floor. + +Then Halvor turned to the pastor, and said: "Karin and I have got +to consider that we are going to a strange land, and that we and +the brethren must live on the money we can get for the farm. We've +been told that the fare alone to Jerusalem will cost us fifteen +thousand kroner. And then, afterward, we must get a house and keep +ourselves in food and clothes. So we can hardly afford to give +anything away." + +"It's unreasonable of you people to expect Karin and Halvor to sell +the farm for a mere song, just because you don't want the Company +to have it!" said the manager. "It seems to me that it would be +well to accept my offer at once, if for no other reason than to put +an end to all these useless arguments." + +"Yes," Karin spoke up, "we'd better take the highest bid." + +But the parson was not so easily beaten! When it came to a question +of handling a worldly matter he always knew just what to say. Now +he was the man, and not the preacher. + +"I'm sure that Karin and Halvor care enough about this old farm to +want to sell to some person who would keep up the property, even if +they have to take a couple of thousand kroner less," he said. + +Then he proceeded to tell--for Karin's special benefit--of various +farms that had gone to waste after falling into the hands of +corporations. + +Once or twice Karin glanced up at the pastor. He wondered whether +he had finally succeeded in making some impression upon her. "There +must surely be a little of the pride of the old peasant matron +still left in her," he thought as he went on telling of tumbledown +farmhouses and underfed cattle. + +He finally ended with these words: "I know perfectly well that if +the corporation is fully determined to buy the Ingmar Farm, it can +go on bidding against the farmers until they are forced to give up; +but if Karin and Halvor want to prevent this old place from +becoming a ruined corporation property, they will have to settle on +a price, so that the farmers may know what to be guided by." + +When the pastor made that proposition, Halvor, uneasy, glanced over +at Karin, who slowly raised her eyelids. + +"Certainly Halvor and I would rather sell the place to some one of +our own kind. Then we could go away from here knowing that +everything would continue in the old way." + +"If some person outside the Company wants to give forty thousand +for the property, we will be satisfied to accept that sum for it," +said Halvor, knowing at last what his wife's wishes were. + +When that was said, Strong Ingmar walked over to Sven Persson and +whispered to him. + +Judge Persson immediately arose and went up to Halvor. "Since you +say you are willing to take forty thousand kroner for the farm, +I'll buy it at that figure," he said. + +Halvor's face began to twitch, and a lump seemed to rise in his +throat; he had to swallow before he could speak. "Thank you, +judge," he finally stammered. "I'm glad that I can leave the farm +in such good hands!" + +Judge Persson then shook hands with Karin, who was so moved that +she could hardly keep back the tears. + +"You may be sure, Karin, that everything here will be as of old," +he said. + +"Are you going to live at the farm yourself?" Karin inquired. + +"No," said he, then added with great solemnity: "My youngest +daughter is to be married in the summer, and she and her husband +are to have the farm as a gift from me." He then turned to the +pastor and thanked him. + +"Well, Parson, you'll have it your own way," he said. "I never +dreamed in the days when I was a poor goose boy on this place that +some time it would be in my power to arrange for an Ingmar +Ingmarsson to come back to the Ingmar Farm!" + +The pastor and the other men all stood staring at the judge in +dumb amazement, not grasping at first what was meant. + +Karin left the room at once. While passing through the living-room +to the yard, she drew herself up, retied her headkerchief, and +smoothed out her apron. Then, with an air of solemn dignity, she +went straight up to Ingmar and grasped his hand. + +"Let me congratulate you, Ingmar," she said, her voice shaking with +joy. "You and I have been strongly opposed to each other of late in +matters of religion; but since God does not grant me the solace of +having you with us, I thank Him for allowing you to become master +of the old farm." + +Ingmar did not speak. His hand lay limp in Karin's, and when she +let it drop, he stood there looking just as unhappy as he had +looked all day. + +The men who had been inside at the final settlement came out now, +and shook hands with Ingmar, offering their congratulations. "Good +luck to you, Ingmar Ingmarsson of the Ingmar Farm!" they said. + +At that a glimmer of happiness crossed Ingmar's face, and he +murmured softly to himself: "Ingmar Ingmarsson of the Ingmar Farm." +He was like a child that has just received a gift it has long been +wishing for. But the next moment his expression changed to one of +intense revolt and repugnance, as if he would have thrust the +coveted prize from him. + +In a flash the news had spread .all over the farm. People talked +loudly and questioned eagerly; some were so pleased they wept for +joy. No one listened now to the cries of the auctioneer, but +everybody crowded around Ingmar to wish him happiness--peasants and +gentlefolk, friends and strangers, alike. + +Ingmar, standing there, surrounded by all these happy people, +suddenly looked up. He then saw Mother Stina, standing a little +apart from the others, her eyes fixed on him. She was very pale, +and looked old and poor. As he met her gaze, she turned and walked +away. + +Ingmar hastily left the others and hurried after her. Then bending +down to her, every muscle of his face aquiver with grief, he said +in a husky voice: + +"Go home to Gertrude, Mother Stina, and tell her that I have +betrayed her, that I've sold myself for the farm. Tell her never to +think more of such a miserable wretch as I." + + + +GERTRUDE + +Something strange had come over Gertrude that she could neither +stay nor control--something that grew and grew until it finally +threatened to take complete possession of her. + +It began at the moment when she learned that Ingmar had failed her. +It was really a boundless fear of seeing Ingmar again--of suddenly +meeting him on the road, or at church, or elsewhere. Why that would +be such a terrible thing she hardly knew, but she felt that she +could never endure it. + +Gertrude would have preferred shutting herself in, day and night, +so as to be sure of not meeting Ingmar; but that was not possible +for a poor girl like her. She had to go out and work in the garden, +and every morning and evening she was obliged to tramp the long +distance from the house to the pasture to milk the cows, and she +was often sent to the village store to buy sugar and meal and +whatever else was needed in the house. + +When Gertrude went out on the road she would always draw her +kerchief far down over her face, keep her eyes lowered, and rush on +as if fiends were pursuing her. As soon as she could, she would +turn from the highroad, and take the narrow bypaths alongside the +ditches and drains, where she felt there was less likelihood of her +meeting Ingmar. + +Never for a moment did she feel free from fear; for there was not a +single place in all the parish where she could feel certain of not +running across him. If she went rowing on the river, he might be +there floating his timber, or if she ventured into the depths of +the forest, he might cross her path on his way to work. + +When weeding in the garden, she would often glance down the road, +so that she might see if he were approaching, and make her escape. +Ingmar was so well known about the place that her dog would not +have barked at sight of him, and her pigeons, that strutted about +the gravel walk, would not have flown up and warned her of his +approach with the rustle of their flapping wings. + +Gertrude's haunting dread did not diminish, but rather increased +from day to day. All her grief had turned to fear, and her strength +to combat it grew less and less. "Soon I shall not dare venture +outside the door," she thought. "I may get to be a bit queer and +morose, even if I don't become quite insane. God, God, take this +awful fear away from me!" she prayed. "I can see that my mother +and father think I'm not right in my head; and every one else must +think the same. Oh, dear Lord God, help me!" she cried. + +When this fear condition was at its worst, it happened one night +that Gertrude had an extraordinary dream. She dreamed that she had +gone out, with her milk pail on her arm, to do the milking. The +cows were grazing in an enclosed meadow near the skirt of the +forest, a long way from home. She went by the narrow paths, +alongside the ditches and field drains. She had great difficulty in +walking, for she felt so weak and weary that she could hardly lift +her feet. "What can be the matter with me?" she asked herself, in +the dream. "Why is it so hard for me to walk?" And she also +answered herself. "You are tired because you carry about with you +this heavy burden of sorrow." + +When she finally got to the pasturage, there were no cows in sight. +She became uneasy, and began to look for them in their usual +haunts--behind the brushwood, over by the brook, and under the +birches--but there was not a sign of them. While searching for the +cows she discovered a gap in the hedge, on the side fronting the +forest. She grew terribly alarmed, and stood wringing her hands. It +suddenly occurred to her that the cows must have cleared this +opening. "Tired as I am, must I now tramp the whole forest to find +them!" she whimpered, in her dream. + +But she went straight on into the woods, slowly pushing her way +through fir brush and prickly juniper bushes. Presently she found +herself walking on a smooth and even road without knowing how she +had got there. The road was soft and rather slippery from the brown +fir needles that covered it. On either side stood great towering +pines, and on the yellow moss under the trees sunbeams were +playing. Here it was so lovely and so peaceful that she almost +forgot her fears. + +Of a sudden, she caught sight of an old woman moving about in +among the trees. It was Finne-Marit, she who was famed as a witch. +"How dreadful that that wicked old woman is still alive," thought +Gertrude, "and that I should come upon her here in the forest!" She +tried to slip along very cautiously, so as not to be seen by the +witch. But before Gertrude could get past, the old woman looked up. + +"Hi, there!" the old woman shouted. "Wait a bit, and you'll see +something!" In a twinkling, Finne-Marit was in the road and on her +knees almost in front of Gertrude. Then, with her forefinger, she +drew a circle in the carpet of fir needles, at the centre of which +she placed a shallow brass bowl. + +"Now she's going to do some conjuring," thought Gertrude. "Why, +then it must be true that she is a witch!" + +"Look down into the bowl!" said Finne-Marit, "and maybe you'll +see something." When Gertrude glanced down, she gave a start. +Mirrored in the bowl, she saw plainly the face of Ingmar. +Immediately the old woman handed her a long needle. "See here," she +said; "take this and pierce his eyes. Do this to him because he has +played you false." Gertrude hesitated a little, but felt strongly +tempted. "Why should he fare well, and be rich and happy, while you +suffer?" said the old dame. With that Gertrude was seized by an +uncontrollable desire to do the ogre's bidding, and lowered the +needle. "Mind you stick him right in the eye!" said the witch. +Whereupon Gertrude quickly drove the needle, first into one and +then into the other of Ingmar's eyes. In so doing, she noticed that +the needle went far down-not as though it had come into contact +with metal, but rather as if it had penetrated some soft substance. +When she drew it out, there was blood on it. + +Gertrude, seeing blood on the needle, thought she had really put +out Ingmar's eyes. Then she was so overcome by remorse for what she +had done, and so frightened, that she woke up. + +She lay for a long while, trembling and weeping, before she was +able to convince herself that it was only a dream. "May God +preserve me from any thought of vengeance!" she moaned. + +She had barely quieted down and dropped off to sleep again, when +the dream recurred. + +Once more she wandered along the narrow paths toward the grazing +ground. This time, too, the cows had strayed, and she went into the +forest to look for them. Again she came to the beautiful road, and +saw the sunbeams playing on the moss. Then she suddenly recalled +all that had just happened to her in a dream, and grew terribly +frightened lest she should meet the old witch again. Seeing nothing +of her, she felt greatly relieved. + +All at once she seemed to see the earth between a couple of moss +tufts open. Suddenly a head appeared. Then she saw the body of a +tiny little man work its way up out of the earth, and all the while +the little man was making a buzzing and humming noise. By that she +knew whom she had encountered. It was Humming Pete, of course, who +was said to be a bit queer in his head. Sometimes he used to stay +down in the village, but during the summer he always lived in a mud +cave in the forest. + +Then Gertrude recalled to memory what she had heard folks say of +Pete: "Any one wanting to injure an enemy without risking discovery +could avail himself of his services." He was suspected of having +started a number of incendiary fires at the instigation of others. + +Gertrude then went up to the man and asked him, half in fun, if he +wouldn't like to set fire to the Ingmar Farm. She wished it done, +she said, because Ingmar Ingmarsson thought more of the farm than +of her. + +To her horror, the half-witted dwarf was ready to act on her +suggestion. Nodding gleefully, he started on a run toward the +settlement. She hurried after, but could not seem to overtake him. +Her dress caught in the brushwood, her feet sank in the marsh, and +she stumbled over stony ground. When she was almost out of the +forest, what should she see through the trees but the glow from a +fire. "He has done it, he has set fire to the farm!" she shrieked, +again awakening from the horror of the dream. + +Now Gertrude sat up in bed; tears ran down her cheeks. She dared +not sink back on her pillow again for fear of dreaming further. +"Oh, Lord help me, Lord help me!" she cried. "I don't know how much +evil there may be hidden in my heart, but God knows that never once +during all this time have I thought of revenging myself on Ingmar. +O God, let me not fall into this sin!" she prayed. Wringing her +hands in an agony of despair, she cried out: + +"Grief is a menace, grief is a menace, grief is a menace!" + +It was not very clear to her just what she meant by that; but she +felt somehow that her poor heart was like a ravaged garden, in +which all the flowers had been uprooted, and now Grief, as a +gardener, moved about in there, planting thistles and poisonous +herbs. + +The whole forenoon of the following day, Gertrude thought that she +was still dreaming. Her dream had seemed so real that she could not +get it out of her mind. Remembering with what satisfaction she had +plunged the needle into Ingmar's eyes, she shuddered. "How dreadful +that I should have become so cruel and resentful! What shall I do +to rid myself of this? I'm really getting to be a very wicked +person!" + +After dinner Gertrude went out to milk the cows. She drew her +kerchief down over her face, as usual, and kept her eyes on the +ground. Walking along the narrow paths where she had wandered in +the dream, even the flowers by the wayside looked the same as in +the dream. In her strange state of semi-wakefulness, she could +hardly distinguish between what she actually saw and what she only +seemed to see in fancy. + +When she reached the pasturage, there were no cows to be seen. And +she began to search for them, as she had done in the dream--looking +down by the brook, under the birches, and behind the brushwood. She +could not find them, yet she felt quite certain that they must be +thereabout, and that she would probably see them were she only wide +awake. Presently she came upon an opening in the hedge, and knew at +once that the cows had made their escape through this. + +Gertrude straightway started in search of the strayed cattle, +following the track which their hoofs had made in the soft earth +of the forest. It was plain that they had turned in on a road +leading to a remote Säter. "Ah!" she said, "now I know where they +are. I remember that the folks down at Luck Farm were going to +drive their cattle to the Säter this morning. Our cows, on hearing +the tinkle of their cowbells, must have broken loose and followed +the others." + +Gertrude's anxiety had for the moment made her wide awake. So she +determined to go up to the Säter, and fetch the cows herself; +otherwise there was no telling when they would come back. Now she +walked briskly along the steep and rocky road. + +After going uphill for a time there was an abrupt turn in the road, +and she suddenly came upon smooth and even ground that was thick +with pine needles. She recognized it as the road of her dream. +There stood the selfsame towering pines, and on the moss were the +selfsame yellow sun spots. + +At sight of the road Gertrude lapsed into the dreamy state in which +she had been most of the day. She moved along, half expecting that +something wonderful would happen to her. She looked under the fir +trees to see if any of the mysterious beings who wander about in +the depths of the forest would suddenly appear to her. However, +none appeared. But in her mind new thoughts were awakened. "What if +I should really take revenge on Ingmar, would that still my fears? +Would I then escape the horrors of insanity? If he were to suffer +what I am suffering, would that be any relief to me?" + +The beautiful road seemed interminably long. She walked there a +whole hour, astonished that nothing unusual had happened. The road +finally ended in a forest meadow. It was a lovely spot, covered +with fresh green grass and many wild flowers. On one side rose a +steep mountain; the other sides were covered with high trees--mostly +mountain ash, with thick clusters of white blossoms, and here and +there was a group of birches and alders. A rather broad stream +gushed down the mountainside and wound its way through the meadow, +then went hurling down into a gap that was covered with dwarfed +trees and bushes. + +Gertrude stood stock still; she knew the place at once. That stream +was Blackwater Brook, and strange tales were told of it. Sometimes, +when crossing this stream, people had clear visions of events that +were taking place elsewhere. A little lad, in crossing, once saw a +bridal procession which happened just then to be moving toward the +church far down in the village, and a charcoal burner once saw a +king, with crown and sceptre, ride to his coronation. + +Gertrude's heart was in her mouth "God have mercy on me for what I +may see here!" she gasped, half tempted to turn back. "Poor little +me!" she wailed, feeling sorry for herself. "But I must--I must +cross here to fetch my cows." + +"Dear Lord, don't let me see anything dreadful or bad!" she prayed, +her hands tightly clasped, and shaking from fright. "And don't let +me fall into temptation." + +There was no doubt in her mind that she would see something; she +was so sure of it, in fact, that she hardly dared venture out upon +the stones that led across the brook. Yet something made her do it. +When halfway over, all at once she saw something moving in among +the trees on the other side of the brook. It was no bridal +procession, however, but a solitary man, who was slowly coming +toward the meadow. + +The man was tall and young, and was dressed in a long black garment +that came to his feet. His head was uncovered, and his hair hung in +long black locks over his shoulders. He had a slender and very +beautiful face. He was coming straight toward Gertrude. In his +eyes, which were clear and radiant, there was a wonderful light; +and when his gaze fell upon Gertrude, she felt that he could read +all her sorrowful thoughts, and she saw that he pitied her whose +mind was haunted by fears of the paltry things of earth, whose soul +had become darkened by thoughts of revenge, and whose heart had +been sown with the thistles and poison flowers of Grief. + +As he drew nigh, there came over Gertrude such a blissful sense of +ever growing peace and serenity! And when he had passed by, there +was no longer any fear or resentment in her thought. All that was +not good had vanished like a sickness of which one has been healed. + +Gertrude stood rapt for a long while. The vision faded away, but +she was still held by the beauty of it, and the impression of what +she had seen stayed with her. Clasping her hands she raised them in +ecstasy. + +"I have seen the Christ!" she cried out with joy. "I have seen the +Christ! He has freed me from my sorrow, and I love Him. Now I can +never again love anyone else in the world." + +The trials of life had suddenly dwindled into mere nothings, and +life's long years appeared as but a moment in the Glass of Time, +while earthly joys seemed trivial and shallow and meaningless. All +at once it became clear to Gertrude how she was to order her life; +so that she might never again sink down into the darkness of fear, +nor be tempted into doing anything mean or hateful, she would go +with the Hellgumists to Jerusalem. This thought had come to her +when the Christ passed by. She felt that it had come from Him; she +had read it in His eyes. + +*** + +On the beautiful June day when the daughter of Berger Sven Persson +was given in marriage to Ingmar Ingmarsson, a tall, slender young +woman stopped at the Ingmar Farm early in the morning, and asked if +she might speak to the bridegroom. She wore her kerchief so far +down over her face that nothing could be seen of it save a creamy +cheek and a pair of rosy lips. On her arm was a basket that held +little bundles of handmade trimmings, a few hair chains, and hair +bracelets. + +She gave her message to an old maidservant, whom she met in the +yard, and who went in and told the housewife. The housewife +answered sharply: + +"Go straight back and tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is just going +to drive to church; he has no time to talk with her." + +As soon as the young woman received this curt dismissal, she went +her way. When the bridal party had returned from the church, she +came back, and again asked if she might speak to Ingmar Ingmarsson. +This time she approached one of the menservants who was hanging +round the stable door; he went in and told the master. + +"Tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is about to sit down to the +wedding feast," said the master. "He has no time to talk to her." + +On receiving this answer, she sighed and went her way. When she +came again it was late in the evening, as the sun was setting. This +time she gave her message to a child that was swinging on the gate. +The child ran straight to the house and told the bride. + +"Tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is dancing with his wife," said +the bride. "He has no time to talk to anyone else." + +When the child came back and repeated what had been told her, the +young woman smiled indulgently, and said: "Now you are telling +something that isn't true. Ingmar Ingmarsson is not dancing with +his bride." + +This time she did not go away, but remained standing at the gate. + +The bride, meanwhile, thought to herself: "I have told a lie on my +wedding day!" Sorry for what she had done, she went up to Ingmar, +and told him that there was a stranger outside who wished to speak +with him. Ingmar went out, and found Gertrude standing at the gate, +waiting. + +When Gertrude saw him coming, she started down the road, Ingmar +following. They walked along in silence till they were some +distance away from the house. + +As to Ingmar, it could be truthfully said of him that he had aged +in the short time of a few weeks. At any rate, there was something +about his face that showed added shrewdness and caution. He also +stooped more, and looked more subdued, now that he had acquired +riches, than was the case when he had nothing. + +Indeed, he was anything but glad to see Gertrude! Every day since +the auction he had been trying to persuade himself into the belief +that he was satisfied with his bargain. "In fact, we Ingmarssons +care for little else than to plow and to sow the fields on the +Ingmar Farm," was what he had said to himself. + +But there was something that troubled him even more than the loss +of Gertrude--the thought that now there was one human being who +could say of him that he had not lived up to his word. Keeping a +little behind Gertrude all the while, he went over in his mind all +the scornful things which she had a right to say to him. + +Presently Gertrude sat down on a stone at the roadside, and put her +basket on the ground; then she drew her kerchief still farther over +her face. + +"Sit down," she said to Ingmar, pointing to another stone. "I have +many things to talk over with you." + +Ingmar sat down, and was glad that he felt quite calm. "This will +be easier than I had expected," he said to himself. "I thought it +was going to be much harder on me to see Gertrude again, and to +hear her speak. I was afraid that my love for her would get the +better of me." + +"I should never have come like this, and disturbed you on your +wedding day, had I not been compelled to do so," said Gertrude. "I +shall soon be leaving this part of the world, never to return. I +was ready to start a week ago, when something came up that made it +necessary for me to put off going, that I might speak with you to-day." + +Ingmar sat all huddled up, with his shoulders hunched and his head +drawn in, as if he were expecting a tempest, saying to himself, +meanwhile: "Whatever Gertrude may think about it, I'm sure I did +the right thing in choosing the farm. I should have been lost +without it." + +"Ingmar," said Gertrude, blushing so that the little corner of her +cheek that could be seen behind the kerchief showed crimson. "You +remember, of course, that five years ago I was ready to join the +Hellgumists. At that time I had given my heart to Christ. But I +took it back, to give it to you. In so doing, I acted wrongly, and +that's why I've had to suffer all this. As I once forsook Christ, +even so have I been forsaken by the one I loved." + +When Ingmar perceived that Gertrude was about to tell him that +she was going with the Hellgumists, he at once showed signs of +disapproval. "I can't bear to have her join these Jerusalem people, +and go away to a strange land," he thought. And he opposed her plan +as vehemently as he would have done had he still been engaged to +her. "You mustn't think like that, Gertrude," he protested. "God +never meant this as a punishment to you." + +"No, no, Ingmar, not as a punishment, indeed not! but only to show +me how badly I had chosen the second time. Ah, this is no +punishment! I feel so happy, and lack for nothing. All my sorrow +has been turned into joy. You will understand this, Ingmar, when I +tell you that the Lord Himself has chosen me, and called me." + +Ingmar was silent; a look of weariness came into his eyes. "Don't +be a fool!" he said to himself. "Let Gertrude go. To put sea and +land between you and her would be the best thing that could happen-- +sea and land, yes, sea and land!" + +And yet that something within him which did not want to let +Gertrude go was, nevertheless, stronger than himself. So he said: +"I can't conceive of your parents allowing you to leave them." + +"That they'll never do!" Gertrude replied. "And I know it so well +that I wouldn't even dare ask them. Father would never give his +consent. He would use force, if necessary, to prevent my going. The +hard part of it is that I shall have to sneak away. They think now +that I'm going about the country selling my handiwork; so they +won't know about it until I have joined the Jerusalem pilgrims at +Gothenburg and am well out of Sweden." + +Ingmar was very much distressed to think that Gertrude would be +willing to cause her parents such heavy sorrow. "Can it be that she +realizes how badly she is behaving?" he wondered. He was about to +remonstrate with her, then checked himself. "You're hardly the +proper person to reproach Gertrude for anything that she may do," +he remarked to himself. + +"Indeed, I know it will be hard on father and mother," said +Gertrude, "but I must follow Jesus." And she smiled as she named +the name of the Saviour. "He has saved me from destruction. He has +healed my sick soul!" she said feelingly. + +And as if she had only now found courage to do so, she pushed back +her kerchief, and looked Ingmar straight in the eyes. It struck +Ingmar that she was drawing comparisons between him and some one +whose image she carried in her heart, and he felt that she found +him small and insignificant. + +"It will be very hard for father and mother," she reiterated. +"Father is an old man now, and must soon give up his school; so +they will have even less to live upon than before. When he has no +work to take up his mind, he will become restless and irritable. +Mother won't have an easy time with him. They'll be very unhappy, +both of them. Of course it would have been quite different could I +have stayed at home to cheer them." + +Gertrude paused, as if afraid to come out with what she wanted to +say. Ingmar's throat tightened, and his eyes began to fill. He +divined that Gertrude wanted to ask him to look after her old +parents. + +"And I fancied that she had come here to-day only to abuse and +threaten me! And instead she opens her heart to me." + +"You won't have to ask me, Gertrude," he said. "This is a great +honour for you to confer upon one who has behaved so badly to you. +Be assured that I shall treat your old parents better than I have +treated you." + +When Ingmar said this, his voice trembled, and the wary look was +gone from his face. "How kind Gertrude is to me!" he thought. "She +does not ask this of me only out of consideration for her parents, +but she wants to show me that she has forgiven me." + +"I knew, Ingmar, that you wouldn't say no to this. And I have +something more to tell you." She spoke now in a brighter and more +confident tone. "I've got a great surprise for you!" + +"How charmingly Gertrude speaks!" Ingmar was thinking. "She has the +sweetest, the cheeriest, and most tuneful voice I have ever heard!" + +"About a week ago," Gertrude continued, "I left home intending to +go straight on to Gothenburg, so as to be there when the Hellgumists +arrive. The first night I stopped over at Bergsåna with a poor +widow whose name it Marie Boving. That name I want you to remember +Ingmar--_Marie Boving_. If she should ever come to want, you must +help her." + +"How pretty Gertrude is!" he thought, as he nodded and promised to +remember Marie Boving's name. "How pretty she is! What will become +of me when she goes? God forgive me if I did wrong in giving her up +for an old farm! Fields and meadows can never be the same to you as +a human being; they can't laugh with you when you're happy, nor +comfort you when you're sad! Nothing on earth can make up for the +loss of one who has loved you." + +"Marie Boving," Gertrude went on, "has a little room off her +kitchen, which she let me have for the night. 'You'll surely sleep +well to-night,' she said to me, 'as you are to lie on the bedding +which I bought at the sale on the Ingmar Farm.' But as soon as I +laid down, I felt a hard lump in the pillow under my head. After +all, it wasn't such extra good bedding Marie had bought for herself, +I thought; but I was so tired out from tramping around all day, +that I finally dropped off to sleep. In the middle of the night I +awoke and turned the pillow, so I shouldn't feel that hard lump. +While smoothing out the pillow, I discovered that the ticking had +been cut and clumsily basted together. Inside there was something +hard that crackled like paper. 'I don't have to lie on rocks,' I +said to myself; then I ripped open a corner of the pillow, and +pulled out a small parcel, which was done up in wrapping paper and +tied with string." + +Gertrude paused and glanced at Ingmar, to see whether his curiosity +was aroused; but apparently he had not listened very closely to +what she was telling. + +"How prettily Gertrude uses her hands when she talks!" he thought. +"I don't think I've ever seen any one as graceful as she is. +There's an old saying that man loves mankind above everything. +However, I believe that I did the right thing, for it wasn't only +the farm that needed me, but the whole parish." Just the same, he +felt to his discomfort that now it was not so easy to persuade +himself that he loved his old home more than he loved Gertrude. + +"I put the parcel down beside the bed, thinking that in the morning +I would give it to Marie. But at daybreak I saw that your name was +written on the wrapper. On closer examination I decided to take it +along, and turn it over to you without saying anything about it, +either to Marie or to any one else." Then taking a little parcel +from the bottom of her basket, she said: "Here it is, Ingmar. Take +it; it's your property." She supposed, of course, that he would be +happily surprised. + +Ingmar took the parcel, without much thought as to what he was +receiving. He was struggling to ward off the bitter regrets that +were stealing in on him. + +"If Gertrude only knew how bewitching she is when she's so sweet +and gentle! It would have been better for me had she come to +upbraid me. I suppose I ought to be glad that she is as she is," +he thought, "but I'm not. It seems as if she were grateful to me +for having failed her." + +"Ingmar," said Gertrude, in a tone that finally made him understand +that she had something very important to tell him. "When Elof lay +sick at the Ingmar Farm, he must have used that very pillow." + +She took the parcel from Ingmar and opened it. Then she counted out +twenty crisp, new bank notes, each of which was a thousand-krona +bill. Holding the money in front of his eyes, she said: + +"Look, Ingmar! here's every krona of your inheritance money. It was +Elof, of course, who hid it in the pillow!" + +Ingmar heard what she said, and he saw the bank notes--but he saw +and heard as in a daze. Gertrude placed the money in his hand, but +his fingers would not close over it, and it fell to the ground. +Then Gertrude picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket. Ingmar +stood there, reeling like a drunken man. Suddenly he raised his +arm, clenched his fist tight, and shook it, just as a drunken man +might have done. "My God! My God!" he groaned. + +Indeed, he wished that he could have had a word with our Lord, +could have asked Him why this money had not been found sooner, and +why it should have turned up now when it was not needed, and when +Gertrude was already lost to him. The next moment his hand dropped +heavily on Gertrude's shoulder. + +"You certainly know how to take your revenge!" + +"Do you call this revenge, Ingmar?" asked Gertrude, in dismay. + +"What else should I call it? Why didn't you bring me this money at +once?" + +"I wanted to wait until the day of your wedding." + +"If you had only come before, I'm sure I could have bought back the +farm from Berger Sven Persson, and then I would have married you." + +"Yes, I knew that." + +"And yet you come on my wedding day, when it's too late!" + +"It would have been too late in any case, Ingmar. It was too late a +week ago, it is too late now, and it will be too late forever." + +Ingmar had again sunk down on the stone. He covered his face with +his hands and wailed: + +"And I thought there was no help for it! I believed that no power +on earth could have altered this; but now I find that there was a +way out, that we might all have been happy." + +"Understand one thing, Ingmar: when I found the money, I knew at +once that it would be the kind of help to us that you say. But it +was no temptation to me--no, not for a second; for I belong to +another." + +"You should have kept it yourself!" cried Ingmar. "I feel as if a +wolf were gnawing at my heart. So long as I believed there was no +other course open to me, it wasn't so bad; but now that I know you +could have been mine, I can't--" + +"Why Ingmar! I came here to bring you happiness." + + +Meanwhile, the folks at the house had become impatient, and had +gone out on the porch, where they were calling: "Ingmar! Ingmar!" + +"Yes, and there's the bride, too, waiting for me!" he said +mournfully. "And to think that you, Gertrude, should have brought +all this about! When I had to give you up, circumstances forced me +to do so, while you have spoiled everything simply to make me +unhappy. Now I know how my father felt when my mother killed the +child!" + +Then he broke into violent sobs. "Never have I felt toward you +as I do now!" he cried passionately. "I've never loved you half so +much as I do now. Little did I think that love could be so cruelly +bitter!" + +Gertrude gently placed her hand on his head. "Ingmar," she said +very quietly, "it was never, never my meaning to take revenge on +you. But so long as your heart is wedded to the things of this +earth, it is wedded to sorrow." + +For a long while Ingmar sat motionless, his head bowed. When +he at last looked up, Gertrude was gone. People now came running +from the farm to find him. He struck his clenched fist against the +stone upon which he sat, and a look of determination came into his +face. + +"Gertrude and I will surely meet again," he said. "Then maybe it +will be altogether different. We Ingmarssons are known to win what +we yearn for." + + + +THE DEAN'S WIDOW + +Everybody tried to dissuade the Hellgumists from going to Jerusalem. +And toward the last, it seemed as though the very hills and vales +echoed the plea, "Do not go! Do not go!" + +Even the country gentlemen did their best to get the peasants to +abandon the idea. The bailiff, the judge, and the councilmen gave +them no peace; they asked them how they could feel sure that these +Americans were not imposters; for they had no way of knowing what +sort of folk they would be getting in with. In that far Eastern +country there was neither law nor order; there one was always in +danger of falling into the hands of brigands. Besides, there were +no decent roads in that land--all their goods would have to be +transported by means of pack-horses, as in the wild forests up +North. + +The doctor told them they would never be able to stand the climate; +that Jerusalem was full of smallpox and malignant fevers; they were +going away only to die. + +The Hellgumists answered that they knew all this, and it was for +that very reason they were going. They were going there in order to +fight the smallpox and the fevers, to build roads and to till the +soil. God's country should no longer lie waste; they would transform +it into a paradise. And no one was able to turn them from their +purpose. + +Down in the village lived an old lady, the widow of the Dean. She +was very, very old! She occupied a large chamber above the post +office, just across the street from the church, where she had lived +since the death of her husband. + +Some of the more well-to-do peasant women had always made it a rule +to drop in to see the old lady on Sundays, before the service, and +bring her some freshly baked bread, a pat of butter, or a can of +milk. On these occasions she would always have the coffee pot put +on the fire the moment they came in, and the one who could shout +the loudest always talked with her, for she was frightfully deaf. +Of course they would try to tell her about everything that had +happened during the week, but they could never be certain as to how +much she heard of what was told her. + +She never left her room, and there were times when it seemed as if +people had forgotten her entirely. Then some one, in passing, would +see her old face back of the draped white curtains at the window, +and think: "I must not forget her in her loneliness; to-morrow when +we have killed the calf, I'll run in to see her, and take her a bit +of fresh meat." + +No one could find out just how much she knew or did not know of +what went on in the parish. With the advancing years, she became +more and more detached, and apparently lost all interest in the +things of this world. Now she just sat reading all the while in an +old Postil, which she seemed to know by heart. + +Living with her was a faithful old servant, who helped her dress, +and prepared her meals. The two of them were in mortal fear of +robbers and mice, and they were so afraid of fire that they would +sit in the dark the whole evening rather than light the lamp. + +Several among those who had lately become followers of Hellgum, +used to call on the Dean's widow in the old days, and bring her +little gifts; but since their conversion they had separated +themselves from all who were not of their faith; so they no longer +went to see her. No one knew whether she understood why they did +not come. Nor did anybody know whether she had heard anything about +their proposed emigration to Jerusalem. + +But one day the old lady took it into her head to go for a drive, +and ordered the servant to get her a carriage and pair. Imagine the +astonishment of the old servant! But when she attempted to +remonstrate, the old lady suddenly became stone deaf. Raising her +right hand, her forefinger poised in the air, she said: + +"I wish to go for a drive, Sara Lena, you must find me a carriage +and a pair of horses." + +There was nothing for Sara Lena but to do as she was told. So she +went over to the pastor's to ask for the loan of his rig, which was +a fairly decent-looking turnout. That done, she was put to the +bother of airing and brushing an old fur cape and an old velvet +bonnet that had been lying in camphor twenty consecutive years. And +it was no small task getting the old lady down the stairs and into +the wagon! She was so feeble that it seemed as if her life could +have been as easily snuffed out as a candle flame in a storm. + +When the Dean's widow was at last safely seated in the carriage, +she ordered the driver to take her to the Ingmar Farm. + +Maybe the folks up at the farm were not surprised when they saw who +was coming! The housefolk came running out, and lifted her down +from the carriage, and ushered her into the living-room. Seated at +the table in there were quite a number of Hellgumists. Of late they +had been in the habit of coming together and having their frugal +meals in common--meals which consisted of rice and tea and other +light things; this was to prepare them for the coming journey +across the desert. + +The Dean's widow glanced around the room. Several persons tried to +speak to her, but that day she heard nothing whatever. Suddenly she +put up her hand, and said in that hard, dry voice in which deaf +people are wont to speak: "You do not come to see _me_ any more; +therefore, I have come to _you_, to warn you not to go to Jerusalem. +It is a wicked city. It was there they crucified our Saviour." + +Karin attempted to answer the old lady, who apparently did not +hear, for she went right on: + +"It is a wicked city," she repeated. "Bad people live there. 'Twas +there they crucified Christ. I have come here to-day," she added, +"because this has been a good house. Ingmarsson has been a good +name; it has always been a good name. Therefore, you must remain in +our parish," + +Then she turned and walked out of the house. Now she had done her +part, and could die in peace. This was the last service that life +demanded of her. + +After the old lady had gone, Karin broke into tears. "Perhaps it +isn't right for us to go," she sighed. But she was pleased that the +Dean's widow had said that Ingmarsson was a good name--that it had +always been a good name. + +It was the first and only time Karin had been known to waver, or +to express any doubt as to the advisability of the great +undertaking. + + + +THE DEPARTURE OF THE PILGRIMS + +One beautiful morning in July, a long train of carts and wagons set +out from the Ingmar Farm. The Hellgumists had at last completed +their arrangements, and were now leaving for Jerusalem--the first +stage of their journey being the long drive to the railway station. + +The procession, in moving toward the village, had to pass a +wretched hovel which was called Mucklemire. The people who lived +there were a disreputable lot--the kind of scum of the earth which +must have sprung into being when our Lord's eyes were turned, or +when he had been busy elsewhere. + +There was a whole horde of dirty, ragged youngsters on the place, +who were in the habit of running loose all day, shrieking after +passing vehicles, and calling the occupants bad names; there was an +old crone, who usually sat by the roadside, tipsy; and there were a +husband and wife who were always quarrelling and fighting, and who +had never been known to do any honest work. No one could say +whether they begged more than they stole, or stole more than they +begged. + +When the Jerusalem-farers came alongside this wretched hovel, which +was about as tumbledown as a place can become where wind and storm +have, for many years, been allowed to work havoc, they saw the old +crone standing erect and sober at the roadside, on the same spot +where she usually sat in a drunken stupor, lurching to and fro, and +babbling incoherently, and with her were four of the children. All +five were now washed and combed, and as decently dressed as was +possible for them to be. + +When the persons seated in the first cart caught sight of them, +they slackened their speed and drove by very slowly; the others did +likewise, walking their horses. + +All the Jerusalem-farers suddenly burst into tears, the grown-ups +crying softly, while the children broke into loud sobs and wails. + +Nothing had so moved them as the sight of Beggar Lina standing at +the roadside clean and sober. Even to this day their eyes fill when +they think of her; of how on that morning she had denied herself +the drink, and had come forth sober, with the grandchildren washed +and combed, to do honour to their departure. + +When they had all passed by, Beggar Lina also began to weep. + +"Those people are going to Heaven to meet Jesus," she told the +children. "All those people are going to Heaven but we are left +standing by the wayside." + +*** + +When the procession of carts and wagons had driven halfway through +the parish, it came to the long floating bridge that lies rocking +on the river. + +This is a difficult bridge to cross. The first part of it is a +steep incline all the way down to the edge of the stream; then come +two rather abrupt elevations, under which boats and timber rafts +can pass; and at the other end the up grade is so heavy that both +man and beast dread to climb it. + +That bridge has always been a source of annoyance. The planks keep +rotting, and have to be replaced continually. In the spring, when +the ice breaks, it has to be watched day and night to prevent its +being knocked to pieces by drifting ice floes; and when the spring +rains cause a rise in the river, large portions of the bridge are +washed away. + +But the people of the parish are proud of their bridge, and glad to +have it, rickety as it is. But for that blessed bridge they would +have to use a rowboat or a ferry every time they wanted to cross +from one side of the parish to the other. + +The bridge groaned and swayed as the Jerusalem-farers passed over +it, and the water came up through the cracks in the planks and +splashed the horses' legs. + +They felt sad at having to leave their dear old bridge, for they +knew it was something which belonged to all of them. Houses and +farms, groves and meadows, were owned by different persons, but the +bridge was their common property. + +But was there nothing else that they had in common? Had they not +the church in among the birches on the other side of the bridge? +Had they not the pretty white schoolhouse, and the parsonage? + +And they had something more in common. Theirs was the beauty which +they saw from the bridge: the lovely view of the broad and mighty +river flowing peacefully on between its tree-clad banks, and all +a-sparkle in the summer light; the wide view across the valley +clear over to the blue hills. All this was theirs! It was as if +burned into their eyes. And now they would never see it again. + +When the Hellgumists came to the middle of the bridge, they began +to sing one of Sankey's hymns. "We shall meet once again," they +sang, "we shall meet in that Eden above." + +There was no one on the bridge to hear them. They were singing to +the blue hills of their homeland, to the silvery waters of the +river, to the waving trees. And from throats tightened by sobs and +tears came the song of farewell: + +"O beautiful homeland, with thy peaceful farms with their red and +white tree-sheltered houses; with thy fertile fields and green +meadows; thy groves and orchards; thy long valley, divided by the +shining river, hear us! Pray God that we may meet again, that we +may see thee again in Paradise!" + +*** + +When the long procession of carts and wagons had crossed the +bridge, it came to the churchyard. In the churchyard there was a +large flat gravestone that was crumbling from age. It bore neither +name nor date, but according to tradition, the bones of an ancestor +of the Ljung family rested under it. + +When Ljung Björn Olafsson, who was now going to Jerusalem, and his +brother Pehr were children, they had once sat on that stone and +talked. At first they were as chummy as could be; then all at once +they got to quarrelling about something, became very much excited, +and raised their voices. What they quarrelled about they had long +since forgotten, but what they never could forget was, that while +they were quarreling the hardest, they heard several distinct and +deliberate rappings on the stone where they were seated. They broke +off instantly. Then they took each other by the hand, and stole +quietly away. Afterward, they could never see that stone without +thinking of this incident. + +And now, when Ljung Björn was driving past the churchyard, who +should he see but his brother Pehr, sitting on that selfsame stone, +with his head resting on his hands. Ljung Björn reined in his +horse, and signalled to the others to wait for him. He got down +from the cart, climbed over the cemetery wall, and went and sat on +the stone beside his brother. + +Pehr Olafsson immediately said: "So you sold the farm, Björn!" + +"Yes," answered Björn. "I have given all I owned to God." + +"But the farm was not yours," the brother mildly protested. + +"Not mine?" + +"No, it belonged to the family." + +Ljung Björn did not reply, but sat quietly waiting. He knew that +when his brother had seated himself on that stone, it was for the +purpose of speaking words of peace. Therefore, he was not afraid of +what Pehr might say. + +"I have bought back the farm," said the brother. + +Ljung Björn gave a start. "Couldn't you bear to have it go out of +the family?" he asked. + +"I'm hardly rich enough to do such things for that reason." + +Björn looked at his brother inquiringly. + +"I did it that you might have something to come back to." + +Björn was overwhelmed, and could hardly keep the tears back. + +"And that your children may have a place to come back to--" + +Björn put his arm around his brother's neck. + +"--and for the sake of my dear sister-in-law," said Pehr. "It will +be good for her to know that she has a house and home waiting for +her. The old home will always be open to any of you who may want to +come back." + +"Pehr, take my place in the cart and go to Jerusalem, and I'll stay +at home. You are far more worthy to enter the Promised Land than I +am." + +"No, no!" said the brother smilingly. "I understand how you mean +it, but I guess I fit in better at home." + +"I think you're more fit for Heaven," said Björn, laying his head +on his brother's shoulder. "Now you must forgive me everything," he +said. + +Then they got up and clasped hands in farewell. + +"This time there were no rappings," Pehr remarked. + +"Strange you should have thought of coming here," said Björn. + +"We brothers have had some difficulty in maintaining peace, when +we've met of late." + +"Did you think that I would want to quarrel to-day?" + +"No, but I become angry when I think of having to lose you!" + +They walked together down to the road. Presently Pehr went up to +Björn's wife, and gave her a hearty handclasp. + +"I've bought the Ljung Farm," he said. "I tell you this now so that +you may know you've always got a place to come to." Then he took +the eldest of the children by the hand, and said: "Remember, now, +that you have a house and land to come back to, should you want to +return to the old country." He went from one child to the other, +even to little Eric, who was only two years old and couldn't +understand what it all meant. "The rest of you youngsters must not +forget to tell little Eric that he has a home to return to whenever +he wants to come back." + +And the Jerusalem-farers went on. + +*** + +When the long line of carts and wagons had passed the churchyard, +the travellers came upon a large crowd of friends and relatives who +had come out to bid them goodbye. They had a long halt here, for +everybody wanted to shake hands with them, and say a few parting +words. + +And later, when they drove through the village, the road was lined +with people who wished to witness their departure. There were +people standing on every doorstep and leaning out of every window; +they sat upon the low stone hedges all along the way, and those who +lived farther off stood on mounds and hills waving a last farewell. + +The long procession moved slowly past all these people until it +came to the home of Councilman Lars Clementsson, where it halted. +Here Gunhild got down to say good-bye to her folks. + +Gunhild had been staying at the Ingmar Farm since deciding to go +with the others to Jerusalem. She had felt that this was preferable +to living at home in constant strife with her parents, who could +not become reconciled to the thought of her going. + +As Gunhild stepped down from the cart she noticed that the place +looked quite deserted. There was not a soul to be seen, either +outside or at the windows. When she reached the gate she found it +locked. She stepped over the stile into the yard. Even the front +door of the house was fastened. Then Gunhild went round to the +kitchen door; it was hooked on the inside! She knocked several +times, but as no one came she pulled the door toward her, inserted +a stick in the crack, and lifted the hook. So she finally got in. +There was no one in the kitchen, nor was there any one in the +living-room, nor yet in the inner room. + +Gunhild did not want to go away without letting her parents know +that she had been to say good-bye to them. She went over to the big +combination desk and bureau, where her father always kept his +writing materials, and drew down the lid. She could not at first +find the ink, so looked for it in drawers and pigeonholes. While +searching, she came upon a small casket which she remembered well. +It was her mother's--she had received it from her husband as a +wedding present. When Gunhild was a little girl her mother had +often shown it to her. The casket was enamelled in white, with a +garland of hand-painted flowers. On the inside of the lid was a +picture of a shepherd piping to a flock of white lambs. Gunhild now +opened the box to take a last peep at the shepherd. + +In this casket Gunhild's mother had always kept her most +cherished keepsakes-the worn-down wedding ring which had +belonged to her mother, the old-fashioned watch which had been +her father's, and her own gold earrings. But when Gunhild +opened the box, she found that all these things had been taken +out, and in their place lay a letter. It was a letter that she +herself had written. A year or two before, she had made a trip to +Mora by boat across Lake Siljan. The boat had capsized. Some of her +fellow-passengers were drowned, and her parents had been told that +she, too, had perished. It flashed upon Gunhild that her mother +must have been made so happy on receiving a letter from her +daughter telling of her safety, that she had taken everything else +out of the casket, and placed the letter there as her most +priceless treasure. + +Gunhild turned as pale as death; her heart was being wrung. "Now I +know that I'm killing my mother," she said, She no longer thought +of writing anything, but hurried away. She got up into the cart, +taking no notice of the many questions as to whether she had seen +her parents. During the remainder of the drive she sat motionless, +with her hands in her lap, and staring straight ahead. "I'm killing +my mother," she was saying to herself. "I know that I'm killing my +mother. I know that mother will die. I can never be happy again. I +may go to the Holy Land, but I am killing my own mother." + +*** + +When the long line of carts and wagons had passed through the +village, it turned in on a forest road. Here the Jerusalem-farers +noticed for the first time that they were being shadowed by two +persons whom they did not seem to know. While still in the village, +they had been so engrossed in their leave-takings that they had not +seen the strange vehicle in which the two unknown people sat; but +in the wood their attention was drawn to it. + +Sometimes it would drive past all the other carts and lead the +procession; then again it would take the side of the road and let +the other teams go by. It was an ordinary wagon, the kind commonly +used for carting; therefore, it was impossible to tell to whom it +belonged. Nor did any one recognize the horse. + +It was driven by an old man, who was much bent, and had wrinkled +hands and a long white beard. Certainly none of them knew who he +was. But by his side sat a woman whom they somehow felt they knew. +No one could see her face, for her head was covered with a black +shawl, both sides of which she held together so closely that not +even her eyes were seen. Many tried to guess from her figure and +size who she was, but no two guessed alike. + +Gunhild said at once, "It's my mother," and Israel Tomasson's wife +declared that it was her sister. There was scarcely a person among +them but had his or her own notion as to who it was. Tims Halvor +thought it was old Eva Gunnersdotter. + +The strange cart accompanied them all the way, but not once did +the woman draw the shawl back from her face. To some of the +Hellgumists she became a person they loved, to others one they +feared, but to most of them she was some one whom they had +deserted. + +Wherever the road was wide enough to allow of it, the strange +cart would drive past the whole line of wagons, and then pull to +one side until they had all gone by. At such times the unknown +woman would turn toward the travellers, and watch them from behind +her drawn shawl; but she made no sign to any of them, so that no +one could really say for certain who she was. She followed all the +way to the railway station. There they expected to see her face; +but when they got down and began to look around for her--she was +gone. + +*** + +When the procession of carts and wagons passed along the +countryside, no one was seen cutting grass, or raking hay, or +stacking hay. That morning all work had been suspended, and every +one was either standing at the roadside in their Sunday clothes or +driving to see the travellers off; some went with them six miles, +some twelve, a few accompanied them all the way to the railway +station. + +Throughout the entire length and breadth of the parish only one +man was seen at work. That man was Hök Matts Ericsson. Nor was he +mowing grass-that he regarded as only child's play. He was clearing +away stones from his land, just as he had done in his youth, when +preparing his newly acquired acres for cultivation. + +Gabriel, as he drove along, could see his father from the road. Hök +Matts was out in the grove prying up stones with his crowbar, and +piling them on to a stone hedge. He never once looked up from his +work, but went right on digging and lugging stones, some of which +were so big that Gabriel thought they were enough to break his +back--and afterward throwing them up on to the hedge with a force +that caused them to splinter, and made sparks fly. Gabriel, who was +driving one of the goods wagons, let his horse look out for itself +for a long time while his eyes were turned toward his father. + +Old Hök Matts worked on' and on, toiling and slaving exactly as he +had done when his son was a little lad, and he strove to develop +his property. Grief had taken a firm hold on Hök Matts; yet he went +on digging and prying up larger and larger stones, and piling them +on the hedge. + +Soon after the procession had passed, a violent thunderstorm came +up. Everybody ran for cover, and Hök Matts, too, thought of doing +the same; then he changed his mind. He dared not leave off working. + +At noon his daughter came to the door and called to him to come to +dinner. Hök Matts was not very hungry; still, he felt that he might +need a bite to eat. He did not go in, however, for he was afraid to +stop his work. + +His wife had gone with Gabriel to the railway station. On her +return, late in the evening, she stopped to tell her husband that +now their son had gone, but he would not leave off an instant to +hear what she had to say. + +The neighbours noticed how Hök Matts worked that day. They came out +to watch him, and after looking on a while, they went in and +reported that he was still there, that he had been at it the whole +day without a break. + +Evening came, but the light lingered a while, and Hök Matts kept +right on working. He felt that if he were to leave off while still +able to drag a foot, his grief would overpower him. + +By and by his wife came back again, and stood watching him. The +grove was now almost clear of stones, and the hedge quite high +enough, but still the little old man went on lugging stones that +were more fit for a giant to handle. Now and then a neighbour would +come over to see if he was still at it; but no one spoke to him. + +Then darkness fell. They could no longer see him, but they could +hear him--could hear the dull thud of stone against stone as he +went on building the wall. + +Then at last as he raised the crowbar it slipped from his hands, +and when he stooped to pick it up he fell; and before he could +think, he was asleep. + +Some time afterward he roused himself sufficiently to get to the +house. He said nothing, he did not even attempt to undress, but +simply threw himself down on a wooden bench and dropped off to +sleep. + +*** + +The Jerusalem-farers had at last reached the railway station which +was newly built in a big clearing in the middle of the forest. +There was no town, nor were there any fields or gardens, but +everything had been planned on a grand scale in the expectation +that an important railway community would some day spring up in +this wilderness. + +Round the station itself the ground was levelled; there was a broad +stone platform, with roomy baggage sheds and no end of gravel +drives. A couple of stores and workshops, a photographic studio, +and a hotel had already been put up around the gravelled square, +but the remainder of the clearing was nothing but unbroken stubble +land. + +The Dal River also flowed past here. It came with a wild and angry +rush from the dark woods, and dashed foamingly onward in a cascade +of falls. The Jerusalem-farers could hardly credit that this was a +part of the broad, majestic river they had crossed in the morning. +Here no smiling valley met their gaze; on all sides the view was +obstructed by dark fir-clad heights. + +When the little children who were going with their parents to +Jerusalem were lifted out of the carts in this desolate-looking +place, they became uneasy and began to cry. Before, they had been +very happy in the thought of travelling to Jerusalem. Of course +they had cried a good deal when leaving their homes, but down at +the station they became quite disconsolate. + +Their elders were busy unloading their goods from the wagons and +stowing them away in a baggage car. They all helped, so that no one +had any time to look after the children, and see what they were up +to. + +The youngsters meanwhile got together, and held council as to what +they should do. + +After a bit the older children took the little ones by the hand and +walked away from the station, two by two-a big child and a little +child. They went the same way they had come across the sea of sand, +through the stubble ground, over the river and into the dark forest. + +Suddenly, one of the women happened to think of the children, and +opened a food basket to give them something to eat. She called to +them, but got no answer. They had disappeared from sight. Two of +the men went to look for them. Following the tracks which the many +little feet had left in the sand, they went on into the woods, +where they caught sight of the youngsters, marching along in line, +two by two, a big child and a little child. When the men called to +them they did not stop, but kept right on. + +The men ran to overtake them. Then the children tried to run away, +but the smaller ones could not keep up; they stumbled and fell. +Then all of them stood still--wretchedly unhappy, and crying as if +their little hearts would break. + +"But, children, where are you going?" asked one of the men. +Whereupon the littlest ones set up a loud wail, and the eldest boy +answered: + +"We don't want to go to Jerusalem; we want to go home." + +And for a long time, even after the children had been brought back +to the station, and were seated in the railway carriage, they still +went on whimpering and crying: "We don't want to go to Jerusalem; +we want to go home." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JERUSALEM*** + + +******* This file should be named 15837-8.txt or 15837-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/3/15837 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/15837-8.zip b/15837-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f322d71 --- /dev/null +++ b/15837-8.zip diff --git a/15837.txt b/15837.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b14673 --- /dev/null +++ b/15837.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9719 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jerusalem, by Selma Lagerloef, et al, +Translated by Velma Swanston Howard + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Jerusalem + + +Author: Selma Lagerloef + +Translator: Velma Swanston Howard + +Release Date: May 16, 2005 [eBook #15837] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JERUSALEM*** + + +E-text prepared by Nicole Apostola + + + +JERUSALEM + +A Novel + +From the Swedish of + +SELMA LAGERLOEF + +Translated by VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD + +With an Introduction by + +HENRY GODDARD LEACH + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +Introduction + +BOOK ONE + + The Ingmarssons + +BOOK TWO + + At the Schoolmaster's + "And They Saw Heaven Open" + Karin, Daughter of Ingmar + In Zion + The Wild Hunt + Hellgum + The New Way + +BOOK THREE + + The Loss of "L'Univers" + Hellgum's Letter + The Big Log + The Ingmar Farm + Hoek Matts Ericsson + The Auction + Gertrude + The Dean's Widow + The Departure of the Pilgrims + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +As yet the only woman winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the +prize awarded to Kipling, Maeterlinck, and Hauptmann, is the +Swedish author of this book, "Jerusalem." The Swedish Academy, in +recognizing Miss Selma Lagerloef, declared that they did so "for +reason of the noble idealism, the wealth of imagination, the +soulful quality of style, which characterize her works." Five years +later, in 1914, that august body elected Doctor Lagerloef into their +fellowship, and she is thus the only woman among those eighteen +"immortals." + +What is the secret of the power that has made Miss Lagerloef an +author acknowledged not alone as a classic in the schools but also +as the most popular and generally beloved writer in Scandinavia? +She entered Swedish literature at a period when the cold gray star +of realism was in the ascendant, when the trenchant pen of +Strindberg had swept away the cobwebs of unreality, and people were +accustomed to plays and novels almost brutal in their frankness. +Wrapped in the mantle of a latter-day romanticism, her soul filled +with idealism, on the one hand she transformed the crisp +actualities of human experience by throwing about them the glamour +of the unknown, and on the other hand gave to the unreal--to folk +tale and fairy lore and local superstition--the effectiveness of +convincing fact. "Selma Lagerloef," says the Swedish composer, +Hugo Alfven, "is like sitting in the dusk of a Spanish cathedral ... +afterward one does not know whether what he has seen was dream or +reality, but certainly he has been on holy ground." The average +mind, whether Swedish or Anglo-Saxon, soon wearies of heartless +preciseness in literature and welcomes an idealism as wholesome as +that of Miss Lagerloef. Furthermore, the Swedish authoress attracts +her readers by a diction unique unto herself, as singular as the +English sentences of Charles Lamb. Her style may be described as +prose rhapsody held in restraint, at times passionately breaking +its bonds. + +Miss Lagerloef has not been without her share of life's perplexities +and of contact with her fellowmen, it is by intuition that she +_works_ rather than by experience. Otherwise, she could not have +depicted in her books such a multitude of characters from all parts +of Europe. She sees character with woman's warm and delicate +sympathy and with the clear vision of childhood. "Selma Lagerloef," +declared the Swedish critic, Oscar Levertin, "has the eyes of a +child and the heart of a child." This naivete is responsible for +the simplicity of her character types. Deep and sure they may be, +but never too complex for the reader to comprehend. The more varied +characters--as the critic Johan Mortensen has pointed out--like +Hellgum, the mystic in "Jerusalem," are merely indicated and +shadowy. How unlike Ibsen! Selma Lagerloef takes her delight, not in +developing the psychology of the unusual, but in analyzing the +motives and emotions of the normal mind. This accounts for the +comforting feeling of satisfaction and familiarity which comes over +one reading the chronicles of events so exceptionable as those +which occur in "Jerusalem." + +In one of her books, "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils," Miss +Lagerloef has sketched the national character of mart Swedish people +in reference to the various landscapes visited by the wild goose in +its flight. In another romance, "Goesta Berling," she has interpreted +the life of the province at Vermland, where she herself was born +on a farmstead in 1858. A love of starlight, violins, and dancing, +a temperament easily provoked to a laughing abandon of life's +tragedy characterizes the folk of Vermland and the impecunious +gentry who live in its modest manor halls. It is a different folk +to whom one is introduced in "Jerusalem," the people of Dalecarlia, +the province of Miss Lagerloef's adopted home. They, too, have their +dancing festivals at Midsummer Eve, and their dress is the most +gorgeous in Sweden, but one thinks of them rather as a serious and +solid community given to the plow and conservative habits of +thought. They were good Catholics once; now they are stalwart +defenders of Lutheranism, a community not easily persuaded but, +once aroused, resolute to act and carry through to the uttermost. +One thinks of them as the people who at first gave a deaf ear to +Gustaf Vasa's appeal to drive out the Danes, but who eventually +followed him shoulder to shoulder through the very gates of +Stockholm, to help him lay the foundations of modern Sweden. Titles +of nobility have never prospered in Dalecarlia; these stalwart +landed peasants are a nobility unto themselves. The Swedish people +regard their Dalecarlians as a reserve upon whom to draw in times +of crisis. + +"Jerusalem" begins with the history of a wealthy and powerful +farmer family, the Ingmarssons of Ingmar Farm, and develops to +include the whole parish life with its varied farmer types, its +pastor, schoolmaster, shopkeeper, and innkeeper. The romance +portrays the religious revival introduced by a practical mystic +from Chicago which leads many families to sell their ancestral +homesteads and--in the last chapter of this volume--to emigrate in +a body to the Holy Land. + +Truth is stranger than fiction. "Jerusalem" is founded upon the +historic event of a religious pilgrimage from Dalecarlia in the +last century. The writer of this introduction had opportunity to +confirm this fact some years ago when he visited the parish in +question, and saw the abandoned farmsteads as well as homes to +which some of the Jerusalem-farers had returned. And more than +this, I had an experience of my own which seemed to reflect this +spirit of religious ecstasy. On my way to the inn toward midnight +I met a cyclist wearing a blue jersey, and on the breast, instead +of a college letter, was woven a yellow cross. On meeting me the +cyclist dismounted and insisted on shouting me the way. When we +came to the inn I offered him a krona. My guide smiled as though he +was possessed by a beatific vision. "No! I will not take the money, +but the gentleman will buy my bicycle!" As I expressed my +astonishment at this request, he smiled again confidently and +replied. "In a vision last night the Lord appeared unto me and said +that I should meet at midnight a stranger at the cross-roads +speaking an unknown tongue and 'the stranger will buy thy +bicycle!'" + +The novel is opened by that favourite device of Selma Lagerloef, the +monologue, through which she pries into the very soul of her +characters, in this case Ingmar, son of Ingmar, of Ingmar Farm. +Ingmar's monologue at the plow is a subtle portrayal of an heroic +battle between the forces of conscience and desire. Although this +prelude may be too subjective and involved to be readily digested +by readers unfamiliar with the Swedish author's method they will +soon follow with intent interest into those pages that describe how +Ingmar met at the prison door the girl for whose infanticide he was +ethically responsible. He brings her back apparently to face +disgrace and to blot the fair scutcheon of the Ingmarssons, but +actually to earn the respect of the whole community voiced in the +declaration of the Dean: "Now, Mother Martha, you can be proud of +Ingmar! It's plain now he belongs to the old stock; so we must +begin to call him '_Big_ Ingmar.'" + +In the course of the book we are introduced to two generations of +Ingmars, and their love stories are quite as compelling as the +religious motives of the book. Forever unforgettable is the scene +of the auction where Ingmar's son renounces his beloved Gertrude +and betroths himself to another in order to keep the old estate +from passing out of the hands of the Ingmars. Thus both of these +heroes in our eyes "play yellow." On the other hand they have our +sympathy, and the reader is tossed about by the alternate undertow +of the strong currents which control the conduct of this farming +folk. Sometimes they obey only their own unerring instincts, as in +that vivid situation of the shy, departing suitor when Karin +Ingmarsson suddenly breaks through convention and publicly over the +coffee cups declares herself betrothed. The book is a succession of +these brilliantly portrayed situations that clutch at the +heartstrings--the meetings in the mission house, the reconciliation +scene when Ingmar's battered watch is handed to the man he felt on +his deathbed he had wronged, the dance on the night of the "wild +hunt," the shipwreck, Gertrude's renunciation of her lover for her +religion, the brother who buys the old farmstead so that his +brother's wife may have a home if she should ever return from the +Holy Land. As for the closing pages that describe the departure of +the Jerusalem-farers, they are difficult to read aloud without a +sob and a lump in the throat. + +The underlying spiritual action of "Jerusalem" is the conflict of +idealism with that impulse which is deep rooted in the rural +communities of the old world, the love of home and the home soil. +It is a virtue unfortunately too dimly appreciated in restless +America, though felt in some measure in the old communities of +Massachusetts and Virginia, and Quaker homesteads near Philadelphia. +Among the peasant aristocracy of Dalecarlia attachment to the +homestead is life itself. In "Jerusalem" this emotion is pitted on +the one hand against religion, on the other against _love_. Hearts +are broken in the struggle _which_ permits Karin to sacrifice the +Ingmar Farm to obey the inner voice that summons her on her +religious pilgrimage, and _which_ leads her brother, on the other +hand, to abandon the girl of his heart and his life's personal +happiness in order to win back the farm. + +The tragic intensity of "Jerusalem" is happily relieved by the +undercurrent of Miss Lagerloef's sympathetic humour. When she has +almost succeeded in transporting us into a state of religious +fervour, we suddenly catch her smile through the lines and realize +that no one more than she feels the futility of fanaticism. The +stupid blunders of humankind do not escape her; neither do they +arouse her contempt. She accepts human nature as it is with a warm +fondness for all its types. We laugh and weep simultaneously at the +children of the departing pilgrims, who cry out in vain: "We don't +want to go to Jerusalem; we want to go home." + +To the translator of "Jerusalem," Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard, +author and reader alike must feel indebted. Mrs. Howard has already +received generous praise for her translation of "Nils" and other +works of Selma Lagerloef. Although born in Sweden she has achieved +remarkable mastery of English diction. As a friend of Miss Lagerloef +and an artist she is enabled herself to pass through the temperament +of creation and to reproduce the original in essence as well as +sufficient verisimilitude. Mrs. Howard is no mere artisan +translator. She goes over her page not but a dozen times, and the +result is not a labored performance, but a work of real art in +strong and confident prose. + + HENRY GODDARD LEACH. +Villa Nova, Pennsylvania. +June 28, 1915. + + + + +BOOK ONE + + + +THE INGMARSSONS + +I + +A young farmer was plowing his field one summer morning. The sun +shone, the grass sparkled with dew, and the air was so light and +bracing that no words can describe it. The horses were frisky from +the morning air, and pulled the plow along as if in play. They were +going at a pace quite different from their usual gait; the man had +fairly to run to keep up with them. + +The earth, as it was turned by the plow, lay black, and shone with +moisture and fatness, and the man at the plow was happy in the +thought of soon being able to sow his rye. "Why is it that I feel +so discouraged at times and think life so hard?" he wondered. "What +more does one want than sunshine and fair weather to be as happy as +a child of Heaven?" + +A long and rather broad valley, with stretches of green and yellow +grain fields, with mowed clover meadows, potato patches in flower, +and little fields of flax with their tiny blue flowers, above which +fluttered great swarms of white butterflies--this was the setting. +At the very heart of the valley, as if to complete the picture, lay +a big old-fashioned farmstead, with many gray outhouses and a large +red dwelling-house. At the gables stood two tall, spreading pear +trees; at the gate were a couple of young birches; in the +grass-covered yard were great piles of firewood; and behind the +barn were several huge haystacks. The farmhouse rising above the +low fields was as pretty a sight as a ship, with masts and sails, +towering above the broad surface of the sea. + +The man at the plow was thinking: "What a farm you've got! Many +well-timbered houses, fine cattle and horses, and servants who are +as good as gold. At least you are as well-to-do as any one in these +parts, so you'll never have to face poverty. + +"But it's not poverty that I fear," he said, as if in answer to his +own thought. "I should be satisfied were I only as good a man as my +father or my father's father. What could have put such silly +nonsense into your head?" he wondered. "And a moment ago you were +feeling so happy. Ponder well this one thing: in father's time all +the neighbours were guided by him in all their undertakings. The +morning he began haymaking they did likewise and the day we started +in to plow our fallow field at the Ingmar Farm, plows were put in +the earth the length and breadth of the valley. Yet here I've been +plowing now for two hours and more without any one having so much +as ground a plowshare. + +"I believe I have managed this farm as well as any one who has +borne the name of Ingmar Ingmarsson," he mused. "I can get more for +my hay than father ever got for his, and I'm not satisfied to let +the weed-choked ditches which crossed the farm in his time remain. +What's more, no one can say that I misuse the woodlands as he did +by converting them into burn-beaten land. + +"There are times when all this seems hard to bear," said the young +man. "I can't always take it as lightly as I do to-day. When father +and grandfather lived, folks used to say that the Ingmarssons had +been on earth such a long time that they must know what was +pleasing to our Lord. Therefore the people fairly begged them to +rule over the parish. They appointed both parson and sexton; they +determined when the river should be dredged, and where gaols should +be built. But me no one consults, nor have I a say in anything. + +"It's wonderful, all the same, that troubles can be so easily borne +on a morning like this. I could almost laugh at them. And still I +fear that matters will be worse than ever for me in the fall. If I +should do what I'm now thinking of doing, neither the parson nor +the judge will shake hands with me when we meet at the church on a +Sunday, which is something they have always done up to the present. +I could never hope to be made a guardian of the poor, nor could I +even think of becoming a churchwarden." + +Thinking is never so easy as when one follows a plow up a furrow +and down a furrow. You are quite alone, and there is nothing to +distract you but the crows hopping about picking up worms. The +thoughts seemed to come to the man as readily as if some one had +whispered them into his ear. Only on rare occasions had he been +able to think as quickly and clearly as on that day, and the +thought of it gladdened and encouraged him. It occurred to him that +he was giving himself needless anxiety; that no one expected him to +plunge headlong into misery. He thought that if his father were +only living now, he would ask his advice in this matter, as he had +always done in the old days when grave questions had come up. + +"If I only knew the way, I'd go to him," he said, quite pleased at +the idea. "I wonder what big Ingmar would say if some fine day I +should come wandering up to him? I fancy him settled on a big farm, +with many fields and meadows, a large house and barns galore, with +lots of red cattle and not a black or spotted beast among them, +just exactly as he wanted it when he was on earth. Then as I step +into the farmhouse--" + +The plowman suddenly stopped in the middle of a furrow and glanced +up, laughing. These thoughts seemed to amuse him greatly, and he +was so carried away by them that he hardly knew whether or not he +was still upon earth. It seemed to him that in a twinkling he had +been lifted all the way up to his old father in heaven. + +"And now as I come into the living-room," he went on, "I see many +peasants seated on benches along the walls. All have sandy hair, +white eyebrows, and thick underlips. They are all of them as like +father as one pea is like another. At the sight of so many people I +become shy and linger at the door. Father sits at the head of the +table, and the instant he sees me he says; 'Welcome, little Ingmar +Ingmarsson!' Then father gets up and comes over to me. 'I'd like to +have a word with you, father,' I say, 'but there are so many +strangers here.' 'Oh, these are only relatives!' says father. 'All +these men have lived at the Ingmar Farm, and the oldest among them +is from way back in heathen times.' 'But I want to speak to you in +private,' I say. + +"Then father looks round and wonders whether he ought to step into +the next room, but since it's just I he walks out into the kitchen +instead. There he seats himself in the fireplace, while I sit down +on the chopping block. + +"'You've got a fine farm here, father,' I say. 'It's not so bad,' +says father, 'but how's everything back home?' 'Oh, everything is +all right there; last year we got twelve kroner for a ton of hay.' +'What!' says father. 'Are you here to poke fun at me, little +Ingmar?' + +"'But with me everything goes wrong' I say. 'They forever telling +me that you were as wise as our Lord himself, but no one cares a +straw for me.' 'Aren't you one of the district councillors?' the +old man asks. 'I'm not on the School Board, or in the vestry, nor +am I a councillor.' 'What have you done that's wrong, little +Ingmar?' 'Well, they say that he who would direct the affairs of +others, first show that he can manage his own properly.' + +"Then I seem to see the old man lower his eyes and sit pondering. +In a little while he says: 'Ingmar, you ought to marry some nice +girl who will make you a good wife.' 'But that's exactly what I +can't do, father,' I reply. 'There is not a farmer in the parish, +even among the poor and lowly, who would give me his daughter.' +'Now tell me straight out what's back of all this, little Ingmar,' +says father, with such a tender note in his voice. + +"'Well, you see, father, four years ago--the same year that I took +over the farm--I was courting Brita of Bergskog.' 'Let me see'-- +says father, 'do any of our folks live at Bergskog?' He seems to +have lost all remembrance of how things are down on earth. 'No, but +they are well-to-do people, and you must surely remember that +Brita's father is a member of Parliament?' 'Yes, of course; but you +should have married one of our people, then you would have had a +wife who knew about our old customs and habits.' 'You're right, +father, and I wasn't long finding that out!' + +"Now both father and I are silent a moment; then the old man +continues: 'She was good-looking, of course?' 'Yes,' I reply. 'She +had dark hair and bright eyes and rosy cheeks. And she was clever, +too, so that mother was pleased with my choice. All might have +turned out well but, you see, the mistake of it was that she didn't +want me.' 'It's of no consequence what such a slip of a girl wants +or doesn't want.' 'But her parents forced her to say "yes."' 'How +do you know she was forced? It's my candid opinion that she was +glad to get a rich husband like you, Ingmar Ingmarsson.' + +"'Oh, no! She was anything but glad. All the same, the banns were +published and the wedding day was fixed. So Brita came down to the +Ingmar Farm to help mother. I say, mother is getting old and +feeble.' 'I see nothing wrong in all that, little Ingmar,' says +father, as if to cheer me up. + +"'But that year nothing seemed to thrive on the farm; the potato +crop was a failure, and the cows got sick; so mother I decided it +was best to put off the wedding a year. You see, I thought it +didn't matter so much about the wedding as long as the banns had +been read. But perhaps it was old-fashioned to think that way.' + +"'Had you chosen one of our kind she would have exercised +patience,' says father. 'Well, yes,' I say. 'I could see that Brita +didn't like the idea of a postponement; but, you see, I felt that I +couldn't afford a wedding just then. There had been the funeral in +the spring, and we didn't want to take the money out of the bank.' +'You did quite right in waiting,' says father. 'But I was a little +afraid that Brita would not care to have the christening come +before the wedding.' 'One must first make sure that one has the +means,' says father. + +"'Every day Brita became more and more quiet and strange. I used to +wonder what was wrong with her and fancied she was homesick, for +she had always loved her home and her parents. This will blow over, +I thought, when she gets used to us; she'll soon feel at home on +the Ingmar Farm. I put up with it for a time; then, one day, I +asked mother why Brita was looking so pale and wild eyed. Mother +said it was because she was with child, and she would surely be her +old self again once that was over with. I had a faint suspicion +that Brita was brooding over my putting off the wedding, but I was +afraid to ask her about it. You know, father, you always said that +the year I married, the house was to have a fresh coat of red +paint. That year I simply couldn't afford it. By next year +everything will be all right, I thought then.'" + +The plowman walked along, his lips moving all the while. He +actually imagined that he saw before him the face of his father. "I +shall have to lay the whole case before the old man, frankly and +clearly," he remarked to himself, "so he can advise me." + +"'Winter had come and gone, yet nothing was changed. I felt at +times that if Brita were to keep on being unhappy I might better +give her up and send her home. However, it was too late to think of +that. Then, one evening, early in May, we discovered that she had +quietly slipped away. We searched for her all through the night, +and in the morning one of the housemaids found her.' + +"I find it hard now to continue, and take refuge in silence. Then +father exclaims: 'In God's name, she wasn't dead, was she?' 'No, +not she,' I say, and father notes the tremor in my voice. 'Was the +child born?' asks father. 'Yes,' I reply, 'and she had strangled +it. It was lying dead beside her.' 'But she couldn't have been in +her right mind.' 'Oh, she knew well enough what she vas about!' I +say. 'She did it to get even with me for forcing myself upon her. +Still she would never have done this thing had I married her. She +said she had been thinking that since I did not want my child +honourably born, I should have no child.' Father is dumb with +grief, but by and by he says to me: 'Would you have been glad of +the child, little Ingmar?' 'Yes,' I answer. 'Poor boy! It's a shame +that you should have fallen in with a bad woman! She is in prison, +of course,' says father. 'She was sent up for three years.' 'And +it's because of this that no man will let you marry a daughter of +his?' 'Yes, but I haven't asked anyone, either.' 'And this is why +you have no standing in the parish?' 'They all think it ought not +to have gone that way for Brita. Folks say that if I had been a +sensible man, like yourself, I would have talked to her and found +out what was troubling her.' 'It's not so easy for a man to +understand a bad woman!' says father. 'No, father, Brita was not +bad, but she was a proud one!' 'It comes to the same thing,' says +father. + +"Now that father seems to side with me, I say: 'There are many who +think I should have managed it in such a way that no one would have +known but that the child was born dead.' 'Why shouldn't she take +her punishment?' says father. 'They say if this had happened in +your time, you would have made the servant who found her keep her +tongue in her head so that nothing could have leaked out.' 'And in +that case would you have married her?' 'Why then there would have +been no need of my marrying her. I would have sent her back to her +parents in a week or so and the banns annulled, on the grounds that +she was not happy with us.' 'That's all very well, but no one can +expect a young chap like you to have an old man's head on him.' +'The whole parish thinks that I behaved badly toward Brita.' 'She +has done worse in bringing disgrace upon honest folk.' 'But I made +her take me.' 'She ought to be mighty glad of it,' says father. +'But, father, don't you think it is my fault her being in prison?' +'She put herself there, I'm thinking.' Then I get up and say very +slowly: 'So you don't think, father, that I have to do anything for +her when she comes out in the fall?' 'What should you do? Marry +her?' 'That's just what I ought to do.' Father looks at me a +moment, then asks: 'Do you love her?' 'No! She has killed my love.' +Father closes his eyes and begins to meditate. 'You see, father, I +can't get away from this: that I have brought misfortune upon some +one.' + +"The old man sits quite still and does not answer. + +"'The last time I saw her was in the courtroom. Then she was so +gentle, and longed so for her child. Not one harsh word did she say +against me. She took all the blame to herself. Many in that +courtroom were moved to tears, and the judge himself had to swallow +hard. He didn't give her more than three years, either.' + +"But father does not say a word. + +"'It will be hard for her when fall comes, and she's sent home. +They won't be glad to have her again at Bergskog. Her folks all +feel that she has brought shame upon them, and they're pretty sure +to let her know it, too! There will be nothing for her but to sit +at home all the while; she won't even dare to go to church. It's +going to be hard for her in every way.' + +"But father doesn't answer. + +"'It is not such an easy thing for me to marry her! To have a wife +that menservants and maidservants will look down upon is not a +pleasant prospect for a man with a big farmstead. Nor would mother +like it. We never invite people to the house, either to weddings +or funerals.' + +"Meanwhile, not a word out of father. + +"Of course at the trial I tried to help her as much as I could. I +told the judge that I was entirely to blame, as I took the girl +against her will. I also said that I considered her so innocent of +any wrong that I would marry her then and there, if she could only +think better of me. I said that so the judge would give her a +lighter sentence. Although I've had two letters from her, there's +nothing in them to show any changed feeling toward me. So you see, +father, I'm not obliged to marry her because of that speech.' + +"Father sits and ponders, but he doesn't speak. + +"'I know that this is simply looking at the thing from the +viewpoint of men, and we Ingmars have always wanted to stand well +in the sight of God. And yet sometimes I think that maybe our Lord +wouldn't like it if we honoured a murderess.' + +"And father doesn't utter a sound. + +"'Think, father, how one must feel who lets another suffer without +giving a helping hand. I have passed through too much these last +few years not to try to do something for her when she gets out. + +"Father sits there immovable. + +"Now I can hardly keep back the tears. 'You see, father, I'm a +young man and will lose much if I marry her. Every one seems to +think I've already made a mess of my life; they will think still +worse of me after this!' + +"But I can't make father say a word. + +"'I have often wondered why it is that we Ingmars have been allowed +to remain on our farm for hundreds of years, while the other farms +have all changed hands. And the thought comes to me that it may be +because the Ingmars have always tried to walk in the ways of God. +We Ingmars need not fear man; we have only to walk in God's ways.' + +"Then the old man looks up and says: 'This is a difficult problem, +my son. I guess I'll go in and talk it over with the other Ingmarssons.' + +"So father goes back to the living-room, while I remain in the +kitchen. There I sit waiting and waiting, but father does not +return. Then, after hours and hours of this, I get cross and go to +him. 'You must have patience, little Ingmar,' says father. 'This is +a difficult question.' And I see all the old yeomen sitting there +with closed eyes, deep in thought. So I wait and wait and, for +aught I know, must go on waiting." + + +Smiling, he followed the plow, which was now moving along very +slowly, as if the horses were tired out and could scarcely drag it. +When he came to the end of the furrow he pulled up the plow and +rested. He had become very serious. + +"Strange, when you ask anyone's advice you see yourself what is +right. Even while you are asking, you discover all at once what you +hadn't been able to find out in three whole years. Now it shall be +as God wills." + +He felt that this thing must be done, but at the same time it +seemed so hard to him that the mere thought of it took away his +courage. "Help me, Lord!" he said. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson was, however, not the only person abroad at that +hour. An old man came trudging along the winding path that crossed +the fields. It was not difficult to guess his occupation, for he +carried on his shoulder a long-handled paint brush and was +spattered with red paint from his cap to his shoe tips. He kept +glancing round-about, after the manner of journeymen painters, to +find an unpainted farmhouse or one that needed repainting. He had +seen, here and there, one and another which he thought might answer +his purpose, but he could not seem to fix upon any special one. +Then, finally, from the top of a hillock he caught sight of the big +Ingmar Farm down in the valley. "Great Caesar!" he exclaimed, and +stopped short. "That farmhouse hasn't been painted in a hundred +years. Why, it's black with age, and the barns have never seen a +drop of point. Here there's work enough to keep me busy till fall." + +A little farther on he came upon a man plowing. "Why, there's a +farmer who belongs here and knows all about this neighbourhood," +thought the painter. "He can tell me all I need know about that +homestead yonder." Whereupon he crossed the path into the field, +stepped up to Ingmar, and asked him if he thought the folks living +over there wanted any painting done. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson was startled, and stood staring at the man as +though he were a ghost. + +"Lord, as I live, it's a painter!" he remarked to himself. "And to +think of his coming just now!" He was so dumbfounded that he could +not answer the man. He distinctly recalled that every time any one +had said to his father: "You ought to have that big, ugly house of +yours painted, Father Ingmar," the old man had always replied that +he would have it done the year Ingmar married. + +The painter put the question a second time, and a third, but Ingmar +stood there, dazed, as if he had not understood him. + +"Are they ready at last with their answer?" he wondered. "Is this a +message from father to say that he wishes me to marry this year?" + +He was so overwhelmed by the thought that he hired the man on the +spot. Then he went on with his plowing, deeply moved and almost +happy. + +"You'll see it won't be so very hard to do this now that you know +for certain it is father's wish," he said. + + + +II + +A fortnight later Ingmar Ingmarsson stood polishing some harness. +He seemed to be in a bad humour, and found the work rather irksome. +"Were I in our Lord's place," he thought, then put in another rub +or two and beg again: "Were I in our Lord's place, I'd see to it +that a thing was done the instant your mind was made up. I +shouldn't allow folks such a long time to think it over, and ponder +all the obstacles. I shouldn't give them time to polish harness and +paint wagons; I'd take them straight from the plow." + +He caught the sound of wagon wheels from the road, and looked out. +He knew at once whose rig it was. "The senator from Bergskog is +coming!" he shouted into the kitchen, where his mother was at work. +Instantly fresh wood was laid on the fire and the coffee mill was +set going. + +The senator drove into the yard, where he pulled up without +alighting. "No, I'm not going into the house," he said, "I only +want a word or two with you, Ingmar. I'm rather pressed for time as +I am due at the parish meeting." + +"Mother is just making some fresh coffee," said Ingmar. + +"Thank you, but I must not be late." + +"It's a good while now since you were here, Senator," said Ingmar +pressingly. + +Then Ingmar's mother appeared in the doorway, and protested: + +"Surely you're not thinking of going without first coming in for a +drop of coffee?" + +Ingmar unbuttoned the carriage apron, and the senator began to +move. "Seeing it's Mother Martha herself that commands me I suppose +I shall have to obey," he said. + +The senator was a tall man of striking appearance, with a certain +ease of manner. He was of a totally different stamp from Ingmar or +his mother, who were very plain looking, with sleepy faces and +clumsy bodies. But all the same, the senator had a profound respect +for the old family of Ingmars, and would gladly have sacrificed his +own active exterior to be like Ingmar, and to become one of the +Ingmassons. He had always taken Ingmar's part against his own +daughter, so felt rather light of heart at being so well received. + +In a while, when Mother Martha had brought the coffee, he began to +state his errand. + +"I thought," he said, and cleared his throat. "I thought you had +best be told what we intend to do with Brita." The cup which Mother +Martha held in her hand shook a little, and the teaspoon rattled in +the saucer. Then there was a painful silence. "We have been +thinking that the best thing we could do would be to send her to +America." He made another pause, only to be met by the same ominous +silence. He sighed at the thought of these unresponsive people. +"Her ticket has already been purchased." + +"She will come home first, of course," said Ingmar. + +"No; what would she be doing there?" + +Again Ingmar was silent. He sat with his eyes nearly closed, as if +he were half asleep. + +Then Mother Martha took a turn at asking questions. "She'll be +needing clothes, won't she?" + +"All that has been attended to; there is a trunk, ready packed, at +Loevberg's place, where we always stop when we come to town." + +"Her mother will be there to meet her, I suppose?" + +"Well, no. She would like to, but I think it best that they be +spared a meeting." + +"Maybe so." + +"The ticket and some money are waiting for her at Loevberg's, so +that she will have everything she needs. I felt that Ingmar ought +to know of it, so he won't have this burden on his mind any longer," +said the senator. + +Then Mother Martha kept still, too. Her headkerchief had slipped +back, and she sat gazing down at her apron. + +"Ingmar should be looking about for a new wife." + +Both mother and son persistently held their peace. + +"Mother Martha needs a helper in this big household. Ingmar should +see to it that she has some comfort in her old age." The senator +paused a moment, wondering if they could have heard what he said. +"My wife and I wanted to make everything right again," he declared +finally. + +In the meantime, a sense of great relief had come to Ingmar. Brita +was going to America, and he would not have to marry her. After all +a murderess was not to become the mistress of the old Ingmar home. +He had kept still, thinking it was not the thing to show at once +how pleased he was, but now he began to feel that it would be only +right and proper for him to say something. + +The senator quietly bided his time. He knew that he had to give +these old-fashioned people time to consider. Presently Ingmar's +mother said: + +"Brita has paid her penalty; now it's our turn." By this the old +woman meant that if the senator wanted any help from the +Ingmarssons, in return for his having smoothed the way for them, +they would not withhold it. But Ingmar interpreted her utterance +differently. He gave a start, as if suddenly awakened from sleep. +"What would father say of this?" he wondered. "If I were to lay the +whole matter before him, what would he be likely to say? 'You must +not think that you can make a mockery of God's judgment,' he would +say. 'And don't imagine that He will let it go unpunished if you +allow Brita to shoulder all the blame. If her father wants to cast +her off just to get into your good graces, so that he can borrow +money from you, you must nevertheless follow God's leading, little +Ingmar Ingmarsson.' + +"I verily believe the old man is keeping close watch of me in this +matter," he thought. "He must have sent Brita's father here to show +me how mean it is to try to shift everything on to her, poor girl! +I guess he must have noticed that I haven't had any great desire to +take that journey these last few days." + +Ingmar got up, poured some brandy into his coffee, and raised the +cup. + +"Here's a thank you to the senator for coming here to-day," he +said, and clinked cups with him. + + + +III + +Ingmar had been busy all the morning, working around the birches +down by the gate. First he had put up a scaffolding, then he had +bent the tops of the trees toward each other so that they formed an +arch. + +"What's all that for?" asked Mother Martha. + +"Oh, it suits my fancy to have them grow that way for a change," +said Ingmar. + +Along came the noon hour, and the men folks stopped their work; +after the midday meal the farm hands went out into the yard and lay +down in the grass to sleep. Ingmar Ingmarsson slept, too, but he +was lying in a broad bed in the chamber off the living-room. The +only person not asleep was the old mistress, who sat in the big +room, knitting. + +The door to the entrance hall was cautiously opened, and in came an +old woman carrying two large baskets on a yoke. After passing the +time of day, she sat down on a chair by the door and took the lids +off the baskets, one of which was filled with rusks and buns, the +other with newly baked loaves of spiced bread. The housewife at +once went over to the old woman and began to bargain. Ordinarily +she kept a tight fist on the pennies, but she never could resist +a temptation to indulge her weakness for sweets to dip in her coffee. + +While selecting her cakes she began to chat with the old woman, +who, like most persons that go from place to place and know many +people, was a ready talker. "Kaisa, you're a sensible person," said +Mother Martha, "and one can rely on you." + +"Yes, indeed," said the other. "If I didn't know enough to keep mum +about most of the things I hear, there'd be some fine hair-pulling +matches, I'm thinking!" + +"But sometimes you are altogether too close-mouthed, Kaisa." + +The old woman looked up; the inference was quite plain to her. + +"May the Lord forgive me!" she said tearfully, "but I talked to the +senator's wife at Bergskog when I should have come straight to +you." + +"So you have been talking to the senator's wife!" And the emphasis +given to the last two words spoke volumes. + +Ingmar had been startled from his sleep by the opening of the +outside door. No one had come in, apparently; still the door stood +ajar. He did not know whether it had sprung open or whether some +one had opened it. Too sleepy to get up, he settled back in bed. +And then he heard talking in the outer room. + +"Now tell me, Kaisa, what makes you think that Brita doesn't care +for Ingmar." + +"From the very start folks have been saying that her parents made +her take him," returned the old woman, evasively. + +"Speak right out, Kaisa, for when I question you, you don't have to +beat about the bush. I guess I'm able to bear anything you may have +to tell me." + +"I must say that every time I was at Bergskog Brit always looked as +if she'd been crying. Once, when she and I were alone in the +kitchen, I said to her: 'It's a fine husband you'll be getting, +Brita.' She looked at me as if she thought I was making fun of her. +Then she came at me with this: 'You may well say it, Kaisa. Fine, +indeed!' She said it in such a way that I seemed to see Ingmar +Ingmarsson standing there before my face and eyes, and he's no +beauty! As I've always had a great respect for all the Ingmarssons, +that thought had never before entered my mind. I couldn't help +smiling a little. Then Brita gave me a look and said once more: +'Fine, indeed'' With that she turned on her heel and ran into her +room, crying as if her heart would break. As I was leaving I said +to myself: 'It will all come out right; everything always comes out +right for the Ingmarssons.' I didn't wonder at her parents doing +what they did. If Ingmar Ingmarsson had proposed to a daughter of +mine, I shouldn't have given myself a moment's peace till she said +yes." + +Ingmar from his bedroom could hear every word that was spoken. + +"Mother is doing this on purpose," he thought. "She's been +wondering about that trip to town to-morrow. Mother fancies I'm +going after Brita, to fetch her home. She doesn't suspect that I'm +too big a coward to do it." + +"The next time I saw Brita," the old woman went on, "was after she +had come here to you. I couldn't ask her just then how she liked it +here, seeing the house was full of visitors; but when I had gone a +ways into the grove she came running after me. + +"'Kaisa!' she called, 'have you been up at Bergskog lately?' + +"'I was there day before yesterday,' I replied. + +"'Gracious me! were you there day before yesterday? And I feel as +if I hadn't been at home in years!' It wasn't easy to know just +what to say to her, for she looked as if she couldn't bear the +least little thing and would be ready to cry at whatever I might +say. 'You can surely go home for a visit?' I said. 'No; I don't +think I shall ever go home again.' 'Oh, do go,' I urged. 'It's +beautiful up there now; the woods are full of berries; the bushes +are thick with red whortleberries.' 'Dear me!' she said, her eyes +growing big with surprise, 'are there whortleberries already?' +'Yes, indeed. Surely you can get off a day, just to go home and eat +your fill of berries?' 'No, I hardly think I want to,' she said. +'My going home would make it all the harder to come back to this +place.' 'I've always heard that the Ingmars are the best kind of +folks to be with,' I told her. 'They are honest people.' 'Oh, yes,' +she said, 'they are good in their way.' 'They are the best people +in the parish,' I said, 'and so fair-minded.' 'It is not considered +unfair then to take a wife by force.' 'They are also very wise.' +'But they keep all they know to themselves.' 'Do they never say +anything?' 'No one ever says a word more than what is absolutely +necessary.' + +"I was just about to go my way, when it came to me to ask her where +the wedding was going to be held--here or at her home. 'We're +thinking of having it here, where there is plenty of room.' 'Then +see to it that the wedding day isn't put off too long,' I warned. +'We are to be married in a month,' she answered. + +"But before Brita and I parted company, it struck me that the +Ingmarssons had had a poor harvest, so I said it was not likely +that they would have a wedding that year. 'In that case I shall +have to jump into the river,' she declared. + +"A month later I was told that the wedding had been put off and, +fearing that this would not end well, I went straight to Bergskog +and had a talk with Brita's mother. 'They are certainly making a +stupid blunder down at the Ingmar Farm,' I told her. 'We are +satisfied with their way of doing things,' she said. 'Every day we +thank God that our daughter has been so well provided for.'" + +"Mother needn't have given herself all this bother," Ingmar was +thinking, "for no one from this farm is going to fetch Brita. There +was no reason for her being so upset at the sight of the arch: that +is only one of those things a man does so that he can turn to our +Lord and say: 'I wanted to do it. Surely you must see that I meant +to do it.' But doing it is another matter." + +"The last time I saw Brita," Kaisa vent on, "was in the middle of +the winter after a big snowfall. I had come to a narrow path in the +wild forest, where it was heavy walking. Soon I came upon some one +who was sitting in the snow, resting. It was Brita. 'Are you all by +yourself up here?' I asked. 'Yes, I'm out for a walk.' she said. I +stood stockstill and stared at her; I couldn't imagine what she was +doing there. 'I'm looking round to see if there are any steep hills +hereabout,' she then said. 'Dear heart! are you thinking of casting +yourself from a cliff?' I gasped, for she looked as if she was +tired of life. + +"'Yes,' she said. 'If I could only find a hill that was high and +steep I'd certainly throw myself down.' 'You ought to be ashamed to +talk like that, and you so well cared for.' 'You see, Kaisa, I'm a +bad lot.' 'I'm afraid you are.' 'I am likely to do something +dreadful, therefore I might better be dead.' 'That's only silly +gabble, child.' 'I turned bad as soon as I went to live with those +people.' Then, coming quite close to me, with the wildest look in +her eyes, she shrieked: 'All they think about is how they can +torture me, and I think only of how I can torture them in return.' +'No, no, Brita; they are good people.' 'All they care about is to +bring shame upon me.' 'Have you said so to them?' 'I never speak to +them. I only think and wonder how I'm going to get even with them. +I'm thinking of setting fire to the farm, for I know he loves it. +How I'd like to poison the cows! they are so old and ugly and white +around the eyes that one would think they were related to him.' +'Barking dogs never bite,' I said. 'I've got to do something to +him, or I'll never have any peace of mind.' 'You don't know what +you are saying, child,' I protested. 'What you are thinking of +doing would forever destroy your peace of mind.' + +"All at once she began to cry. Then, after a little, she became +very meek and said that she had suffered so from the bad thoughts +that came to her. I then walked home with her and, as we parted +company, she promised me that she would do nothing rash if I would +only keep a close mouth. + +"Still I couldn't help thinking that I ought to talk to some one +about this," said Kaisa. "But to whom? I felt kind of backward +about going to big folk like yourselves--" + +Just then the bell above the stable rang. The midday rest was over. +Mother Martha suddenly interrupted the old woman: "I say, Kaisa, do +you think things can ever be right again between Ingmar and Brita?" + +"What?" gasped the old woman in astonishment. + +"I mean, if by chance she were not going to America, do you suppose +she would have him?" + +"Well, I should say not!" + +"Then you are quite sure she would give him no for an answer." + +"Of course she would." + +Ingmar sat on the edge of the bed, his legs dangling over the side. + +"Now you got just what you needed, Ingmar," he thought; "and now I +guess you'll take that journey to-morrow," he said, pounding the +edge of the bed with his fist. "How can mother think she'll get me +to stay at home by showing me that Brita doesn't like me!" + +He kept pounding the side of the bed, as if in thought he were +knocking down something that was resisting him. + +"Anyway, I'm going to chance it once more," he decided. "We Ingmars +begin all over again when things go wrong. No man that is a man can +sit back calmly and let a woman fret herself insane over his +conduct." + +Never had he felt so keenly his utter defeat, and he was determined +to put himself right. + +"I'd be a hell of a man if I couldn't make Brita happy here!" he +said. + +He dealt the bedpost a last blow before getting up to go back to +his work. + +"As sure as you're born it was Big Ingmar that sent old Kaisa here, +in order to make me tale that trip to the city." + + + +IV + +Ingmar Ingmarsson had arrived in the city, and was walking slowly +toward the big prison house, which was beautifully situated on the +crest of a hill overlooking the public park. He did not glance +about him, but went with eyes downcast, dragging himself along with +as much difficulty as though he were some feeble old man. He had +left off his usual picturesque peasant garb on this occasion, and +was wearing a black cloth suit and a starched shirt which he had +already crumpled. He felt very solemn, yet all the while he was +anxious and reluctant. + +On coming to the gravelled yard in front of the jail he saw a guard +on duty and asked him if this was not the day that Brita Ericsson +was to be discharged. + +"Yes, I think there is a woman coming out to-day," the guard +answered. + +"One who has been in for infanticide," Ingmar explained. + +"Oh, that one! Yes, she'll be out this forenoon." + +Ingmar stationed himself under a tree, to wait. Not for a second +did he take his eyes off the prison gate. "I dare say there are +some among those who have gone in there that haven't fared any too +well," he thought. "I don't want to brag, but maybe there's many a +one on the inside that has suffered less than I who am outside. +Well, I declare, Big Ingmar has brought me here to fetch my bride +from the prison house," he remarked to himself. "But I can't say +that little Ingmar is overpleased at the thought; he would have +liked seeing her pass through a gate of honour instead, with her +mother standing by her side, to give her to the bridegroom. And +then they should have driven to the church in a flower-trimmed +chaise, followed by a big bridal procession, and she should have +sat beside him dressed as a bride, and smiling under her bridal +crown." + +The gate opened several times. First, a chaplain come out, then it +was the wife of the governor of the prison, and then some servants +who were going to town. Finally Brita came. When the gate opened he +felt a cramp at the heart. "It is she," he thought. His eyes +dropped. He was as if paralyzed, and could not move. When he had +recovered himself, he looked up; she was then standing on the steps +outside the gate. + +She stood there a moment, quite still; she had pushed back her +headshawl and, with eyes that were clear and open, she looked out +across the landscape. The prison stood on high ground, and beyond +the town and the stretches of forest she could see her native +hills. + +Suddenly she seemed to be shaken by some unseen force; she covered +her face with her hands and sank down upon the stone step. Ingmar +could hear her sobs from where he stood. + +Presently he went over to her, and waited. She was crying so hard +that she seemed deaf to every other sound; and he had to stand +there a long time. At last he said: + +"Don't cry like that, Brita!" + +She looked up. "O God in Heaven!" she exclaimed, "are you here?" + +Instantly all that she had done to him flashed across her mind--and +what it must have cost him to come. With a cry of joy she threw her +arms around his neck and began to sob again. + +"How I have longed that you might come!" she said. + +Ingmar's heart began to beat faster at the thought of her being so +pleased with him. "Why, Brita, have you really been longing for +me?" he said, quite moved. + +"I have wanted so much to ask your forgiveness." + +Ingmar drew himself up to his full height and said very coldly: + +"There will be plenty of time for that I don't think we ought to +stop here any longer." + +"No, this is no place to stop at," she answered meekly. + +"I have put up at Loevberg's," he said as they walked along the +road. + +"That's where my trunk is." + +"I have seen it there," said Ingmar. "It's too big for the back of +the cart, so it will have to be left there till we can send for +it." + +Brita stopped and looked up at him. This was the first time he had +intimated that he meant to take her home. + +"I had a letter from father to-day. He says that you also think +that I ought to go to America." + +"I thought there was no harm in our having a second choice. It +wasn't so certain that you would care to come back with me." + +She noticed that he said nothing about wanting her to come, but +maybe it was because he did not wish to force himself upon her a +second time. She grew very reluctant. It couldn't be an enviable +task to take one of her kind to the Ingmar Farm. Then something +seemed to say: + +"Tell him that you will go to America; it is the only service you +can render him. Tell him that, tell him that!" urged something +within her. And while this thought was still in her mind she heard +some one say: "I'm afraid that I am not strong enough to go to +America. They tell me that you have to work very hard over there." +It was as if another had spoken, and not she herself. + +"So they say," Ingmar said indifferently. + +She was ashamed of her weakness and thought of how only that +morning she had told the prison chaplain that she was going out +into the world a new and a better woman. Thoroughly displeased with +herself, she walked silently for some time, wondering how she +should take back her words. But as soon as she tried to speak, she +was held back by the thought that if he still cared for her it +would be the basest kind of ingratitude to repulse him again. "If I +could only read his thoughts!" she said herself. + +Presently she stopped and leaned against a wall. "All this noise +and the sight of so many people makes my bead go round," she said. +He put out his hand, which she took; then they went along, hand in +hand. Ingmar was thinking, "Now we look like sweethearts." All the +same he wondered how it would be when he got home, how his mother +and the rest of the folks would take it. + +When they came to Loevberg's place, Ingmar said that his horse was +now thoroughly rested, and if she had no objection they might as +well cover the first few stations that day. Then she thought: "Now +is the time to tell him that you won't go. Thank him first, then +tell him that you don't want to go with him." She prayed God that +she might be shown if he had come for her only out of pity. In the +meantime Ingmar had drawn the cart out of the shed. The cart had +been newly painted, the dasher shone, and the cushions had fresh +covering. To the buckboard was attached a little half-withered +bouquet of wild flowers. The sight of the flowers made her stop +and think. Ingmar, meanwhile, had gone back to the stable and +harnessed the horse, and was now leading him out. Then she +discovered another bouquet of the same sort between the harness, +and began to feel that after all he must like her. So it seemed +best not to say anything. Otherwise he might think she was +ungrateful and that she did not understand how big a thing he was +offering her. + +For a time they drove along without exchanging a word. Then, in +order to break the silence, she began to question him about various +home matters. With every question he was reminded of some one or +other whose judgment he feared. How so and so will wonder and how +so and so will laugh at me, he thought. + +He answered only in monosyllables. Time and again she felt like +begging him to turn back. "He doesn't want me," she thought. "He +doesn't care for me; he is doing this only out of charity." + +She soon stopped asking questions. They drove on for miles in deep +silence. When they came to their first stopping place, which was an +inn, there were coffee and hot biscuits in readiness for them; and +on the tray were some more flowers. She knew then that he had +ordered this the day before, when passing. Was that, too, done only +out of kindness and pity? Was he happy yesterday? Was it only to-day +that he had lost heart, after seeing her come out of prison? +To-morrow, when he had forgotten this, perhaps all would be well +again. + +Sorrow and remorse had softened Brita: she did not grant to cause +him any more unhappiness. Perhaps, after all, he really-- + + +They stayed at the inn overnight and left early the next morning. +By ten o'clock they were already within sight of their parish +church. As they drove along the road leading to the church it was +thronged with people, and the bells were ringing. + +"Why, it's Sunday!" Brita exclaimed, instinctively folding her +hands. She forgot everything else in the thought of going to church +and praising God. She wanted to begin her new life with a service +in the old church. + +"I should love to go to church," she said to Ingmar, never thinking +that it might be embarrassing for him be seen there with her. She +was all devotion and gratitude! Ingmar's first impulse was to say +that she couldn't; he felt somehow that he had not the courage to +face the curious glances and gossiping tongues of these people. "It +has got to be met sooner or later," he thought. "Putting it off +won't make it any easier." + +He turned and drove in on the church grounds. The service had not +yet started; and many persons were sitting in the grass and on the +stone hedge, watching the people arrive. The instant they saw +Ingmar and Brita they began to nudge each other, and whisper, and +point. Ingmar glanced at Brita. She sat there with clasped hands, +quite unconscious of the things about her. She saw no persons, +apparently, but Ingmar saw them only too well. They came running +after the wagon, and did not wonder at their running or their +stares. They must have thought that their eyes had deceived them. +Of course, they could not believe that he had come to the house of +God with her--the woman who had strangled his child. "This is too +much!" he said. "I can't stand it. + +"I think you'd better go inside at once, Brita," he suggested. + +"Why, certainly," she answered. To attend service was her only +thought; she had not come there to meet people. + +Ingmar took his own time unharnessing and feeding the horse. Many +eyes were fixed upon him, but nobody spoke to him. By the time he +was ready to go into the church, most of the people were already in +their pews, and the opening hymn was being sung. Walking down the +centre isle, he glanced over at the side where the women were +seated. All the pews were filled save one, and in that there was +only one person. He saw at once that it was Brita and knew, of +course, that no one had cared to sit with her. Ingmar went and sat +down beside her. Brita looked up at him in wonderment. She had not +noticed it before, but now she understood why she had the pew to +herself. Then the deep feeling of devotion, which she had but just +experienced, was dispelled by a sense of black despair. "How would +it all end?" she wondered. She should never have come with him. + +Her eyes began to fill. To keep from breaking down she took up an +old prayerbook from the shelf in front of her, and opened it. She +kept turning the leaves of both gospels and epistles without being +able to see a word for the tears. Suddenly something bright caught +her eye. It was a bookmark, with a red heart, which lay between the +leaves. She took it out and slipped it toward Ingmar. She saw him +close his big hand over it and steal a glance at it. Shortly +afterward it lay upon the floor. "What is to become of us?" thought +Brita, sobbing behind the prayerbook. + +As soon as the preacher had stepped down from the pulpit they went +out. Ingmar hurriedly hitched up the horse, with Brita's help. By +the time the benediction was pronounced and the congregation was +beginning to file out, Brita and Ingmar were already off. Both +seemed to be thinking the same thought: one who has committed such +a crime cannot live among people. The two fell as if they had been +doing penance by appearing at church. "Neither of us will be able +to stand it," they thought. + +In the midst of her distress of mind, Brita caught a glimpse of the +Ingmar Farm, and hardly knew it again. It looked so bright and red. +She remembered having heard that the house was to be painted the +year Ingmar married. Before, the wedding had been put off because +he had felt that he could not afford to pay out any money just +then. Now she understood that he had always meant to have everything +right; but the way had been made rather hard for him. + +When they arrived at the farm the folks were at dinner. "Here comes +the boss," said one of the men, looking out. Mother Martha got up +from the table, scarcely lifting her heavy eyelids. "Stay where you +are, all of you!" she commanded. "No one need rise from the table." + +The old woman walked heavily across the room. Those who turned to +look after her noticed that she had on her best dress, with her +silk shawl across her shoulders, and her silk kerchief on her head, +as if to emphasize her authority. When the horse stopped she was +already at the door. + +Ingmar jumped down at once, but Brita kept her seat. He went over +to her side and unfastened the carriage apron. + +"Aren't you going to get out?" he said. + +"No," she replied, then covering her face with her hands, she burst +into tears. + +"I ought never to have come back," she sobbed. + +"Oh, do get down!" he urged. + +"Let me go back to the city; I'm not good enough for you." + +Ingmar thought that maybe she was right about it, but said nothing. +He stood with his hand on the apron, and waited. + +"What does she say?" asked Mother Martha from the doorway. + +"She says she isn't good enough for us," Ingmar replied, for +Brita's words could scarcely be heard for her sobs. + +"What is she crying about?" asked the old woman. + +"Because I am such a miserable sinner," said Brita, pressing her +hands to her heart which she thought would break. + +"What's that?" the old woman asked once more. + +"She says she is such a miserable sinner," Ingmar repeated. + +When Brita heard him repeat her words in a cold and indifferent +tone, the truth suddenly flashed upon her. No, he could never have +stood there and repeated those words to his mother had he been fond +of her, or had there been a spark of love in his heart for her. + +"Why doesn't she get down?" the old woman then asked. + +Suppressing her sobs, Brita spoke up: "Because I don't want to +bring misfortune upon Ingmar." + +"I think she is quite right," said the old mistress. "Let her go, +little Ingmar! You may as well know that otherwise I'll be the one +to leave: for I'll not sleep one night under the same roof with the +likes of her." + +"For God's sake let me go!" Brita moaned. + +Ingmar ripped out an oath, turned the horse, and sprang into the +cart. He was sick and tired of all this and could not stand any +more of it. + +Out on the highway they kept meeting church people. This annoyed +Ingmar. Suddenly he turned the horse and drove in on a narrow +forest road. + +As he turned some one called to him. He glanced back. It was the +postman with a letter for him. He took the letter, thrust it into +his pocket, and drove on. + +As soon as he felt sure that he could not be seen from the road, he +slowed down and brought out the letter. Instantly Brita put her +hand on his arm. "Don't read it!" she begged. + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Never mind reading it; it's nothing." + +"But how can you know?" + +"It's a letter from me." + +"Then tell me yourself what's in it." + +"No, I can't tell you that." + +He looked hard at her. She turned scarlet, her eyes growing wild +with alarm. "I guess I will read that letter anyway," said Ingmar, +and began to tear open the envelope. + +"O Heavenly Father!" she cried, "am I then to be spared nothing? +Ingmar," she implored, "read it in a day or two--when I am on my +way to America." + +By that time he had already opened the letter and was scanning it. +She put her hand over the paper. "Listen to me, Ingmar!" she said. +"It was the chaplain who got me to write that letter, and he +promised not to send it till I was on board the steamer. Instead he +sent it off too soon. You have no right to read it yet; wait till +I'm gone, Ingmar." + +Ingmar gave her an angry look and jumped out of the wagon, so that +he might read the letter in peace. Brita was as much excited now as +she had been in the old days, when things did not go her way. + +"What I say in that letter isn't true. The chaplain talked me into +writing it. I _don't_ love you, Ingmar." + +He looked up from the paper and gazed at her in astonishment. Then +she grew silent, and the lessons in humility which she had learned +in prison profited her now. After all she suffered no greater +embarrassment than she deserved. + +Ingmar, meanwhile, stood puzzling over the letter. Suddenly, with +an impatient snarl, he crumpled it up. + +"I can't make this out!" he said, stamping his foot. "My head's all +in a muddle." + +He went up to Brita and gripped her by the arm. + +"Does it really say in the letter that you care for me?" His tone +was shockingly brutal, and the look of him was terrible. + +Brita was silent. + +"Does the letter say that you care for me?" he repeated savagely. + +"Yes," she answered faintly. + +Then his face became horribly distorted. He shook her arm and +thrust it from him. "How you can lie!" he said, with a hoarse and +angry laugh. "How you can lie!" + +"God knows I have prayed night and day that I might see you again +before I go!" she solemnly avowed. + +"Where are you going?" + +"I'm going to America, of course." + +"The hell you are!" + +Ingmar was beside himself. He staggered a few steps into the woods +and cast himself upon the ground. And now it was his turn to weep! + +Brita followed him and sat down beside him, she was so happy that +she wanted to shout. + +"Ingmar, little Ingmar!" she said, calling him by his pet name. + +"But you think I'm so ugly!" he returned. + +"Of course I do." + +Ingmar pushed her hand away. + +"Now let me tell you something," said Brita. + +"Tell away." + +"Do you remember what you said in court three years ago?" + +"I do." + +"That if I could only get to think differently of you, you would +marry me?" + +"Yes, I remember." + +"It was after that I began to care for you. I had never imagined +that any mortal could say such a thing. It seemed almost +unbelievable your saying it to me, after all I had done to you. As +I saw you that day, I thought you better looking than all the +others, and you were wiser than any of them, and the only one with +whom it would be good to share one's life. I fell so deeply in love +with you that it seemed as if you belonged to me, and I to you. At +first I took it for granted that you would come and fetch me, but +later I hardly dared think it." + +Ingmar raised his head. "Then why didn't you write?" he asked. + +"But I did write." + +"Asking me to forgive you, as if that were anything to write +about!" + +"What should I have written?" + +"About the other thing." + +"How would I have dared--I?" + +"I came mighty near not coming at all." + +"But Ingmar! do you suppose I could have written love letters to +you after all I had done! My last day in prison I wrote to you +because the chaplain said I must. When I gave him the letter, he +promised not to send it until I was well on my way." + +Ingmar took her hand and flattened it against the earth, then +slapped it. + +"I could beat you!" he said. + +"You may do with me what you will, Ingmar." + +He looked up into her face, upon which suffering had wrought a new +kind of beauty. "And I came so near letting you go!" he sighed. + +"You just had to come, I suppose." + +"Let me tell you that I didn't care for you." + +"I don't wonder at that." + +"I felt relieved when I heard that you were to be sent to America." + +"Yes, father wrote me that you were pleased." + +"Whenever I looked at mother, I felt somehow that I couldn't ask +her to accept a daughter-in-law like you." + +"No, it would never do, Ingmar." + +"I've had to put up with a lot on your account; no one would notice +me because of my treatment of you." + +"Now you are doing what you threatened to do," said Brita. "You're +striking me." + +"I can't begin to tell you how mad I am at you." + +She kept still. + +"When I think of all I've had to stand these last few weeks--" he +went on. + +"But Ingmar--" + +"Oh, I'm not angry about that, but at the thought of how near I +came to letting you go!" + +"Didn't you love me, Ingmar?" + +"No, indeed." + +"Not during the whole journey home?" + +"No, not for a second! I was just put out with you." + +"When did you change?" + +"When I got your letter." + +"I saw that your love was over; that was why I did not want you to +know that mine was but just beginning." + +Ingmar chuckled. + +"What amuses you, Ingmar?" + +"I'm thinking of how we sneaked out of church, and of the kind of +welcome we got at the Ingmar Farm." + +"And you can laugh at that?" + +"Why not as well laugh? I suppose we'll have to take to the road, +like tramps. Wonder what father would say to that?" + +"You may laugh, Ingmar, but this can't be; it can't be." + +"I think it can, for now I don't care a damn about anything or +anybody but you!" + +Brita was ready to cry, but he just made her tell him again and +again how often she had thought of him, and how much she had longed +for him. Little by little he became as quiet as a child listening +to a lullaby. It was all so different from what Brita had expected. +She had thought of talking to him about her crime, if he came for +her, and the weight of it. She would have liked to tell either him +or her mother, or whoever had come for her, how unworthy she was +of them. But not a word of this had she been allowed to speak. + +Presently he said very gently: + +"There is something you want to tell me?" + +"Yes." + +"And you are thinking about it all the time?" + +"Day and night!" + +"And it gets sort of mixed in with everything?" + +"That's true." + +"Now tell me about it, so there will be two instead of one to bear +it." + +He sat looking into her eyes; they were like the eyes of a poor, +hunted fawn. But as she spoke they became calmer. + +"Now you feel better," he said when she had finished. + +"I feel as if a great weight had been lifted from my heart." + +"That is because we are two to bear it. Now, perhaps, you won't +want to go away." + +"Indeed I should love to stay!" she said. + +"Then let us go home," said Ingmar, rising. + +"No, I'm afraid!" + +"Mother is not so terrible," lie laughed, "when she sees that one +has a mind of one's own." + +"No, Ingmar, I could never turn her out of her home. I have no +choice but to go to America." + +"I'm going to tell you something," said Ingmar, with a mysterious +smile. "You needn't be the least bit afraid, for there is some one +who will help us." + +"Who is it?" + +"It's father. He'll see to it that everything comes out right." + +There was some one coming along the forest road. It was Kaisa. But +as she was not bearing the familiar yoke, with the baskets, they +hardly knew her at first. + +"Good-day to you!" greeted Ingmar and Brita, and the old woman came +up and shook hands with them. + +"Well, I declare, here you sit, and all the folks from the farm out +looking for you! You were in such a hurry to get out of church," +the old woman went on, "that I never got to meet you at all. So I +went down to the farm to pay my respects to Brita. When I got there +who should I see but the Dean, and he was in the house calling +Mother Martha at the top of his lungs before I even had a chance to +say 'how d'ye do.' And before he had so much as shaken hands with +her, he was crying out: 'Now, Mother Martha, you can be proud of +Ingmar! It's plain now that he belongs to the old stock; so we must +begin to call him _Big_ Ingmar.' + +"Mother Martha, as you know, never says very much; she just stood +there tying knots in her shawl. 'What's this you're telling me?' +she said finally. 'He has brought Brita home,' the Dean explained, +'and, believe me, Mother Martha, he will be honoured and respected +for it as long as he lives.' 'You don't tell me,' said the old +lady. 'I could hardly go on with the service when I saw them +sitting in church; it was a better sermon than any I could ever +preach. Ingmar will be a credit to us all, as his father before him +was.' 'The Dean brings us great news,' said Mother Martha. 'Isn't +he home yet?" asked the Dean. 'No, he is not at home; but they may +have stopped at Bergskog first.'" + +"Did mother really say that?" cried Ingmar. + +"Why, of course she did; and while we sat waiting for you to +appear, she sent out one messenger after the other to look for +you." + +Kaisa kept up a steady stream of talk, but Ingmar no longer heard +what she said. His thoughts were far away. "I come into the living-room, +where father sits with all the old Ingmars. 'Good-day to you, Big +Ingmar Ingmarsson,' says father, rising and coming toward me. 'The +same to you, father,' says I, 'and thank you for your help.' 'Now +you'll be well married,' says father, 'and then the other matters +will all right themselves.' 'But, father, it could never have +turned out so well if you hadn't stood by me.' 'That was nothing,' +says father. 'All we Ingmars need do is to walk in the ways of +God.'" + + + + +BOOK TWO + + +AT THE SCHOOLMASTER'S + +In the early eighties there was no one in the parish where the old +Ingmarsson family lived who would have thought of embracing any new +kind of faith or attending any new form of sacred service. That new +sects had sprung up, here and there, in other Dalecarlian parishes, +and that people went out into rivers and lakes to be immersed in +accordance with the new rites of the Baptists, was known; but folks +only laughed at it all and said: "That sort of thing may suit those +who live at Applebo and in Gagnef, but it can never touch our +parish." + +The people of that parish clung to their old customs and habits, +one of which was a regular attendance at church on Sundays; every +one that could go went, even in the severest winter weather. Then, +of all times, it was almost a necessity; with the thermometer at +twenty below zero outside, it would have been beyond human +endurance to sit in the unheated church had it not been packed to +the doors with people. + +It could not be said of the parishioners that they turned out in +such great numbers because they had a particularly brilliant pastor +or one who had any special gift for expounding the Scriptures. In +those days folks went to church to praise God and not to be +entertained by fine sermons. On the way home, when fighting against +the cutting wind on an open country road, one thought: "Our Lord +must have noticed that you were at church this cold morning." That +was the main thing. It was no fault of theirs if the preacher had +said nothing more than he had been heard to say every Sunday since +his appointment to the pastorate. + +As a matter of fact, the majority seemed perfectly satisfied with +what they got. They knew that what the pastor read to them was the +Word of God, and therefore they found it altogether beautiful. Only +the schoolmaster and one or two of the more intelligent farmers +occasionally said among themselves: "The parson seems to have only +one sermon; he talks of nothing but God's wisdom and God's +government. All that is well enough so long as the Dissenters keep +away. But this stronghold is poorly defended and would fall at the +first attack." + +Lay preachers generally passed by this parish. "What's the good of +going there?" they used to say. "Those people don't want to be +awakened." Not only the lay preachers, but even all the "awakened +souls" in the neighbouring parishes looked upon the Ingmarssons and +their fellow-parishioners as great sinners, and whenever they +caught the sound of the bells from their church they would say the +bells were tolling, "Sleep in your sins! Sleep in your sins!" + +The whole congregation, old and young alike, were furious when they +learned that people spoke in that way of their bells. They knew +that their folks never forgot to repeat the Lord's Prayer whenever +the church bells rang, and that every evening, at the time of the +Angelus, the menfolk uncovered their heads, the women courtesied, +and everybody stood still about as long as it takes to say an Our +Father. All who have lived in that parish must acknowledge that God +never seemed so mighty and so honoured as on summer evenings, when +scythes were rested, and plows were stopped in the middle of a +furrow, and the seed wagon was halted in the midst of the loading, +simply at the stroke of a bell. It was as if they knew that our +Lord at that moment was hovering over the parish on an evening +cloud--great and powerful and good--breathing His blessing upon the +whole community. + +None of your college-bred men had ever taught in that parish. The +schoolmaster was just a plain, old-fashioned farmer, who was +self-taught. He was a capable man who could manage a hundred +children single-handed. For thirty years and more he had been the +only teacher there, and was looked up to by everybody. The +schoolmaster seemed to feel that the spiritual welfare of the +entire congregation rested with him, and was therefore quite +concerned at their having called a parson who was no kind of a +preacher. However, he held his peace as long as it was only a +question of introducing a new form of baptism, and elsewhere at +that; but on learning that there had also been some changes in the +administration of the Holy Communion and that people were beginning +to gather in private homes to partake of the Sacrament, he could no +longer remain passive. Although a poor man himself, he managed to +persuade some of the leading citizens to raise the money to build a +mission house. "You know me," he said to them. "I only want to +preach in order to strengthen people in the old faith. What would +be the natural result if the lay preachers were to come upon us, +with their new baptism and their new Sacrament, if there were no +one to tell the people what was the true doctrine and what the +false?" + +The schoolmaster was as well liked by the clergyman as by every one +else. He and the parson were frequently seen strolling together +along the road between the schoolhouse and the parsonage, back and +forth, back and forth, as if they had no end of things to say to +each other. The parson would often drop in at the schoolmaster's of +an evening to sit in the cozy kitchen by an open fire and chat with +the schoolmaster's wife, Mother Stina. At times he came night after +night. He had a dreary time of it at home; his wife was always +ailing, and there was neither order nor comfort in his house. + +One winter's evening the schoolmaster and his wife were sitting by +the kitchen fire, talking in earnest whispers, while a little girl +of twelve played by herself in a corner of the room. The little +girl was their daughter, and her name was Gertrude. She was a fair +little lass, with flaxen hair and plump, rosy cheeks, but she did +not have that wise and prematurely old look which one so often sees +in the children of schoolmasters. + +The corner in which she sat was her playground. There she had +gathered together a variety of things: bits of coloured glass, +broken teacups and saucers, pebbles from the banks of the river, +little square blocks of wood, and more rubbish of the same sort. + +She had been let play in peace all the evening; neither her father +nor her mother had disturbed her. Busy as she was she did not want +to be reminded of lessons and chores. It didn't look as if there +were going to be any extra sums to do for father that night, she +thought. + +She had a big work in hand, the little girl back there in her +corner. Nothing less than making a whole parish! She was going to +build up the entire district with both church and schoolhouse; the +river and the bridge were also to be included. Everything had to be +quite complete, of course. + +She had already got a good part of it done. The whole wreath of +hills that went round the parish was made up of smaller and larger +stones. In all the crevices she had planted forests of little +spruce twigs, and with two jagged stones she had erected Klack +Mountain and Olaf's Peak on either side of the Dal River. The long +valley in between the mountains had been covered with mould taken +from one of her mother's flowerpots. So far everything was all +right, only she had not been able to make the galley blossom. But +she comforted herself by pretending it was early springtime, before +grass and grain had sprouted. + +The broad, beautiful Dal River that flows through the valley she +had managed to lay out effectively with a long and narrow piece of +glass, and the floating bridge connecting both sides of the parish, +had been making on the water this long while. The more distant +farms and settlements were marked off by pieces of red brick. +Farthest north, amid fields and meadows, lay the Ingmar Farm. To +the east was the village of Kolasen, at the foot of the mountain. +At the extreme south, where the river, with rapids and falls, +leaves the valley and rushes under the mountain, was Bergsana +Foundry. + +The entire landscape was now ready, with country roads laid out +along the river, sanded and gravelled. Groves had also been set +out, here and there, on the plains and near the cottages. The +little girl had only to cast a glance at her structure of glass and +stone and earth and twigs to see before her the whole parish. And +she thought it all very beautiful. + +Time after time she raised her head to call her mother and show her +what she had done, then changed her mind. She had always found it +wiser not to call attention to herself. But the most difficult work +of all was yet to come: the building up of the town on both sides +of the river. It meant much shifting about of stones and bits of +glass. The sheriff's house wanted to crowd out the merchant's shop; +there was no room for the judge's house next door to the doctor's. +There were the church and the parsonage, the drug-store and post-office, +the peasant homesteads, with their barns and outhouses, the inn, +the hunter's lodge, the telegraph station. To remember everything +was no small task! + +Finally, the whole town of white and red houses stood embedded in +green. Now there was only one thing left: she had worked hard to +get everything else done so as to begin on the schoolhouse. She +wanted plenty of space for the school, which was to be built on the +riverside, and must have a big yard, with a flagpole right in the +middle of the lawn. + +She had saved all her best blocks for the schoolhouse. Now she +wondered how she had best go about it. She wanted it to be just +like their school, with a big classroom on the ground floor and +another upstairs; then there was the kitchen and also the big room +where she and her parents lived. But all that would take a good +while. "They won't leave me in peace long enough," she said to +herself. + +Just then footsteps were heard in the entry; some one was stamping +off snow. In a twinkling she went ahead with her building. "Here +comes the parson to chat with father and mother," she thought. Now +she would have the whole evening to herself. And with renewed +courage she began to lay the foundation of a schoolhouse as big as +half the parish. + +Her mother, who had also heard the steps in the hall, got up +quickly and drew an old armchair up to the fireplace. Then turning +to her husband, she said: "Shall you tell him about it to-night?" + +"Yes," answered the schoolmaster, "as soon as I can get round to +it." + +Presently the pastor came in, half frozen and glad to be in a warm +room where he could sit by an open fire. He was very talkative, as +usual. It would be hard to find a more likable man than the parson +when he came in of an evening to chat about all sorts of things, +big and little. He spoke with such ease and assurance of everything +pertaining to this world, that one could scarcely believe that he +and the dull preacher were one and the same person. But if you +happened to speak to him about spiritual things he grew red in the +face, began fishing for words, and never said anything that was +convincing, unless he chanced to mention that "God governs wisely." + +When the parson had settled himself comfortably, the schoolmaster +suddenly turned to him and said in a cheery tone: + +"Now I must tell you the news: I'm going to build a mission house." + +The clergyman became as white as a sheet and sank back in his +chair. + +"What are you saying, Storm?" he gasped. "Are they really thinking +of building a mission house here? Then what's to become of me and +the church? Are we to be dispensed with?" + +"The church and the pastor will be needed just the same," returned +the schoolmaster with a confident air. "It is my purpose that the +mission house shall promote the welfare of the church. With so many +schisms cropping up all over the country, the church is sorely in +need of help." + +"I thought you were my friend, Storm," said the parson, mournfully. +Only a few moments before he had come in confident and happy, and +now all at once his spirit was gone, and he looked as if he were +entirely done for. + +The schoolmaster understood quite well why the pastor was so +distressed. He and every one else knew that at one time the +clergyman had been a man of rare promise; but in his student days +he had "gone the pace," so to speak, and, in consequence, had +suffered a stroke. After that he was never the same. Sometimes he +seemed to forget that he was only the ruin of a man; but when +reminded of it, a sense of deep despondency came over him. Now he +sat there as if paralyzed. It was a long time before any one +ventured to speak. + +"You mustn't take it like that, Parson," the schoolmaster said at +last, trying to make his voice very soft and low. + +"Hush, Storm! I know that I'm not a great preacher; still I +couldn't have believed it possible that you would wish to take the +living from me." + +Storm made a gesture of protest, which said, in effect, that +anything of the sort had never entered his mind, but he had not the +courage to put it into words. + +The schoolmaster was a man of sixty and, despite all the work and +responsibility which had fallen to his lot, he was still master of +his forces. There was a great contrast between him and the parson. +Storm was one of the biggest men in Dalecarlia. His head was +covered with a mass of black bushy hair, his skin was as dark as +bronze, and his features were strong and clear cut. He looked +singularly powerful beside the pastor, who was a little +narrow-chested, bald-headed man. + +The schoolmaster's wife thought that her husband, as the stronger, +ought to give in, and motioned to him to drop the matter. Whatever +of regret he may have felt, there was nothing in his manner to +indicate that he had any idea of relinquishing his project. + +Then the schoolmaster began to speak plainly and to the point. He +said he was certain that before long the heretics would invade +their parish; therefore, it was very necessary that they should +have a meeting place where one could talk to the people in a more +informal way than at a regular church service; where one might +choose one's own text, expound the whole Bible, and interpret its +most difficult passages to the people. + +His wife again signed to him to keep still. She knew what the +clergyman was thinking while her husband talked. "So I haven't +taught them anything, and I haven't given them any sort of +protection against unbelief? I must be a poor specimen of a pastor +when the schoolmaster in my own parish thinks himself a better +preacher than I." + +The schoolmaster, however, did not keep still, but went on talking +of all that must be done to protect the flock from the wolves. + +"I haven't seen any wolves," said the pastor. + +"But I know they are on their way." + +"And you, Storm, are opening the door to them," declared the +minister, rising. The schoolmaster's talk had irritated him. The +blood mounted to his face, and he regained a little of his old +dignity. + +"My dear Storm, let us drop the subject," he said. Then turning to +the housewife, he passed some pleasant remark about the last pretty +bride she had dressed. For Mother Stina dressed all the brides in +the parish. + +Peasant woman though she was, she understood how it must hurt him +to be so cruelly reminded of his own impotence. She wept from +compassion, and could not answer him for the tears; so the pastor +had to do most of the talking. + +Meanwhile, he kept thinking: "Oh, if I only had some of the power +and the capacity of my younger days, I would convince this peasant +at once of the wrong he is doing." With that he turned again to the +schoolmaster: + +"Where did you get the money, Storm?" he asked. + +"A company has been formed," Storm explained; then he mentioned the +names of several men who had pledged their support, just to show +the parson that they were the kind of people who would harm neither +the church nor its pastor. + +"Is Ingmar Ingmarsson in it, too?" the parson exclaimed. The effect +of this was like a deathblow. "And to think that I was as sure of +Ingmar Ingmarsson as I had been of you, Storm!" + +He said nothing more about this just then, but instead turned to +Mother Stina and talked to her. He must have seen that she was +crying, but acted as if he had not noticed it. In a little while he +again addressed the schoolmaster. + +"Drop it, Storm!" he begged. "Drop it for my sake. You wouldn't +like it if somebody put up another school next to yours." + +The schoolmaster sat gazing at the floor and reflected a moment. +Presently he said, almost reluctantly, "I can't, Parson." + +For fully ten minutes there was a dead silence. Where upon the +pastor put on his overcoat and cap, and went toward the door. + +The whole evening he had been trying to find words with which to +prove to Storm that he was not only doing harm to the pastor with +this undertaking, but he was undermining the parish. Although +thoughts and words kept crowding into his head, he could neither +arrange them into an orderly sequence nor give utterance to them, +because he was a broken man. Walking toward the door, he espied +Gertrude sitting in her corner playing with her blocks and bits of +glass. He stopped and looked at her. Evidently she had not heard a +word of the conversation, for her eyes sparkled with delight and +her cheeks were like fresh-blown roses. + +The pastor was startled at the sight of all this innocent happiness +of the child in contrast to his own heart heaviness. + +"What are you making?" he asked, and went up to her. + +The little girl had got through with her parish long before that; +in fact, she had already pulled it down and started something new. + +"If you had only come a minute sooner!" exclaimed the child. "I had +made such a beautiful parish, with both church and schoolhouse--" + +"But where is it now?" + +"Oh, I've destroyed the parish, and now I'm building a Jerusalem, +and--" + +"What?" interrupted the parson. "Have you destroyed the parish in +order to build a Jerusalem?" + +"Yes," said Gertrude, "and it was such a fine parish! But we read +about Jerusalem yesterday in school, and now I have pulled down the +parish to build a Jerusalem." + +The preacher stood regarding the child. He put his hand to his +forehead and thought a moment, then he said: "It is surely someone +greater than you that speaks through your mouth." + +The child's words seemed to him so extraordinarily prophetic that +he kept repeating them to himself, over and over. Gradually his +thoughts drifted back into their old groove, and he began to ponder +the ways of Providence and the means by which He works His will. + +Presently he went back to the schoolmaster, his eyes shining with a +new light, and said in his usual cheery tone: + +"I'm no longer angry at you, Storm. You are only doing what you +must do. All my life I have been pondering the ways of Providence, +and I can't seem to get any light on them. Nor do I understand this +thing, but I understand that you are doing what you needs must do." + + + +"AND THEY SAW HEAVEN OPEN" + +The spring the mission house was built there was a great thaw, and +the Dal River rose to an alarming height. And what quantities of +water that spring brought! It came in showers from the skies; it +came rushing down in streams from the mountainsides, and it welled +out of the earth; water ran in every wheel rut and in every furrow. +All this water found its way to the river, which kept rising higher +and higher, and rolled onward with greater and greater force. It +did not present its usual shiny and placid appearance, but had +turned a dirty brown from all the muddy water that kept flowing in. +The surging stream, filled with logs and cakes of ice, looked +strangely weird and threatening. + +At first the grown folks paid no special heed to the spring flood; +only the children ran down to the banks to watch the raging river +and all that it carried along. + +But timber and ice floes were not the only things that went +floating by! Presently the stream came driving with washing piers +and bath houses, then with boats and wreckage of bridges. + +"It will soon be taking our bridge, too!" the children exclaimed. +They felt a bit uneasy, but were glad at the same time that +something so extraordinary was likely to happen. + +Suddenly a huge pine, root and branch, came sailing past, followed +by a white-stemmed aspen tree, its spreading branches thick with +buds which had swelled from being so long in the water. Close upon +the trees came a little hay shed, bottom upward; it was still full +of hay and straw, and floated on its roof like a boat on its keel. + +But when things of that sort began to drift past, the grown-ups, +too, bestirred themselves. They realized now that the river had +overflowed its banks somewhere up north, and hurried down to the +shores with poles and boat hooks, to haul up on land buildings and +furniture. + +At the northern end of the parish, where the houses were scattered +and people were scarce, Ingmar Ingmarsson alone was standing on the +bank, gazing out at the river. He was then almost sixty, and looked +even older. His face was weatherbeaten and furrowed, his figure +bent; he appeared to be as awkward and helpless as ever. He stood +leaning on a long, heavy boat hook, his dull, sleepy-looking eyes +fixed on the water. The river raged and foamed, arrogantly marching +past with all that it had matched from the shores. It was as if it +were deriding the peasant for his slowness. "Oh, you're not the one +to wrest from me any of the things I'm carrying away!" it seemed to +say. + +Ingmar Ingmarsson made no attempt to rescue any of the floating +bridges or boat hulls that passed quite close to the bank. "All +that will be seen to down at the village," he thought. Not for a +second did his gaze wander from the river. He took note of +everything that drifted past. All at once he sighted something +bright and yellow floating on some loosely nailed boards quite a +distance up the river. "Ah, this is what I have been expecting all +along!" he said aloud. At first he could not quite make out what +the yellow was; but for one who knew how little children in +Dalecarlia are dressed it was easy to guess. "Those must be +youngsters who were out on a washing pier playing," he said, "and +hadn't the sense to get back on land before the river took them." + +It was not long until the peasant saw that he had guessed rightly. +Now he could distinctly see three little children, in their yellow +homespun frocks and round yellow hats, being carried downstream on +a poorly constructed raft that was being slowly torn apart by the +swift current and the moving ice floes. + +The children were still a long way off. Big Ingmar knew there was a +bend in the river where it touched his land. If God in His mercy +would only direct the raft with the children into this current, he +thought, he might be able to get them ashore. + +He stood very still, watching the raft. All at once it seemed as if +some one had given it a push; it swung round and headed straight +for the shore. By that time the children were so close that he +could see their frightened little faces and hear their cries. But +they were still too far out to be reached by the boat hook, from +the bank at least; so he hurried down to the water's edge, and +waded into the river. + +As he did so, he had a strange sort of feeling that some one was +calling to him to comeback. "You are no longer a young man, Ingmar; +this may prove a perilous business for you!" a voice said to him. + +He reflected a moment, wondering whether he had the right to risk +his life. The wife, whom he had once fetched from the prison, had +died during the winter, and since her going his one longing had +been that he might soon follow. But, on the other hand, there was +his son who needed a father's care, for he was only a little lad +and could not look after the farm. + +"In any case, it must be as God wills," he said. + +Now Big Ingmar was no longer either awkward or slow. As he plunged +into the raging river, he planted his boat hook firmly into the +bottom, so as not to be carried away by the current, and he took +good care to dodge the floating ice and driftwood. When the raft +with the children was quite near, he pressed his feet down in the +river bed, thrust out his boat hook, and got a purchase on it. + +"Hold on tight!" he shouted to the children, for just then the raft +made a sudden turn and all its planks creaked. But the wretched +structure held together, and Big Ingmar managed to pull it out of +the strongest current. That done, he let go of it, for he knew that +the raft would now drift shoreward by itself. + +Touching bottom with his boat hook again, he turned to go back to +the bank. This time, however, he failed to notice a huge log that +was coming toward him with a rush. It caught him in the side just +below the armpit. It was a terrific blow, for the log was hurled +against him with a violent force that sent him staggering in the +water. Yet he kept a tight grip on the boat hook until he reached +the bank. When he again stood on firm ground, he hardly dared touch +his body, for he felt that his chest had been crushed. Then his +mouth suddenly filled with blood. "It's all up with you, Ingmar!" +he thought, and sank down on the bank, for he could not go a step +farther. The little children whom he had rescued gave the alarm, +and soon people came running down to the bank, and Big Ingmar was +carried home. + +The pastor was called in, and he remained at the Ingmar Farm the +whole afternoon. On his way home, he stopped at the schoolmaster's. +He had experienced things in the course of the day which he felt +the need of telling to some one who would understand. + +Storm and Mother Stina were deeply grieved, for they had already +heard that Ingmar Ingmarsson was dead. The clergyman, on the other +hand, looked almost radiant as he stepped into the schoolmaster's +kitchen. + +Immediately Storm asked the pastor if he had been in time. + +"Yes," he said, "but on this occasion I was not needed." + +"Weren't you?" said Mother Stina. + +"No," answered the pastor with a mysterious smile. "He would have +got on just as well without me. Sometimes it is very hard to sit by +a deathbed," he added. + +"It is indeed," nodded the schoolmaster. + +"Particularly when the one who is passing from among us happens to +be the best man in your parish." + +"Just so." + +"But things can also be quite different from what one had imagined." + +For a moment the pastor sat quietly gazing into space; his eyes +looked clearer than usual behind the spectacles. + +"Have you, Strong, or you, Mother Stina, ever heard of the +wonderful thing that once happened to Big Ingmar when he was a +young man?" he asked. + +The schoolmaster said that he had heard many wonderful things about +him. + +"Why, of course; but this is the most wonderful of all! I never +knew of it myself until to-day. Big Ingmar had a good friend who +has always lived in a little cabin on his estate," the pastor +continued. + +"Yes, I know," said the schoolmaster. "He is also named Ingmar; +folks call him Strong Ingmar by way of distinction." + +"True," said the pastor; "his father named him Ingmar in honour of +the master's family. One Saturday evening, at midsummer, when the +nights are almost as light as the days, Big Ingmar and his friend, +Strong Ingmar, after finishing their work, put on their Sunday +clothes and went down to the village in quest of amusement." + +The pastor paused a moment, and pondered. "I can imagine that the +night must have been a beautiful one," he went on, "clear and +still--one of those nights when earth and sky seem to exchange +hues, the sky turning a bright green while the earth becomes veiled +in white mists, lending to everything a white or bluish tinge. When +Big Ingmar and Strong Ingmar were crossing the bridge to the +village, it was as if some one had told them to stop and look +upward. They did so. And they saw heaven open! The whole firmament +had been drawn back to right and left, like a pair of curtains, and +the two stood there, hand in hand, and beheld all the glories of +heaven. Have you ever heard anything like it, Mother Stina, or you, +Storm?" said the pastor in awed tones. "Only think of those two +standing on the bridge and seeing heaven open! But what they saw +they have never divulged to a soul. Sometimes they would tell a +child or a kinsman that they had once seen heaven open, but they +never spoke of it to outsiders. But the vision lived in their +memories as their greatest treasure, their Holy of Holies." + +The pastor closed his eyes for a moment, and heaved a deep sigh. "I +have never before heard tell of such things." His voice shook a +little as he proceeded. "I only wish I had stood on the bridge with +Big Ingmar and Strong Ingmar, and seen heaven open! + +"This morning, immediately after Big Ingmar had been carried home, +he requested that Strong Ingmar be sent for. At once a messenger +was dispatched to the croft to fetch him, only to find that Strong +Ingmar was not at home. He was in the forest somewhere, chopping +firewood, and was not easy to find. Messenger after messenger went +in search of him. In the meantime, Big Ingmar felt very anxious +lest he should not get to see his old friend again in this life. +First the doctor came, then I came, but Strong Ingmar they couldn't +seem to find. Big Ingmar took very little notice of us. He was +sinking fast. 'I shall soon be gone, Parson,' he said to me. 'I +only wish I might see Strong Ingmar before I go.' He was lying on +the broad bed in the little chamber off the living-room. His eyes +were wide open and he seemed to be looking all the while at +something that was far, far away, and which no one else saw. The +three little children he had rescued sat huddled at the foot of his +bed. Whenever his eyes wandered for an instant from that which he +saw in the distance, they rested upon the children, and then his +whole face was wreathed in smiles. + +"At last they had succeeded in finding the crofter. Big Ingmar +glanced away from the children with a sigh of relief when he heard +Strong Ingmar's heavy step in the hallway. And when his friend came +over to the bedside, he took his hand and patted it gently, saying: +'Do you remember the time when you and I stood on the bridge and +saw heaven open?' 'As if I could ever forget that night when we two +had a vision of Paradise!' Strong Ingmar responded. Then Big Ingmar +turned toward him, his face beaming as if he had the most glorious +news to impart. 'Now I'm going there,' he said. Then the crofter +bent over him and looked straight into his eyes. 'I shall come +after,' he said. Big Ingmar nodded. 'But you know I cannot come +before your son returns from the pilgrimage.' 'Yes, yes, I know,' +Big Ingmar whispered. Then he drew in a few deep breaths and, +before we knew it, he was gone." + +The schoolmaster and his wife thought, with the pastor, that it was +a beautiful death. All three of them sat profoundly silent for a +long while. + +"But what could Strong Ingmar have meant," asked Mother Stina +abruptly, "when he spoke of the pilgrimage?" + +The pastor looked up, somewhat perplexed. "I don't know," he +replied. "Big Ingmar died just after that was said, and I have not +had time to ponder it." He fell to thinking, then he spoke kind of +half to himself: "It was a strange sort of thing to say, you're +right about that, Mother Stina." + +"You know, of course, that it has been said of Strong Ingmar that +he can see into the future?" she said reflectively. + +The pastor sat stroking his forehead in an effort to collect his +thoughts. "The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the +finite mind," he mused. "I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know +them is the most satisfying thing in all the world." + + + +KARIN, DAUGHTER OF INGMAR + +Autumn had come and school was again open. One morning, when the +children were having their recess, the schoolmaster and Gertrude +went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, where Mother Stina +served them with coffee. Before they had finished their cups a +visitor arrived. + +The caller was a young peasant named Halvor Halvorsson, who had +lately opened a shop in the village. He came from Tims Farm, and +was familiarly known as Tims Halvor. He was a tall, good-looking +chap who appeared to be somewhat dejected. Mother Stina asked him +also to have some coffee; so he sat down at the table, helped +himself, and began to talk to the schoolmaster. + +Mother Stina sat by the window knitting; from where she was seated +she could look down the road. All at once she grew red in the face +and leaned forward to get a better view. Trying to appear +unconcerned, she said with feigned indifference: "The grand folk +seem to be out walking to-day." + +Tims Halvor thought he detected a certain something in her tone +that sounded a bit peculiar, and he got up and looked out. He saw a +tall, stoop-shouldered woman and a half-grown boy coming toward the +schoolhouse. + +"Unless my eyes deceive me, that's Karin, daughter of Ingmar!" said +Mother Stina. + +"It's Karin all right," Tims Halvor confirmed. He said nothing +more, but turned away from the window and glanced around the room, +as if trying to discover some way of escape; but in a moment he +quietly went back to his seat. + +The summer before, when Big Ingmar was still alive, Halvor had paid +court to Karin Ingmarsson. The courtship had been a long one, with +many ifs and buts on the part of her family. The old Ingmars were +not quite sure that he was good enough for Karin. It had not been +a question of money, for Halvor was well-to-do; his father, +however, had been addicted to drink, and who could say but that +this failing had been transmitted to the son. However, it was +finally decided that Halvor should have Karin. The wedding day was +fixed and they had asked to have the banns published. But before +the day set for the first reading Karin and Halvor made a journey +to Falun, to purchase the wedding ring and the prayerbook. They +were away for three days, and when they got back Karin told her +father that she could not marry Halvor. She had no fault to find +with him save that on one occasion he had taken a drop too much, +and she feared he might become like his father. Big Ingmar then +said that he would not try to influence her against her better +judgment, so Halvor was dismissed, and the engagement was off. + +Halvor took it very much to heart. "You are heaping upon me shame +that will be hard to bear," he said. "What will people think if you +throw me over in this way? It isn't fair to treat a decent man like +that." + +But Karin was not to be moved, and ever since Halvor had been +morose and unhappy. He could not forget the injustice that had been +done him by the Ingmarssons. And here sat Halvor, and there came +Karin! What would happen next? This much was certain: a +reconciliation was out of the question. Since the previous autumn +Karin had been married to one Elof Ersson. She and her husband +lived at the Ingmar Farm, which they had been running since the +death of Big Ingmar, in the spring. Big Ingmar had left five +daughters and one son, but the son was too young to take over the +property. + +Meanwhile Karin had come in. She was only about two and twenty, but +was one of those women who never look real young. Most people +thought her exceedingly plain, for she favoured her father's family +and had their heavy eyelids, their sandy hair, and hard lines about +the mouth. But the schoolmaster and his wife were pleased to think +that she bore such a striking resemblance to the old Ingmars. When +Karin saw Halvor, her face did not change. She moved about, slowly +and quietly, and greeted each of them in turn; when she offered her +hand to Halvor, he put out his, and they barely touched each other +with the tips of their fingers. Karin always stooped a little and, +as she stood before Halvor, with head bowed, she seemed to be more +bent than usual, while Halvor looked taller and straighter than +ever. + +"So Karin has really ventured out to-day?" said Mother Stina, +drawing up the pastor's chair for her. + +"Yes," she answered. "It's easy walking now that the frost has set +in." + +"There has been a hard frost during the night," the schoolmaster +put in. + +This was followed by a dead silence, which lasted several minutes. +Presently Halvor got up, and the others started, as if suddenly +awakened from a sound sleep. + +"I must get back to the shop," said Halvor. + +"What's your hurry?" asked Mother Stina. + +"I hope Halvor isn't going on my account," said Karin meekly. + +As soon as Halvor was gone the tension was broken, and the +schoolmaster knew at once what to say. He looked at the lad Karin +had brought with her, and of whom no one had taken any notice +before. He was a little chap who could not have been much older +than Gertrude. He had a fair, soft baby face, yet there was +something about him that made him appear old for his years. It was +easy to tell to what family he belonged. + +"I think Karin has brought us a new pupil," said Storm. + +"This is my brother," Karin replied. "He is the present Ingmar +Ingmarsson." + +"He's rather little for that name," Storm remarked. + +"Yes, father died too soon!" + +"He did indeed," said the schoolmaster and his wife, both in the +same breath. + +"He has been attending the school in Falun," Karin explained. +"That's why he hasn't been here before." + +"Aren't you going to let him go back this year, too?" + +Karin dropped her eyes and a sigh escaped her. "He has the name of +being a good student," she said, evading his question. + +"I'm only afraid that I can't teach him anything. He must know as +much as I do." + +"Well, I guess the schoolmaster knows a good deal more than a +little chap like him." Then came another pause, after which Karin +continued: "This is not only the question of his attending school, +but I would also like to ask whether you and Mother Stina would let +the boy come here to live." + +The schoolmaster and his wife looked at each other in astonishment, +but neither of them was prepared to answer. + +"I fear our quarters are rather close," said Storm, presently. + +"I thought that perhaps you might be willing to accept milk and +butter and eggs as part payment." + +"As to that--" + +"You would be doing me a great service," said the rich peasant +woman. + +Mother Stina felt that Karin would never have made this singular +request had there not been some good reason for it; so she promptly +settled the matter. + +"Karin need say no more. We will do all that we can for the +Ingmarssons." + +"Thank you," said Karin. + +The two women talked over what had best be done for Ingmar's +welfare. Meantime, Storm took the boy with him to the classroom, +and gave him a seat next to Gertrude. During the whole of the first +day Ingmar never said a word. + +*** + +Tims Halvor did not go near the schoolhouse again for a week or +more; it was as if he were afraid of again meeting Karin there. But +one morning when it rained in torrents, and there was no likelihood +of any customers coming, he decided to run over and have a chat +with Mother Stina. He was hungry for a heart-to-heart talk with +some kindly and sympathetic person. He had been seized by a +terrible fit of the blues. "I'm no good, and no one has any respect +for me," he murmured, tormenting himself, as he had been in the +habit of doing ever since Karin had thrown him over. + +He closed his shop, buttoned his storm coat, and went on his way to +the school, through wind and rain and slush. Halvor was happy to be +back once more in the friendly atmosphere of the schoolhouse, and +was still there when the recess bell rang, and Storm and the two +children came in for their coffee. All three went over to greet +him. He arose to shake hands with the schoolmaster, but when little +Ingmar put out his hand, Halvor was talking so earnestly to Mother +Stina that he seemed not to have noticed the boy. Ingmar remained +standing a moment, then he went up to the table and sat down. He +sighed several times, just as Karin had done the day she was there. + +"Halvor has come to show us his new watch," said Mother Stina. + +Whereupon Halvor took from his pocket a new silver watch, which he +showed to them. It was a pretty little timepiece, with a flower +design engraved on the case. The schoolmaster opened it, went into +the schoolroom for a magnifying glass, adjusted it to his eye, and +began examining the works. He seemed quite carried away as he +studied the delicate adjustment of the tiny wheels, and said he had +never seen finer workmanship. Finally he gave the watch back to +Halvor, who put it in his pocket, looking neither pleased nor +proud, as folks generally do when you praise their purchases. + +Ingmar was silent during the meal, but when he had finished his +coffee, he asked Storm whether he really knew anything about +watches. + +"Why, of course," returned the schoolmaster. "Don't you know that I +understand a little of everything?" + +Ingmar then brought out a watch which he carried in his vest +pocket. It was a big, round, silver _turnip_ that looked ugly and +clumsy as compared with Halvor's watch. The chain to which it was +attached was also a clumsy contrivance. The case was quite plain +and dented. It was not much of a watch: it had no crystal, and the +enamel on its face was cracked. + +"It has stopped," said Storm, putting the watch to his ear. + +"Yes, I kn-n-ow," stammered the boy. "I was just wondering if you +didn't think it could be mended." + +Storm opened it and found that all the wheels were loose. "You must +have been hammering nails with this watch," he said. "I can't do +anything with it." + +"Don't you think that Eric, the clockmaker, could fix it?" + +"No, no more than I. You'd better send it to Falun and have new +works put in." + +"I thought so," said Ingmar, and took the watch. + +"For heaven's sake, what have you been doing with it?" the +schoolmaster exclaimed. + +The boy swallowed hard. "It was father's watch," he explained, "and +it got damaged like that when father was struck by the whirling +log." + +Now they all grew interested. + +With an effort to control his feelings, Ingmar continued: "As you +know, it happened during Holy Week, when I was at home. I was the +first person to reach father when he lay on the bank. I found him +with the watch in his hand. 'Now it's all over with me, Ingmar,' he +said. 'I'm sorry the watch is broken, for I want you to give it, +with my greetings, to some one that I have wronged.' Then he told +me who was to have the watch, and bade me take it along to Falun +and have it repaired before presenting it. But I never went back to +Falun, and now I don't know what to do about it." + +The schoolmaster was wondering whether he knew of any one who was +soon going to the city, when Mother Stina turned to the boy: + +"Who was to have the watch, Ingmar?" she asked. + +"I don't know as I ought to tell," the boy demurred. + +"Wasn't it Tims Halvor, who is sitting here?" + +"Yes," he whispered. + +"Then give Halvor the watch just as it is," said Mother Stina. +"That will please him best." + +Ingmar obediently rose, took out the watch and rubbed it in the +sleeve of his coat, to shine it up a bit. Then he went over to +Halvor. + +"Father asked me to give you this with his compliments," he said, +holding out the watch. + +All this while Halvor had sat there, silent and glum. And when the +boy went over to him, he put his hand up to his eyes, as if he did +not want to look at him. Ingmar stood a long time holding out the +watch; finally, he glanced appealingly at Mother Stina. + +"Blessed are the peacemakers," she said. + +Then Storm put in a word. "I don't thick you could ask for a better +amend, Halvor," he said. "I've always maintained that if Ingmar +Ingmarsson had lived he would have given you full justice long +before this." + +The next they saw was Halvor reaching out for the watch, almost as +if against his will. But the moment he had got it into his hand, he +put it in the inside pocket of his vest. + +"There's no fear of any one taking that watch from him," said the +schoolmaster with a laugh, as he saw Halvor carefully buttoning his +coat. + +And Halvor laughed, too. Presently he got up, straightened himself, +and drew a deep breath. The colour came into his cheeks, and his +eyes shone with a new-found happiness. + +"Now Halvor must feel like a new man," said the schoolmaster's +wife. + +Then Halvor put his hand inside his overcoat and drew out his +brand-new watch. Crossing over to Ingmar, who was again seated at +the table, he said: "Since I have taken your father's watch from +you, you must accept this one from me." + +He laid the watch on the table and went out, without even saying +good-bye. The rest of the day he tramped the roads and bypaths. A +couple of peasants who had come from a distance to trade with him +hung around outside the shop from noon till evening. But no Tims +Halvor appeared. + +*** + +Elof Ersson, the husband of Karin Ingmarsson, was the son of a +cruel and avaricious peasant, who had always treated him harshly. +As a child he had been half starved, and even after he was grown up +his father kept him under his thumb. He had to toil and slave from +morning till night, and was never allowed any pleasures. He was not +even allowed to attend the country dances like other young folk, +and he got no rest from his work even on Sundays. Nor did Elof +become his own master when he married. He had to live at the Ingmar +Farm and be under the domination of his father-in-law; and also at +the Ingmar Farm hard work and frugality were the rule of the day. +As long as Ingmar Ingmarsson lived Elof seemed quite content with +his lot, toiling and slaving with never so much as a complaint. +Folks used to say that now the Ingmarssons had got a son-in-law +after their own hearts, for Elof Ersson did not know that there was +anything else in life than just toil and drudgery. + +But as soon as Big Ingmar was dead and buried, Elof began to drink +and carouse. He made the acquaintance of all the rounders in the +parish, and invited them down to the Farm, and went with them to +dance halls and taverns. He quit work altogether, and drank himself +full every day. In the space of two short months he became a poor +drunken wretch. + +The first time Karin saw him in a state of intoxication she was +horrified. "This is God's judgment upon me for my treatment of +Halvor," was the thought that came to her. To the husband she said +very little in the way of rebuke or warning. She soon perceived +that he was like a blasted tree, doomed to wither and decay, and +she could not hope for either help or protection from him. + +But Karin's sisters were not so wise as she was. They resented his +escapades, blushed at his ribald songs and coarse jokes, by turns +threatening and admonishing him. And although their brother-in-law +was on the whole rather good-natured, he sometimes got into a rage +and had words with them. Then Karin's only thought was how she +should get her sisters away from the house, that they might escape +the misery in which she herself had to live. In the course of the +summer she managed to marry off the two older girls, and the two +younger ones she sent to America, where they had relatives who were +well-to-do. + +All the sisters received their proportion of the inheritance, which +amounted to twenty thousand kroner each. The farm had been left to +Karin, with the understanding that young Ingmar was to take it over +when he became of age. + +It seemed remarkable that Karin, who was so awkward and diffident, +should have been able to send so many birds from the nest, find +mates for them, and homes. She arranged it all herself, for she +could get no help whatever from her husband, who had now become +utterly worthless. + +Her greatest concern, however, was the little brother--he who was +now Ingmar Ingmarsson. The boy exasperated Karin's husband even +more than the sisters had done. He did it by actions rather than +words. One time he poured out all the corn brandy Elof had brought +home; another time the brother-in-law caught him in the act of +diluting his liquor with water. + +When autumn came Karin demanded that the boy be sent back to high +school that year, as in former years, but her husband, who was also +his guardian, would not hear of it. + +"Ingmar shall be a farmer, like his father and me and my father," +said Elof. "What business has he at high school? When the winter +comes, he and I will go into the forest to put up charcoal kilns. +That will be the best kind of schooling for him. When I was his +age, I spent a whole winter working at the kiln." + +As Karin could not induce him to alter his mind, she had to make +the best of it and keep Ingmar at home for the time being. + +Elof then tried to win the confidence of little Ingmar. Whenever he +went anywhere he always wanted the boy to accompany him. The lad +went, of course, but unwillingly. He did not like to go with him on +his sprees. Then Elof would coax the boy, and vow that he was not +going any farther than the church or the shop. But when once he got +Ingmar in the cart, he would drive off with him, down to the +smithies at Bergsana, or the tavern in Karmsund. + +Karin was glad that her husband took the boy along; it was at least +a safeguard against Elof being left in a ditch by the roadside, or +driving the horse to death. + +Once, when Elof came home at eight in the morning, Ingmar was +sitting beside him in the cart, fast asleep. + +"Come out here and look after the boy!" Elof shouted to Karin, "and +carry him in. The poor brat's as full as a tick, and can't walk a +step." + +Karin was so shocked that she almost collapsed. She was obliged to +sit down on the steps for a moment, to recover herself, before she +could lift the boy. The minute she took hold of him she discovered +that he was not really asleep, but stiff from the cold, and +unconscious. Taking the boy in her arms, she carried him into the +bedroom, locked the door after her, and tried to bring him to. +After a while she stepped into the living-room, where Elof sat +eating his breakfast. She walked straight up to him and put her +hand on his shoulder. + +"You'd better lay in a good meal while you're about it," she said, +"for if you have made my brother drink himself to death, you'll +soon have to put up with poorer fare than you're getting on the +Ingmar Farm." + +"How you talk! As if a little brandy could hurt him!" + +"Mark what I say! If the boy dies, you'll get twenty years in +prison, Elof." + +When Karin returned to the bedroom, the boy had come out of his +stupor, but was delirious and unable to move hand or foot. He +suffered agonies. + +"Do you think I'm going to die, Karin?" he moaned. + +"No, dear, of course not," Karin assured him. + +"I didn't know what they were giving me." + +"Thank God for that!" said Karin fervently. + +"If I die, write to my sisters and tell them I didn't know it was +liquor," wailed the boy. + +"Yes, dear," soothed Karin. + +"Really and truly I didn't know--I swear it!" + +All day Ingmar lay in a raging fever. "Please don't tell father +about it!" he raved. + +"Father will never know of it," she said. + +"But suppose I die, then father would surely find it out, and I +would be shamed before him." + +"But it wasn't your fault, child." + +"Maybe father will think that I shouldn't have taken what Elof +offered me? Don't you suppose the whole parish must know that I +have been full?" he asked. "What do the hired men say, and what +does old Lisa say, and Strong Ingmar?" + +"They're not saying anything," Karin replied. + +"You will have to tell them how it happened. We were at the tavern +in Karmsund, where Elof and some of his pals had been drinking the +whole night. I was sitting in a corner on a bench, half asleep, +when Elof came over and roused me. 'Wake up, Ingmar,' he said very +pleasantly, 'and I'll give you something that will make you warm. +Drink this,' he urged, holding a glass to my lips. 'It's only hot +water with a little sugar in it.' I was shivering with the cold +when I awoke and, as I drank the stuff, I only noticed that it was +hot and sweet. But he had gone and mixed something strong with it! +Oh, what will father say?" + +Then Karin opened the door leading to the living-room, where Elof +still lingered over his meal. She felt that it would be well for +him to hear this. + +"If only father were living, Karin, if only father were living!" + +"What then, Ingmar?" + +"Don't you think he'd kill him?" + +Elof broke into a loud laugh, and when the boy heard him, he turned +so pale with fright that Karin promptly closed the door again. + +It had this good effect upon Elof, at all events: he put up no +objection when Karin decided to take the boy to Storm's school. + +*** + +Soon after Halvor had received the watch, his shop was always full +of people. Every farmer in the parish, when in town, would stop at +Halvor's shop in order to hear the story of Big Ingmar's watch. The +peasants in their long white fur coats stood hanging over the +counter by the hour, their solemn, furrowed faces turned toward +Halvor as he talked to them. Sometimes he would take out the watch, +and show them the dented case and the cracked face. + +"So it was there the blow caught him," the peasants would say. And +they seemed to see before them what had happened when Big Ingmar +was hurt. "It is a great thing for you, Halvor, to have that +watch!" + +When Halvor was showing the watch he would never let it out of his +hands, but would always keep a tight grip on the chain. + +One day Halvor stood talking to a group of peasants, telling them +the usual story, and at the climax the watch was of course brought +out. As it was being passed from one to the other (he holding the +chain) there fell upon all a solemn hush. In the meantime Elof had +come into the shop, but as every one's attention was riveted upon +the watch, no one had remarked his presence. Elof had also heard +the story of his father-in-law's watch, and knew at once what was +going on. He did not begrudge Halvor his souvenir; he was simply +amused at the sight of him and the others standing there looking so +solemn over nothing but an old and battered silver watch. + +Elof stole quietly up behind the men, reached over, and snatched +the watch from Halvor. It was only meant in fun. He had no thought +of taking the watch only from Halvor; he just wanted to tease him a +bit. + +When Halvor tried to snatch it again, Elof stepped back and held it +up, as if he were holding out a lump of sugar to a dog. Then Halvor +vaulted the counter; and he looked so angry that Elof got +frightened and, instead of standing still and handing him back the +watch, he ran for the door. + +Outside were some badly worn wooden steps; Elof's foot caught in a +hole, and down he went. Halvor fell upon him, seized the watch, +then gave him several hard kicks. + +"You'd better quit kicking me, and find out what's wrong with my +back," said Elof. + +Halvor stopped at once, but Elof made no move to raise himself. + +"Help me up," he said. + +"You can help yourself when you've slept off your jag." + +"I'm not full," Elof protested. "The fact is, as I started to run +down the stairs I thought I saw Big Ingmar coming toward me, to +take the watch. That's how I got such an ugly fall." + +Then Halvor bent down and gave the poor wretch a lift, for his back +was broken. He had to be put into a wagon and driven home. He would +never again have the use of his legs. From that time forth Elof was +confined to his bed, a helpless cripple. But he could talk, and all +day long he kept begging for brandy. The doctor had left strict +orders with Karin not to give him any spirits, lest he drink +himself to death. Then Elof tried to get what he wanted by +shrieking and making the most hideous noises, especially at night. +He behaved like a madman, and disturbed every one's rest. + +That was Karin's most trying year. Her husband sometimes tormented +her until it seemed as though she could not stand it any longer. +The very air became polluted by his vile talk and profanity, so +that the home was like a hell. Karin begged the Storms to keep +little Ingmar with them also during the holidays; she did not want +her brother to be at home with her for a day, not even at +Christmas. + +All the servants at the Ingmar Farm were distantly related to the +family, and had always lived on the place. But for the feeling that +they belonged to the Ingmarssons, they could not have gone on +serving under such conditions. There were precious few nights that +they were allowed to sleep in peace. Elof was constantly hitting +upon new ways of tormenting both the servants and Karin, to make +them give in to his demands. + +In this misery Karin passed a winter and a summer and another +winter. + +But Karin had a retreat to which she would flee at times in order +to be alone with her thoughts. Behind the hop garden there was a +narrow seat upon which she often sat, with her elbows on her knees +and her chin resting in her hands, staring straight ahead, yet +seeing nothing. Fronting her were great stretches of cornfields, +beyond which was the forest, and in the distance the range of hills +and Mount Klack. + +One evening in April she sat on her bench, feeling tired and +listless, as one often does in the springtime when the snow turns +to slush and the ground is still unwashed by spring rains. The hops +lay sleeping under a cover of fir brush. Over against the hills +hung a thick mist, such as always accompanies a thaw. The birch +tops were beginning to turn brown, but all along the skirt of the +forest there was still a deep border of snow. Spring would soon +be there in earnest, and the thought of it made her feel even more +tired. She felt that she could never live through another summer +like the last one. She thought of all the work ahead of her--sowing +and haymaking; spring baking and spring cleaning; weaving and +sewing--and wondered how she would ever get through with it all. + +"I might better be dead," she sighed. "I seem to be here for no +other purpose than to prevent Elof killing himself with drink." + +Suddenly she looked up, as if she had heard some one calling her. +Leaning against the hedge, looking straight at her, stood Halvor +Halvorsson. She did not know just when he had come, but apparently +he had been standing there a good while. + +"I thought I should find you over here," Halvor said. + +"Oh, did you?" + +"I remembered how in days gone by you used to step away, and come +here to sit and brood." + +"I didn't have much to brood over at that time." + +"Then your troubles were mostly imaginary." + +Karin mused as she looked at Halvor: "He must be thinking what a +fool I was not to have married him, who is such a handsome and +dignified man. Now he's got me where he can crow over me, and he +has come only to laugh at me." + +"I've been inside talking with Elof," Halvor enlightened. "It was +really him I wanted to see." + +Karin made no reply, but sat there, frigid and unresponsive, her +eyes fixed on the ground and her hands crossed, prepared to meet +all the scorn she fancied Halvor would now heap upon her. + +"I said to him," Halvor continued, "that I considered myself +largely to blame for his misfortune, since it was at my place that +he got hurt." He paused a moment, as if waiting for some expression +from her, either of approval or disapproval. But Karin was silent. +"So I have asked him to come and live with me for a while. It would +at least be a change, and he could see more people than he meets +here." + +Then Karin raised her eyes, but otherwise remained as motionless as +before. + +"We have arranged to have him sent to my place to-morrow morning. I +know he'll come, because he thinks he can get his liquor. But, of +course, you must know, Karin, that that's out of the question. No, +indeed! It's no more to be had with me than with you. I shall +expect him to-morrow. He is to occupy the little room off the shop, +and I've promised him that I'll let his door stand open, so that he +may see all persons who come and go." + +At Halvor's first words Karin wondered whether this was not +something he had made up, but gradually it dawned on her that he +was in earnest. + +As a matter of fact, Karin had always imagined that Halvor had +courted her only because of her money and good connections. It had +never occurred to her that he might have loved her for herself +alone. She probably knew she was not the kind of girl that men care +for. Nor had she herself been in love, either with Halvor or Elof. +But now that Halvor had come to her in her trouble, and wanted to +help her, she was completely overwhelmed by the bigness of the man. +She marvelled that he could be so kind. She felt that surely he +must like her a little, since he had come like that, to help her. + +Karin's heart began to beat violently and anxiously. She awoke to +something she had never before experienced, and wondered what it +meant. Then all at once she realized that Halvor's kindness had +thawed her frozen heart, and that love was beginning to flame up in +her. Halvor went on unfolding his plan, fearing all the while that +she might oppose him. "It's hard for Elof, too," he pleaded. "He +needs a change of scene, and he won't make as much trouble for me +as he has made for you. It will be quite different when he's got a +man to reckon with." + +Karin hardly knew what she should do. She felt that she could not +make a movement or say a word without letting Halvor see that she +was in love with him; yet she knew she would have to give him some +kind of an answer. + +Presently Halvor stopped talking and simply looked at her. + +Then Karin rose, involuntarily went up to him, and patted him on +the hand. "God bless you, Halvor!" she said in broken tones. "God +bless you!" + +Despite all her precautions, Halvor must have divined something, +for he quickly grasped her hands and drew her to him. + +"No! No!" she cried in alarm, freeing herself; then she hurried +away. + +*** + +Elof had gone to live with Halvor. All summer he lay in the little +bedroom off the shop. Halvor was not troubled with the care of him +for a great while, for in the autumn he died. + +Shortly after his death Mother Stina said to Halvor: "Now you must +promise me one thing: promise me that you will exercise patience as +regards Karin." + +"Of course I'll have patience," Halvor returned, wonderingly. + +"She's somebody worth winning, even if one has to wait seven long +years." + +But it was not so easy for Halvor to have patience, for he soon +learned that this one and that one was paying court to Karin. This +began within a fortnight of Elof's funeral. + +One Sunday afternoon Halvor sat on the steps in front of his shop, +watching the people coming and going. Presently it occurred to him +that an unusual number of fine rigs were moving in the direction of +the Ingmar Farm. In the first carriage sat an inspector from +Bergsana Foundry, in the second was the son of the proprietor of +the Karmsund Inn, and last came the Magistrate Berger Sven Persson, +who was the richest man in western Dalecarlia, and a sensible and +highly esteemed man, too. He was not young, to be sure; he had been +twice married, and was now a widower for the second time. + +When Halvor saw Berger Sven Persson driving by, he could not +contain himself any longer. He jumped to his feet and started down +the road; in almost no time he was over the bridge and on the side +of the river where the Ingmar Farm lay. + +"I'd like to know where all those carriages have gone to," he said +to himself. He followed the wheel ruts, half running, but all the +while becoming more and more determined. "I know this is stupid of +me," he thought, remembering Mother Stina's warning. "But I'm only +going as far as the gate, to see what they're up to down there." + +In the best room at the Ingmars sat Berger Sven Persson and two +other men, drinking coffee. Ingmar Ingmarsson, who still lived at +the schoolhouse, was at home over Sunday. He sat at table with them +and acted as host, for Karin had excused herself, saying she had +some work to do in the kitchen, as the maids had gone down to the +mission house to hear the schoolmaster preach. + +It was deadly dull in the parlour. All the men sat drinking their +coffee without exchanging a word. The suitors were practically +strangers to one another, and all three of them were watching for +an opportunity to slip into the kitchen for a private word with +Karin. + +Presently the door opened and in stepped another caller, who was +received by Ingmar, and conducted to the table. + +"This is Tims Halvor Halvorsson," said Ingmar, introducing the +newcomer to Berger Sven Persson. + +Sven Persson did not rise, but greeted Halvor with a sweep of the +hand, saying, somewhat facetiously: + +"It is a pleasure to meet so distinguished a personage." + +Ingmar noisily drew up a chair for Halvor, so that he was spared +the embarrassment of replying. + +From the moment Halvor entered the room, all the suitors became +chatty and began to talk big. Each in turn praised and championed +the others. It was as if they had all agreed among themselves to +stand together until Halvor was well out of the game. + +"The magistrate is driving a fine horse to-day," the inspector +began. + +Berger Sven Persson took up the fun by complimenting the inspector +on having shot a bear the winter before. Then the two turned to the +innkeeper's son, and said something in praise of a house his father +was building. + +Finally all three of them bragged about the wealth of Bergen Sven +Persson. They waxed eloquent, and with every word they gave Halvor +to understand that he was too lowly a man to think of pitting +himself against them. And Halvor certainly did feel very +insignificant, and bitterly regretted having come. + +Just then Karin came along with fresh coffee. At sight of Halvor +she brightened for an instant; then it occurred to her that his +calling on her so soon after her husband's death looked rather bad. +"If he is in such a hurry, people will surely say that he hadn't +given Elof proper care, and that he wanted him out of the way so he +could marry me." She would rather he had waited two or three years +before coming; that would have been long enough to make folks see +that he had not been impatient for Elof's departure. "Why need he +be in such haste?" she wondered. "Surely he must know that I don't +want anyone but him." + +Every one had stopped talking the moment Karin appeared, wondering +how she and Halvor would greet each other. They barely touched +hands. .At which the magistrate expressed his delight by a short +whistle, while the inspector broke into a loud guffaw. Haldor +quietly turned to him. "What are you laughing at?" he said. + +The inspector was at a loss for an answer. With Karin there he did +not wish to say anything that might give offence. + +"He is thinking of a hound that raises a hare and allows some one +else to catch it," remarked the innkeeper's son, insinuatingly. + +Karin turned blood red, but refilled the coffee cups. "Berger Sven +Persson and the rest of you will have to be satisfied with plain +coffee," she said. "We no longer serve spirits to any one on this +farm." + +"Nor do I at my home," said the magistrate approvingly. + +The inspector and the innkeeper's son kept quiet; they understood +that Sven Persson had scored heavily. + +The magistrate straightway began to discourse on temperance and its +salutary effects. Karin listened to him with interest, and agreed +with all that he said. Seeing that this was the kind of talk that +would appeal to her, the magistrate began to spread himself, and +delivered long-winded harangue on the curse of liquor and +drunkenness. Karin recognized all her own thoughts on the subject, +and was glad to find that they were shared by so intelligent a man +as the magistrate. + +In the middle of his monologue Berger Sven Persson glanced over at +Halvor, who sat at the table, looking glum and sulky, his coffee +cup untouched. + +"It's pretty rough on him," thought Berger Sven Persson, +"particularly if there's any truth in what people say about his +having given Elof a little lift on his way into the next world. +Anyway, he did Karin a good service by relieving her of that +dreadful sot." And since the magistrate seemed to think that he had +as good as won the game, he felt rather friendly toward Halvor. +Raising his cup, he said: "Here's to you, Halvor! You certainly +did Karin a good turn when you took her drunken sot of a husband +off her hands." + +Halvor did not respond to the toast. He sat looking the man +straight in the eyes, and wondered how he should take this. + +The inspector again burst out laughing. "Yes, yes, a good turn," he +haw-hawed, "a real good turn." + +"Yes, yes, a real good turn," echoed the innkeeper's son, with a +chuckle. + +Before they were done laughing, Karin had vanished like a shadow +through the kitchen door; but she could hear from the kitchen all +that was said inside. She was both sorry and distressed over +Halvor's untimely visit. It would probably result in her never +being able to marry Halvor. It was plain that the gossips were +already spreading evil reports. "I can't bear the thought of +losing him," she sighed. + +For a time no sound came from the sitting-room, but presently she +heard a noise as if a chair were being pushed back. Some one had +evidently risen. + +"Are you going already, Halvor?" young Ingmar was heard to say. + +"Yes," Halvor replied. "I can't stop any longer. Please say good-bye +to Karin for me." + +"Why don't you go into the kitchen and say it for yourself?" + +"No," Halvor was heard to answer, "we two have nothing more to say +to each other." + +Karin's heart began to pump hard, and thoughts came rushing into +her head, as if on wings. Now Halvor was angry at her--and no +wonder! She had hardly dared even to shake hands with him, and when +the others had scoffed at him, she never opened her mouth in his +defence, but quietly sneaked away. Now he must think she did not +care for him, and was therefore going, never to return. She could +not understand why she should have treated him so shabbily--she who +was so fond of him. Then, all at once her father's old saying came +to her: "The Ingmarssons need have no fear of men; they have only +to walk in the ways of God." + +Karin hastily opened the door, and stood facing Halvor before he +could manage to leave the room. + +"Are you leaving so soon, Halvor?" she asked. "I thought you were +going to stay to supper." + +Halvor stood staring at Karin. She seemed to be completely changed; +her cheeks were aglow, and there was something tender and appealing +about her which he had never seen before. + +"I'm going, and I'm not coming back," said Halvor. He had not +caught her meaning, apparently. + +"Do stay and finish your coffee," she urged. Then she took him by +the hand and led him back to the table. She turned both white and +red, and several times she all but lost her courage. Just the same +she braved it out, although there was nothing she feared so much as +scorn and contempt. "Now he will at least see that I'm willing to +stand by him," she thought. Turning toward her guests, she said: +"Berger Sven Persson and all of you! Halvor and I have not spoken +of this matter--as I have so recently become a widow--but now it +seems best that you should all know that I would rather marry +Halvor than any one else in the world." She paused to get control +of her voice, then concluded: "Folks may say what they like about +this, but Halvor and I have done nothing wrong." + +When Karin had finished speaking, she drew nearer to Halvor, as if +seeking protection against all the cruel slander that would come +now. + +The men were speechless, mostly from astonishment at Karin +Ingmarsson, who looked younger and more girlish than ever before in +her life. + +Then Halvor said in a voice vibrant with feeling: "Karin, when I +received your father's watch, I felt that nothing greater could +have happened to me; but this thing which you have just done +transcends everything." + +Whereupon Berger Sven Persson, who was in many ways an excellent +man, arose. + +"Let us all congratulate Karin and Halvor," he said, graciously, +"for every one must know that he whom Karin, daughter of Ingmar, +has chosen is a man of sterling worth." + + + +IN ZION + +That an old country schoolmaster should sometimes be a little too +self-confident is not surprising: for well nigh a lifetime he has +imparted knowledge and given advice to his fellowmen. He sees that +all the peasants are living by what he has taught, and that not one +among them knows more than what he, their schoolmaster, has told +them. How can he help but regard all the people in the parish as +mere school children, however old they may have grown? It is only +natural that he should consider himself wiser than every one else. +It seems almost an impossibility for one of these regular old +school persons to treat any one as a grown-up, for he looks upon +each and every one as a child with dimpled cheeks and wide innocent +baby eyes. + +One Sunday, in the winter, just after service, the pastor and the +schoolmaster stood talking together in the vestry; the conversation +had turned upon the Salvation Army. + +"It's a singular idea to have hit upon," the pastor remarked. "I +never imagined that I should live to see anything of that sort!" + +The schoolmaster glanced sharply at the pastor; he thought his +remark entirely irrelevant. Surely the pastor could never think +that such an absurd innovation would find its way into their +parish. + +"I don't believe you are likely to see it, either," he said +emphatically. + +The pastor, knowing that he himself was a weak and broken-down man, +let the schoolmaster have things pretty much his own way, but all +the same, he could not refrain from chaffing him a little, +occasionally. + +"How can you feel so cocksure that we shall escape the Salvation +Army, Storm?" he said. "You see, when pastor and schoolmaster stand +together, there's no fear of any nuisance of that sort crowding in. +Yet I'm not altogether certain, Storm, that you do stand by me. You +preach to suit yourself in your Zion." + +To this the schoolmaster did not reply at once. Presently he said, +quite meekly: "The pastor has never heard me preach." + +The mission house was a veritable rock of offence. The clergyman +had never set foot in the place. And now that this mooted question +had come up, both men were sorry they had said anything to hurt +each other's feelings. "Perhaps I'm unjust to Storm," thought the +pastor. "During the four years that he has been holding his +afternoon Bible Talks, on Sundays, there has been a larger +attendance at the morning church services than ever before, and I +haven't seen the least sign of division in the church. Storm has +not destroyed the parish, as I feared he would. He is a faithful +friend and servant, and I mean to show him how much I appreciate +him." + +The little misunderstanding of the forenoon resulted in the +pastor's attending the schoolmaster's meeting in the afternoon. + +"I'll give Storm a pleasant surprise," he thought. "I will go to +hear him preach in his Zion." + +On the way to the mission house the pastor's thoughts went back to +the time it was built. How full the air had been of prophecies, and +how firmly he had believed that God had intended it to be something +great! But nothing much had happened. "Our Lord must have changed +His mind," he thought, amused at his entertaining such queer ideas +regarding our Lord. + +The schoolmaster's Zion was a large hall with light-coloured walls. +On either side hung wood engravings of Luther and Melanchton, in +fur-trimmed cloaks; along the borders, close to the ceiling, ran +highly illuminated Bible texts, embellished with flowers and +heavenly trumpets and bassoons. At the front of the room, above the +speaker's platform, hung an oleograph representing the Good +Shepherd. + +The large bare room was full of people, which was all that seemed +necessary to create an atmosphere of impressive solemnity. Most of +the people were dressed in the picturesque peasant costume of the +parish, and the starched and flaring white headgear of the women +made the room look as if it were filled with large white-winged +birds. + +Storm had already commenced his address, when he saw the pastor +come down the aisle, and take a seat in the front row. + +"You're a wonderful man, Storm!" thought the school-master. +"Everything comes your way. Here's the pastor himself to do you +honour." + +During the time that the schoolmaster had been holding meetings, +he had explained the Bible from cover to cover. That afternoon he +spoke of the Heavenly Jerusalem and everlasting bliss, as given in +the Book of the Revelation. He was so pleased at the parson having +come, that he kept thinking to himself: "For my part I shouldn't +ask for anything better than to stand on a platform through all +eternity, teaching good and obedient children; and if, on occasion, +our Lord Himself should drop in to hear me, as the pastor has done +to-day, no one in heaven would be more delighted than I." + +The pastor became interested when the schoolmaster began to talk +about Jerusalem, and the strange misgivings which he had had long +ago flashed through his mind again. In the middle of the service +the door opened, and a number of people came in. There were about +twenty, and they stopped at the door so as not to disturb the +meeting. "Ah!" thought the parson. "I knew something was going to +happen." + +Storm had no sooner said "Amen" than a voice, coming from some one +in the group down by the door, piped up: "I should very much like +to say a few words." + +"That must be Hoek Matts Ericsson," thought the pastor, and others +with him. For no one else in the parish had such a sweet and +childlike treble. + +The next moment a little meek-faced man made his way up to the +platform, followed by a score of men and women who seemed to be +there for the purpose of supporting and encouraging him. + +The pastor, the schoolmaster, and the entire congregation sat in +suspense. "Hoek Matts has come to tell us of some awful calamity," +they thought. "Either the king is dead, or war has been declared, +or perhaps some poor creature has fallen into the river and been +drowned." Still Hoek Matts did not look as if he had any bad news to +impart. He seemed to be in earnest and somewhat stirred, but at the +same time he looked so pleased that he could hardly keep from +smiling. + +"I want to say to the schoolmaster and to the congregation," he +began, "that Sunday before last, while I was sitting at home with +my family, the Spirit descended upon me, and I began to preach. We +couldn't get down here to listen to Storm, on account of the ice +and sleet, and we sat longing to hear the Word of God. Then all at +once I had the feeling that I could speak myself. I've been +preaching now for two Sundays, and all my folks at home and our +neighbours, too, have told me that I ought to come down here and +let all the people hear me." + +Hoek Matts also said he was astonished that the gift of speech +should have fallen upon so humble a man. "But the schoolmaster +himself is only a peasant," he added, with a little more +confidence. + +After this preamble, Hoek Matts folded his hands and was ready to +begin preaching at once. But by that time the schoolmaster had +recovered from his first shock of surprise. + +"Do you think of speaking here now, Hoek Matts--immediately?" + +"Yes, that's my intention," the man replied. He grew as frightened +as a child when Storm glowered at him. "It was my purpose, of +course, to first ask leave of the schoolmaster and the rest," he +stammered. + +"We're all through for the day," said Storm, conclusively. + +Then the meek little man began to beg with tears in his voice: +"Won't you please let me say a few words? I only want to tell of +the things that have come to me when walking behind the plow and +when working by myself at the kiln; and now they want to come out." + +But the schoolmaster, though he had had such a day of triumph +himself, felt no pity for the poor little man. "Matts Ericsson +comes here with his own peculiar notions, and claims that they are +messages from God," he declared rebukingly. + +Hoek Matts dared not venture a protest, and the schoolmaster opened +the hymnbook. + +"Let us all join in singing hymn one hundred and eighty-seven," +he said. Whereupon he read out the hymn in stentorian tones, then +he began to sing at the top of his voice, "Are your windows open +toward Jerusalem." + +Meanwhile, he thought: "It was well after all that the pastor +happened in to-day; now he can see that I know how to maintain +order in my Zion." + +But no sooner was the hymn finished than a man jumped to his feet. +It was proud and dignified Ljung Bjoern Olafsson, who was married to +one of the Ingmar girls, and was the owner of a large farmstead in +the heart of the parish. + +"We down at this end think that the schoolmaster might have +consulted our wishes before turning Matts Ericsson down," he +mildly protested. + +"Oh, you think so, do you, Sonny?" The schoolmaster spoke in +just the kind of tone he would have used in reproving some young +whippersnapper. "Then let me tell you that no one but myself has +any say here, in this hall." + +Ljung Bjoern turned blood red. He had not meant to provoke a quarrel +with Storm, but had simply wished to soften the blow for Hoek Matts, +who was an inoffensive man. Just the same, he could not help +feeling chagrined over the reply he had got; but before he could +think of a retort, one of the men who had come in with Hoek Matts +spoke up: + +"Twice I have heard Hoek Matts preach, and must say that he is +wonderful. I believe that every one present would be helped by +hearing him." + +The schoolmaster answered pleasantly enough, but in the old +admonishing tone of the classroom: "Surely you understand, Krister +Larsson, that I can't allow this. Were I to let Hoek Matts preach +to-day, then you, Krister, would want to preach next Sunday, and +Ljung Bjoern the Sunday after!" + +At this several persons laughed; but Ljung Bjoern was ready with a +sharp rejoinder: "I see no reason why Krister and I shouldn't be +as well qualified to preach as the schoolmaster," he said. + +Thereupon Tims Halvor arose and tried to quiet them and to prevent +possible strife. "Those of us who have furnished the money to build +and run this mission should be consulted before any new preacher is +allowed to speak." + +By that time Krister Larsson had become aroused and was on his feet +again. "I recall to mind that when we built this hall we were all +agreed that it should be a free-for-all meetinghouse and not a +church where only one man is allowed to preach the Word." + +When Krister had spoken every one seemed to breathe freer. Only one +short hour before it had not occurred to them that they could ever +wish to hear any speaker but the schoolmaster. Now they thought it +would be a treat to hear something different. "We'd like to hear +something new and to see a fresh face behind the rostrum," somebody +muttered. + +In all likelihood there would have been no further disturbance if +only Bullet Gunner had remained away that day. He, too, was a +brother-in-law of Tims Halvor and a tall, gaunt-looking fellow, +with a swarthy skin and piercing eyes. Gunner, as well as every one +else, liked the schoolmaster, but what he liked even more was a +good scrap. + +"There was a lot of talk about freedom while we were building this +house," said Gunner "but I haven't heard a liberal word since the +place was first opened." + +The schoolmaster grew purple. Gunner's remark was the first +evidence of any actual hostility or revolt. "Let me remind you, +Bullet Gunner, that here you have heard the true freedom preached, +as Luther taught it; but here there has been no license to preach +the kind of new-fangled ideas that spring up one day and fall to +the ground the next." + +"The schoolmaster would have us think that everything new is +worthless as soon as it touches upon doctrine," Gunner replied +soothingly and half regretfully. "He approves of our using new +methods of caring for our cattle, and wants us to adopt the latest +agricultural machinery; but we are not allowed to know anything +about the new implements with which God's acres are now being +tilled." + +Storm began to think that Bullet Gunner's bark was worse than his +bite. "Is it your meaning," he said, adopting a facetious tone, +"that we should preach a different doctrine here from the +Lutheran?" + +"It is not a question of a new doctrine," roared Gunner, "but as to +who shall preach; and, as far as I know, Matts Ericsson is as good +a Lutheran as either the schoolmaster or the parson." + +For the moment the schoolmaster had forgotten about the parson; but +now he glanced down at him. The clergyman sat quietly musing, his +chin resting upon the knob of his cane. There was a curious gleam +in his eyes, which were fixed upon Storm, never leaving him for a +second. + +"After all, perhaps it would have been just as well if the parson +hadn't come to-day," thought the schoolmaster. What was then taking +place reminded Storm of something he had experienced before. It +could be just like this in school sometimes, on a bright spring +morning, when a little bird perched itself outside the schoolroom +window and warbled lustily. Then all at once the children would +tease and beg to be excused from school; they abandoned their +studies and made so much fuss and noise that it was almost +impossible to bring them to order. Something of the same sort had +come over the congregation after Hoek Matts's arrival. However, the +schoolmaster meant to show the pastor and all of them that he was +man enough to quell the mutiny. "First, I will leave them alone and +let the ringleaders talk themselves hoarse," he thought, and went +and sat down on a chair behind the table on which the water bottle +stood. + +Instantly there arose against him a perfect storm of protests; for +by that time every one had become inflated with the idea that they +were all of them just as good as the schoolmaster. "Why should he +alone be allowed to tell us what to believe and what not to +believe!" they shouted. + +These ideas seemed to be new to most of them, yet from the talk it +became evident that they had been germinating in their minds ever +since the schoolmaster had built the mission house, and shown them +that a plain, ordinary man can preach the Word of God. + +After a bit Storm remarked to himself: "The tempest of the children +must have spent itself by this. Now is the time to show them who is +master here." Whereupon he rose up, pounded the table with his +fist, and thundered: "Stop! What's the meaning of all this +racketing? I'm going now, and you must go, too, so that I may put +out the lights and lock up." + +Some of them actually did get up, for they had all gone to Storm's +school, and knew that when their teacher rapped on the table it +meant that everybody had to mind. Yet the majority stoically kept +their seats. + +"The schoolmaster forgets that now we are grown men," said one; +"but he still seems to think we should run just because he happens +to rap on the table!" said another. + +They went right on talking about their wanting to hear some new +speakers, and which ones they should call in. They were already +quarrelling among themselves as to whether it should be the +Waldenstromites or colporteurs from the National Evangelical +Union. + +The schoolmaster stood staring at the assemblage as if he were +looking at some weird monstrosity. For up to that time he had seen +only the child in each individual face. But now all the round baby +cheeks, the soft baby curls, and the mild baby eyes had vanished, +and he saw only a gathering of adults, with hard, set faces; he +felt that over such as these he had no control. He did not even +know what to say to them. + +The tumult continued, growing louder and louder. The schoolmaster +kept still and let them rage. Bullet Gunner, Ljung Bjoern, and +Krister Larsson led the attack. Hoek Matts, who was the innocent +cause of all the trouble, rose to his feet time and again and +begged them to be quiet, but no one listened to him. + +Once again the schoolmaster glanced down at the parson, who was +still quietly musing, the same gleam in his eyes, which were fixed +on the schoolmaster. + +"He's probably thinking of that evening four years ago when I told +him I would build a mission," thought Storm. "He was right, too. +Everything has turned out just as he said it would: heresy, revolt, +and division. Perhaps we might have escaped all this if I hadn't +been so bent upon building my Zion." + +The instant this became clear to the schoolmaster, his head went +up and his backbone straightened. He drew from his pocket a small +key of polished steel. It was the key to Zion! He held it toward +the light so that it could be seen from all parts of the hall. + +"Now I'm going to lay this key upon the table," he said, "and I +shall never touch it again, for I see now that it has unlocked the +door to everything which I had hoped to shut out." + +Whereupon the schoolmaster put the key down, took up his hat, and +walked straight over to the pastor. + +"I want to thank you, Parson, for coming to hear me to-day," he +said; "for if you hadn't come to-day you never could have heard +me." + + + +THE WILD HUNT + +There were many who thought that Elof Ersson should have found no +peace in his grave for the shameful way in which he had dealt with +Karin and young Ingmar. He had deliberately made way with all of +his and Karin's money, so she would suffer hardship after his +death. And he left the farm so heavily mortgaged, that Karin would +have been forced to turn it over to the creditors, had not Halvor +been rich enough to buy in the property and pay off the debts. +Ingmar Ingmarsson's twenty thousand kroner, of which Elof had been +sole trustee, had entirely disappeared. Some people thought that +Elof had buried the money, others that he had given it away; in any +case, it was not to be found. + +When Ingmar learned that he was penniless, he consulted Karin as to +what he should do. Ingmar told his sister that of all things he +would prefer to be a teacher, and begged her to let him remain with +the Storms until he was old enough to enter college. Down at the +village he would always be able to borrow books from the +schoolmaster or the pastor, he said, and, moreover, he could help +Storm at the school, by reading with the children; that would be +excellent practice. + +Karin turned this over in her mind before answering. "I suppose you +wouldn't care to remain at home, since you can't become master +here?" she said. + +When Storm's daughter heard that Ingmar was coming back, she pulled +a long face. It seemed to her that if they must have a boy living +with them, they might better have the judge's good-looking son, +Bertil, or there was jolly Gabriel, the son of Hoek Matts Ericsson. + +Gertrude liked both Gabriel and Bertil, but as for Ingmar, she +couldn't exactly tell what her feelings were toward him. She liked +him because he helped her with her lessons and minded her like a +slave; but she could also become thoroughly put out with him +sometimes, because he was clumsy and tiresome and did not know how +to play. She had to admire his diligence and his aptitude for +learning, yet at times she fairly despised him for not being able +to show off what he could do. + +Gertrude's head was always full of droll fancies and dreams, which +she confided to Ingmar. If the lad happened to be away for a few +days, she grew restless, and felt that she had no one to talk to; +but as soon as he got back she hardly knew what she had been +longing for. + +The girl had never thought of Ingmar as a boy of means and good +family connections, but treated him rather as though he were a +little beneath her. Yet when she heard that Ingmar had become poor, +she wept for him, and when he told her that he would not try to get +back his property, but meant to earn his own living as a teacher, +she was so indignant she could hardly control herself. + +The Lord only knows all she had dreamed that he would be some day! + +The children at Storm's school were given very rigid training. They +were held strictly to their tasks, and only on rare occasions were +they allowed any amusements. However, all this was changed the +spring Storm gave up his preaching. Then Mother Stina said to him: +"Now, Storm, we must let the young folks be young. Remember that +you and I were young once. Why, when we were seventeen, we danced +many a night from sundown to sunup." + +So, one Saturday night, when young Gabriel and Gunhild, the +councilman's daughter, paid a visit to the Storms, they actually +had a dance at the schoolhouse. + +Gertrude was wild with delight at being allowed to dance, but +Ingmar would not join in. Instead, he took up a book, and went +and sat down on the sofa by the window. Time and again Gertrude +tried to make him lay down his book, but Ingmar, sulky and shy, +refused to budge. Mother Stina looked at him and shook her head. +"It's plain he comes of an old, old stock," she thought. "That kind +can never be really young." + +The three who did dance had such a good time! They talked of going +to a regular dance the next Saturday evening, and asked the +schoolmaster and Mother Stina what they thought about it. + +"If you will do your dancing at Strong Ingmar's, I give my +consent," said Mother Stina; "for there you will meet only +respectable folk." + +Then Storm also made it conditional. "I can't allow Gertrude to go +to a dance unless Ingmar goes along to look after her," he said. + +Whereupon all three rushed up to Ingmar and begged him to accompany +them. + +"No!" he growled, without even glancing up from his book. + +"It's no good asking him!" said Gertrude in a tone that made Ingmar +raise his eyes. Gertrude looked radiantly beautiful after the +dance. She smiled scornfully, and her eyes flashed as she turned +away. It was plainly to be seen how much she despised him for +sitting there so ugly and sulky, like some crotchety old man. +Ingmar had to alter his mind and say "yes"--there was no way out +of it. + +A few evenings later while Gertrude and Mother Stina sat spinning +in the kitchen, the girl suddenly noticed that her mother was +getting uneasy. Every little while she would stop her spinning-wheel +and listen. "I can't imagine what that noise is," she said. "Do you +hear anything, Gertrude?" + +"Yes, I do," replied the girl. "There must be some one upstairs in +the classroom." + +"Who could be there at this hour?" Mother Stina flouted. "Only +listen to the rustling and the pattering from one end of the room +to the other!" + +And there certainly was a rustling and a pattering and a bumping +about over their heads, that made both Gertrude and her mother +feel creepy. + +"There must surely be some one up there," insisted Gertrude. + +"There can't be," Mother Stina declared. "Let me tell you that this +thing has been going on every night since you danced here." + +Gertrude perceived that her mother imagined the house had been +haunted since the night of the dance. If that idea were allowed to +become fixed in Mother Stina's mind, there would be no more dancing +for Gertrude. + +"I'm going up there to see what it is," said the girl, rising; but +her mother caught hold of her skirt. + +"I don't know whether I dare let you go," she said. + +"Nonsense, mother! It's best to find out what this is." + +"Then I'd better go with you," the mother decided. + +They crept softly up the stairs. When they got to the door they +were afraid to open it. Mother Stina bent down and peeped through +the keyhole. Presently she gave a little chuckle. + +"What pleases you, mother" asked Gertrude. + +"See for yourself, only be very quiet!" + +Then Gertrude put her eye to the keyhole. Inside, benches and desks +had been pushed against the wall, and in the centre of the +schoolroom, amid a cloud of dust, Ingmar Ingmarsson was whirling +round, with a chair in his arms. + +"Has Ingmar gone mad!" exclaimed Gertrude. + +"Ssh!" warned the mother, drawing her away from the door and down +the stairs. "He must be trying to teach himself to dance. I suppose +he wants to learn how, so he'll be able to dance at the party," she +added, with smirk. Then Mother Stina began to shake with laughter. +"He came near frightening the life out of me," she confessed. +"Thank God he can be young for once!" When she had got over her fit +of laughing, she said: "You're not to say a word about this to +anybody, do you hear!" + +*** + +Saturday evening the four young people stood on the steps of the +schoolhouse, ready to start. Mother Stina looked them over +approvingly. The boys had on yellow buckskin breeches and green +homespun waistcoats, with bright red sleeves. Gunhild and Gertrude +wore stripe skirts bordered with red cloth, and white blouses, with +big puffed sleeves; flowered kerchiefs were crossed over their +bodices, and they had on aprons that were as flowered as their +kerchiefs. + +As the four of them walked along in the twilight of a perfect +spring evening, nothing was said for quite a long time. Now and +then Gertrude would cast a side glance at Ingmar thinking of how +he had worked to learn to dance. Whatever the reason--whether it +was the memory of Ingmar's weird dancing, or the anticipation of +attending a regular dance--her thoughts became light and airy. She +managed to keep just a little behind the others, that she might +muse undisturbed. She had made up quite little story about how the +trees had come by their new leaves. + +It happened in this way, she thought: the trees, after sleeping +peacefully and quietly the whole winter, suddenly began to dream. +They dreamt that summer had come. They seemed to see the fields +dressed in green grass and waving corn; the hawthorn shimmered with +new-blown roses; brooks and ponds were spread with the leaves of +the water-lily; the stones were hidden under the creeping tendrils +of the twin flower, and the forest carpet was thick with star +flowers. And amid all this that was clothed and decked out, the +trees saw themselves standing gaunt and naked. They began to feel +ashamed of their nakedness, as often happens in dreams. + +In their confusion and embarrassment, the trees fancied that all +the rest were making fun of them. The bumblebees came buzzingly up +to mock at them, the magpies laughed them to scorn, while the other +birds sang taunting ditties. + +"Where shall we find something to put on?" asked the trees in +despair; but they had not a leaf to their names on either twig or +branch, and their distress was so terrible that it awakened them. + +And glancing about, drowsy like, their first thought was: "Thank +God it was only a dream! There is certainly no summer hereabout. +It's lucky for us that we haven't overslept." + +But as they looked around more carefully, they noticed that the +streams were clear of ice, grass blades and crocuses beeped out +from their beds of soil, and under their own ark the sap was +running. "Spring is here at all events," said the trees, "so it +was well we awoke. We have slept long enough for this year; now +it's high time we were getting dressed." + +So the birches hurriedly put on some sticky pale green leaves, and +the maples a few green flowers. The leaves of the alder came forth +in such a crinkly and unfinished state that they looked quite +malformed, but the slender leave: of the willow slipped out of +their buds smooth and shapely from the start. + +Gertrude smiled to herself as she walked along and thought this +up. She only wished she had been alone with Ingmar so she could +have told it all to him. + +They had a long way to go to get to the Ingmar Farm--more than an +hour's tramp. They followed the riverside; all the while Gertrude +kept walking a little behind the others. Her fancy had begun to +play around the red glow of the sunset, which flamed now above the +river, now above the strand. Gray alder and green birch were +enveloped by the shimmer, flashing red one instant, the next taking +on their natural hues. + +Suddenly Ingmar stopped, and broke off in the middle of something +he was telling. + +"What's the matter, Ingmar?" asked Gunhild. + +Ingmar, pale as a ghost, stood gazing at something in front of him. +The others saw only a wide plain covered with grain fields and +encircled by a range of hills, and in the centre of the plain a big +farmstead. At that moment the glow of sunset rested upon the farm; +all the window pans glittered, and the old roofs and walls had a +bright red glimmer about them. + +Gertrude promptly stepped up to the others, and after a quick +glance at Ingmar, she drew Gunhild and Gabriel aside. + +"We mustn't question him about anything around here," she said +under her breath. "That place over yonder is the Ingmar Farm. The +sight of it has probably made him sad. He hasn't been at home in +two years--not since he lost all his money." + +The road which they had taken was the one leading past the farm +and down to Strong Ingmar's cabin, at the edge of the forest. + +Soon Ingmar came running after, calling, "Hadn't we better go this +way instead?" Then he led them in on a bypath that wound around the +edge of the forest, and by which they could reach the cabin without +having to cross the farm proper. + +"You know Strong Ingmar, I suppose?" said Gabriel. + +"Oh, yes," young Ingmar replied. "We used to be good friends in the +old days." + +"Is it true that he understands magic?" asked Gunhild. + +"Well--no!" Ingmar answered rather hesitatingly, as if half-believing +it himself. + +"You may as well tell us what you know," persisted Gunhild. + +"The schoolmaster says we mustn't believe in such things." + +"The schoolmaster can't prevent a person seeing what he sees and +believing what he knows," Gabriel declared. + +Ingmar wanted to tell them all about his home; memories of his +childhood came back to him at sight of the old place. "I can tell +you about something that I saw once," he said. "It happened one +winter when father and Strong Ingmar were up in the forest working +at the kiln. When Christmas came around, Strong Ingmar offered to +tend the kiln by himself, so that father could come home for the +holidays. The day before Christmas, mother sent me up to the forest +with a basket of good fare for Strong Ingmar. I started early, so +as to be there before the midday dinner hour. When I came up, +father and Strong Ingmar had just finished drawing a kiln, and all +the charcoal had been spread on the ground to cool. It was still +smoking and, where the coals lay thickest, it was ready to take +fire, which is something that must not happen. To prevent that is +the most important part of the entire process of charcoal making. +Therefore, father said as soon as he saw me: 'I'm afraid you'll +have to go home alone, little Ingmar. I can't leave Strong Ingmar +with all this work.' Strong Ingmar walked along the side of the +heap where the smoke rose thickest. 'You can go, Big Ingmar,' he +said. 'I've managed worse things than this.' In a little while the +smoke grew less. 'Now let's see what kind of a Christmas treat +Brita has sent me,' said Strong Ingmar, taking the basket from me. +'Come, let me show you what a fine house we've got here.' Then he +took me into the hut where he and father lived. At the back was a +rude stone, and the other walls were made up of branches of spruce +and blackthorn. 'Well, my lad, you never guessed that your father +had a royal castle like this in the forest, eh?' said Strong +Ingmar. 'Here are walls that keep out both storm and frost,' he +laughed, thrusting his arm clean through the spruce branches. + +"Soon father came in laughing. He and the old man were black with +soot and reeking with the odour of sour charcoal smoke. But never +had I seen father so happy and full of fun. Neither of them could +stand upright in the hut, and the only furniture in the place were +two bunks made of spruce twigs and a couple of flat stones on which +they had built a fire; yet they were perfectly contented. They sat +down, side by side, on one of the bunks, and opened the basket. 'I +don't know whether you can have any of this,' said Strong Ingmar to +father, 'for it's my Christmas dinner, you know.' 'Seeing it's +Christmas Eve you must be a good to me,' said father. 'At a time +like this I suppose it would never do to let a poor old charcoal +burner starve,' Strong Ingmar then said. + +"They carried on like that all the time they were eating. Mother +had sent a little brandy along with the food. I marvelled that +people could be so happy over food and drink. 'You'll have to tell +your mother that Big Ingmar has eaten up everything,' said the old +man, 'and that she will have to send more to-morrow.' 'So I see,' +said I. + +"Just then I was startled by a crackling noise in the fireplace. It +sounded as if some one had cast a handful of pebbles on the stones. +Father did not notice it, but at once Strong Ingmar said: 'What, so +soon?' Yet he went on eating. Then there was more crackling; this +time it was much louder. Now it sounded as if a shovelful of stones +had been thrown on the fire. 'Well, well, is it so urgent!' Strong +Ingmar exclaimed. Then he went out. 'The charcoal must be afire!' +he shouted back. 'Just you sit still, Big Ingmar. I'll attend to +this myself.' Father and I sat very quiet. + +"In a little while Strong Ingmar returned, and the fun began anew. +'I haven't had such a merry Christmas in years,' he laughed. He had +no sooner got the words out of his mouth than the crackling started +afresh. 'What, again? Well, I never!' and out he flew in a jiffy. +The charcoal was afire again. When the old man came back for the +second time, father said to him: 'I see now that you have such good +help up here that you can get along by yourself.' 'Yes, you can +safely go home and keep your Christmas, Big Ingmar, for here there +are those who will help me.' Then father and I went home, and +everything was all right. And never, either before or afterward, +was any kiln tended by Strong Ingmar known to get afire." + +Gunhild thanked Ingmar for his story, but Gertrude walked on in +silence, as if she had become frightened. It was beginning to get +dark; everything that had looked so rosy a while ago was now either +blue or gray. Here and there in the forest could be seen a shiny +leaf that gleamed in the twilight like the red eye of a troll. + +Gertrude was astonished at Ingmar having talked so much and so +long. He seemed like another person since coming in on home ground; +he carried his head higher than usual, and stepped with firmer +tread. Gertrude did not quite like this change in him; it made her +feel uneasy. All the same she spunked up, and began to tease Ingmar +about his going home to dance. + +Then at last they came to a little gray hut. Candles were burning +inside, the windows being too small to let in much light. They +caught the sound of violin music and the clatter of dancing feet. +Still the girls paused, wonderingly. "Is it here?" they questioned. +"Can any one dance here? The place looks too small to hold even one +couple." + +"Go along inside," said Gabriel; "the hut isn't as tiny as looks." + +Outside the door, which was open, stood a group of boys and girls +who had danced themselves into a warm glow; the girls were fanning +themselves with their headshawls, and the boys had pulled off their +short black jackets in order to dance in their bright green red-sleeved +waistcoats. + +The newcomers edged their way through the crowd by the door into +the hut. The first person they saw was Strong Ingmar--a little fat +man, with a big head and a long beard. + +"He must be related to the elves and the trolls," thought Gertrude. +The old man was standing upon the hearth, playing his fiddle, so as +not to be in the way of the dancers. + +The hut was larger than it had appeared from the outside, but it +looked poor and dilapidated. The bare pine walls were worm-eaten, +and the beams were blackened by smoke. There were no curtains at +the windows, and no cover on the table. It was evident that Strong +Ingmar lived by himself. His children had all left him and gone to +America, and the only pleasure the old man had in his loneliness +was to gather the young folks around him on a Saturday evening, and +let them dance to his fiddle. + +It was dim in the hut, and suffocatingly close. Couple after couple +were whirling around in there. Gertrude could scarcely breathe, and +wanted to hurry out again, but it was an impossibility to get past +the tight wedge of humanity that blocked the doorway. + +Strong Ingmar played with a sure stroke and in perfect time, but +the instant that young Ingmarsson came into the room he drew his +bow across the strings, making a rasping noise that brought all the +dancers to a stop. "It's nothing," he shouted. "Go on with the +dance!" + +Ingmar placed his arm around Gertrude's waist to dance out the +figure. Gertrude seemed very much surprised at his wanting to +dance. But they could get nowhere, for the dancers followed each +other so closely that no one who had not been there at the start +could squeeze in between them. + +The old man stopped short, rapped on the fender with his bow, and +said in a commanding voice: "Room must be made for Big Ingmar's son +when there's any dancing in my shack!" + +With that every one turned to have a look at Ingmar, who became so +embarrassed that he could not stir. Gertrude had to take hold of +him and fairly drag him across the floor. + +As soon as the dance was finished, the fiddler came down to greet +Ingmar. When he felt Ingmar's hand in his, the old man pretended to +be very much concerned, and instantly let go of it. "My goodness!" +he exclaimed, "be careful of those delicate schoolmaster hands! A +clumsy old fellow like me could easily crush them." + +He took young Ingmar and his friends up to the table, driving away +several old women who were sitting there, looking on. Presently he +went over to the cupboard and brought out some bread and butter and +root beer. + +"I don't, as a rule, offer refreshments at these affairs," he said. +"The others have to be content with just music and dancing, but +Ingmar Ingmarsson must have a bite to eat under my roof." + +Drawing up a little three-legged stool, the old man sat down in +front of Ingmar, and looked sharply at him. + +"So you're going to be a school-teacher, eh?" he queried. + +Ingmar closed his eyes for a moment, and there was the shadow of a +smile on his lips, but all the same he answered rather mournfully: +"They have no use for me at home." + +"No use for _you_?" cried the old man. "You don't know how soon you +may be needed on the farm. Elof lived only two years, and who knows +how long Halvor will hold out?" + +"Halvor is a strong, hearty fellow," Ingmar reminded. + +"You must know, of course, that Halvor will turn the farm over to +you as soon as you're able to buy it back." + +"He'd be a fool to give up the Ingmar Farm now that it has fallen +into his hands." + +During this colloquy Ingmar sat gripping the edge of the plain deal +table. Suddenly a noise was heard as of something cracking. Ingmar +had broken off a corner of the table. "If you become a school-teacher, +he'll never let you have the farm," the old man went on. + +"You think not?" + +"Think--think? Well it's plain how you have been brought up. Have +you ever driven a plow?" + +"No." + +"Or tended a kiln, or felled a huge pine?" + +Ingmar sat there looking quite placid, but the table kept crumbling +under his fingers. Finally the old man began to take notice. + +"See here, young man!" he said when he saw what was happening, "I +shall have to take you in hand once more." Then he picked up some +of the splinters of the table and tried to fit them into place. +"You rogue! You ought to be going around to fairs, showing your +tricks for money!" he laughed, and dealing Ingmar a hard whack on +the shoulder, he remarked: "Oh, you'd make a fine school-teacher, +you would!" + +In a twinkling he was back at the fireplace, fiddling away. Now +there was a snap and a go to his performance. He beat time with his +foot and set the dancers whirling. "This is young Ingmar's polka," +he called out. "Hoop-la! Now the whole house must dance for young +Ingmar!" + +Two such pretty girls as Gertrude and Gunhild had to be in every +dance, of course. Ingmar did not do much dancing. He stood talking +most of the time with some of the older men at the farther end of +the room. Between dances the people crowded around him as if it did +them good just to look at him. + +Gertrude thought Ingmar had entirely forgotten her, which made her +quite miserable. "Now he feels that he is the son of Big Ingmar, +and that I am only the school-master's Gertrude," she pouted. It +seemed strange to her that she should take this so to heart. +Between the dances some of the young folks went out for a breath of +air. The night had grown piercingly cold. It was quite dark, and as +no one wanted to go home, they all said: "We'd better wait a little +while; the moon will soon be out. Now it's too dark to start for home." + +Once, when Ingmar and Gertrude happened to be standing outside the +door, the old man came and drew the boy away. "Come, let me show +you something," he said, and taking Ingmar by the hand, he led him +through a thicket a short distance away from the house. "Stand +still now and look down!" he said presently. Then Ingmar found +himself looking down a cleft, at the bottom of which something +white shimmered. "This must be Langfors Rapids," said young Ingmar. + +"Right you are," nodded the old man. "Now what do you suppose a +waterfall like that can be used for, eh?" + +"It might be used to run a mill," said Ingmar thoughtfully. + +The old man laughed to himself. He patted Ingmar on the back, then +gave him a dig in the ribs that almost sent him into the rapids. +"But who's going to put up a mill here? Who's going to get rich, +and who's going to buy the Ingmar Farm, eh?" he chuckled. + +"I'd just like to know," said Ingmar. + +Then the old man began unfolding a big plan he had in mind: Ingmar +was to persuade Tims Halvor to put up a sawmill below the rapids, +and afterward lease it to him. For many years the old man's dream +had been to find a way by which Big Ingmar's son might come into +his own again. Ingmar stood quietly looking down at the foaming +rapids. + +"Come, let's go back to the house and the dancing!" said the old +man, but as Ingmar did not stir he waited patiently. "If he's the +right sort, he won't reply to this today, nor yet to-morrow," he +remarked to himself. "An Ingmarsson has to have time to consider." + +And as they stood there, all at once they heard a sharp and angry +bark that seemed to come from some dog running loose in the forest. + +"Do you hear that, Ingmar?" asked the old man. + +"Yes; that must be a dog on the rampage." + +Then they heard the bark more distinctly; it seemed to be coming +nearer, as if the beast were heading straight for the hut. The old +man seized Ingmar by the wrist. "Come, boy!" he said. "Get into the +house as quick as you can!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Ingmar, astonished. + +"Get in, I tell you!" + +As they made for the hut, the angry barking sounded as if it were +quite close to them. + +"What kind of dog is it?" Ingmar asked, again and again. + +"Get inside, only get inside!" cried the old man, fairly pushing +Ingmar into the narrow passageway. Before closing the outer door he +shouted: "If there are any of you outside, come in at once!" As he +stood holding the door open, people came running from all +directions. "In with you, in with you!" he shrieked at them, and +stamped impatiently. + +Meanwhile the people in the hut were becoming alarmed. They all +wanted to know what was amiss. When the old man had made sure that +everybody was inside, he closed and bolted the door. + +"Are you mad, to be running about when you hear the mountain dog!" +At that moment the barking was heard just outside the hut; it was +as if the mountain dog were chasing round and round the house, +emitting hideous yowls. + +"Isn't it a real dog?" asked a young rustic. + +"You can go out and call to it if you like, Nils Jansson." + +Then all were silent, listening to the howling thing which +continued to go round and round without a stop. It sounded weird +and dreadful. They began to shudder and shake, and some turned as +white as death. No, indeed, this was no ordinary dog; anybody could +tell that! It was doubtless some demon let loose from hell, they +thought. + +The little old man was the only one who moved about. First he +closed the flue, then he went around and snuffed out the candles. + +"No, no!" cried the womenfolk, "don't put out the lights!" + +"You must let me do what is best for all of us," said the old man. + +One of the girls caught hold of his coat. "Is the mountain dog +dangerous?" she asked. + +"No, not he, but what comes after." + +"And what comes after?" + +Again the old man listened. Presently he said: "Now we must all be +very still." + +Instantly there was breathless silence. Once again the terrible +howling seemed to circle the hut, but it grew less distinct as it +went across the marsh and up the mountains on the other side of the +valley. Then came an ominous stillness. Presently some man, who +couldn't hold in any longer, said that the _dog_ was gone. + +Without a word Strong Ingmar raised his hand and dealt the man a +blow across the mouth. + +From far away at the top of Mount Flack came a piercing sound; it +was like a howling wind, but it could also have been a blast from a +horn. Now and again prolonged blare could be heard, then roaring +and tramping and snorting. + +All at once the thing came dashing down from the mountain with an +awful roar. They could tell when it had reached the foot of the +slope; they could tell when it swept the skirt of the forest; and +when it was directly above them. It was like the rolling of thunder +across the face of the earth; it was as if the whole mountain had +come tumbling into the valley. When it seemed to be almost upon +them, every head went down. "It will crush us," they all thought. +"It will surely crush us." + +But what they felt was not so much the fear of death, as terror +lest it might be the prince of darkness himself coming, with all +his demons. What frightened them most were the shrieks and moans +that could be heard above the other noises. There were wails and +groans, laughter and bellowings, whines and hisses. When that which +they had supposed was a big thunderstorm was right upon them, it +seemed to be a mingling of groans and curses, of sobs and angry +cries, of the blast of horns, of crackling fire, of the plaints of +doomed spirits, of the mocking laughter of demons, of the flapping +of huge wings. + +They thought all the furies of the infernal regions had been let +loose that night, and would overwhelm them. The ground trembled, +and the hut swayed as if it were going to topple over. It was as if +wild horses were prancing on the roof; as if howling ghosts rushed +past the door, and as if owls and bats were beating their wings +against the chimney. + +While this was happening, some one put an arm around Gertrude's +waist and drew her to her knees. Then she heard Ingmar whisper: "We +must kneel down, Gertrude, and ask God to help us." + +Only the moment before Gertrude had imagined she was dying, so +terrible was the fear that held her. "I don't mind having to die," +she thought; "the awful part of it is that the powers of evil are +hovering over us." + +But Gertrude had no sooner felt Ingmar's protecting arm around her +than her heart began to beat once more, and the feeling of numbness +in her limbs was gone. She snuggled close to him. She was not +frightened now. How wonderful! Ingmar must have felt afraid also, +yet he was able to impart to her a sense of security and +protection. + +Finally the terrible noises died away; they heard only the faintest +echoes of them in the distance. They seemed to have followed in the +trail of the dog, down through the marsh and up into the mountain +passes beyond Olaf's Peak. + +And yet the silence in Strong Ingmar's but was unbroken. No one +moved, no one spoke; at times it was as if fear had extinguished +all life there. Now and then through the stillness a deep sigh was +heard. No one moved for a long, long time. Some of the people were +standing up against the walls, others had sunk down on the benches, +but most of them were kneeling upon the floor in anxious prayer. +All were motionless, stunned by fear. + +Thus hour after hour passed, and during that time there was many a +one in that room who ransacked his soul and resolved to live a new +life--nearer to God and farther away from His enemies, for each of +those present thought: "It is something that _I_ have done which +has brought this upon us. This has happened because of _my_ sins. I +could hear how the fiends kept calling to me and threatening me, +and shrieking my name, as they rushed by." + +As for Gertrude, her only thought was: "I know now that I can never +live without Ingmar; I must always be near him because of that +feeling of confidence he gives one." + +Then gradually the day began to break, the faint light of dawn came +stealing into the hut, revealing the many blanched faces. The +twitter of a bird was heard, then of another, and another. Strong +Ingmar's cow began to low for her breakfast, and his cat, who never +slept in the house on nights when there was dancing, came to the +door and mewed. But no one inside moved until the sun rolled up +from behind the eastern hills. Then, one by one, they stole out +without a word or even a good-bye. + +Outside the house the departing guests beheld the signs of the +night's devastation. A huge pine, which had stood close to the +gate, had been torn up by the roots and thrown down; branches and +fence posts were littered over the ground; bats and owls had been +crushed against the side walls of the hut. + +Along the broad roadway leading to the top of Mount Klack all the +trees had been blown down. No one could bear to look at this long, +so they all hurried on toward the village. + +It was Sunday, and most people were still in their beds, but a few +persons were already out tending to their cattle. An old man had +just emerged from his house with his Sunday coat, to brush and air +it. From another house came father, mother, and children--all +dressed up for a holiday outing. It was a great relief to see +people quietly going about their business, unconscious of the awful +things that had happened in the forest during the night. + +At last they came to the riverside, where the houses were less +scattered, and then to the village. They were glad to see the old +church and everything else. It was comforting to see that +everything down here looked natural: the sign-board in front of the +shop creaked on its hinges as usual; the post-office horn was in +its regular place; and the inn-keeper's dog lay sleeping, as +always, outside his kennel. It was also a gladsome surprise to them +to see a little bird-berry bush that had blossomed overnight, and +the green seats in the pastor's garden, which must have been put +out late in the evening. All this was decidedly reassuring. But +just the same no one ventured to speak until they had reached their +several homes. + +When Gertrude stood on the steps of the schoolhouse, she said to +Ingmar: "I have danced my last dance, Ingmar." + +"And I, too," Ingmar solemnly declared. + +"And you'll become a clergyman, won't you, Ingmar? And if you can't +become a preacher, you must at least be a teacher. There is so much +evil in the world one has to fight against." + +Ingmar looked straight at Gertrude. "What did those voices say to +you?" he asked. + +"They said that I had been caught in the toils of sin, and that the +devil would come and take me, because I was so fond of dancing." + +"Now I must tell you what I heard," said Ingmar. "It seemed to me +that all the old Ingmarssons were threatening and cursing me +because I wanted to be something more than a peasant, and to do +something besides just tilling the soil and working in the forest." + + + +HELLGUM + +The night of the dance at Strong Ingmar's, Tims Halvor was away +from home, and his wife, Karin, slept alone in the little chamber +off the living-room. In the night Karin had a frightful dream. She +dreamt that Elof was alive and was holding a big revel. She could +hear him in the next room clinking glasses, laughing loudly, and +singing ribald songs. She thought, in the dream, that Elof and his +boon companions were getting noisier and noisier, and at last it +sounded as though they were trying to break up both tables and +chairs. Then Karin became so frightened that she awoke. But even +after she had awakened the noise continued. The earth shook, the +windows rattled, the tiles on the roof were loosened, and the old +pear trees at the gables lashed the house with their stout +branches. It was as if Judgment Day had come. + +Just when the noise was at its height a window pane was sprung, +and the shattered glass fell jingling against the floor. A violent +gust of wind rushed through the room, and then Karin thought she +heard a laugh quite close to her ear--the same kind of laugh that +she had heard in the dream. She fancied she was about to die. Never +had she felt such a sense of terror; her heart stopped, and her +whole body became numb and cold as ice. + +All at once the noise died down, and Karin, as it were, came back +to life. The raw night wind came sweeping into the room; so after a +little Karin decided to get up and stuff something into the broken +window pane. As she stepped out of the bed, her legs gave way, and +she found that she could not walk. She did not cry for help, but +quietly laid down again. "I'll surely be able to walk when I feel +more composed," she thought. In a few moments she made another +attempt. This time, too, her legs failed her, and she fell prone on +the floor beside the bed. + +In the morning, when people were astir in the house, the doctor was +called in. He was at a loss to understand what had come over Karin. +She did not appear to be ill, nor was she paralyzed. He was of the +opinion that her trouble had been brought on by fright. + +"You'll soon be all right again," he assured her. Karin listened to +the doctor, but said nothing. She felt certain that Elof had been +in the room during the night, and that he was the cause of her +trouble. She also had the feeling that she would never recover from +this shock. + +All that morning she sat up in bed, and brooded. She tried to +reason out why God had let this trial come upon her. She examined +her conscience thoroughly, but could not discover that she had +committed any special sin that merited such a terrible punishment. +"God is unjust to me," she thought. + +In the afternoon she was taken to Storm's mission house, where at +that time a lay preacher named Dagson led the meetings. She hoped +that he could tell her why she had been punished in this way. + +Dagson was a popular speaker, and never had he had so many hearers +as on that afternoon. My, but what a gathering of people down at +the mission house! And no one talked of anything but what had +happened in the night at Strong Ingmar's hut. The whole community +was in a state of terror, and had turned out in full force, in +order to hear the Word of God preached with a force that would +annihilate their fears. Hardly a quarter of the people could get +inside; but windows and doors were wide open, and Dagson had such a +powerful voice that he could be heard even by those on the outside. +Of course he knew what had occurred, and what the people wanted to +hear. He opened his address with a terror-striking word picture of +hell and the prince of darkness. He reminded them of the evil one +who skulks about in the dark to capture souls, who lays the snares +of sin and sets the traps of vice. The people shuddered. They +seemed to see a world full of devils, tempting and enticing them to +destruction. Everything was a sin and a danger. They were wandering +among pitfalls, hunted and tormented like the wild beasts of the +forest. When Dagson talked in this strain, his voice pierced the +room like a blasting wind, and his words were like tongues of fire. + +All who heard Dagson's sermon likened it to a roaring torrent of +flame. With all this talk about demons and fire and smoke, they had +the same feeling as when trapped in a burning forest--when the fire +creeps along the moss upon which you are treading, and smoke clouds +fill the air you breathe, and the heat singes your hair, while the +roar of the fire fills your ears, and flying sparks set fire to +your clothing. + +Thus did Dagson drive the people through flame and smoke and +desolation. They had fire in front of them, fire behind them, and +fire to left and right of them, and saw only destruction ahead of +them. Yet, after taking them through all these horrors, he finally +led them to a green spot in the forest, where it was peaceful and +cool and safe. In the centre of a flowery meadow sat Jesus, with +His arms outstretched toward the fleeing and hunted men and women +who cast themselves at His feet. Now all danger was past, and they +suffered no further distress nor persecution. + +Dagson spoke as he himself felt. If he could only lay himself down +at Jesus' feet, a sense of great peace and serenity would come to +him, and he had no more fear of the snares of the world. + +After the service there was great emotional excitement. Many +persons rushed up to the speaker and thanked him, with tears +streaming down their faces. They told him that his words had +awakened them to a true faith in God. But all this time Karin sat +unmoved. When Dagson had finished speaking, she raised her heavy +eyelids and looked up at him, as if reproaching him for not having +given her anything. Just then some one outside cried in a voice +loud enough to be heard by the entire congregation: + +"Woe, woe, woe to those who give stones for bread! Woe, woe, woe to +those who give stones for bread!" + +Whereupon everybody rushed out, curious to see who it was that had +spoken those words, and Karin was left sitting there in her +helplessness. Presently members of her own household came back, and +told her that the person who had cried out like that was a tall, +dark stranger. He and a pretty, fair-haired woman had been seen +coming down the road, in a cart, during the service. They had +stopped to listen, and just as they were about to drive on, the man +had risen up and spoken. Some folks thought they knew the woman. +They said she was one of Strong Ingmar's daughters--one of those +who had gone to America and married there. The man was evidently +her husband. Of course it is not so easy to recognize a person whom +one has known as a young girl in the ordinary peasant costume, when +she comes back a grown woman dressed up in city clothes. + +Karin and the stranger were evidently of the same mind regarding +Dagson. Karin never went to the mission house again. But later in +the summer, when a Baptist layman came to the parish, baptizing and +exhorting, she went to hear him, and when the Salvation Army began +to hold meetings in the village, she also attended one of these. + +The parish was in the throes of a great religious upheaval. At all +the meetings there were awakenings and conversions. The people +seemed to find what they had been seeking. Yet among all those whom +Karin had heard preach, not one could give her any consolation. + +*** + +A blacksmith named Birger Larsson had a smithy close by the +highroad. His shop was small and dark, with a low door, and an +aperture in place of a window. Birger Larsson made common knives, +mended locks, put tires on wheels and on sled runners. When there +was nothing else to be done, he forged nails. + +One evening, in the summer, there was a rush of work at the smithy. +At one anvil stood Birger Larsson flattening the heads of nails; +his eldest son was at another anvil forging iron rods and cutting +off pins. A second son was blowing the bellows, a third carried +coal to the forge, turned the iron, and, when at white heat, +brought it to the smiths. The fourth son, who was not more than +seven years old, gathered up the finished nails and threw them into +a trough filled with water, afterward bunching and tying them. + +While they were all hard at work a stranger came up and stationed +himself in the doorway. He was a tall, swarthy-looking man, and he +had to bend almost double to look in. Birger Larsson glanced up +from his work to see what the man wanted. + +"I hope you don't mind my looking in, although I have no special +errand here," said the stranger. "I was a blacksmith myself in my +younger days, and can never pass by a smithy without first stopping +to glance in at the work." + +Birger Larsson noticed that the man had large, sinewy hands--regular +blacksmith's hands. He at once began to question him as to who he +was and whence he came. The man answered pleasantly, but without +disclosing his identity. Birger thought him clever and likable, +and after showing him around the shop, he went outside with him +and began to brag about his sons. He had seen hard times, he said, +before the boys were big enough to help with the work; but now +that all of them were able to lend a hand, everything went well. +"In a few years I expect to be a rich man," he declared. + +The stranger smiled a little at that and said he was pleased to +hear that Birger's sons were so helpful to him. Placing his heavy +hand on Birger's shoulder, and looking him square in the eyes, he +said: "Since you have had such good aid from your sons in a +material way, I suppose you also let them help you in the things +that pertain to the spirit?" Birger stared stupidly. "I see that +this is a new thought to you," the stranger added. "Ponder it till +we meet again." Then he went on his way smiling, and Birger +Larsson, scratching his head, returned to his work. But the +stranger's query haunted his mind for several days. "I wonder what +made him say that?" he mused. "There must be something back of it +all that I don't understand." + +*** + +The day after the stranger had talked with Birger Larsson an +extraordinary thing took place at Tims Halvor's old shop, which +since his marriage to Karin had been turned over to his +brother-in-law, Bullet Gunner. Gunner was away at the time, and, in +his absence, Brita Ingmarsson tended the shop. Brita was named +after her mother, Big Ingmar's handsome wife, whose good looks she +had inherited. Moreover, she had the distinction of being the +prettiest girl ever born and reared on the Ingmar Farm. Although +she bore no outward resemblance to the old Ingmars, she was, +nevertheless, quite as conscientious and upright as any of them. + +When Gunner was absent Brita always ran the business in her own +way. Whenever old Corporal Felt would come stumbling in, tipsy and +shaky, and ask for a bottle of beer, Brita would give him a blunt +"No," and when poor Kolbjoern's Lena came and wanted to buy a fine +brooch, Brita sent her home with several pounds of rye meal. The +peasant woman who dropped in to buy some light flimsy fabric was +told to go home and weave suitable and durable cloth on her own +loom. And no children dared come into the shop to spend their poor +coppers for candy and raisins when Brita was in charge there. + +That day Brita had not many customers. So for hours and hours she +sat quite alone, staring into vacancy, despair burning in her eyes. +By and by she got up and took out a rope; then she moved a little +stepladder from the shop into the back room. After that she made a +loop in one end of the rope, and fastened the other end to a hook +in the ceiling. Just as she was about to slip her head into the +noose, she happened to look down. + +At that moment the door opened and in walked a tall, dark man. He +had evidently entered the shop without her having heard him, and on +finding no one in attendance, had stepped behind the counter and +opened the door to the next room. + +Brita quietly came down from the ladder. The man did not speak, but +withdrew into the shop, Brita slowly following him. She had never +seen the man before. She noticed that he had black curly hair, +throat whiskers, keen eyes, and big, sinewy hands. He was well +dressed, but his bearing was that of a labourer. After seating +himself on a rickety chair near the door, he began to stare hard at +Brita. + +By that time Brita was again standing behind the counter. She did +not ask him what he wanted; she only wished he would go away. The +man just stared and stared, never once taking his eyes off her. +Brita felt that she was being held by his gaze, and could not move. +Presently she grew impatient, and said, in her mind: "What's the +use of your sitting there watching me? Can't you understand that +I'm going to do what I want to do, anyhow, as soon as I'm left +alone? If this were only something that could be helped," Brita +argued mentally, "I wouldn't mind your hindering me, but it can't +be remedied now." + +All the while the man sat gazing intently at her. + +"Let me say to you that we Ingmars are not fitted to be +shopkeepers," Brita continued in her thoughts. "You don't know +how happy we were, Gunner and I, till he took up with this +business. Folks certainly warned me against marrying him; they +didn't like him, on account of his black hair, his piercing eyes, +and his sharp tongue. But we two were fond of each other, you see, +and there was never a cross word between us till Gunner took over +the shop. But since then all has not been well. I want him to +conduct the business in my way. I can't abide his selling wine and +beer to drunkards, and it seems to me that he ought to encourage +people in buying only such things as are useful and necessary; but +Gunner thinks this a ridiculous notion. Neither of us will give in +to the other, so we are forever wrangling, and now he doesn't care +for me any more." + +She gave the man a savage look, amazed at his not yielding to her +mute entreaties. + +"Surely you must understand that I cannot go on living under the +shame of knowing that he lets the bailiff serve executions upon +poor people and take from them their only cow or a couple of sheep! +Can't you see that this thing will never come right? Why don't you +go, and let me put an end to it all!" + +Brita, under the man's gaze, gradually became quieter in her mind, +and in a little while she began to cry softly. She was touched by +his sitting there and protecting her against herself. + +As soon as the man saw that Brita was weeping, he rose and went +toward the door. When he was on the doorstep, he turned and again +looked straight into her eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Do +thyself no harm, for the time is nearing when thou shalt live in +righteousness." + +Then he went his way. She could hear his heavy footsteps as he +walked, down the road. Brita ran into the little room, took down +the rope, and carried the stepladder back into the shop. Then she +dropped down on a box, where she sat quietly musing for two full +hours. She felt, somehow, that for a long time she had wandered in +a darkness so thick that she could not see her hand before her. She +had lost her way and knew not whither she had strayed, and with +every step she had been afraid of sinking into a quagmire or +stumbling headlong into an abyss. Now some one had called to her +not to go any farther, but to sit down and wait for the break of +day. She was glad that she would not have to continue her perilous +wanderings; now she sat quietly waiting for the dawn. + +*** + +Strong Ingmar had a daughter who was called Anna Lisa. She had +lived in Chicago for a number of years, and had married there a +Swede named John Hellgum, who was the leader of a little band of +religionists with a faith and doctrine of their own. The day after +the memorable dance night at Strong Ingmar's, Anna Lisa and her +husband had come home to pay a visit to her old father. + +Hellgum passed his time taking long walks about the parish. He +struck up an acquaintance with all whom he met on the way. He +talked with them at first of commonplace things; but just before +parting with a person, he would always place his large hand upon +his or her shoulder, and speak a few words of comfort or warning. + +Strong Ingmar saw very little of his son-in-law, for that summer +the old man and young Ingmar, who had now gone back to the Ingmar +Farm to live, were hard at work daytimes putting up a sawmill below +the rapids. It was a proud day for Strong Ingmar when the sawmill +was ready and the first log had been turned into white planks by +the buzzing saws. + +One evening on his way home from work, the old man met Anna Lisa on +the road. She looked frightened, and wanted to run away. Strong +Ingmar, seeing this, quickened his pace, thinking all was not well +at home. When he reached his but he stopped short, frowning. As far +back as he could remember, a certain rosebush had been growing +outside the door. It had been the apple of his eye. He had never +allowed any one to pluck a rose or a leaf from that bush. Strong +Ingmar had always guarded the bush very tenderly, because he +believed it sheltered elves and fairies. But now it had been cut +down. Of course it was his son-in-law, the preacher, who had done +this, as the sight of the bush had always been an eyesore to him. + +Strong Ingmar had his axe with him, and his grip on the handle +tightened as he entered the hut. Inside sat Hellgum with an open +Bible before him. He raised his eyes and gave the old man a +piercing look, then went on with his reading; this time aloud: + +"Even as ye think, we will be as the heathen, as the families of +the countries, to serve wood and stone, it shall not be at all as +ye think. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, +and with stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule +over you--" + +Without a word Strong Ingmar turned and walked out of the house. +That night he slept in the barn. The following day he and Ingmar +Ingmarsson set out for the forest to burn charcoal and fell timber. +They were to be gone the whole winter. + +On two or three occasions Hellgum had spoken at prayer meetings and +outlined his teaching, which he maintained was the only true +Christianity. But Hellgum, who was not as eloquent a speaker as +Dagson, had made no converts. Those who had met him outside and had +only heard him say a few telling words, expected great things from +him; but when he tried to deliver a lengthy address he became +heavy, prosy, and tiresome. + +*** + +Toward the close of summer Karin became utterly despondent over her +condition. She rarely spoke. All day long she sat motionless in her +chair. She went to hear no more preachers, but stayed at home, +brooding over her misfortune. Once in a while she would repeat to +Halvor her father's old saying about the Ingmars not having +anything to fear so long as they walked in the ways of God. Now she +had come to the conclusion that there was no truth even in that. + +Halvor, not knowing what to do, on one occasion suggested that she +talk with the newest preacher, but Karin declared that she would +never again look to a parson for help. + +One Sunday, toward the end of August, Karin sat at the window in +the living-room. A Sabbath stillness rested over the farm, and she +could hardly keep awake. Her head kept sinking nearer and nearer +her breast, and presently she dropped into a doze. + +She was suddenly awakened by the sound of a voice just outside her +window. She could not see who the speaker was, but the voice was +strong and deep. A more beautiful voice she had never heard. + +"I know, Halvor, that it doesn't seem reasonable to you that a +poor, uneducated blacksmith should have found the truth, when so +many learned men have failed," said the voice. + +"I don't see how you can be so sure of that," Halvor questioned. + +"It's Hellgum talking to Halvor," thought Karin, trying to close +the window, which she was unable to reach. + +"It has been said, as you know," Hellgum went on, "that if somebody +strikes us on one cheek we must turn the other cheek also, and that +we should not resist evil, and other things of the same sort; all +of which none of us can live up to. Why, people would rob you of +your house and home, they'd steal your potatoes and carry off your +grain, if you failed to protect what was yours. I guess they'd take +the whole Ingmar Farm from you." + +"Maybe you're right," Halvor admitted. + +"Well, then, I suppose Christ didn't mean anything when He said all +that; He was just talking into the air, eh?" + +"I don't know what you're driving at!" said Halvor. + +"Now here's something to set you thinking," Hellgum continued. "We +are supposed to be very far advanced in our Christianity. There's +no one nowadays who steals, no one who commits murder or wrongs the +widow and the fatherless, and of course no one hates or persecutes +his neighbour any more, and it wouldn't occur to any of us, who +have such a good religion, to do any wrong!" + +"There are many things that aren't just as they ought to be," +drawled Halvor. He sounded sleepy, and anything but interested. + +"Now if you had a threshing machine that wouldn't work, you'd find +out what was wrong with it. You wouldn't give yourself any rest +till you had discovered wherein it was faulty. But when you see +that it is simply impossible to get people to lead a Christian +life, shouldn't you try to find out whether there is anything the +matter with Christianity itself?" + +"I can't believe there are any flaws in the teachings of Jesus," +said Halvor. + +"No, they were unquestionably sound from the start; but it may be +that they have become a little rusty, as it were, from neglect. In +any perfect mechanism, if a cog happens to slip--only one tiny +little cog--instantly the whole machinery stops!" + +He paused a moment as if searching for words and proofs. + +"Now let me tell you what happened to me a few years ago," he +resumed. "I then tried for the first time in my life to really live +by the teachings. Do you know what the result was? I was at that +time working in a factory. When my fellow-workmen found out what +manner of man I was, they let me do a good share of their work in +addition to my own. In thanks they took the job away from me by +conniving to throw the blame on me for a theft committed by one of +them. I was arrested, of course, and sent to the penitentiary." + +"One doesn't ordinarily run across such bad people," returned +Halvor indifferently. + +"Then said I to myself: It wouldn't be very hard to be a Christian +if one were only alone on this earth, and there were no fellow +humans to be reckoned with. I must confess that I really enjoyed +being in prison, for there I was allowed to lead a righteous life, +undisturbed and unmolested. But after a time I began to think that +this trying to be good in solitude was about as effective as the +automatic turning of a mill when there's no corn in the grinder. +Inasmuch as God had seen fit to place so many people in the world," +I reasoned, "it must have been done with the idea that they should +be a help and a comfort to one another, and not a menace. It +occurred tome, finally, that Satan must have taken something away +from the Bible, so that Christianity should go to smash." + +"But surely he never had the power to do that," said Halvor. + +"Yes; he has taken out this precept: _Ye who would lead a Christian +life must seek help among your fellowmen_." + +Halvor did not venture a reply, but Karin nodded approvingly. She +had listened very carefully, and had not missed a word. + +"As soon as I was released from prison," Hellgum continued, "I went +to see an old friend, and asked him to help me lead a righteous +life. And, mind, when we were two about it, at once it became +easier. Soon a third party joined with us, then a fourth, and it +became easier and easier. Now there are thirty of us who live +together in a house in Chicago. All our interests are common +interests; we share and share alike. We watch over each other's +lives, and the way of righteousness lies before us, smooth and +even. We are able to deal with one another in a Christly manner, +for one brother does not abuse the kindness of another, nor trample +him down in his humility." + +As Halvor remained silent, Hellgum spoke on convincingly: "You +know, of course, that he who wishes to do something big always +allies himself with others who help him. Now you couldn't run this +farm by yourself. If you wanted to start a factory, you'd have to +organize a company to cooeperate with you, and if you wanted to +build a railway, just think how many helpers you'd have to take on! + +"But the most difficult work in the world is to live a Christian +life; yet that you would accomplish single-handed and without the +support of others. Or maybe you don't even try to do so, since you +know beforehand that it can't be done. But we--I and those who have +joined me back there in Chicago--have found a way. Our little +community is in truth the New Jerusalem come down from Heaven. You +may know it by these signs: the gifts of the Spirit which descended +upon the early Christians, have also fallen upon us. There are some +among us who hear the Voice of God, others who prophesy, and +others, again, who heal the sick--" + +"Can you heal the sick?" Halvor broke in eagerly. + +"Yes," answered Hellgum. "I can heal those who have faith in me." + +"It's rather hard to believe something different from what one was +taught as a child," said Halvor thoughtfully. + +"Nevertheless, I feel certain, Halvor, that very soon you will give +your full support to the upbuilding of the New Jerusalem," Hellgum +declared. + +Then came a moment of silence, after which Karin heard Hellgum say +good-bye. + +Presently Halvor went into the house. On seeing Karin seated by the +open window, he remarked: "You must have heard all that Hellgum +said." + +"Yes," she replied. + +"Did you hear him say that he could heal any one who had faith in +him?" + +Karin reddened a little. She had liked what Hellgum said better +than anything she had heard that summer. There was something sound +and practical about his teaching which appealed to her common +sense. Here were works and service and no mere emotionalism, which +meant nothing to her. However, she would not admit this, for she +had made up her mind to have no further dealings with preachers. So +she said to Halvor: "My father's faith is good enough for me." + +*** + +A fortnight later Karin was again seated in the living-room. Autumn +had just set in; the wind howled round the house and a fire +crackled on the hearth. There was nobody in the room but herself +and her baby daughter, who was almost a year old and had just +learned to walk. The child was sitting on the floor at her mother's +feet, playing. + +As Karin sat watching the child, the door opened, and in came a +tall, dark man, with keen eyes and large sinewy hands. Before Karin +had heard him say a word, she guessed that it was Hellgum. + +After passing the time of day, the man asked after Halvor. He +learned that Karin's husband had gone to a town meeting, and was +expected home shortly. Hellgum sat down. Now and then he +glanced over at Karin, and after a little he said: + +"I've been told that you are ill." + +"I have not been able to walk for the past six months," Karin +replied. + +"I have been thinking of coming here to pray for you," volunteered +the preacher. + +Karin closed her eyes and retired within herself. + +"You have perhaps heard that by the Grace of God I am able to +heal the sick?" + +The woman opened her eyes and sent him a look of distrust. "I'm +much obliged to you for thinking of me," she said, "but it isn't +likely that you can help me, as I'm not the kind that changes faith +easily." + +"Possibly God will help you, anyhow, since you have always tried to +live an upright life." + +"I'm afraid I don't stand well enough in the sight of God to expect +help from Him in this matter." + +In a little while Hellgum asked her if she had looked within to get +at the cause of this affliction. "Has Mother Karin ever asked +herself why this affliction has been visited upon her?" + +Karin made no reply; again she seemed to retire within herself. + +"Something tells me that God has done this that His Name might be +glorified," said Hellgum. + +At that Karin grew angry and two bright red spots appeared in her +cheeks. She thought it very presumptuous in Hellgum to think this +illness had come upon her simply to give him an opportunity to +perform a miracle. + +Presently the preacher got up and went over to Karin. Placing his +heavy hand on her head, he asked: "Do you want me to pray for you?" + +Karin immediately felt a current of life and health shoot through +her body, but she was so offended at the man for his obtrusiveness +that she pushed away his hand and raised her own as if to strike +him. Her indignation was beyond words. + +Hellgum withdrew toward the door. "One should not reject the help +which God sends, but accept it thankfully." + +"That's true," Karin returned. "Whatever God sends one is obliged +to accept." + +"Mark well what I say to you! This day shall salvation come unto +this house," the man proclaimed. + +Karin did not answer. + +"Think of me when you receive the help!" he said. The next instant +he was gone. + +Karin sat bolt upright in her chair, the red spots still burning in +her cheeks. "Am I to have no peace even in my own house?" she +muttered. "It's singular how many there are nowadays who think +themselves sent of God." + +Suddenly Karin's little girl got up and toddled toward the +fireplace. The bright blaze had attracted the child, who, shrieking +with delight, was making for it as fast as her tiny feet could +carry her. + +Karin called to her to come back, but the child paid no heed to +her; at that moment she was trying to clamber up into the +fireplace. After tumbling down a couple of times, she finally +managed to get upon the hearth, where the fire blazed. + +"God help me! God help me!" cried Karin. Then she began to shout +for help, although she knew there was no one near. + +The little girl bent laughingly over the fire. Suddenly a burning +ember rolled out and fell on her little yellow frock. Instantly +Karin sprang to her feet, rushed over to the fireplace, and +snatched the child in her arms. Not until she had brushed away all +the sparks from the child's dress, and had made sure that her baby +was unharmed, did she realize what had happened to herself. She was +actually on her feet; she had been walking again, and would always +be able to walk! + +Karin experienced the greatest mental shake-up she had ever felt in +her life, and at the same time the greatest sense of happiness. She +had the feeling that she was under God's special care and +protection, and that God Himself had sent a holy man to her house +to strengthen her and to heal her. + +*** + +That autumn Hellgum often stood on the little porch of Strong +Ingmar's cottage, looking out across the landscape. The country +round about was growing more beautiful every day: the ground was +now a golden brown, and all the leafy trees had turned either a +bright red or a bright yellow. Here and there loomed stretches of +woodland that shimmered in the breeze like a billowy sea of gold. +Against the shadowy background of the fir-clad hills could be seen +splashes of yellow; they were the leaf trees that had strayed in +among the pines and spruces and taken root there. + +As an humble gray hut, when ablaze, gives out light and brilliancy, +thus did this humble Swedish landscape flame into a marvel of +splendour. Everything was so wondrously golden, exactly as one +might imagine that a landscape on the surface of the sun would +look. + +Hellgum was thinking, as he viewed this scene, that a time was +coming when God would let the land reflect the brightness of His +Glory, and when the seeds of Truth which had been sawn during the +summer would yield golden harvests of righteousness. + +Then, to and behold, one evening Tims Halvor came over to the croft +and invited Hellgum and his wife to come with him to the Ingmar +Farm! + +On arriving they found everything in holiday order; around the +house all the old dry birch leaves had been cleared away; farm +implements and carts, which at other times were scattered about the +yard, had now been put out of sight. + +"They must be having a number of visitors here," thought Anna Lisa. +Just then Halvor opened the front door, and they stepped inside. + +The living-room was full of people who were seated upon benches all +along the walls, solemnly expectant. Hellgum noticed that they were +the leading people of the parish. The first persons he recognized +were Ljung Bjoern Olofsson and his wife, Martha Ingmarsson; also +Bullet Gunner and his wife. Then he saw Krister Larsson and Israel +Tomasson with their wives, all of whom were members of the Ingmar +family. Presently he saw Hoek Matts Ericsson and his son Gabriel, +the councillor's daughter Gunhild, and several persons besides. +Altogether there were about twenty people present. + +When Hellgum and Anna Lisa had gone round and shaken hands with +every one, Tims Halvor said: + +"We who are assembled here have been thinking over the things +Hellgum has said to us during the summer. Most of us belong to an +old family whose wish it has ever been to walk in the ways of God. +If Hellgum can help us do this, we are ready to follow him." + +The next day the news spread like wildfire throughout the parish +that a new religious sect had sprung up on the Ingmar Farm, which +was supposed to embody the only correct and true principles of +Christianity. + + + +THE NEW WAY + +In the spring, soon after the snow had disappeared, young Ingmar +and Strong Ingmar returned to the village to start the sawmill. +They had been up in the forest the whole winter cutting timber and +making charcoal. And when Ingmar got back to the lowlands he fell +like a bear that had just crawled out from its lair. He could +hardly accustom himself to the glaring sunlight of an open sky, and +blinked as if the light hurt him. The roaring of the rapids and the +sound of human voices seemed almost intolerable to him, and all the +noises on the farm were a veritable torture to his ears. At the +same time he was glad; heaven knows he did not show it, either in +speech or manner, but that spring he felt as young as the fresh +shoots on the birches. + +Oh, but it seemed good to him to sleep once more in a comfortable +bed, and to eat properly cooked food! And then to be at home with +Karin, who looked after his comfort as tenderly as a mother! She +had ordered new clothes for him; and she had a way of coming in +from the kitchen and handing him some dainty or other, as if he +were still a little boy. And what wonderful things had happened at +home while he was up in the forest! Ingmar had heard only a few +vague rumours about Hellgum's teachings; but now Karin and Halvor +told him of the great happiness that had come to them, and of how +they and their friends were trying to help one another to walk in +the ways of God. + +"We are sure you will want to join us," said Karin. + +Ingmar replied that maybe he would, but that he must think it over +first. + +"All winter I longed for you to come home and share our bliss," the +sister went on, "for now we no longer live upon earth, but in 'The +New Jerusalem which is come down from Heaven!'" + +Ingmar said he was glad to hear that Hellgum was still in the +neighbourhood. The summer before the preacher had often dropped in +at the mill to chat with Ingmar, and the two had become good +friends. Ingmar thought him the finest chap he had ever met. Never +had he come across any one who was so much of a man, so firm in his +convictions, and so sure of himself. Sometimes, when there had been +a great rush of work at the mill, Hellgum had pulled off his coat +and given them a lift. Ingmar had been amazed at the man's +cleverness; he had never seen any one who was so quick at his work. +Just then Hellgum happened to be away for a few days, but was +Expected back shortly. + +"Once you've talked with Hellgum, I think that you will join us," +Karin said. Ingmar thought so, too, although he felt a little +reluctant about accepting anything which had not been approved by +his father. + +"But wasn't it father himself who taught us that we must always +walk in the ways of God?" argued Karin. + +Everything seemed to be so bright and so promising! Ingmar had +never dreamed that it would be so delightful to get back among +people once more. There was only one thing wanting: no one ever +spoke of the schoolmaster and his wife, or of Gertrude, which was +most disquieting to him. He had not seen Gertrude for a whole year. +In the summer he had never been without news of her; for then +hardly a day went by that some one did not speak of the Storms. He +thought that perhaps this silence regarding his old friends was +accidental. When one feels timid about asking questions, and when +no one voluntarily speaks of that which one longs above everything +to hear about, it is mighty provoking, to say the least. + +But if young Ingmar seemed to be happy and content, the same could +not be said of Strong Ingmar. The old man had of late become sullen +and taciturn and difficult to get on with. + +"I believe you are homesick for the forest," Ingmar said to him one +afternoon as they sat on separate logs eating their sandwiches. + +"God knows I am!" the old man burst forth. "I only wish I had never +come back at all!" + +"Why, what's gone wrong at home?" + +"How can you ask! You must know as well as I that Hellgum has been +raising the deuce around here." + +Ingmar answered that, on the contrary, he had heard that Hellgum +had become a big man. + +"Yes, he has grown so big and strong that he's been able to upset +the whole parish," Strong Ingmar sneered. + +It seemed strange to Ingmar that the old man never evinced a +particle of affection for any of his own kin. He cared for nobody +and for nothing save the Ingmarssons and the Ingmar Farm. Therefore +Ingmar felt that he must stand up for the son-in-law. + +"I think his doctrine a good one," he said. + +"Oh, you do, do you?" snapped the old man; and he gave him a +withering look. "Do you think Big Ingmar would have thought so?" + +Ingmar replied that his father would have upheld any one who worked +for righteousness. + +"It's your belief, then, that Big Ingmar would have approved of +calling all persons who do not belong to Hellgum's band devils and +anti-Christs, and that he would have refused to associate with his +old friends because they held to their old faith?" + +"I hardly think that such people as Hellgum and Halvor and Karin +would behave in that way," said Ingmar. + +"Just you try to oppose them once, and you'll soon hear what they +think of you!" + +Ingmar cut off a big corner of his sandwich and stuffed his mouth +full, so he would not have to talk. It irritated him to see Strong +Ingmar in such bad humour. + +"Heigho, hum! It's a queer world," sighed the old man. "Here you +sit, the son of Big Ingmar, with nothing to say, while my Anna Lisa +and her husband are living on the fat of your land. The best people +in the parish bow and scrape to them, and every day they're being +feted, here, there, and everywhere." + +Ingmar kept on munching and swallowing. There was nothing he could +say. Strong Ingmar, however, went at him again. + +"Yes, it's a fine doctrine that Hellgum is spreading! That's why +half the parish has gone over to him. No one has ever had such +absolute influence over the people, not even Strong Ingmar himself. +He separates children from their parents by preaching that those +who are of his fold must not live among sinners. Hellgum need only +beckon, and brother leaves brother, friend leaves friend, and the +lover deserts his betrothed. He has used his power to create strife +and dissension in every household. Of course, Big Ingmar would have +been pleased to death with that sort of thing! Doubtless he would +have backed Hellgum up in all this! I can just picture him doing +it!" + +Ingmar looked up and down; he wanted to get away. He knew, to be +sure, that the old man had been drawing heavily on his imagination, +but all the same this talk depressed him. + +"I don't deny that Hellgum has done wonders," he modified. "The way +in which he manages to hold his people together, and the way he can +get those who formerly would have nothing to do with each other to +live on friendly terms, is certainly remarkable. And look how he +takes from the rich to give to the poor, and how he makes each +person protect the other's welfare. I'm only sorry for those on the +outside, who are called children of the devil and are not allowed +in the game. But, of course, you don't feel that way." + +Ingmar was thoroughly put out with the old man for speaking so +disparagingly of Hellgum. + +"There used to be such peace and harmony in this parish!" the old +man rattled on. "But that's all past and gone. In Big Ingmar's time +we lived in such unity that we had the name of being the friendliest +people in all Dalecarlia. Now there are angels bucking against +devils, and sheep against goats." + +"If we could only get the saws going," thought Ingmar, "I wouldn't +have to hear any more of this talk!" + +"It won't be long either till it's all over between you and me," +Strong Ingmar continued. "For if you join Hellgum's _angels_ it +isn't likely that they will let you associate with me." + +With an oath Ingmar jumped to his feet. "If you go on talking in +this strain it may turn out just as you say," he warned. "You may +as well understand, once for all, that it is of no use your trying +to turn me against my own people, or against Hellgum, who is the +grandest man I know." + +That silenced the old man. In a little while he left his work, +saying that he was going down to the village to see his friend +Corporal Felt. He had not talked with a sensible person for a long +time, he declared. + +Ingmar was glad to have him go. Naturally, when a person has been +away from home for a long time he does not care to be told +unpleasant things, but wants every one around him to be bright and +cheerful. + +At five the next morning Ingmar got down to the mill, but Strong +Ingmar was there ahead of him. + +"To-day you can see Hellgum," the old man began. "He and Anna Lisa +got back late last night. I think they must have hurried home from +their round of feasts in order to convert you." + +"So you're at it again!" scowled Ingmar. The old man's words had +been ringing in his ears all night, and he could not help wondering +who was in the right. But now he did not want to listen to any more +talk against his relatives. The old man held his peace for a time; +presently he began to chuckle. + +"What are you laughing at?" Ingmar demanded, his hand on the sluice +gate ready to set the sawmill going. + +"I was just thinking of the schoolmaster's Gertrude." + +"What about her?" + +"They said down at the village yesterday that she was the only +person who had any influence over Hellgum--" + +"What's Gertrude got to do with Hellgum?" + +Ingmar, meanwhile, had not opened the sluice gate, for with the +saws going he could not have heard a word. The old man eyed him +questioningly. Ingmar smiled a little. "You always manage somehow +to have your own way," he said. + +"It was that silly goose, Gunhild, Councillor Clementsson's +daughter, who--" + +"She's no silly goose!" Ingmar broke in. + +"Oh, call it anything you like, but she happened to be at the +Ingmar Farm when this new sect was founded. As soon as she got +home, she informed her parents that she had accepted the only true +faith, and that she would there fore have to leave them and make +her home at the Ingmar Farm. Her parents asked her, of course, why +she wanted to leave home. So she'd be able to lead a righteous +life, she up and told them. But they seemed to think that could be +done just as effectively at home with them. Oh, no, that wouldn't +be possible, she declared, unless one could live with those who +were of the same faith. Her father then asked her if all of them +were going to live on the Ingmar Farm. No, only herself; the others +had true Christians in their own homes. Now Clementsson is a pretty +good sort, as you know, and both he and his wife tried to reason +with Gunhild in all kindness, but she stood firm. At last her +father became so exasperated that he just took her and locked her +up in her room, telling her she'd have to stay there till this +crazy fit had passed." + +"I thought you were going to tell me about Gertrude," Ingmar +reminded him. + +"I'll get round to her by and by, if you'll only have patience. I +may as well tell you at once that early the next morning, while +Gertrude and Mother Stina were sitting in the kitchen spinning, +Mrs. Clementsson called to see them. When they saw her they became +alarmed. She, who was usually so happy and light of heart, now +looked as if she'd been crying her eyes out. 'What's the matter? +What has happened? And why do you look so forlorn?' they asked. +Then Mother Clementsson answered that when one has lost one's +dearest treasure, one can't very well look cheerful. I'd like to +give them a good beating!" said the old man. + +"Who?" asked Ingmar. + +"Why, Hellgum and Anna Lisa. They marched themselves down to +Clementsson's in the night and kidnapped Gunhild." + +A cry of amazement escaped Ingmar. + +"I'm beginning to think my Anna Lisa is married to a brigand!" said +the old man. "In the middle of the night they came and tapped on +Gunhild's window, and asked her why she wasn't at the Ingmar Farm. +She told them about her parents having locked her in. "'Twas Satan +who made 'em do it,' said Hellgum. All this her father and mother +overheard." + +"Did they really?" + +"Yes, they slept in the next room, and the door between was partly +open; so they heard all that Hellgum said to entice their daughter." + +"But they could have sent him away." + +"They felt that Gunhild should decide for herself. How could they +think she would want to leave them, after all they had done for +her? They lay there expecting her to say that she would never +desert her old parents." + +"Did she go?" + +"Yes, Hellgum wouldn't budge till the girl went along with them. +When Clementsson and his wife realized that she couldn't resist +Hellgum, they let her go. Some folks are like that, you see. In the +morning the mother regretted it, and begged the father to drive +down to the Ingmar Farm and get their daughter. 'No indeed!' he +said, 'I'll do nothing of the sort, and what's more, I never want +to set eyes on her again unless she comes home of her own accord.' +Then Mrs. Clementsson hurried down to the school to see if Gertrude +wouldn't go and talk to Gunhild." + +"Did Gertrude go?" + +"Yes; she tried to reason with Gunhild, but Gunhild wouldn't +listen." + +"I have not seen Gunhild at our house," said Ingmar thoughtfully. + +"No, for now she is back with her parents. It seems that when +Gertrude left Gunhild she met Hellgum. 'There stands the one who is +to blame for all this,' she thought, and then she went straight up +to him, and gave him a tongue lashing. She wouldn't have minded +striking him." + +"Oh, Gertrude can talk all right," said Ingmar approvingly. + +"She told Hellgum that he had behaved like a heathen warrior and +not as a Christian preacher, in skulking about like that in the +night and abducting a young girl." + +"What did Hellgum say to that?" + +"He stood quietly listening for a while; then he said as meek as +you please that she was right, he had acted in haste. And in the +afternoon he took Gunhild back to her parents and made everything +right again." + +Ingmar glanced up at the old man with a smile. "Gertrude is +splendid," he said, "and Hellgum is a fine fellow, even if he is a +little eccentric." + +"So that's the way you take it, eh? I thought you would wonder why +Hellgum had given in like that to Gertrude." + +Ingmar did not reply to this. + +After a moment's reflection the old man began again. "There are +many in the village who want to know on which side you stand." + +"I don't see as it matters which party I belong to." + +"Let me remind you of one thing," said the old man: "In this parish +we are accustomed to having somebody that we can look up to as a +leader. But now that Big Ingmar is gone, and the schoolmaster has +lost his power over the people, while the pastor, as you know, was +never any good at ruling, they run after Hellgum, and they're going +to follow him just as long as you choose to remain in the +background." + +Ingmar's hands dropped; he looked quite worn out. "But I don't know +who is in the right," he protested. + +"The people are looking to you for deliverance from Hellgum. You +may be sure that we were spared a lot of unpleasantness by being +away from home all winter. It must have been something dreadful in +the beginning, before people had got used to this converting craze +and to being called devils and hellhounds. But the worst of all was +when the converted children started in to preach!" + +"You don't mean to tell me that even the children preached," said +Ingmar doubtingly. + +"Oh, yes!" the old man returned. "Hellgum told them that they +should serve the Lord instead of playing, so they started in to +convert their elders. They lay in ambush along the roadside, and +pounced upon innocent passers-by with such ravings as these: +'Aren't you going to begin the fight against the devil? Shall you +continue to live in sin?'" + +Young Ingmar did not want to believe what Strong Ingmar was +recounting. "Old man Felt must have put all that into your head," +he concluded. + +"By the way, this was what I wanted to tell you," said Strong +Ingmar: "Felt is done for, too! When I think that all this mischief +has been hatched on the Ingmar Farm, I feel ashamed to look people +in the face." + +"Have they wronged Felt in any way?" asked Ingmar. + +"It was the work of those youngsters, drat them! One evening, when +they had nothing else to do, they took it into their heads to go +and convert Felt, for of course they had heard that he was a great +sinner." + +"But in the old days all the children were as afraid of Felt as +they were of witches and trolls," Ingmar reminded. + +"Oh, these youngsters were scared, too, but they must have had +their hearts set upon doing something very heroic. So one evening, +as Felt sat stirring his evening porridge, they stormed his cabin. +When they opened the door and saw the old Corporal, with his +bristling moustaches, his broken nose, and his game eye, sitting +before the fire, they were terribly frightened, and two of the +littlest ones ran away. The dozen or so that went in knelt in a +circle around the old man, and began to sing and pray." + +"And didn't he drive them out?" asked Ingmar. + +"If only he had!" sighed the old man. "I don't know what had come +over the Corporal. The poor wretch must have been sitting there +brooding over the loneliness and desolation of his old age. And +then I suppose it was because those who had come to him were +children. The fact that children had always been afraid of him must +have been a source of grief to the old man; and when he saw all +those baby faces, with their upturned eyes filled with shining +tears, he was powerless. The children were only waiting for him to +rush at them and strike them. Although they kept right on singing +and praying, they were ready to cut and run the instant he made a +move. Presently a pair of them noticed that Felt's face was +beginning to twitch. 'Now he'll go for us,' they thought, getting +up to flee. But the old man blinked his one good eye, and a tear +rolled down his cheek. 'Hallelujah!' the youngsters shouted, and +now, as I've already told you, it's all up with Felt. Now he does +nothing but run about to meetings, and fasts and prays, and fancies +he hears the voice of God." + +"I don't see anything hurtful in all that," said Ingmar. "Felt was +killing himself with drink when the Hellgumists took him into +camp." + +"Well, you've got so many friends to lose that a little thing like +this wouldn't matter to you. No doubt you would have liked it if +the children had succeeded in converting the schoolmaster." + +"I can't imagine those poor little kids trying to tackle Storm!" +Ingmar was dumfounded. What Strong Ingmar had said about the parish +being turned upside down must be true after all, he thought. + +"But they did, though," Strong Ingmar replied. "One evening, as +Storm was sitting in the classroom writing, a score of them came +in and began preaching to him." + +"And what did Storm do?" asked Ingmar, unable to keep from laughing. + +"He was so astounded at first that he couldn't say or do a thing. +But, as luck would have it, Hellgum had arrived a few moments +before and was in the kitchen talking with Gertrude." + +"Was Hellgum with Gertrude?" + +"Yes; Hellgum and Gertrude have been friends ever since the day +that he acted upon her advice in the little matter with Gunhild. +When Gertrude heard the racket in the schoolroom, she said: 'You're +just in time to see something new, Hellgum. It would seem that +henceforth the children are to instruct the schoolmaster.' Then +Hellgum laughed, for he comprehended that this sort of thing was +ludicrous. He promptly drove the children out, and abolished the +nuisance." + +Ingmar noticed that the old man was eying him in a peculiar way; +it was as if a hunter were looking at a wounded bear and wondering +whether he should give it another shot. + +"I don't know what you expect of me," said Ingmar. + +"What could I expect of you, who are only a boy! Why, you haven't a +penny to your name. All you've got in the world are your two empty +hands." + +"I verily believe you want me to throttle Hellgum!" + +"They said down at the village that this would soon blow over if +you could only induce Hellgum to leave these parts." + +"Whenever a new religious sect springs up there's always strife and +dissension," said Ingmar. "So this is nothing out of the common." + +"All the same, this will be a good way for you to show people what +sort of stuff you're made of," the old man persisted. + +Ingmar turned away and set the saws going. He would have liked +above everything to ask how Gertrude was getting along, and whether +she had already joined the Hellgumists; but he was too proud to +betray his fears. + +At eight o'clock he went home to his breakfast. As usual, the table +was heaped with tempting dishes, and both Halvor and Karin were +especially nice to him. Seeing them so kind and gentle, he could +not believe a word of Strong Ingmar's chatter. He felt light of +heart once more, and positive that the old man had exaggerated. In +a little while his anxiety about Gertrude returned, with a force so +overwhelming that it took away his appetite, and he could not touch +his food. Suddenly he turned to Karin and said abruptly: + +"Have you seen anything of the Storms lately?" + +"No!" replied Karin stiffly. "I don't care to associate with such +ungodly people." + +Here was an answer that set Ingmar thinking. He wondered whether he +had better speak or be silent. If he were to speak it might end in +a break with his family; at the same time he did not want them to +think that he up held them in matters that were altogether wrong. +"I have never seen any signs of ungodliness about the schoolmaster's +folks," he retorted. "And yet I have lived with them for four +years." + +The very thought that had occurred to Ingmar the moment before, now +came to Karin. She, too, wondered whether she should or should not +speak. But she felt that she would have to hold to the truth, even +if it hurt Ingmar; therefore she said that if people would not +hearken to the voice of God, one could not help but think them +ungodly. + +Then Halvor joined in. "The question of the children is a vital +one," he said. "They should be given the right kind of training." + +"Storm has trained the entire parish, and you, too, Halvor," Ingmar +reminded him. + +"But he has not taught us how to live rightly," said Karin. + +"It seems to me that you have always tried to do that, Karin." + +"Let me tell you how it was to live by the old teaching. It was +like trying to walk upon a round beam: one minute you were up, the +next you were down. But when I let my fellow-Christians take me by +the hand and support me, I can tread the straight and narrow path +of Righteousness without stumbling." + +"I dare say," Ingmar smiled; "but that's too easy." + +"Even so, it's quite difficult enough, but no longer impossible." + +"But what about the Storms?" + +"Those who belong with us took their children out of the school. +You see we didn't want the children to absorb any of the old +teaching." + +"What did the schoolmaster say to that?" + +"He said it was against the law to take children away from school, +and promptly sent a constable over to Israel Tomasson's and Krister +Larsson's to fetch their children." + +"And now you are not on friendly terms with the Storms?" + +"We simply keep to ourselves." + +"You seem to be at odds with every one." + +"We only keep away from those who would tempt us to sin." + +As the three went on talking, they lowered their voices. They were +all very fearful of every word they let drop, for they felt that +the conversation had taken a painful turn. + +"But I can give you greetings from Gertrude," said Karin, trying to +assume a more cheerful tone. "Hellgum had many talks with her last +winter; he says that she expects to join us this evening." + +Ingmar's lips began to quiver. It was as if he had been going about +blindfolded all day, expecting to be shot, and now the shot had +come; the bullet had pierced his heart. + +"So she wants to become one of you!" he murmured faintly. "Many +things can happen here while one is up in the dark forest." Ingmar +seemed to think that all this time Hellgum had been ingratiating +himself with Gertrude, and had laid snares to catch her. "But +what's to become of me?" he asked suddenly. And there was a +strange, helpless appeal in his voice. + +"You must embrace our faith," said Halvor decisively. "Hellgum is +back now, and if he talks to you once, you'll soon become +converted." + +"But maybe I don't care to be converted!" + +Halvor and Karin stared at Ingmar in speechless amazement. + +"Maybe I don't want any faith but my father's." + +"Don't say anything until you have had a talk with Hellgum," begged +Karin. + +"But if I don't join you I suppose you won't want me to remain +under your roof?" said Ingmar, rising. As they did not reply, it +seemed to him that all at once he had been cut off from everything. +Then he pulled himself together and looked more determined. "Now I +want to know what you're going to do about the sawmill!" he +demanded, thinking it was best to have this matter settled once for +all. + +Halvor and Karin exchanged glances; both were afraid of committing +themselves. + +"You know, Ingmar, that there is no one in the world who is more +dear to us than you," said Halvor. + +"Yes, yes; but what about the sawmill?" Ingmar insisted. + +"The principal thing is to get all your timber sawed." + +At Halvor's evasive reply, Ingmar drew his own conclusions. "Maybe +Hellgum wants to run the sawmill, too?" + +Karin and Halvor were perplexed at Ingmar's show of temper; since +telling him that about Gertrude, they could not seem to get +anywhere near him. + +"Let Hellgum talk to you," pleaded Karin. + +"Oh, I'll let him talk to me," said Ingmar, "but first I'd like to +know just where I stand." + +"Surely, Ingmar, you must know that we wish you well!" + +"But Hellgum is to run the sawmill?" + +"We must find some suitable employment for Hellgum so that he may +remain in his own country. We have been thinking that possibly you +and he might become business partners, provided you accept the only +true faith. Hellgum is a good worker." This from Halvor. + +"Since when have you been afraid to speak plainly, Halvor?" said +Ingmar. "All I want to know is whether Hellgum is to have the +sawmill." + +"He is to have it if you resist God," Halvor declared. + +"I'm obliged to you for telling me what a good stroke of business +it would be for me to adopt your faith." + +"You know well enough it wasn't meant in that way," said Karin +reprovingly. + +"I understand quite well what you mean," returned Ingmar. "I'm to +lose Gertrude and the sawmill and the old home unless I go over to +the Hellgumists." Then Ingmar turned suddenly and walked out of the +house. + +Once outside, the thought came to him that he might as well end +this suspense, and find out at once where he stood with Gertrude. +So he went straight down to the school-house. When Ingmar opened +the gate a mild spring rain was falling. In the schoolmaster's +beautiful garden all things had started sprouting and budding. The +ground was turning green so rapidly that one could almost see the +grass growing. Gertrude was standing on the steps watching the +rain, and two large bird-cherry bushes, thick with newly sprung +leaves, spread their branches over her. Ingmar paused a moment, +astonished at finding everything down here so lovely and peaceful. +He was already beginning to feel less disquieted. Gertrude had not +yet seen him. He closed the gate very gently, then went toward her. +When he was quite close he stopped and gazed at her in rapt wonder. +When he had last seen her she was hardly more than a child, but in +one short year she had developed into a dignified and beautiful +young lady. She was now tall and slender and quite grown up, her +head was finely poised on a graceful neck; her skin was soft and +fair, shading into a fresh pink about the cheeks; her eyes were +deep and thoughtful, and her mouth, around which mischief and +merriment had once played, now expressed seriousness and wistful +longing. + +On seeing Gertrude so changed, a sense of supreme happiness came to +Ingmar. A peaceful stillness pervaded his whole being; it was as +though he were in the presence of something great and holy. It was +all so beautiful that he wanted to go down on his knees and thank +God. + +But when Gertrude saw Ingmar she suddenly stiffened, her eyebrows +contracted, and between her eyes there appeared the shadow of a +wrinkle. He saw at once that she did not like his being there, and +it cut him to the quick. "They want to take her from me," he +thought; "they have already taken her from me." The feeling of +Sabbath peace vanished, and the old fear and anxiety returned. +Waving all ceremony, he asked Gertrude if it was true that she +intended to join Hellgum and his followers. She answered that it +was. Then Ingmar asked her if she had considered that the +Hellgumists would not allow her to associate with persons who did +not think as they did. Gertrude quietly answered that she had +carefully considered this matter. + +"Have you the consent of your father and mother?" asked Ingmar. + +"No," she replied; "they know nothing as yet." + +"But, Gertrude--" + +"Hush, Ingmar! I must do this to find peace. God compels me." + +"No," he cried, "not God, but--" + +Gertrude suddenly turned toward him. + +Then Ingmar told her that he would never join the Hellgumists. "If +you go over to them, that will part us for ever." + +Gertrude looked at him as much as to say that she did not see how +this could affect her. + +"Don't do it, Gertrude!" he implored. + +"You mustn't think that I'm acting heedlessly, for I have given +this matter very serious thought." + +"Then think it over once more before you act." + +Gertrude turned from him impatiently. + +"You should also think it over for Hellgum's sake," said Ingmar +with rising anger, seizing her by the arm. + +She shook off his hand. "Are you out of your senses, Ingmar?" she +gasped. + +"Yes," he answered; "these doings of Hellgum are driving me mad. +They must be stopped!" + +"What must be stopped?" + +"You'll find out before long." + +Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude!" he said in a choking voice. "And remember +what I tell you. You will never join the Hellgumists!" + +"What do you intend to do, Ingmar?" asked the girl, for she was +beginning to feel uneasy. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude, and think of what I have said!" Ingmar shouted +back, for by that time he was halfway down the gravel walk. + +Then he went on his way. "If I were only as wise as my father!" he +mused. "But what can I do? I'm about to lose all that is dearest to +me, and I see no way of preventing it." There was one thing, +however, of which Ingmar was certain: if all this misery was to be +forced upon him, Hellgum should not escape with his skin. + +He went down to Strong Ingmar's but in the hope of meeting the +preacher. When he got to the door, he caught the sound of loud and +angry voices. There seemed to be a number of visitors inside, so he +turned back at once. As he walked away he heard a man say in angry +tones: "We are three brothers who have come a long way to call you +to account, John Hellgum, for what has befallen our younger +brother. Two years ago he went over to America, where he joined +your community. The other day we received a letter telling us that +he had gone out of his mind, brooding over your teaching." + +Then Ingmar hurried away. Apparently there were others besides +himself who had cause for complaint against Hellgum, and they were +all of them equally helpless. + +He went down to the sawmill, which had already been set going by +Strong Ingmar. Above the buzzing noise of the saws and the roar +of the rapids he heard a shriek; but he paid no special heed to it. +He had no thought for anything save his strong hatred of Hellgum. +He was going over in his mind all that this man had robbed him of: +Gertrude and Karin, his home and his business. + +Again he seemed to hear a cry. It occurred to him that possibly a +quarrel had arisen between Hellgum and the strangers. "There would +be no harm done if they were to beat the life out of him," he +thought. + +Then he heard a loud shout for help. Ingmar dropped his work and +went rushing up the hill. The nearer he approached the hut the +plainer he heard Hellgum's cries of distress, and when he finally +reached the cabin it seemed as if the very earth around it shook +from the scuffling and struggling inside. + +He cautiously opened the door and tiptoed in. Over against the wall +stood Hellgum defending himself with an axe. The three strangers-- +all of them big, powerful men--were attacking him with clubs. +They carried no guns, so it was evident that they had come simply +to give Hellgum a sound thrashing. But because he had put up a good +fight, they were so enraged that they went at him with intent to +kill. They hardly noticed Ingmar; they regarded him as nothing but +a lank gawk of a boy who had just happened in. + +For a moment Ingmar stood quietly looking on. To him it was like +a dream, wherein the thing one desires most suddenly appears +without one's knowing whence or how it came about. Now and again +Hellgum cried for help. + +"Surely you can't think I'm such a fool as to help you!" Ingmar +said in his mind. + +Suddenly one of the men dealt Hellgum a terrific blow on the head +that made him let go his hold on the axe and fall to the floor. +Then the others threw down their clubs, drew their knives, and cast +themselves upon him. Instantly a thought flashed across Ingmar's +mind. There was an old saying about the folk of his family, to the +effect that every one of them was destined at some time or other +during his lifetime to commit a dastardly and wrong deed. Was it +his turn now, he wondered? + +All at once one of the assailants felt himself in the grip of a +pair of strong arms that lifted him off his feet and threw him +bodily out of the house; the second one had hardly time to think of +rising before the same thing happened to him; and the third, who +had managed to scramble to his feet, got a blow that sent him +headlong after the others. + +After Ingmar had thrown them all out, he went and stood in the +doorway. "Don't you want to come back?" he challenged laughingly. +He would not have minded their attacking him; testing his strength +was good sport. + +The three brothers seemed quite ready to renew the fight, when one +of them shouted that they had better take to their heels he had +seen a figure coming along the path behind the elms. They were +furiously disappointed at not having finished Hellgum, and, as they +turned to go, one of them ran back, pounced upon Ingmar, and +stabbed him in the neck. + +"That's for meddling with our affair!" he shouted. + +Ingmar sank down, and the man ran off, with a taunting laugh. + +A few minutes later Karin came along and found Ingmar sitting on +the doorstep with a wound in his neck, and inside she discovered +Hellgum, who by that time had got to his feet again and was now +leaning against the wall, axe in hand and his face covered with +blood. Karin had not seen the fleeing men; she supposed that +Ingmar was the one who had attacked Hellgum and wounded him. She +was so horrified that her knees shook. "No, no!" she thought, "it +can't be possible that any one in our family is a murderer." Then +she recalled the story of her mother. "That accounts for it," she +muttered, and hurried past Ingmar over to Hellgum. + +"Ingmar first!" cried Hellgum. + +"The murderer should not be helped before his victim," said Karin. + +"Ingmar first! Ingmar first!" Hellgum kept shouting. He was so +excited that he raised his axe against her. "He has fought the +would-be murderers and saved my life!" he said. + +When Karin finally understood, and turned to help Ingmar, he was +gone. She saw him stagger across the yard, and ran after him, +calling, "Ingmar! Ingmar!" + +Ingmar went on without even turning his head. But she soon caught +up with him. Placing her hand on his arm, she said: + +"Stop, Ingmar, and let me bind up your wound!" + +He shook off her hand and went ahead like a blind man, following +neither road nor bypath. The blood from his open wound trickled +down underneath his clothes into one of his shoes. With every step +that he made, blood was pressed out of the shoe, leaving a red +track on the ground. + +Karin followed him, wringing her hands. "Stop, Ingmar, stop!" +she implored. "Where are you going? Stop, I say!" + +Ingmar wandered on, straight into the wood, where there was no +one to succor him. Karin kept her eyes fixed on his shoe, which +was oozing blood. Every second the footprints were becoming +redder and redder. + +"He's going into the forest to lie down and bleed to death!" +thought Karin. "God bless you, Ingmar, for helping Hellgum!" she +said gently. "It took a man's courage to do that, and a man's +strength, too!" + +Ingmar tramped straight ahead, paying no heed whatever to his +sister. Then Karin ran past him and planted herself in his way. He +stepped aside without so much as glancing at her. "Go and help +Hellgum!" he muttered. + +"Let me explain, Ingmar! Halvor and I were very sorry for what +we said to you this morning, and I was just on' my way to Hellgum +to let him know that, whichever way it turned out, you were to keep +the sawmill." + +"Now you can give it to Hellgum," was Ingmar's answer. He walked +on, stumbling over stones and tree stumps. + +Karin kept close behind, trying her best to conciliate him. "Can't +you forgive me for my mistake of a moment in thinking you had +fought with Hellgum? I could hardly have thought differently." + +"You were very ready to believe your own brother a murderer," +Ingmar retorted, without giving her a look. He still walked on. +When the grass blades he had trampled down came up again, blood +dripped from them. It was only after Karin had noticed the peculiar +way in which Ingmar had spoken Hellgum's name, that she began to +realize how he hated the preacher. At the same time she saw what a +big thing he had done. + +"Every one will be singing your praises for what you did to-day, +Ingmar; it will be known far and wide," she said. "You don't want +to die and miss all the honours, do you?" + +Ingmar laughed scornfully. Then he turned toward her a face that +was pale and haggard. "Why don't you go home, Karin?" he said. "I +know well enough whom you would prefer to help." His steps became +more and more uncertain, and now, where he had walked, there was a +continuous streak of blood on the ground. + +Karin was about beside herself at the sight of all this blood. The +great love which she had always felt or Ingmar kindled with new +ardour. Now she was proud of her brother, and thought him a stout +branch of the good old family tree. + +"Oh, Ingmar!" she cried, "you'll have to answer before God and your +fellowmen if you go on spilling your life's blood in this way. You +know, if there is anything I can do to make you want to live, you +have only to speak." + +Ingmar halted, and put his arm around the stem of a tree to hold +himself up. Then, with a cynical laugh, he said: "Perhaps you'll +send Hellgum back to America?" + +Karin stood looking down at the pool of blood that was forming +around Ingmar's left foot, pondering over the thing her brother +wanted her to do. Could it be that he expected her to leave the +beautiful Garden of Paradise where she had lived all winter, and go +back to the wretched world of sin she had come out of? + +Ingmar turned round squarely; his face was waxen, the skin across +his temples was tightly drawn, and his nose was like that of a dead +person; but his under lip protruded with a determination that he +had never before shown, and the set look about the mouth was +sharply defined. It was not likely that he would modify his demand. + +"I don't think that Hellgum and I can live in the same parish," he +said, "but it's plain enough that I must make way for him." + +"No," cried Karin quickly, "if you will only let me care for you, +so that your life may be spared to us, I promise you that I will +see that Hellgum goes away. God will surely find us another +shepherd," thought Karin, "but for the time being it seems best to +let Ingmar have his way." + +After she had staunched the wound, she helped Ingmar home and put +him to bed. He was not badly wounded. All he needed was to rest +quietly for a few days. He lay abed in a room upstairs, and Karin +tended him and watched over him like a baby. + +The first day Ingmar was delirious, and lived over all that had +happened to him in the morning. Karin soon discovered that Hellgum +and the sawmill were not the only things that had caused him +anxiety. By evening his mind was clear and tranquil; then Karin +said to him: "There is some one who wishes to speak to you." + +Ingmar replied that he felt too tired to talk to any one. + +"But I think this will do you good." + +Directly afterward Gertrude came into the room. She looked quite +solemn and troubled. Ingmar had been fond of Gertrude even in the +old days, when she was full of fun, and provoking. But at that time +something within him had always fought against his love. But now +Gertrude had passed through a trying year of longing and unrest, +which had wrought such a wonderful change in her that Ingmar felt +an uncontrollable longing to win her. When Gertrude came over to +the bed, Ingmar put his hand up to his eyes. + +"Don't you want to see me?" she asked. + +Ingmar shook his head. He was like a wilful child. + +"I only want to say a few words to you," said Gertrude. + +"I suppose you've come to tell me that you have joined the +Hellgumists?" + +Then Gertrude knelt down beside the bed and lifted his hand from +his eyes. "There is something which you don't know, Ingmar," she +whispered. + +He looked inquiringly at her, but did not speak. Gertrude blushed +and hesitated. Finally she said: + +"Last year, just as you were leaving us, I had begun to care for +you in the right way." + +Ingmar coloured to the roots of his hair, and a look of joy came +into his eyes; but immediately he became grave and distrustful +again. + +"I have missed you so, Ingmar!" she murmured. + +He smiled doubtingly, but patted her hand a little as thanks for +her wanting to be kind to him. + +"And you never once came back to see me," she said reproachfully. +"It was as if I no longer existed for you." + +"I didn't want to see you again until I was a well-to-do man and +could propose to you," said Ingmar, as if this were a self-evident +matter. + +"But I thought you had forgotten me!" Gertrude's eyes filled up. +"You don't know what a terrible year it has been. Hellgum has been +very kind, and has tried to comfort me. He said my heart would be +at rest if I would give it wholly to God." + +Ingmar now looked at her with a newborn hope in his gaze. + +"I was so frightened when you came this morning," she confessed, "I +felt that I couldn't resist you, and that the old struggle would +begin anew." + +Ingmar's face was beaming. + +"But this evening, when I heard about your having helped the one +man whom you hated, I couldn't hold out any longer." Gertrude grew +scarlet. "I felt somehow that I had not the strength to do a thing +that would part me from you." Then she bowed her head over Ingmar's +hand, and kissed it. + +And it seemed to Ingmar as if great bells were ringing in a holy +day. Within reigned Sabbath peace and stillness, while love, honey +sweet, rested upon his lips, filling his whole being with a +blissful solace. + + + + +BOOK THREE + + +LOSS OF "L'UNIVERS" + +One misty night in the summer of 1880--about two years before the +schoolmaster's mission house was built and Hellgum's return from +America--the great French liner _L'Univers_ was steaming across the +Atlantic, from New York and bound for Havre. + +It was about four o'clock in the morning and all the passengers, as +well as most of the crew, were asleep in their berths. The big +decks were entirely empty of people. + +Just then, at the break of day, an old French sailor lay twisting +and turning in his hammock, unable to rest. There was quite a sea +on, and the ship's timbers creaked incessantly; but it was +certainly not this that kept him from falling asleep. He and his +mates occupied a large but exceedingly low compartment between +decks. It was lighted by a couple of lanterns, so that he could see +the gray hammocks, which hung in close rows, slowly swinging to and +fro with their slumbering occupants. Now and again a strong gust of +wind swept in through one of the hatches, which was so searchingly +cold and damp that it brought to his mind's eye a vivid picture of +the vast sea around him, rolling its grayish green waves beneath +its veil of mists. + +"There's nothing like the sea!" thought the old sailor. + +As he lay there musing, all at once everything became strangely +still around him, he heard neither the churning of the propeller, +nor the rattling of the rudder chains, nor the lapping of the +waves, nor the whistling of the wind, nor any other sound. It +seemed to him that the ship had suddenly gone to the bottom, and +that he and his mates would never be shrouded or laid in their +coffins, but must remain hanging in their gray hammocks in the +depths of the sea till the Day of Judgment. + +Before, he had always dreaded the thought that his end might be a +watery grave, but now the idea of it was pleasing to him. He was +glad it was the moving and transparent water that covered him, and +not the heavy, black, suffocating mould of the churchyard. "There's +nothing like the sea," he thought again. + +Then he fell to thinking of something that made him uneasy. He +wondered whether his lying at the bottom of the ocean without +having received Extreme Unction would not be bad for his soul; he +began to fear that now his soul would never be able to find its way +up to Heaven. + +At that moment his eye caught a faint glimmer of light coming from +the forecastle. He raised himself, and leaned over the side of the +hammock to see what it was. Presently he saw two persons coming, +each of whom was carrying a lighted candle. He bent still farther +forward so as to see who they were. The hammocks were hung so close +together and so near to the floor that any one wanting to pass +through the room, without pushing or knocking against those who +were sleeping there, would have to crawl on hands and knees. The +old seaman wondered who the persons could be that were able to pass +in this crowded place. He soon discovered that they were two +diminutive acolytes, in surplice and cassock, each bearing a +lighted candle. + +The sailor was not at all surprised. It seemed only natural that +such little folk should be able to walk with burning candles under +hammocks. "I wonder if there is a priest with them?" he said. +Immediately he heard the tinkling sound of a little bell, and saw +some one following them. However, it was no priest, but an old +woman who was not much bigger than the boys. + +The old woman looked familiar to him. "It must be mother," he +thought. "I've never seen any one as tiny as mother, and surely no +one but mother could be coming along so softly and quietly without +waking people." + +He noticed that his mother wore over her black dress a long white +linen surplice, edged with a wide border of lace, such as is worn +by priests. In her hand she held the large missal with the gold +cross which he had seen hundreds of times lying on the altar in the +church at home. + +The little acolytes now placed their candles at the side of his +hammock and knelt down, each swinging a censer. The old sailor +caught the sweet odour of burning incense, saw blue clouds ascend, +and heard the rhythmical click, click of the censer chains. In the +meantime, his mother had opened the big book and was reading the +prayers for the dead. Now it seemed good to him to be lying at the +bottom of the sea--much better than being in the churchyard. He +stretched himself in the hammock, and for a long time he could hear +his mother's voice mumbling Latin words. The smoke of the incense +curled round him as he listened to the even click, click of the +moving censers. + +Then it all ceased. The acolytes took up their candles and walked +away, followed by his mother, who suddenly closed the book with a +bang. He saw all three disappear beneath the gray hammocks. + +The instant they had gone the silence was at an end. He heard the +breathing of his comrades, the timbers creaked, the wind whistled, +and the waves swish-swashed against the ship. Then he knew that he +was still among the living, and on top of the sea. + +"Jesu Maria! What can be the meaning of the things I have seen this +night?" he asked himself. + +Ten minutes later _L'Univers_ was struck amidships. It was as if +the steamer had been cut in two. + +"This was what I expected," thought the old seaman. + +During the terrible confusion that ensued while the other sailors, +only half awake, rolled out of their hammocks, he carefully dressed +himself in his best clothes. He had had a foretaste of death which +was sweet and mild, and it seemed to him that the sea had already +claimed him as its own. + +*** + +A little cabin boy lay sleeping in the deckhouse near the dining +salon when the collision occurred. Startled by the shock, he sat +up in his bunk, half dazed, and wondering what had happened. Just +over his head there was a small porthole, through which he peered. +All he could see was fog and some shadowy gray object which had, as +it were, sprung from the fog. He seemed to see monstrous gray +wings. A mammoth bird must have swooped down on the ship, he +thought. The steamer rolled and heeled as the huge monster went at +it with claws and beak and flapping wings. + +The little cabin boy thought he would die from fright. In a second +he was wide awake. Then he discovered that a large sailing vessel +had collided with the steamer. He saw great sails and a strange +deck, where men in oilskin coats were rushing about in mad terror. +The wind freshened, and the sails became as taut as drums. The +masts bulged, while the yards snapped with a succession of reports +that sounded like pistol shots. A great three-master, which in the +dense fog had sailed straight into _L'Univers_, had somehow got her +bowsprit wedged into the side of the liner, and could not free +herself. The passenger steamer listed considerably, but its +propellers went right on working, so that now both ships moved +along together. + +"Lord God!" exclaimed the cabin boy as he rushed out on deck, "that +poor boat has run into us, and now it will surely sink!" + +It never occurred to him that the steamer could be imperilled, big +and fine as she was. The officers came hurrying up; but when they +saw it was only a sailing vessel that had collided with their ship, +they felt quite safe, and with the utmost confidence took the +necessary steps for getting the boats clear of each other. + +The little cabin boy stood on the deck barelegged, his shirt +fluttering in the wind, and beckoned to the unhappy men on the +sailing vessel to come over to the steamer and save themselves. At +first no one seemed to take any notice of him, but presently a big +man with a red beard began motioning to him. + +"Come over here, boy!" the man shouted, running to the side of the +vessel. "The steamer is sinking!" + +The little boy had not the faintest notion of going over to the +sailing vessel. He shouted as loud as he could that the people on +the doomed boat should come over to _L'Univers_, and save their +lives. + +While the other men on the three-master were working with poles and +boat hooks to free their vessel from the steamer, the man with the +red beard could think of nothing but the little cabin boy, for whom +he had evidently conceived an extraordinary pity. He put his hands +to his mouth, trumpet-like, and called: "Come over here, come over +here!" + +The little lad looked forlorn and cold, standing on the deck in his +thin shirt. He stamped his foot and shook his fist at the men on +the other boat, because they would not mind him and board the +steamer. A huge greyhound like _L'Univers_, with six hundred +passengers and a crew of two hundred men, couldn't possibly go +down, he reasoned. And, of course, he could see that both the +captain and the sailors were just as calm as he was. + +Of a sudden the man with the red beard seized a boat hook, thrust +it out toward the boy, got him by the shirt, and tried to pull him +on to the other ship. The boy was dragged as far as the ship's +railing, but there he managed to free himself of the hook. He was +not going to let himself be dragged over to a strange vessel that +was doomed. + +Immediately afterward another crash was heard. The bowsprit of the +three-master had snapped, and the two ships were now clear of each +other. As the liner steamed ahead, the boy saw the big broken +bowsprit dangling in the bow of the other vessel, and he also saw +great clouds of sails drop down upon the crew. + +The liner proceeded on her course at full speed, and the sailing +vessel was soon lost to sight in the fog. The last thing the boy +saw was the men trying to get out from under the mass of sails. +Thereupon the vessel disappeared as completely as if it had slipped +in behind a great wall. "It has already gone down," thought the +lad. And now he stood listening for distress calls. + +Then a rough and powerful voice was heard to shout across to the +steamer: "Save your passengers! Put out your boats!" + +Again there was silence, and again the boy listened for distress +calls. Then the voice was heard as if from far away: "Pray to God, +for you are lost!" + +At that moment an old sailor stepped up to the captain. "We have a +big hole amidships; we are going down," he said, quietly and +impressively. + +*** + +Soon after the nature of the accident had become known on the +steamer, a little lady appeared on deck. She had come from one of +the first-class cabins with certain and determined step. She was +dressed from top to toe, and her bonnet strings were tied in a +natty bowknot. She was a little old lady, with crimped hair, round, +owlish-looking eyes, and a florid complexion. + +During the short time the voyage had lasted she had managed to +become acquainted with every one on board. Everybody knew that her +name was Miss Hoggs, and she had told them all--the crew as well as +passengers--time and again, that she was never afraid. She didn't +see why she need have any fear, she would have to die at one time +or another, she had said, and whether it happened soon or late was +immaterial to her. Nor was she afraid now; she had gone up on deck +simply to see if anything interesting or exciting was going on +there. + +The first thing she saw was two sailors darting past with wild, +terrified faces. Stewards, half dressed, came running out from +their quarters to go down and waken the passengers and get them on +deck. An old sailor came up with an armful of life belts, which he +tossed on the deck. A little cabin boy in his shirt was crouching +in a corner, sobbing and shrieking that he was going to die. The +captain was on his bridge, and Miss Hoggs heard him give orders to +stop the engines and to man the lifeboats. + +Engineers and stokers came rushing up the grimy ladder leading from +the engine room, shouting that the water had already reached the +fires. Miss Hoggs had hardly been on deck a moment before it was +thronged with steerage passengers, who had come up in a body, +shrieking that they would have to hurry and make for the boats, +otherwise none but the first and second class passengers would be +saved. + +As the excitement and confusion increased, Miss Hoggs began to +realize that they were in actual danger; so she quietly slipped +away to the upper deck, where several life-boats hung in their +davits, just outside the railing. Up here there was not a soul, and +Miss Hoggs, without being seen, climbed over the railing and +scrambled into one of the boats suspended above the watery abyss. +As soon as she was well inside, she congratulated herself upon her +wisdom and foresight. That was the advantage of having a clear and +cool head, she thought. She knew that when once the boat was +lowered there would be a wild scramble for it; the crush in the +gangway and on the companion ladder would be something awful. Again +and again she congratulated herself on having thought of getting +into the boat beforehand. + +Miss Hoggs's boat was hung far aft, but by leaning over the edge of +it she could see the companion ladder. Then she saw that a boat had +been manned, and that people were getting into it. Suddenly a +terrible cry went up. Some one in the excitement had fallen +overboard. This must have frightened the others, for cries arose +from all sides of the ship, and the passengers heedlessly crowded +the gangway, pushing and fighting their way toward the ladder. In +the struggle many of them went overboard. A few persons, who saw +that it would be impossible to get to the ladder, jumped into the +sea, thinking they would swim to the boat. Just then the lifeboat, +already loaded to its full capacity, rowed away. The people that +were in it drew their knives and threatened to cut of the fingers +of any one who attempted to get inside. + +Miss Hoggs saw one boat after another launched. She also saw one +boat after another capsize under the weight of those who hurled +themselves down into them. + +The lifeboats near to hers were .lowered, but for some +unaccountable reason no one had touched the one in which she was +seated. "Thank God they are leaving my boat alone till the worst is +over," she thought. + +And Miss Hoggs heard and saw dreadful things. It seemed to her that +she was suspended over a hell. She could not see the deck itself, +but from the sounds that reached her, she gathered that a frightful +struggle was taking place there. She heard pistol shots and saw +blue smoke clouds rise in the air. + +At last there came a moment when everything was hushed. "This would +be the right time to lower my boat," thought Miss Hoggs. She was +not at all afraid, but sat back with perfect composure until the +steamer began to settle. Then, for the first time, it dawned on +Miss Hoggs that _L'Univers_ was sinking, and that her boat had been +forgotten. + +*** + +On board the steamer was a young American matron, a Mrs. Gordon, +who was on her way to Europe to visit her parents, who for some +years had been living in Paris. She had her two little boys with +her, and all three were asleep in their cabin when the accident +occurred. The mother was immediately awakened, and soon managed to +get the children partly dressed; then throwing a cloak over her +night robe, she went out into the narrow passageway between the +cabins. + +The passage was full of people who had rushed out from their +staterooms to hurry on deck. Here it was not difficult to pass; but +in the companionway there was a terrible crush. She saw people +pushing and crowding, with no thought of any one but themselves, as +more than a hundred persons, all at one time, tried to rush up. The +young American woman stood holding her two children by the hand. +She looked longingly up the stairway, wondering how she could +manage to press through the throng with her little ones. The people +fought and struggled, thinking only of themselves. No one even +noticed her. + +Mrs. Gordon glanced anxiously about in the hope of finding some one +who would take one of the boys and carry him to the deck, while she +herself took the other. But she saw no one she dared approach. The +men came dashing past, dressed every which way. Some were wrapped +in blankets, others had on ulsters over their nightshirts, and many +of them carried canes. When she saw the desperate look in the eyes +of these men, she felt that it would not be safe to speak to them. + +Of the women, on the other hand, she had no fear; but there was +not one, even among them, to whom she would dare entrust her child. +They were all out of their senses, and could not have comprehended +what she wanted of them. She stood regarding them, wondering +whether there might not be one, perhaps, who had a bit of reason +left. But seeing them rush wildly past--some hugging the flowers +they had received on their departure from New York, others +shrieking and wringing their hands--she knew it was useless to +appeal to such frenzied people. Finally, she attempted to stop a +young man who had been her neighbour at table, and had shown her +marked attention. + +"Oh, Mr. Martens--" + +The man glowered at her with the same fixed savage stare that she +had seen in the eyes of the other men. He raised his cane +threateningly, and had she tried to detain him, he would have +struck her. + +The next moment she heard a howl, which was hardly a howl, but +rather an angry murmur, as when a strong and sweeping wind becomes +bottled up in a narrow passage. It came from the people on the +companionway, whose progress had been suddenly impeded. + +A cripple had been borne part way up the stairs--a man who was so +entirely helpless that he had to be carried to and from the table. +He was a large, heavy man, and his valet had with the greatest +difficulty managed to bear him on his back halfway up the stairs, +where he had paused to take breath. In the meantime, the pressure +from behind had become so tremendous that it had forced him to his +knees; and he and his master were taking up the whole width of the +stairway, thus creating an impassable obstruction. + +Presently Mrs. Gordon saw a big, rough-looking man bend down, lift +up the cripple, and throw him over the banister. She also marked +that, horrible as was this spectacle, no one seemed to be either +shocked or moved by it. For nobody thought of anything save to rush +ahead. It was as if a stone lying in the road had been picked up +and tossed into the ditch--nothing more. + +The young American mother saw that among these people there was no +hope of being saved; she and her children were doomed. + +*** + +There were a young bride and groom on board who were on their +honeymoon. Their cabin was far down in the body of the ship, and +they had slept so soundly that they had not even heard the +collision. Nor was there much commotion in their part of the boat +afterward. And as no one had thought of calling them, they were +still asleep when every one else was on deck fighting for the +lifeboats. But they woke when the propeller, which the whole night +had been revolving directly under their heads, suddenly stopped. +The husband hurriedly drew on a garment or two, and ran out to see +what was up. In a few minutes he returned. He carefully closed the +cabin door after him before uttering a word. Then he said: + +"The ship is sinking." + +At the same time he sat down, and when his wife would have rushed +out, he begged her to remain with him. + +"The boats have all gone," he said. "Most of the passengers have +been drowned, and those who are still on the ship are now up on +deck, fighting desperately for rafts and life belts." He told her +that in the gangway he was obliged to step over a woman who had +been trampled to death, and that he had heard the cries of the +doomed on all sides. "There's no chance of our being saved, so +don't go out! Let us die together!" + +The young bride felt that he was right, and resignedly sat down +beside him. + +"You wouldn't like to see all those people struggling and +fighting," he said. "Since we've got to die anyway, let us at least +have a peaceful death." + +She knew that it was no more than right that she should stay there +with him the few short moments of life still left to them. Had she +not promised to give him a whole life time of devotion? + +"I had hoped," he went on, "that after we had been married many, +many years, you would be sitting by me when I lay on my deathbed, +and I would thank you for a long and happy life partnership." + +At that moment she saw a thin streak of water trickling in through +the crack under the door. This was too much for her. She threw up +her arms in despair. "I can't!" she cried. "Let me go! I can't stay +shut in here waiting for death. I love you, but I can't do it!" + +She rushed out just as the ship heeled over before going down. + +*** + +Young Mrs. Gordon was lying in the water, the steamer had sunk, her +children were lost, and she herself had been deep under the sea. +She had then come to the surface for the third time and knew that +in another moment she would be sinking again, and that that would +mean death. + +Then her mind no longer dwelt upon her husband or children, or upon +anything else of this earth. She thought only of lifting up her +soul to God. And her soul rose like a liberated prisoner. Her +spirit, rejoicing in the thought of casting off the heavy shackles +of human existence, jubilantly prepared to ascend to its real home. +"Is death so easy?" she mused. + +As that thought came to her the medley of confusing noises around +her--the surging of the waves, the murmur of the wind, the shrieks +of the drowning, and the noises made by the colliding of the +various objects that were drifting around on the water--all seemed +to resolve themselves into words in the same way as shapeless +clouds sometimes form themselves into pictures. And this was what +she heard: + +"It is a fact that death is easy, but to live, that is the +difficult thing!" + +"Ah, so it is!" she thought, and wondered what was needed to make +living as easy as dying. + +Round about her the shipwrecked people fought and struggled for the +floating wreckage and the overturned boats. But amid the mad cries +and curses, again the noises resolved themselves into clear and +powerful words: + +"That which is needed to make life as easy as death is UNITY, +UNITY, UNITY." + +It seemed to her that the Lord of all the earth had converted these +noises into a speaking tube, through which He himself had answered +her. + +While the words that had been spoken were still ringing in her +ears, she was rescued. She had been drawn up into a small boat in +which there were only three persons besides herself--a brawny old +sailor dressed in his best, an elderly woman with round, owlish +eyes, and a poor little heartbroken boy, who had on nothing but a +torn shirt. + +*** + +Late in the afternoon of the following day a Norwegian ship sailed +along the great banks of Newfoundland in the direction of the +fishing grounds. The sky was clear, and the sea was like a mirror. +The vessel could make but little headway. All the sails were set so +as to catch the last breaths of the dying breeze. + +The sea looked very beautiful. It was a clear blue and smooth as +glass, but where the faintest breeze passed over it, it was a +silvery white. + +When the afternoon stillness had continued for a while, the ship's +crew sighted a dark object floating on the water. Gradually it came +nearer, and soon they discovered that it was a human body. As it +was being carried by the current past the ship, they could tell by +the clothing that it was the body of a sailor. It was lying on its +back, with eyes wide open, and with a look of peace on its face. +Evidently the body had not been long enough in the water to become +disfigured. It was as if the sailor were complacently letting +himself be rocked by the tiny rippling wavelets. + +When the sailors turned their gaze in the opposite direction, they +let out a cry. Before they could turn their faces, another body +appeared on the surface close to the bow of the boat. They came +near passing over it, but at the last moment it was washed away by +the swell. Now they all rushed to the side of the ship and looked +down. This time they saw the body of a child, a daintily dressed +little girl. "Dear, dear!" said the sailors, drying their eyes. +"The poor little kiddie!" + +As the body of the little girl drifted past it seemed as if the +child were looking up at them. And there was such a serious +expression in its wistful eyes-as if it were out upon some very +urgent errand. Immediately after, one of the sailors shouted that +he saw another body, and the same thing was said by one who was +looking in an opposite direction. All at once they saw five bodies, +they saw ten, and then there were so many they could not count +them. + +The ship moved slowly on among all these dead people, who +surrounded the vessel as if they wanted something. Some came +floating in large groups; they looked like driftwood that had been +carried away from land; but they were just a mass of dead bodies. + +The sailors stood aghast, afraid to move. They could hardly believe +that what they saw was real. All at once they seemed to see an +island rising up out of the sea. From a distance it looked like +land, but, on coming nearer, they saw hundreds of bodies floating +close together, and surrounding the vessel on all sides. They moved +with the ship, as if wanting to make the voyage across the water in +its company. Then the skipper turned the rudder, so as to coax a +little wind into the sails; but it did not help much. The sails +hung limp, and the dead bodies continued to follow. + +The sailors turned ashen, and silence fell upon them. The ship had +so little headway that she could not seem to get clear of the dead. +They were fearful lest it should go on like this the whole night. +Then a Swedish seaman stood up in the bow and repeated the Lord's +Prayer. Thereupon, he began to sing a hymn. When he had got half +through the hymn the sun went down, and the evening breeze came +along and carried the ship away from the region of the dead. + + + +HELLGUM'S LETTER + +An old woman came out from her little log cabin in the woods. +Although it was only a week day, she was dressed in her best, as if +for church. After locking her door she put the key in its usual +place, under the stoop. + +When the old woman had gone a few paces, she turned round to look +at her cabin, which appeared very small and very gray under the +shadow of the towering snow-clad fir trees. She glanced at her +humble home with an affectionate gaze. "Many a happy day have +I spent in that little old hut!" she mused solemnly. "Ah me! The +Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." + +Then she went on her way, down the forest road. She was very old +and exceeding fragile, but she was one of those who hold themselves +erect and firm, however much old age may try to bend them. She had +a sweet face and soft white hair. She looked so mild and gentle +that it was surprising to hear her speak with a voice that was as +strident and solemn as that of some old evangelist. + +She had a long tramp ahead of her, for she was going down to the +Ingmar Farm to a meeting of the Hellgumists. Old Eva Gunnersdotter +was one of the most zealous converts to Hellgum's teachings. "Ah, +those were glorious times," she mumbled to herself as she trudged +on, "in the beginning when half the parish had gone over to +Hellgum! Who would have thought that so many were going to +backslide, and that after five years there would be hardly more +than a score of us left--not counting the children, of course!" + +Her thoughts went back to the time when she, who for many years had +lived in solitude in the heart of the forest, forgotten by every +one, all at once had found a lot of brothers and sisters who came +to her in her loneliness, who never forgot to clear a path to her +cabin after a big snowfall, and who always kept her little shed +well filled with dry firewood--and all without her having to ask +for it. She recalled to mind the time when Karin, daughter of +Ingmar, and her sisters, and many more of the best people in the +parish, used to come and hold love feasts in her little gray cabin. + +"Alas, that so many should have abandoned the only true way of +salvation!" she sighed. "Now retribution will come upon us. Next +summer we must all perish because so few among us have heard the +call, and because those who have heard it have not continued +steadfast." + +The old woman then fell to pondering over Hellgum's letters, those +letters which the Hellgumists regarded as Apostolic writings and +read aloud at all their meetings, as the Bible is read in the +churches. "There was a time when Hellgum was as milk and honey to +us," she reflected. "Then he commanded us to be kind and tolerant +toward the unconverted, and to show gentle forbearance toward those +who had fallen away; he taught the rich that in their works of +charity they must treat the just and the unjust alike. But lately +he has been as wormwood and gall. He writes about nothing but +trials and punishments." + +The old woman had now reached the edge of the forest, from where +she could look down over the village. It was a lovely day in +February. The snow had spread its white purity over the whole +district; all the trees were deep in their winter sleep, and not a +breath of wind stirred. But she was thinking that all this +beautiful country, wrapped in peaceful slumber, would soon be +awakened only to be consumed by a rain of fire and brimstone. +Everything that was now lying under a cover of snow, she seemed to +see enveloped in flame. + +"He hasn't put it into plain words," thought the old woman, "but +he keeps writing all the while about a _sore trial_. Mercy me! Who +could wonder at it if this parish were to be punished as was Sodom, +and overthrown like Babylon!" + +As Eva Gunnersdotter wandered through the village, she could not +look up at a single house without picturing to herself how the +coming earthquake would shake it and crumble it into dust and +ashes. And when she met people along the way, she thought of how +the monsters of hell would soon hunt and devour them. + +"Ah, here comes the schoolmaster's Gertrude!" she remarked to +herself as she saw a pretty young girl coming down the road. "Her +eyes sparkle like sunbeams on the snow. She feels happy now because +she expects to be married in the fall to young Ingmar Ingmarsson. I +see she has a bundle of thread tucked under her arm. She is going +to weave table covers and bed hangings for her new home. But before +that weaving is done, destruction will be upon us." + +The old woman cast dark glances about her. She could see that the +village had grown and developed into an astonishing thing of +beauty, but she thought that all these pretty white-and-yellow +houses, with their fancy gables and their big bowed windows, would +collapse the same as her humble gray cabin, where moss grew in the +cracks between the logs, and the windows were only holes in the +wall. When she reached the heart of the town, she stopped short and +struck her cane hard against the pavement. A sudden feeling of +indignation had seized her. "Woe, woe!" she cried, in so loud a +voice that people in the street paused and looked round. "Yea, in +all these houses live such as have rejected the Gospel of Christ +and cling to the enemy's teaching. Why didn't they listen to the +call and turn away from their sins? On their account we must all +perish. God's hand strikes heavily. It strikes both the just and +the unjust." + +When she had crossed the river she was overtaken by some of the +other Hellgumists. They were Corporal Felt and Bullet Gunner and +his wife, Brita. Shortly afterward, they were joined by Hoek Matts +Ericsson, his son Gabriel, and Gunhild, the daughter of Councilman +Clementsson. + +All these people in their gayly coloured national costumes made a +pretty picture walking along the snow-covered road. But to the mind +of Eva Gunnersdotter, they were only doomed prisoners being led to +the place of execution, like cattle driven to slaughter. + +The Hellgumists looked quite dejected. They walked along, their +eyes on the ground, as if weighed down by a terrible load of +discouragement. They had all expected that the Celestial Kingdom +would suddenly spread over the whole earth, and that they would +live to see the day when the New Jerusalem should come down from +the clouds of heaven. But now that they had become so few in +number, and could not help seeing that theirs was a forlorn hope, +it was as if something within them had snapped. They moved slowly +and with dragging steps. Now and then a sigh would escape them, but +they seemed to have nothing to say to each other. For this had been +a matter of supreme earnest with them. They had staked their all +upon it, and had lost. + +"Why do they look so down-in-the-mouth?" wondered the old woman. +"They don't seem to believe the worst, and don't want to understand +what Hellgum writes. I've tried to explain his words to them, but +they won't even listen to me. Alas! those who live on the lowlands, +under an open sky, can never understand what it is to be afraid. +They don't think the same thoughts as do those of us who live in +the solitude of the dark forest." + +She could see that the Hellgumists were uneasy because Halvor had +called them together on a week day. They feared that he was going +to tell them of more desertions from their ranks. They glanced +anxiously at one another, with a look of distrust in their eyes +that seemed to say: "How long will you hold out? And you--and you?" + +"We might as well stop right now," they thought, "and break up the +Society at once. After all, sudden death would be easier than +slowly wasting away." + +Alas! that this little community with its gospel of peace, this +blissful life of unity and brotherly love which had meant so much +to all of them, that this should now be doomed. + +As these disheartened people walked along toward the farm the +sparkling winter sun rolled merrily on across the blue sky. From +the glistening snow rose a refreshing coolness, which should have +put life and courage into them; while from the fir-clad hills +encircling the parish, there fell a soothing peace and stillness. + +At last they were at the Ingmar Farm. + +In the living-room of the farmhouse, close to the ceiling, hung an +old picture which had been painted by some local artist a hundred +years before their time. It represented a city surrounded by a high +wall, above which could be seen the roofs and gables of many +buildings, some of which were red farmhouses with turf roofs. +Others were white manor houses with slate roofs. Others, again, +showed massive copper-plated towers, after the manner of the +Kistine Church at Falun. Outside the city wall were promenading +gentlemen, in kneebreeches and buckled shoes, who carried Bengal +canes. A coach was seen driving out of the gateway of the town, in +which were seated ladies in powdered wigs and wearing Watteau hats. +Beyond the wall were trees, with a profusion of dark green foliage; +and on the ground, between patches of tall, waving grass, ran +little shimmering brooklets. At the bottom of the picture was +painted in large, ornate letters: "This is God's Holy City +Jerusalem." + +The old canvas being hung like that, so close to the ceiling, it +seldom attracted any notice. Most of the people who visited the +Ingmar Farm did not even know of its being there. + +But that day it was enframed in a wreath of green whortleberry +twigs, so that it instantly caught the eye of the caller. Eva +Gunnersdotter saw it at once, and remarked under her breath: "Aha! +Now the folks on the Ingmar Farm know that we must perish. That's +why they want us to turn our eyes toward the Heavenly City." + +Karin and Halvor came forward to greet her, looking even more +gloomy and low spirited than the other Hellgumists. "It's plain +they know now that the end is near," she thought. + +Eva Gunnersdotter, being the oldest person present, was placed at +the head of the long table. In front of her lay an opened letter, +with American stamps on the envelope. + +"Another letter has come from our dear brother Hellgum," said +Halvor. "This is why I have called the brothers and sisters +together." + +"I gather that you must think this a very important document, +Halvor," said Bullet Gunner, thoughtfully. + +"I do," replied Halvor. "Now we shall learn what Hellgum meant when +he wrote in his last letter that a great trial of our faith was +before us." + +"I don't think that any of us will be afraid to suffer in the +Lord's cause," Gunner assured him. + +All the Hellgumists had not yet arrived, and there was a long wait +before the last one finally made his appearance. Old Eva +Gunnersdotter, with her far-sighted eyes, meanwhile sat gazing at +Hellgum's letter. She was reminded of the letter with the seven +seals, in Revelation, and fancied that the instant any human hand +should touch that letter, the Angel of Destruction would come +flying down from Heaven. + +She raised her eyes and glanced up at the Jerusalem picture. "Yes, +yes," she mumbled, "of course I want to go to that city whose gates +are of gold and whose walls are of crystal!" And she began reading +to herself: "'And the foundations of the wall of the city were +garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation +was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the +fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the +seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the +tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an +amethyst."' + +The old woman was so deep in her precious Book of Revelation that +she started as if she had been caught napping when Halvor went over +to that end of the table where the letter lay. + +"We will open our meeting with a hymn," Halvor announced. "Let us +all join in singing number two hundred and forty-four." And the +Hellgumists sang in unison, "Jerusalem, my happy home." + +Eva Gunnersdotter heaved a sigh of relief because the dreaded +moment had been put off for a little. "Alack-a-day! that a +doddering old woman like me should be so afraid to die," she +thought, half ashamed of her weakness. + +At the close of the hymn Halvor took up the letter and began +unfolding it. Whereupon the Spirit moved Eva Gunnersdotter to +arise and offer up a lengthy prayer for grace to receive in a +proper spirit the message contained therein. Halvor, with the +letter in his hand, stood quietly waiting till she had finished. +Then he began reading it in a tone he might have used had he been +delivering a sermon: + +"My dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. + +"Hitherto I had thought that I and you, who have embraced my +teaching, were alone in this our faith. But, praise be to God! here +in Chicago we have found brethren who are likeminded, who think +and act in accordance with the principles. + +"For be it known unto you that here, in Chicago, there lived in the +early eighties a man by the name of Edward Gordon. He and his wife +were God-fearing people. They were sorely grieved at seeing so much +distress in the world, and prayed God that grace might be given +them to help the sorrowing ones. + +"It so happened that the wife of Edward Gordon had to make a long +voyage across the sea, where she suffered shipwreck and was cast +upon the waters. When she found herself in the most extreme peril, +the Voice of God spoke to her. And the Voice of God commanded her +to teach mankind to live in unity. + +"And the woman was saved from the sea and the peril of death, and +she returned to her husband and told him about the message from +God. 'This is a great command our Lord hath given unto us--that we +should live in unity--and we must follow it. So great is this +message that in all the world there is but one spot worthy of +receiving it. Let us, therefore, gather our friends together and go +with them to Jerusalem, that we may proclaim God's holy commandment +from the Mount of Zion.' + +"Then Edward Gordon and his wife, together with thirty others who +wanted to obey the Lord's last holy commandment, set out for +Jerusalem, where all of them are now living in concord under one +roof. They share with one another all their worldly goods, and +serve one another, each protecting the other's welfare. + +"And they have taken into their home the children of the poor, and +they nurse the sick, they care for the aged, and succour all who +appeal to them for aid, without expecting either money or gifts in +return. + +"But they do not preach in the churches or on street corners, for +they say, 'It is our works that shall speak for us.' + +"But the people who heard of their way of living said of them: +'They must be fools and fanatics.' And those who decried them the +loudest were the Christians who had come to Palestine to convert +Jews and Mohammedans, by preaching and teaching. And they said: +'What sort of persons are these who do not preach? No doubt they +have come hither to lead an evil life and to indulge their sinful +lusts among the heathen.' + +"And they raised a cry against these good people that travelled +across the seas all the way to their own country. But amongst those +who had settled in Jerusalem there was a rich widow, with her two +half-grown children. She had left a brother in her native land, to +whom every one was saying, 'How can you allow your sister to live +among those dreadful people, who are so loose lived? They are +nothing but idlers who live upon her bounty.' So the brother began +legal proceedings against the sister, in order to compel her to +send her children back to America to be reared there. + +"And on account of these proceedings, the widow, with her children, +returned to Chicago, accompanied by Edward Gordon and his wife. At +that time they had been living in Jerusalem fourteen years. + +"When they came back from that far country, the newspapers had much +to say of them; and some called them lunatics and some said they +were impostors." + +When Halvor had read thus far, he paused a moment, and presently +repeated the substance of what he had read in his own words, so +that everybody would understand it. After which, he went on reading: + +"But there is in Chicago a home of which you have heard. And the +occupants of this home are people who try to serve God in spirit +and in truth, who share all things in common, and watch over each +other's lives. + +"We who live in this home read something in a newspaper about these +'lunatics' who had come back from Jerusalem, and said among +ourselves, 'These people are of our faith; they are banded together +to work for righteousness, the same as ourselves. We would like to +meet these persons who share our ideals.' + +"And we wrote and asked them to come to see us, and those who had +come back from Jerusalem accepted the invitation and called; and we +compared our teachings with theirs, and found that our principles +of faith were the same. 'It is by the grace of God that we have +found each other,' we said. + +"They told us of the glories of the Holy City, that city which lies +resplendent on its white mountain, and we deemed them fortunate in +that they had been privileged to tread the paths our Saviour had +trod. + +"Then one of our own brethren said: 'Why shouldn't we go along with +you to Jerusalem?' + +"They answered: 'You must not accompany us thither, for God's Holy +City is full of strife and dissension, of want and sickness, of +hate and poverty.' + +"Instantly another of our brethren cried: 'Mayhap God has sent you +to us because it is His meaning that we shall go with you to that +far country, to help you fight all this?' + +"Then one and all of us heard the voice of the Spirit in our hearts +say, 'Yea, this is My will!' + +"Then we asked them whether they would be willing to receive us +into their fold, although we were poor and unlettered. And they +answered that they would. + +"Then we determined to become brethren in the fullest sense. And +they accepted our faith, and we theirs--and all the while the +Spirit was upon us, and we were filled with a great gladness. And +we said: 'Now we know that God loves us, since He sends us to that +land where once He sent His own Son. And now we know that our +teaching is the right teaching, inasmuch as God wants it proclaimed +from his holy mountain Zion.' + +"And then a third member of our own household said: 'And there are +our brothers and sisters at home in Sweden.' So we told the +brethren from Jerusalem that there were more of us than they saw +here; that we also had some brothers and sisters in Sweden. We +said: 'They are being sorely tried in their fight for righteousness, +many of them have fallen away, and the few who have remained +steadfast are obliged to live among unbelievers.' + +"Then the travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'Let your brothers +and sisters in Sweden follow us to Jerusalem, and share our holy +work.' + +"At first we were pleased at the thought of your following us, and +living with us at Jerusalem, in peace and harmony. But afterward we +began to feel troubled, and said: 'They will never leave their fine +farms and old occupations.' + +"And the Jerusalem travellers answered: 'Fields and meadows we +cannot offer them, but they will be allowed to wander along the +pathways where Jesus' feet have trod.' + +"But we were still doubtful and said to them, 'They will never +journey to a strange land where no one understands their speech.' + +"And the travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'They will understand +what the stones of Palestine have to tell them about their +Saviour.' + +"We said: 'They will never divide their property with strangers and +become poor as beggars; nor will they renounce their authority, for +they are the leading people of their own parish.' + +"The travellers from Jerusalem answered: 'We have neither power nor +worldly possessions to offer them; but we invite them to become +participants in the sufferings of Christ their Redeemer.' + +"When that was said, we were again filled with gladness, and felt +that you would come. And now, my dear brothers and sisters, when +you have read this, do not talk it over among yourselves, but be +still and listen. And whatever the Spirit bids you do, that do." + +Halvor folded the letter, saying, "Now we must do as Hellgum +writes; we must be still, and listen." + +There was a long silence in the living-room at the Ingmar Farm. + +Old Eva Gunnersdotter was as silent as were the others, waiting +for the Voice of God to speak to her. She interpreted it all in +her own way. "Why, of course," she thought, "Hellgum wants us to +go to Jerusalem so that we may escape the great destruction. The +Lord would save us from the flood of brimstone, and preserve us +from the rain of fire; and those of us who are righteous will hear +the Voice of God warning us to flee the wrath to come." + +It never for a moment occurred to the old woman that it could be a +sacrifice for any one to leave his home and his native land, when +it came to a question of this sort. It never entered her mind that +any one could doubt the wisdom of leaving his native woodlands, his +smiling river, and his fertile fields. Some of the Hellgumists +thought with fear and trepidation of their having to change their +manner of living, of renouncing fatherland, parents, friends, and +relatives; but not she. To her it simply meant that God wanted to +spare them as He had once spared Noah and Lot. Were they not being +called to a life of supernal glory in God's Holy City? It was to +her as if Hellgum had written that they would be bodily taken up +into heaven, like the prophet Elijah. + +They were all sitting with closed eyes, deep in meditation. Some +were suffering such intense mental agony that cold sweat broke out +on their foreheads. "Ah, this is indeed the trial which Hellgum +foretold!" they sighed. + +The sun was at the horizon, and shot its piercing rays into the +room. The crimson glow from the setting sun cast a blood-red glare +upon the many blanched faces. Finally Martha Ingmarsson, the wife +of Ljung Bjoern Olofsson, slipped down from her chair on to her +knees. Then, one after another, they all went down on their knees. +All at once several of them drew a deep breath, and a smile lighted +up their faces. + +Then Karin, daughter of Ingmar, said in a tone of wonderment: "I +hear God's voice calling me!" + +Gunhild, the daughter of Councillor Clementsson, lifted up her +hands in ecstasy, and tears streamed down her face. "I, too, am +going," she cried. "God's voice calls me." + +Whereupon Krister Larsson and his wife said, almost in the same +breath: "It cries into my ear that I must go. I can hear God's +voice calling me!" + +The call came to one after another, and with it all anguish of mind +and all feeling of regret vanished. A great sense of joy had come +to them. They thought no more of their farms or their relatives; +they were thinking only of how their little colony would branch out +and blossom anew, and of the wonder of having been called to the +Holy City. + +The call had now come to most of them. But it had not yet reached +Halvor Halvorsson; he was wrestling in anguished prayer, thinking +God would not call him as He had called the others. "He sees that I +love my fields and meadows more than His word," he said to himself. +"I am unworthy." + +Karin then went up to Halvor and laid her hand upon his brow. "You +must be still, Halvor, and listen in silence." + +Halvor wrung his hands so hard that the joints of his fingers +cracked. "Perhaps God does not deem me worthy to go," he said. + +"Yes, Halvor, you will be let go, but you must be still," said +Karin. She knelt down beside him and put her arm around him. "Now +listen quietly, Halvor, and without fear." + +In a few moments the tense look was gone from his face. "I hear +I hear something far, far away," he whispered. + +"It is the harps of angels announcing the presence of the Lord," +said the wife. "Be quite still now, Halvor." Then she nestled very +close to him--something she had never done before in the presence +of others. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Now I have heard it. It +spoke so loudly that it was as thunder in my ears. 'You shall go to +my Holy City, Jerusalem,' it said. Have you all heard it in the +same way?" + +"Yes, yes," they cried, "we have all heard it." + +But now old Eva Gunnersdotter began to wail. "I have heard nothing. +I can't go along with you. I'm like Lot's wife, and may not flee +the wrath to come, but must be left behind. Here I must stay and be +turned into a pillar of salt." + +She wept from despair, and the Hellgumists all gathered round to +pray with her. Still she heard nothing. And her despair became a +thing of terror. "I can't hear anything!" she groaned. "But you've +got to take me along. You shan't leave me to perish in the lake of +fire!" + +"You must wait, Eva," said the Hellgumists. "The call may come. It +will surely come, either to-night or in the morning." + +"You don't answer me," cried the old woman, "you don't tell what I +want to know. Maybe you don't intend to take me along if no call +comes to me!" + +"It will come, it will come!" the Hellgumists shouted. + +"You don't answer me!" screamed the old woman in a frenzy. + +"Dear Eva, we can't take you along if God doesn't call you!" the +Hellgumists protested. "But the call will come, never fear." + +Then the old dame suddenly rose from her kneeling attitude, +straightened her rickety old body, and brought her cane down on the +floor with a thud. "You people mean to go away and leave me to +perish!" she thundered. "Yes, yes, yes, you mean to go and let me +perish!" She had become furiously angry, and once more they saw +before them Eva Gunnersdotter as she had been in her younger days-- +strong and passionate and fiery. + +"I want nothing more to do with you!" she shrieked. "I don't want +to be saved by you. Fie upon you! You would abandon wife and +children, father and mother, to save yourselves. Fie! You're a +parcel of idiots to be leaving your good farms. You're a lot of +misguided fools running after false prophets, that's what you are! +It's upon you that fire and brimstone will rain. It is you who must +perish. But we who remain at home, we shall live." + + + +THE BIG LOG + +At dusk, on this same beautiful February day, two young lovers +stood talking together in the road. The youth had just driven down +from the forest with a big log, which was so heavy that the horse +could hardly pull it. All the same he had driven in a roundabout +way so that the log might be hauled through the village and past +the big white schoolhouse. + +The horse had been halted in front of the school, and a young woman +had come out to have a look at the log. She couldn't seem to say +enough in praise of it--how long and thick it was, and how +straight, and what a lovely tan bark it had, and how firm the wood +was, and how flawless! + +The young man then told her very impressively that it had been +grown on a moor far north of Olaf's Peak, and when he had felled +it, and how long it had been lying in the forest to dry out. He +told her exactly how many inches it measured, both in circumference +and diameter. + +"But, Ingmar," she said, "it is only the first!" + +Pleased as she was, the thought that Ingmar had been five years +getting down the first bit of timber toward the building of their +new home made her feel uneasy. But Ingmar seemed to think that all +difficulties had now been met. + +"Just you wait, Gertrude!" he said. "If I can only get the timber +hauled while the roads are passable, we'll soon have the house up." + +It was turning bitterly cold. The horse stood there all of a +shiver, shaking its head and stamping its hoofs, its mane and +forelock white with hoar frost. But the youth and the maid did not +feel the cold. They kept themselves warm by building their house, +in imagination, from cellar to attic. When they had got the house +done, they set about to furnish it. + +"We'll put the sofa over against the long wall here in the +living-room," Ingmar decided. + +"But I don't know that we've got any sofa," said Gertrude. + +The young man bit his lip. He had not meant to tell her, until +some time later, that he had a sofa in readiness at the +cabinetmaker's shop; but now he had unwittingly let out the secret. + +Then Gertrude, too, came out with something which she had kept from +him for five years. She told him that she had made up hair into +ornaments and had woven fancy ribbons for sale, and with the money +she had earned in this way she had bought all sorts of household +things--pots and pans, platters and dishes, sheets and pillow +slips, table covers and rugs. + +Ingmar was so pleased over what Gertrude had accomplished that he +could not seem to commend her enough. In the middle of his praises +he broke off abruptly and gazed at her in speechless adoration. He +thought it was too good to be true that anything so sweet and so +beautiful would some day be his very own. + +"Why do you look at me so strangely?" asked the girl. + +"I'm just thinking that the best of it all is that you will be +mine." + +Gertrude could not say anything, but she ran her hand caressingly +over the big log which was to form a portion of the wall of that +house in which she and Ingmar were to live. She felt that protection +and love were in store for her, for the man she was going to marry +was good and wise, noble and faithful. + +Just then an old woman passed by. She walked rapidly, muttering +to herself, as if terribly incensed over something: "Aye, aye, +their happiness shall last no longer than from daybreak to rosy +dawn. When the trial comes, their faith will be broken as though it +were a rope spun from moss, and their lives shall be as a long +darkness." + +"Surely she can't mean us!" said the young girl. + +"How could that apply to us?" laughed the young man. + + + +THE INGMAR FARM + +It was the day after the meeting of the Hellgumists, and a +Saturday. A blizzard was raging. The pastor, who had been called to +the bedside of a sick person who lived way up at the north end of +the great forest, was driving homeward late in the evening under +great difficulties. His horse sank deep in the snowdrifts, and the +sledge was time after time on the point of being upset. Both the +pastor and his hired man were continually getting out to kick away +the snow for a path. Happily it was not very dark. The moon came +rolling out from behind the snow clouds, big and full, shedding its +silvery light upon the ground. Glancing upward, the pastor noticed +that the air was thick with whirling and flying snowflakes. + +In some places they made their way quite easily. There were short +stretches of road where the flying snow had not settled, and others +where the snow was deep, but loose and even. The really troublesome +thing was trying to get over the ground where the drifts were piled +so high that one could not even look over them, and where they were +obliged to turn from the road, and to drive across fields and +hedges, at the risk of being dumped into a ditch or having the +horse spiked on a fence rail. + +Both the pastor and his servant spoke with much concern of the +drift which always, after a heavy snow, was banked against a high +boarding close to the Ingmar Farm. "If we can only clear that we +are as good as at home," they said. + +The pastor remembered how often he had asked Big Ingmar to remove +the high boarding that was the cause of so much snow drifting +toward that particular spot. But nothing had ever been done about +it. Even though everything else on the Ingmar Farm had undergone +changes, certainly those old boards were never disturbed. + +At last they were within sight of the farm. And, sure enough, there +was the snowdrift in its usual place, as high as a wall and as hard +as a rock! Here there was no possibility of their turning to one +side; they had no choice but to drive right over it. The thing +looked impossible, so the servant asked whether he hadn't better go +down to the farm and get some help. But to this the pastor would +not consent. He had not exchanged a word with either Karin or +Halvor in upward of five years, and the thought of meeting old +friends with whom one is no longer on speaking terms, was no more +pleasant to him than it is to most people. + +So up the drift the horse had to mount. The icy crust held until +the animal had reached the top, then it gave way and the horse +suddenly disappeared from sight, as if into a grave, while the two +men sat gazing down helplessly. One of the traces had snapped; so +they could not have gone farther even if they had been able to get +the horse out of the drift. + +A few minutes later the pastor stepped into the living-room at the +Ingmar Farm. A blazing log fire was burning on the hearth. The +housewife sat at one side of the fireplace spinning fine carded +wool; behind her were the maids, seated in a long row, spinning +flax. The men had taken possession of the other side of the +fireplace. They had just come in from their work; some were +resting, others, to pass the time, had taken up some light work, +such as whittling sticks, sharpening rakes, and making axe handles. + +When the pastor told of his mishap, they all bestirred themselves, +and the menservants went out to dig the horse out of the drift. +Halvor led the pastor up to the table, and asked him to sit down. +Karin sent the maids into the kitchen to make fresh coffee and to +prepare a special supper. Then she took the pastor's big fur coat +and hung it in front of the fire to dry, lighted the hanging lamp, +and moved her spinning wheel up to the table, so that she could +talk with the menfolk. + +"I couldn't have had a better welcome had Big Ingmar himself +been alive," thought the pastor. + +Halvor talked at length about the weather and the state of the +roads, then he asked the clergyman if he had got a good price for +his grain, and if he had succeeded in getting certain repairs made +that he had been wanting for such a long time. Karin then asked +after the pastor's wife, and hoped that there had been some +improvement in her health of late. + +At that point the pastor's man came in and reported that the horse +had been dug out, the trace mended, and that all was in readiness +to start. But Karin and Halvor pressed the pastor to stay to +supper, and would not take no for an answer. + +The coffee tray was brought in. On it were the large silver coffee +urn and the precious old silver sugar bowl, which was never used +save at such high functions as weddings and funerals, and there +were three big silver cake baskets full of fresh rusks and cookies. + +The pastor's small, round eyes grew big with astonishment; he sat +as if in a trance, afraid of being awakened. + +Halvor showed the pastor the skin of an elk, which had been shot in +the woods on the Ingmar Farm. The skin was then spread out upon the +floor. The pastor declared that he had never seen a larger or more +beautiful hide. Then Karin went up to Halvor and whispered in his +ear. Immediately Halvor turned to the clergyman, and asked him to +accept the skin as a gift. + +Karin bustled back and forth, between the table and the cupboard, +and brought out some choice old silverware. She had spread a fine +hemstitched cloth on the table, which she was dressing as if for a +grand party. She poured milk and unfermented beer into huge silver +jugs. + +When they had finished supper, the pastor excused himself, and rose +to go. Halvor Halvorsson and two of his hired men went with him to +open a way through the drifts, steadying the sledge whenever it was +about to upset, and never leaving him till he was safe within his +own dooryard. + +The parson was thinking how pleasant it was to renew old +friendships, as he bade Halvor a hearty good-bye. Halvor stood +feeling for something in his pocket. Presently he pulled out a slip +of folded paper. He wondered whether the pastor would mind taking +it now. It was an announcement which was to be read after the +service in the morning. If the pastor would be good enough to take +it, it would save him the bother of sending it to the church by a +special messenger. + +When the pastor had gone inside, he lighted the lamp, unfolded the +paper, and read: + +"In consequence of the owner's contemplated removal to Jerusalem, +the Ingmar Farm is offered for sale--" + +He read no farther. "Well, well, so now it has come upon us," he +murmured, as if speaking of a storm. "This is what I've been +expecting for many a long year!" + + + +HOEK MATTS ERICSSON + +It was a beautiful day in spring. A peasant and his son were on +their way to the great ironworks, which are situated close to the +southern boundary of the parish. As they lived up at the north end, +they had to traverse almost the entire length of the parish. They +went past newly sown fields, where the grain was just beginning to +spring up. They saw all the green rye fields and all the fine +meadows, where the clover would soon be reddening and sending forth +its sweet fragrance. + +They also walked past a number of houses which were being +repainted, and fitted up with new windows and glass-enclosed +verandas, and past gardens where spading and planting were going +on. All whom they met along the way had muddy shoes and grimy hands +from working in fields and vegetable gardens, where they had been +planting potatoes, setting out cabbages, and sowing turnips and +carrots. + +The peasant simply had to stop and ask them what kind of potatoes +they were planting and just when they had sown their oats. At sight +of a calf or a foal, he at once began to figure out how old it was. +He calculated the number of cows they would be likely to keep at +such and such a farm, and wondered how much this or that colt would +fetch when broken. + +The son tried time after time to turn his father's thought away +from such things. "I'm thinking that you and I will soon be +wandering through the valley of Sharon and the desert of Judea," he +said. + +The father smiled, and his face brightened for a moment. "It will +indeed be a blessed privilege to walk in the footsteps of our dear +Lord Jesus," he answered. But the next minute, on seeing a couple +of cartloads of quicklime, his thoughts were diverted. "I say, +Gabriel, who do you suppose is hauling lime? Folks say that lime as +a fertilizer makes a rich crop. That will be something to feast +your eyes on in the fall." + +"In the fall, father!" said the son reprovingly. + +"Yes, I know," returned the farmer, "that by fall I shall be +dwelling in the tents of Jacob and labouring in the Lord's +vineyard." + +"Amen!" cried the son. "So be it. Amen!" + +Then they walked on in silence for a space, watching the signs of +spring. Water trickled in the ditches, and the road itself was +badly broken up from the spring rains. Whichever way they looked +there was work to be done. Every one wanted to turn to and help, +even when crossing some field other than his own. + +"To tell the truth," said the farmer thoughtfully, "I wish I had +sold my property some fall, when the work was over. It's hard +having to leave it all in the springtime, just when you'd like to +take hold with might and main." + +The son only shrugged; he knew that he would have to let the old +man talk. + +"It's just thirty-one years now since I, as a young man, bought a +piece of waste land on the north side of this parish," said the +farmer. "The ground had never been touched by a spade. Half of it +was bog, the other half a mass of stones. It looked pretty bad. On +that very land I worked like a slave, digging up stones until my +back was ready to break. But I think I laboured even harder with +the swamp, before I finally got it drained and filled in." + +"Yes, you have certainly worked hard, father," the son admitted. +"This is why God thinks of you, and summons you to His Holy Land." + +"At first," the farmer went on, "I lived in a hovel that wasn't +much better than a charcoaler's hut. It was made of unstripped +logs, with only sod for a roof. I could never make that but water +tight; so the rains always came in. It was mighty uncomfortable, +especially at night. The cow and the horse fared no better than I; +the whole of the first winter they were housed in a mud cave that +was as dark as a cellar." + +"Father, how can you be so attached to a place where you have +suffered such hardships?" + +"But only think of the joy of it when I was able to build a big +barn for the animals, and when year by year my livestock increased +so that I was always having to add new extensions for housing them. +If I were not going to sell the place now, I should have to put a +new roof on the barn. This would have been just the time to do it-- +as soon as I'd finished with the sowing." + +"Father, you are to do your sowing in that land where some seeds +fall among thorns, some on stony ground, some by the wayside, and +some on good ground." + +"And the old cottage," the farmer pursued, "which I built after the +first hut, I had thought of pulling down this year, to put up a +fine new dwelling house. What's to be done now with all the timber +that we two hauled home in the winter? It was mighty tough work +getting it down. The horses were hard driven, and so were we." + +The son began to feel troubled. He thought his father was slipping +away from him. He feared that the old man was not going to offer +his property to the Lord in the right spirit. "Well," he argued, +"but what are new houses and barns as compared with the blessed +privilege of living a pure life among people who are of one mind?" + +"Hallelujah!" cried the father. "Don't you suppose I know that a +wonderful portion has been allotted to us? Am I not on my way to +the works to sell my property to the Company? When I come back this +way everything will be gone, and I shall have nothing I can call +mine." + +The son did not reply, but he was pleased to hear that his father +still held to his decision. + +Presently they came to a farm beautifully situated on a hill. There +was a white-painted dwelling house, with a balcony and a veranda, +and round the house were tall poplars whose pretty silvery stems +were swollen with sap. + +"Look!" said the farmer. "That was just the sort of house I meant +to have--with a veranda and a balcony and a lot of ornamental +woodwork, and with just such a well-mown lawn in front. Wouldn't +that have been nice, Gabriel?" + +As the son said nothing, the farmer concluded that he must be tired +of hearing about the farm, so he, too, lapsed into silence although +his thoughts were still upon his home. He wondered how the horses +would fare with their new owners, and how things in general would +be run on the place. "My goodness!" he muttered under his breath, +"I'm surely doing a foolish thing in selling out to a corporation! +They'll go and cut down all the trees, and let the farm go to +waste. It would be just like them to allow the land to become +marshy again, and to let the birch woods grow down into the +fields." + +They had at last reached the works, where the farmer's interest +was again roused. There he saw ploughs and harrows of the latest +pattern, and was suddenly reminded that for a long time he had been +thinking of getting a new reaper. Gazing fondly at his good-looking +son, he pictured him sitting on a fine, red-painted reaper, +cracking his whip over the horses, and mowing down the thick, +waving grass, as a war hero mows down his enemies. And as he +stepped into the office he seemed to hear the clicking noise of the +reaper, the soft swish of falling grass and the shrill chirp and +light flutter of frightened birds and insects. + +On the desk in there lay the deed. The negotiations had been +concluded, and the price settled upon; all that was needed to +complete the deal was his signature. + +While the deed was being read to him he sat quietly listening. He +heard that there were so and so many acres of woodland, and so and +so many of arable land and meadow, so and so many head of cattle, +and such and such household furnishings, all of which he must turn +over. His features became set. + +"No," he said to himself, "it mustn't happen." + +After the reading he was about to say that he had changed his +mind, when his son bent down and whispered to him: + +"Father, it's a choice between me and the farm, for I'm going +anyway no matter what you do." + +The peasant had been so completely taken up with thoughts of his +farm that it had not occurred to him that his son would leave him. +So Gabriel would go in any case! He could not quite make this out. +He would never have thought of leaving had his son decided to +remain at home. But, naturally, wherever his son went, he, too, +must go. + +He stepped up to the desk, where the deed was now spread out for +him to sign. The manager himself handed him the pen, and pointed to +the place where he was to write his name. + +"Here," he said, "here's where you write your name in full--'Hoek +Matts Ericsson.'" + +When he took the pen it flashed across his mind how, thirty-one +years back, he had signed a deed whereby he had acquired a bit of +barren land. He remembered that after writing his name, he had gone +out to inspect his new property. Then this thought had come to him: +"See what God has given you! Here you have work to keep you going a +lifetime." + +The manager, thinking his hesitancy was due to uncertainty as to +where he should write his name, again pointed to the place. + +"The name must be written there. Now write 'Hoek Matts Ericsson.'" + +He put the pen to the paper. "This," he mused, "I write for the +sake of my faith and my soul's salvation; for the sake of my dear +friends the Hellgumists, that I may be allowed to live with them in +the unity of the spirit, and so as not to be left alone here when +they all go." + +And he wrote his first name. + +"And this," he went on thinking, "I write for the sake of my son +Gabriel, so I shan't have to lose the dear, good lad who has always +been so kind to his old father, and to let him see that after all +he is dearer to me than aught else." + +And then he wrote his middle name. + +"But this," he thought as he moved the pen for the third time, "why +do I write this?" Then, all at once, his hand began to move, as of +itself, up and down the page, leaving great black streaks upon the +hateful document. "This I do because I'm an old man and must go on +tilling the soil--go on plowing and sowing in the place where I +have always worked and slaved." + +Hoek Matts Ericsson looked rather sheepish when he turned to the +manager and showed him the paper. + +"You'll have to excuse me, sir," he said. "It really was my +intention to part with my property, but when it came to the +scratch, I couldn't do it." + + + +THE AUCTION + +One day in May there was an auction sale at the Ingmar Farm, and +what a perfect day it was!--quite as warm as in the summertime. The +men had all discarded their long white sheepskin coats and were +wearing their short jackets; the women already went about in the +loose-sleeved white blouses which belonged with their summer dress. + +The schoolmaster's wife was getting ready to attend the auction. +Gertrude did not care to go, and Storm was too busy with his class +work. When Mother Stina was all ready to start, she opened the door +to the schoolroom, and nodded a good-bye to her husband. Storm was +then telling the children the story of the destruction of the great +city of Nineveh, and the look on his face was so stern and +threatening that the poor youngsters were almost frightened to +death. + +Mother Stina, on her way to the Ingmar Farm, stopped whenever she +came to a hawthorn in bloom, or a hillock decked with white, +sweet-scented lilies of the valley. + +"Where could you find anything lovelier than this," she thought, +"even if you were to go as far away as Jerusalem?" + +The schoolmaster's wife, like many others, had come to love the +old parish more than ever since the Hellgumists had called it a +second Sodom and wanted to abandon it. She plucked a few of the +tiny wild flowers that grew by the roadside, and gazed at them +almost tenderly. "If we were as bad as they try to make us out," +she mused, "it would be an easy matter for God to destroy us. He +need only let the cold continue and keep the ground covered with +snow. But when our Lord allows the spring and the flowers to +return, He must at least think us fit to live." + +When Mother Stina finally reached the Ingmar Farm she halted and +glanced round timidly. "I think I'll go back," she said to herself. +"I could never standby and see this dear old home broken up." But +all the same she was far too curious to find out what was to be +done with the farm to turn back. + +As soon as it became known that the farm was for sale, Ingmar put +in a bid for it. But Ingmar had only about six thousand kroner, and +Halvor had already been offered twenty-five thousand by the +management of the big Bergsana sawmills and ironworks. Ingmar +succeeded in borrowing enough money to enable him to offer an +equally large sum. The Company then raised its bid to thirty +thousand, which was more than Ingmar dared offer; for he could not +think of assuming so heavy a debt. The worst of it was, that not +only would the homestead by this means pass out of the hands of the +Ingmars for all time--for the Company was never known to part with +anything once it became its property--but moreover it was not +likely that it would allow Ingmar to run the sawmill at Langfors +Falls, in which case he would be deprived of his living. Then he +would have to give up all thought of marrying Gertrude in the fall, +as had been planned. It might even be necessary for him to go +elsewhere, to seek employment. + +When Mother Stina thought of this, she did not feel very pleasantly +disposed toward Karin and Halvor. "I hope to goodness that Karin +won't come up and speak to me!" she muttered to herself. "For if +she does, I'll just have to let her know what I think of her +treatment of Ingmar. After all, it's her fault that the farm does +not already belong to him. I've been told that they'll need a lot +of money for the journey. Just the same it seems mighty strange +that Karin can have the heart to sell the old place to a +corporation that would cut down all the timber and let the fields +go to waste." + +There was some one outside the corporation who wished to buy the +place; it was the rich district judge, Berger Sven Persson. Mother +Stina felt that such an arrangement would be better for Ingmar, as +Sven Persson was a generous man, who would surely let him keep the +sawmill. "Sven Persson will not forget that he was once a poor +goose boy on this farm," she reflected; "and that it was Big Ingmar +who first took him in hand and gave him a start in life." + +Mother Stina did not go into the house, but remained in the yard, +as did most of the people who had come to attend the sale. She sat +down on a pile of boards, and began to glance about her very +carefully, as one is wont to do when taking a last look at some +beloved spot. + +Surrounding the farmyard on three sides were ranges of outbuildings, +and in the centre was a little storehouse propped on four posts. +Nothing looked particularly old, with the exception of the porch +with the carved moulding at the entrance to the dwelling-house, and +another one, still older, with stout twisted pillars, at the +entrance of the washhouse. + +Mother Stina thought of all the old Ingmarssons whose feet had trod +the yard. She seemed to see them coming home from their work in the +evening, and gathering around the hearth, tall and somewhat bent, +always afraid of intruding themselves, or of accepting more than +they felt was their due. + +And she thought of the industry and honesty which had always been +practised on this farm. "It ought never to be allowed!" was her +thought as regards the auction. "The king should be told of it!" +Mother Stina took it more to heart than if it had been a question +of parting with her own home. + +The sale had not yet begun, but a good many people had arrived. +Some had gone into the barns to look over the live stock; others +remained out in the yard examining the farm implements placed there +for inspection. Mother Stina on seeing a couple of peasant women +come out of a cowshed grew indignant. "Just look at Mother Inga and +Mother Stava!" she muttered. "Now they've been in and picked out a +cow apiece. Think how they'll be going around bragging that they've +got a cow of the old breed from the Ingmar Farm!" + +When she saw old Crofter Nils trying to choose a plow she smiled a +little scornfully. + +"Crofter Nils will think himself a real farmer when he can drive a +plough that Big Ingmar himself has used." + +More and more people kept gathering round the things to be +auctioned off. The men looked wonderingly at many of the farming +tools, which were of such old-time make that it was difficult to +guess what they had been used for. A few spectators had the +temerity to laugh at the old sleighs some of which were from +ancient times and were gorgeously painted in red and green; and the +harnesses that went with them were studded with white shells, and +fringed with tassels of many colours. + +Mother Stina seemed to see the old Ingmarssons driving slowly in +these old sleighs, going to a party or coming home from a church +wedding, with a bride seated beside them. "Many good people are +leaving the parish," she sighed. For to her it was as if all the +old Ingmars had gone on living at the farm up to that very day, +when their implements and their old carts and sleds were being +hawked about. + +"I wonder where Ingmar is keeping himself, and how he feels? When +it seems so dreadful to me, what must it be for him?" + +The weather being so fine, the auctioneer proposed that they carry +out all the things that were to go under the hammer, so as to avoid +any overcrowding of the rooms. So maids and farm hands carried out +boxes and chests, all painted in tulips and roses, Some of them had +been standing in the attic, undisturbed, for centuries. They also +brought out silver jugs and old-fashioned copper kettles, spinning-wheels +and carders, and all kinds of odd-looking weaving appliances. The +peasant women gathered around all these old treasures, picking them +up and turning them over. + +Mother Stina had not intended to buy anything, when she remembered +that there was supposed to be a loom here on which could be woven +the finest damask, and went up to look for it. Just then a maid +came out with a huge Bible, which, with its thick leather bindings +and its brass clasps and mountings, was so heavy that she could +hardly carry it. + +Mother Stina was as astounded as if some one had struck her in the +face; and went back to her seat. She knew, of course, that no one +nowadays reads these old Bibles, with their obsolete and antiquated +language, but just the same it seemed strange that Karin would want +to sell it. + +It was perhaps the very Bible the old housewife was reading when +they came and told her that her husband, the great-grandfather of +young Ingmar, had been killed by a bear. Everything that Mother +Stina saw had something to tell her. The old silver buckles lying +on the table had been taken from the trolls in Mount Klack by an +Ingmar Ingmarsson. In the rickety chaise over yonder the Ingmar +Ingmarsson who had lived during her childhood had driven to church. +She remembered that every time he had passed by her and her mother +on their way to church, the mother had nudged her and said: "Now +you must curtsy, Stina, fox here comes Ingmar Ingmarsson." + +She used to wonder why it was that her mother always wanted her to +curtsy to Ingmar Ingmarsson; she had never been so particular when +it came to the judge or the bailiff. + +Afterward she was told that when her mother was a little girl and +went to church with her mother, the latter had always nudged her +and said: 'Now you must curtsy, Stina, for here comes Ingmar +Ingmarsson." + +"God knows," sighed Mother Stina, "it's not only because I had +expected that Gertrude would some day have been mistress here that +I grieve, but it seems to me as if the whole parish were done for." + +Just then the pastor came along, looking solemn and depressed. He +did not stop an instant, but went straight to the house. Mother +Stina surmised that he had come to plead Ingmar's cause with Karin +and Halvor. + +Shortly after, the manager of the sawmills at Bergsana arrived, and +also judge Persson. The manager, who was there in the interest of +the corporation, straightway went inside, but Sven Persson walked +about in the yard for a while and looked at the things. Presently +he stopped in front of a little old man with a big beard, who was +sitting on the same pile of boards as Mother Stina. + +"I don't suppose you happen to know, Strong Ingmar, whether Ingmar +Ingmarsson has decided to buy the timber I offered him?" + +"He says no," the old man answered, "but I shouldn't be surprised +if he were to change his mind soon." At the same time he winked and +jerked his thumb in the direction of Mother Stina, thus cautioning +Sven Persson not to let her hear what they were talking about. + +"I should think he'd be satisfied to accept my terms," said the +Judge. "I don't make these offers everyday; but this I'm doing for +Big Ingmar's sake." + +"You're right about its being a good offer," the old man agreed, +"but he says that he has already made a deal else where." + +"I wonder if he has really considered what it is that he's losing?" +said Sven Persson, and walked on. + +Thus far none of the Ingmarsson family had been seen about the +yard; but presently young Ingmar was discovered standing leaning +against a wall, quite motionless, and with his eyes half closed. +Now a number of people got up to go over and shake hands with him, +but when they were quite close, they bethought themselves and went +back to their seats. + +Ingmar was deathly pale, and every one who looked at him could see +that he was suffering keenly; therefore, no one ventured to speak +to him. He stood so quietly that many had not even noticed that he +was there. But those who had could think of nothing else. Here +there was none of the merriment which usually prevails at auctions. +With Ingmar standing there, hugging the wall of the old home he was +about to lose, they felt no inclination to laugh or to joke. + +Then came a moment for the opening of the auction. The auctioneer +mounted a chair, and began to offer the first lot--an old plow. + +Ingmar never moved. He was more like a statue than a human being. + +"Good heavens! why can't he go away?" said the people. "He doesn't +have to stay here and witness this miserable business. But the +Ingmarssons never behave like other folks." + +The hammer then fell for the first sale. Ingmar started as if it +had caught him; but in a moment he again became motionless. But at +every ring of the hammer a shudder went through him. + +Two peasant women passed just in front of Mother Stina; they were +talking about Ingmar. + +"Think! If he had only proposed to some rich farmer's daughter he +might have had enough money to buy the farm; but of course he's +going to marry the schoolmaster's Gertrude," said one. + +"They say that a rich and influential man has offered to give him +the Ingmar Farm as a wedding present, if he will marry his +daughter," said the other. "You see, they don't mind his being +poor, because he belongs to such a good family." + +"Anyway, there's some advantage in being the son of Big Ingmar." + +"It would indeed have been a good thing if Gertrude had had a +little, so that she could have given him a lift," thought Mother +Stina. + +When all the farming implements had been sold, the auctioneer moved +over to another part of the yard, where the household linens were +piled. He then bean to offer for sale home-woven fabrics--table +cloths, bed linen, and hangings, holding them up so that the +embroidered tulips and the various fancy weaves could be seen all +over the yard. + +Ingmar must have noticed the light flutter of the linen pieces as +they were being held aloft, for he involuntarily glanced up. For a +moment his tired eyes looked out upon the desecration, then he +turned away. + +"I've never seen the like of that," said a young peasant girl. "The +poor boy looks as if he were dying. If he'd only go away instead of +standing here tormenting himself!" + +Mother Stina suddenly jumped to her feet as if to cry out that this +thing must be stopped; then she sat down again. "I mustn't forget +that I'm only a poor old woman," she sighed. + +All at once there was a dead silence, which made Mother Stina look +up. The silence was due to the sudden appearance of Karin, who had +just come out from the house. Now it was quite plain what they all +thought of Karin and her dealings, for as she went across the yard +every one drew back. No one put out a hand to greet her, no one +spoke to her; they simply stared disapprovingly. + +Karin looked tired and worn, and stooped more than usual. A bright +red spot appeared on both cheeks, and she looked as miserable as in +the days when she had had her struggles with Elof. She had come out +to find Mother Stina and ask her to go inside. "I didn't know till +just now that you were here, Mother Storm," she said. + +Mother Stina at first declined, but was finally persuaded. + +"We want all the old antagonisms to be forgotten now that we are +going away," said Karin. + +While they were going toward the house Mother Stina ventured: "This +must be a trying day for you, Karin." + +Karin's only response was a sigh. + +"I don't see how you can have the heart to sell all these old +things, Karin." + +"It is what one loves most that one must first and foremost +sacrifice to the Lord," said Karin. + +"Folks think it strange--" Mother Stina began, but Karin cut her +short. + +"The Lord, too, would think it strange if we held back anything we +had offered in His Name." + +Mother Stina bit her lip. She could not bring herself to say +anything further. All the reproaches which she had meant to heap +upon Karin stuck in her throat. There was an air of lofty dignity +about Karin that disarmed people; therefore, no one had the courage +to upbraid her. When they were on the broad step in front of the +porch, Mother Stina tapped Karin on the shoulder. + +"Have you noticed who is standing over there?" she asked, and +pointed to Ingmar. + +Karin winced a little, but was careful not to look over at her +brother. "The Lord will find a way out for him," she murmured. "The +Lord will surely find away out." + +To all appearances the living-room was not much changed by reason +of the auction, for in there the seats and cupboards and bedsteads +were stationary. But shining copper utensils no longer adorned the +walls, the built-in bedsteads looked bare, stripped of their +coverings and hangings, and the doors of the blue-painted +cupboards, which in the old days were always left standing half +open, to let visitors see the great silver jugs and beakers that +filled its shelves, were now closed; which meant that there was +nothing inside worth showing. The only wall decoration the room +boasted was the Jerusalem canvas, which on that day had a fresh +wreath around it. + +The large room was thronged with relatives and coreligionists of +Halvor and Karin. One after another, they were conducted with much +ceremony to a large, well-spread table, for refreshments. + +The door to the inside room was closed. In there negotiations for +the sale of the farm itself were pending. The talking was loud and +heated, especially on the part of the pastor. + +In the living-room, on the other hand, the people were very quiet, +and when any one spoke, it was in hushed tones; for every one's +thoughts were in the little room where the fate of the farm was +being settled. + +Mother Stina turned to Gabriel, saying: "I suppose there's no +chance of Ingmar getting the farm?" + +"The bidding has gone far beyond his figure by now," Gabriel +replied. "The innkeeper from Karmsund is said to have offered +thirty-two thousand, and the Company's bid has been raised to +thirty-five. The pastor is now trying to persuade Karin and Halvor +to let it go to the innkeeper rather than to the Company." + +"But what about Berger Sven Persson?" + +"It seems that he has not made any bid to-day." + +The pastor was still talking. He was evidently pleading with some +one. They could not hear what he said, but they knew that no +decision had been reached or the pastor would not have gone on +talking. + +Then came a moment of silence, after which the innkeeper was heard +to say, not exactly loudly, but with a clearness that made every +word carry: "I bid thirty-six thousand, not that I think the place +is worth that much, but I can't bear the thought of its becoming a +corporation property." + +Immediately after there was a noise as of some one striking a table +with his fist, and the manager of the Company was heard to shout: +"I bid forty thousand, and more than that Karin and Halvor are not +likely to get." + +Mother Stina, who had turned as white as a sheet, got up and went +back to the yard. It was dreary enough out there, but not as +insufferable as sitting in the close room listening to the haggling. + +The sale of linen was over; the auctioneer had again changed his +place, and was about to cry out the old family silverware--the +heavy silver jugs inlaid with gold coin, and the beakers bearing +inscriptions from the seventeenth century. When he held up the +first jug, Ingmar started forward as if to stop the sale, but +restrained himself at once, and went back to his place. + +A few minutes later an old peasant came bearing the silver jug, +which he respectfully deposited at Ingmar's feet. "You must keep +this as a souvenir of all that by right should have been yours," he +said. + +Again a tremor passed through Ingmar's body; his lips quivered, +and he tried to say something. + +"You needn't say anything now," said the old peasant. "That will +keep till another time." He withdrew a few paces, then suddenly +turned back. "I hear that folks are saying you could take over the +farm if you cared to. It would be the greatest service you could +render this parish." + +There were a number of old servants living at the farm, who had +been there from early youth. Now that old age had overtaken them +they still stayed on, and over these hung a pall of uncertainty +such as had not touched the others. They feared that under a new +master they would be turned out of their old home to become +beggars. Or, whatever happened, they knew in their hearts that no +stranger would care for them as their old master and mistress had +done. These poor old pensioners wandered restlessly about the +farmyard all day long. Seeing them shrink past, frail and helpless, +with a look of hopeless appeal in their weak, watery eyes, every +one felt sorry for them. + +Finally one old man, who was nearly a hundred, hobbled up to +Ingmar, and sat down on the ground quite close to him. It seemed to +be the only place where he could be at ease, for there he remained +quietly, resting his shaky old hands on the crook of his cane. And +as soon as old Lisa and Cowhouse Martha saw where Pickaxe Bengt had +taken refuge, they, too, came tottering up, and sat down at Ingmar's +feet. They did not speak to him, but somehow they must have had a +vague idea that he would be able to protect them--he who was now +Ingmar Ingmarsson. + +Ingmar no longer kept his eyes closed. He stood looking down at +them, as if he were counting up all the years and all the trials +through which they had lived, serving his people; and it seemed to +him that his first duty was to see that they be allowed to live out +their days in their old home. He glanced out over the yard, caught +the eye of Strong Ingmar, and nodded to him, significantly. + +Whereupon Strong Ingmar, without a word, went straight to the +house. He passed through the living-room to the inner room, and +stationed himself by the door, where he waited for an opportunity +to deliver his message. + +The pastor was standing in the middle of the room talking to Karin +and Halvor, who were sitting as stiff and motionless as a pair of +mummies. The manager from Bergsana was at the table looking +confident, for he knew that he was in a position to outbid all the +others. The innkeeper from Karmsund was standing at the window, in +such a fever of agitation that great beads of sweat came out on his +forehead, and his hands shook. Berger Sven Persson sat on the sofa +at the far end of the room, twiddling his thumbs, his hands clasped +over his stomach, his big commanding face impassive. + +The pastor was done talking, and Halvor glanced over at Karin for +advice; but she sat as if in a trance, staring blankly at the floor. + +Then Halvor turned to the pastor, and said: "Karin and I have got +to consider that we are going to a strange land, and that we and +the brethren must live on the money we can get for the farm. We've +been told that the fare alone to Jerusalem will cost us fifteen +thousand kroner. And then, afterward, we must get a house and keep +ourselves in food and clothes. So we can hardly afford to give +anything away." + +"It's unreasonable of you people to expect Karin and Halvor to sell +the farm for a mere song, just because you don't want the Company +to have it!" said the manager. "It seems to me that it would be +well to accept my offer at once, if for no other reason than to put +an end to all these useless arguments." + +"Yes," Karin spoke up, "we'd better take the highest bid." + +But the parson was not so easily beaten! When it came to a question +of handling a worldly matter he always knew just what to say. Now +he was the man, and not the preacher. + +"I'm sure that Karin and Halvor care enough about this old farm to +want to sell to some person who would keep up the property, even if +they have to take a couple of thousand kroner less," he said. + +Then he proceeded to tell--for Karin's special benefit--of various +farms that had gone to waste after falling into the hands of +corporations. + +Once or twice Karin glanced up at the pastor. He wondered whether +he had finally succeeded in making some impression upon her. "There +must surely be a little of the pride of the old peasant matron +still left in her," he thought as he went on telling of tumbledown +farmhouses and underfed cattle. + +He finally ended with these words: "I know perfectly well that if +the corporation is fully determined to buy the Ingmar Farm, it can +go on bidding against the farmers until they are forced to give up; +but if Karin and Halvor want to prevent this old place from +becoming a ruined corporation property, they will have to settle on +a price, so that the farmers may know what to be guided by." + +When the pastor made that proposition, Halvor, uneasy, glanced over +at Karin, who slowly raised her eyelids. + +"Certainly Halvor and I would rather sell the place to some one of +our own kind. Then we could go away from here knowing that +everything would continue in the old way." + +"If some person outside the Company wants to give forty thousand +for the property, we will be satisfied to accept that sum for it," +said Halvor, knowing at last what his wife's wishes were. + +When that was said, Strong Ingmar walked over to Sven Persson and +whispered to him. + +Judge Persson immediately arose and went up to Halvor. "Since you +say you are willing to take forty thousand kroner for the farm, +I'll buy it at that figure," he said. + +Halvor's face began to twitch, and a lump seemed to rise in his +throat; he had to swallow before he could speak. "Thank you, +judge," he finally stammered. "I'm glad that I can leave the farm +in such good hands!" + +Judge Persson then shook hands with Karin, who was so moved that +she could hardly keep back the tears. + +"You may be sure, Karin, that everything here will be as of old," +he said. + +"Are you going to live at the farm yourself?" Karin inquired. + +"No," said he, then added with great solemnity: "My youngest +daughter is to be married in the summer, and she and her husband +are to have the farm as a gift from me." He then turned to the +pastor and thanked him. + +"Well, Parson, you'll have it your own way," he said. "I never +dreamed in the days when I was a poor goose boy on this place that +some time it would be in my power to arrange for an Ingmar +Ingmarsson to come back to the Ingmar Farm!" + +The pastor and the other men all stood staring at the judge in +dumb amazement, not grasping at first what was meant. + +Karin left the room at once. While passing through the living-room +to the yard, she drew herself up, retied her headkerchief, and +smoothed out her apron. Then, with an air of solemn dignity, she +went straight up to Ingmar and grasped his hand. + +"Let me congratulate you, Ingmar," she said, her voice shaking with +joy. "You and I have been strongly opposed to each other of late in +matters of religion; but since God does not grant me the solace of +having you with us, I thank Him for allowing you to become master +of the old farm." + +Ingmar did not speak. His hand lay limp in Karin's, and when she +let it drop, he stood there looking just as unhappy as he had +looked all day. + +The men who had been inside at the final settlement came out now, +and shook hands with Ingmar, offering their congratulations. "Good +luck to you, Ingmar Ingmarsson of the Ingmar Farm!" they said. + +At that a glimmer of happiness crossed Ingmar's face, and he +murmured softly to himself: "Ingmar Ingmarsson of the Ingmar Farm." +He was like a child that has just received a gift it has long been +wishing for. But the next moment his expression changed to one of +intense revolt and repugnance, as if he would have thrust the +coveted prize from him. + +In a flash the news had spread .all over the farm. People talked +loudly and questioned eagerly; some were so pleased they wept for +joy. No one listened now to the cries of the auctioneer, but +everybody crowded around Ingmar to wish him happiness--peasants and +gentlefolk, friends and strangers, alike. + +Ingmar, standing there, surrounded by all these happy people, +suddenly looked up. He then saw Mother Stina, standing a little +apart from the others, her eyes fixed on him. She was very pale, +and looked old and poor. As he met her gaze, she turned and walked +away. + +Ingmar hastily left the others and hurried after her. Then bending +down to her, every muscle of his face aquiver with grief, he said +in a husky voice: + +"Go home to Gertrude, Mother Stina, and tell her that I have +betrayed her, that I've sold myself for the farm. Tell her never to +think more of such a miserable wretch as I." + + + +GERTRUDE + +Something strange had come over Gertrude that she could neither +stay nor control--something that grew and grew until it finally +threatened to take complete possession of her. + +It began at the moment when she learned that Ingmar had failed her. +It was really a boundless fear of seeing Ingmar again--of suddenly +meeting him on the road, or at church, or elsewhere. Why that would +be such a terrible thing she hardly knew, but she felt that she +could never endure it. + +Gertrude would have preferred shutting herself in, day and night, +so as to be sure of not meeting Ingmar; but that was not possible +for a poor girl like her. She had to go out and work in the garden, +and every morning and evening she was obliged to tramp the long +distance from the house to the pasture to milk the cows, and she +was often sent to the village store to buy sugar and meal and +whatever else was needed in the house. + +When Gertrude went out on the road she would always draw her +kerchief far down over her face, keep her eyes lowered, and rush on +as if fiends were pursuing her. As soon as she could, she would +turn from the highroad, and take the narrow bypaths alongside the +ditches and drains, where she felt there was less likelihood of her +meeting Ingmar. + +Never for a moment did she feel free from fear; for there was not a +single place in all the parish where she could feel certain of not +running across him. If she went rowing on the river, he might be +there floating his timber, or if she ventured into the depths of +the forest, he might cross her path on his way to work. + +When weeding in the garden, she would often glance down the road, +so that she might see if he were approaching, and make her escape. +Ingmar was so well known about the place that her dog would not +have barked at sight of him, and her pigeons, that strutted about +the gravel walk, would not have flown up and warned her of his +approach with the rustle of their flapping wings. + +Gertrude's haunting dread did not diminish, but rather increased +from day to day. All her grief had turned to fear, and her strength +to combat it grew less and less. "Soon I shall not dare venture +outside the door," she thought. "I may get to be a bit queer and +morose, even if I don't become quite insane. God, God, take this +awful fear away from me!" she prayed. "I can see that my mother +and father think I'm not right in my head; and every one else must +think the same. Oh, dear Lord God, help me!" she cried. + +When this fear condition was at its worst, it happened one night +that Gertrude had an extraordinary dream. She dreamed that she had +gone out, with her milk pail on her arm, to do the milking. The +cows were grazing in an enclosed meadow near the skirt of the +forest, a long way from home. She went by the narrow paths, +alongside the ditches and field drains. She had great difficulty in +walking, for she felt so weak and weary that she could hardly lift +her feet. "What can be the matter with me?" she asked herself, in +the dream. "Why is it so hard for me to walk?" And she also +answered herself. "You are tired because you carry about with you +this heavy burden of sorrow." + +When she finally got to the pasturage, there were no cows in sight. +She became uneasy, and began to look for them in their usual +haunts--behind the brushwood, over by the brook, and under the +birches--but there was not a sign of them. While searching for the +cows she discovered a gap in the hedge, on the side fronting the +forest. She grew terribly alarmed, and stood wringing her hands. It +suddenly occurred to her that the cows must have cleared this +opening. "Tired as I am, must I now tramp the whole forest to find +them!" she whimpered, in her dream. + +But she went straight on into the woods, slowly pushing her way +through fir brush and prickly juniper bushes. Presently she found +herself walking on a smooth and even road without knowing how she +had got there. The road was soft and rather slippery from the brown +fir needles that covered it. On either side stood great towering +pines, and on the yellow moss under the trees sunbeams were +playing. Here it was so lovely and so peaceful that she almost +forgot her fears. + +Of a sudden, she caught sight of an old woman moving about in +among the trees. It was Finne-Marit, she who was famed as a witch. +"How dreadful that that wicked old woman is still alive," thought +Gertrude, "and that I should come upon her here in the forest!" She +tried to slip along very cautiously, so as not to be seen by the +witch. But before Gertrude could get past, the old woman looked up. + +"Hi, there!" the old woman shouted. "Wait a bit, and you'll see +something!" In a twinkling, Finne-Marit was in the road and on her +knees almost in front of Gertrude. Then, with her forefinger, she +drew a circle in the carpet of fir needles, at the centre of which +she placed a shallow brass bowl. + +"Now she's going to do some conjuring," thought Gertrude. "Why, +then it must be true that she is a witch!" + +"Look down into the bowl!" said Finne-Marit, "and maybe you'll +see something." When Gertrude glanced down, she gave a start. +Mirrored in the bowl, she saw plainly the face of Ingmar. +Immediately the old woman handed her a long needle. "See here," she +said; "take this and pierce his eyes. Do this to him because he has +played you false." Gertrude hesitated a little, but felt strongly +tempted. "Why should he fare well, and be rich and happy, while you +suffer?" said the old dame. With that Gertrude was seized by an +uncontrollable desire to do the ogre's bidding, and lowered the +needle. "Mind you stick him right in the eye!" said the witch. +Whereupon Gertrude quickly drove the needle, first into one and +then into the other of Ingmar's eyes. In so doing, she noticed that +the needle went far down-not as though it had come into contact +with metal, but rather as if it had penetrated some soft substance. +When she drew it out, there was blood on it. + +Gertrude, seeing blood on the needle, thought she had really put +out Ingmar's eyes. Then she was so overcome by remorse for what she +had done, and so frightened, that she woke up. + +She lay for a long while, trembling and weeping, before she was +able to convince herself that it was only a dream. "May God +preserve me from any thought of vengeance!" she moaned. + +She had barely quieted down and dropped off to sleep again, when +the dream recurred. + +Once more she wandered along the narrow paths toward the grazing +ground. This time, too, the cows had strayed, and she went into the +forest to look for them. Again she came to the beautiful road, and +saw the sunbeams playing on the moss. Then she suddenly recalled +all that had just happened to her in a dream, and grew terribly +frightened lest she should meet the old witch again. Seeing nothing +of her, she felt greatly relieved. + +All at once she seemed to see the earth between a couple of moss +tufts open. Suddenly a head appeared. Then she saw the body of a +tiny little man work its way up out of the earth, and all the while +the little man was making a buzzing and humming noise. By that she +knew whom she had encountered. It was Humming Pete, of course, who +was said to be a bit queer in his head. Sometimes he used to stay +down in the village, but during the summer he always lived in a mud +cave in the forest. + +Then Gertrude recalled to memory what she had heard folks say of +Pete: "Any one wanting to injure an enemy without risking discovery +could avail himself of his services." He was suspected of having +started a number of incendiary fires at the instigation of others. + +Gertrude then went up to the man and asked him, half in fun, if he +wouldn't like to set fire to the Ingmar Farm. She wished it done, +she said, because Ingmar Ingmarsson thought more of the farm than +of her. + +To her horror, the half-witted dwarf was ready to act on her +suggestion. Nodding gleefully, he started on a run toward the +settlement. She hurried after, but could not seem to overtake him. +Her dress caught in the brushwood, her feet sank in the marsh, and +she stumbled over stony ground. When she was almost out of the +forest, what should she see through the trees but the glow from a +fire. "He has done it, he has set fire to the farm!" she shrieked, +again awakening from the horror of the dream. + +Now Gertrude sat up in bed; tears ran down her cheeks. She dared +not sink back on her pillow again for fear of dreaming further. +"Oh, Lord help me, Lord help me!" she cried. "I don't know how much +evil there may be hidden in my heart, but God knows that never once +during all this time have I thought of revenging myself on Ingmar. +O God, let me not fall into this sin!" she prayed. Wringing her +hands in an agony of despair, she cried out: + +"Grief is a menace, grief is a menace, grief is a menace!" + +It was not very clear to her just what she meant by that; but she +felt somehow that her poor heart was like a ravaged garden, in +which all the flowers had been uprooted, and now Grief, as a +gardener, moved about in there, planting thistles and poisonous +herbs. + +The whole forenoon of the following day, Gertrude thought that she +was still dreaming. Her dream had seemed so real that she could not +get it out of her mind. Remembering with what satisfaction she had +plunged the needle into Ingmar's eyes, she shuddered. "How dreadful +that I should have become so cruel and resentful! What shall I do +to rid myself of this? I'm really getting to be a very wicked +person!" + +After dinner Gertrude went out to milk the cows. She drew her +kerchief down over her face, as usual, and kept her eyes on the +ground. Walking along the narrow paths where she had wandered in +the dream, even the flowers by the wayside looked the same as in +the dream. In her strange state of semi-wakefulness, she could +hardly distinguish between what she actually saw and what she only +seemed to see in fancy. + +When she reached the pasturage, there were no cows to be seen. And +she began to search for them, as she had done in the dream--looking +down by the brook, under the birches, and behind the brushwood. She +could not find them, yet she felt quite certain that they must be +thereabout, and that she would probably see them were she only wide +awake. Presently she came upon an opening in the hedge, and knew at +once that the cows had made their escape through this. + +Gertrude straightway started in search of the strayed cattle, +following the track which their hoofs had made in the soft earth +of the forest. It was plain that they had turned in on a road +leading to a remote Saeter. "Ah!" she said, "now I know where they +are. I remember that the folks down at Luck Farm were going to +drive their cattle to the Saeter this morning. Our cows, on hearing +the tinkle of their cowbells, must have broken loose and followed +the others." + +Gertrude's anxiety had for the moment made her wide awake. So she +determined to go up to the Saeter, and fetch the cows herself; +otherwise there was no telling when they would come back. Now she +walked briskly along the steep and rocky road. + +After going uphill for a time there was an abrupt turn in the road, +and she suddenly came upon smooth and even ground that was thick +with pine needles. She recognized it as the road of her dream. +There stood the selfsame towering pines, and on the moss were the +selfsame yellow sun spots. + +At sight of the road Gertrude lapsed into the dreamy state in which +she had been most of the day. She moved along, half expecting that +something wonderful would happen to her. She looked under the fir +trees to see if any of the mysterious beings who wander about in +the depths of the forest would suddenly appear to her. However, +none appeared. But in her mind new thoughts were awakened. "What if +I should really take revenge on Ingmar, would that still my fears? +Would I then escape the horrors of insanity? If he were to suffer +what I am suffering, would that be any relief to me?" + +The beautiful road seemed interminably long. She walked there a +whole hour, astonished that nothing unusual had happened. The road +finally ended in a forest meadow. It was a lovely spot, covered +with fresh green grass and many wild flowers. On one side rose a +steep mountain; the other sides were covered with high trees--mostly +mountain ash, with thick clusters of white blossoms, and here and +there was a group of birches and alders. A rather broad stream +gushed down the mountainside and wound its way through the meadow, +then went hurling down into a gap that was covered with dwarfed +trees and bushes. + +Gertrude stood stock still; she knew the place at once. That stream +was Blackwater Brook, and strange tales were told of it. Sometimes, +when crossing this stream, people had clear visions of events that +were taking place elsewhere. A little lad, in crossing, once saw a +bridal procession which happened just then to be moving toward the +church far down in the village, and a charcoal burner once saw a +king, with crown and sceptre, ride to his coronation. + +Gertrude's heart was in her mouth "God have mercy on me for what I +may see here!" she gasped, half tempted to turn back. "Poor little +me!" she wailed, feeling sorry for herself. "But I must--I must +cross here to fetch my cows." + +"Dear Lord, don't let me see anything dreadful or bad!" she prayed, +her hands tightly clasped, and shaking from fright. "And don't let +me fall into temptation." + +There was no doubt in her mind that she would see something; she +was so sure of it, in fact, that she hardly dared venture out upon +the stones that led across the brook. Yet something made her do it. +When halfway over, all at once she saw something moving in among +the trees on the other side of the brook. It was no bridal +procession, however, but a solitary man, who was slowly coming +toward the meadow. + +The man was tall and young, and was dressed in a long black garment +that came to his feet. His head was uncovered, and his hair hung in +long black locks over his shoulders. He had a slender and very +beautiful face. He was coming straight toward Gertrude. In his +eyes, which were clear and radiant, there was a wonderful light; +and when his gaze fell upon Gertrude, she felt that he could read +all her sorrowful thoughts, and she saw that he pitied her whose +mind was haunted by fears of the paltry things of earth, whose soul +had become darkened by thoughts of revenge, and whose heart had +been sown with the thistles and poison flowers of Grief. + +As he drew nigh, there came over Gertrude such a blissful sense of +ever growing peace and serenity! And when he had passed by, there +was no longer any fear or resentment in her thought. All that was +not good had vanished like a sickness of which one has been healed. + +Gertrude stood rapt for a long while. The vision faded away, but +she was still held by the beauty of it, and the impression of what +she had seen stayed with her. Clasping her hands she raised them in +ecstasy. + +"I have seen the Christ!" she cried out with joy. "I have seen the +Christ! He has freed me from my sorrow, and I love Him. Now I can +never again love anyone else in the world." + +The trials of life had suddenly dwindled into mere nothings, and +life's long years appeared as but a moment in the Glass of Time, +while earthly joys seemed trivial and shallow and meaningless. All +at once it became clear to Gertrude how she was to order her life; +so that she might never again sink down into the darkness of fear, +nor be tempted into doing anything mean or hateful, she would go +with the Hellgumists to Jerusalem. This thought had come to her +when the Christ passed by. She felt that it had come from Him; she +had read it in His eyes. + +*** + +On the beautiful June day when the daughter of Berger Sven Persson +was given in marriage to Ingmar Ingmarsson, a tall, slender young +woman stopped at the Ingmar Farm early in the morning, and asked if +she might speak to the bridegroom. She wore her kerchief so far +down over her face that nothing could be seen of it save a creamy +cheek and a pair of rosy lips. On her arm was a basket that held +little bundles of handmade trimmings, a few hair chains, and hair +bracelets. + +She gave her message to an old maidservant, whom she met in the +yard, and who went in and told the housewife. The housewife +answered sharply: + +"Go straight back and tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is just going +to drive to church; he has no time to talk with her." + +As soon as the young woman received this curt dismissal, she went +her way. When the bridal party had returned from the church, she +came back, and again asked if she might speak to Ingmar Ingmarsson. +This time she approached one of the menservants who was hanging +round the stable door; he went in and told the master. + +"Tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is about to sit down to the +wedding feast," said the master. "He has no time to talk to her." + +On receiving this answer, she sighed and went her way. When she +came again it was late in the evening, as the sun was setting. This +time she gave her message to a child that was swinging on the gate. +The child ran straight to the house and told the bride. + +"Tell her that Ingmar Ingmarsson is dancing with his wife," said +the bride. "He has no time to talk to anyone else." + +When the child came back and repeated what had been told her, the +young woman smiled indulgently, and said: "Now you are telling +something that isn't true. Ingmar Ingmarsson is not dancing with +his bride." + +This time she did not go away, but remained standing at the gate. + +The bride, meanwhile, thought to herself: "I have told a lie on my +wedding day!" Sorry for what she had done, she went up to Ingmar, +and told him that there was a stranger outside who wished to speak +with him. Ingmar went out, and found Gertrude standing at the gate, +waiting. + +When Gertrude saw him coming, she started down the road, Ingmar +following. They walked along in silence till they were some +distance away from the house. + +As to Ingmar, it could be truthfully said of him that he had aged +in the short time of a few weeks. At any rate, there was something +about his face that showed added shrewdness and caution. He also +stooped more, and looked more subdued, now that he had acquired +riches, than was the case when he had nothing. + +Indeed, he was anything but glad to see Gertrude! Every day since +the auction he had been trying to persuade himself into the belief +that he was satisfied with his bargain. "In fact, we Ingmarssons +care for little else than to plow and to sow the fields on the +Ingmar Farm," was what he had said to himself. + +But there was something that troubled him even more than the loss +of Gertrude--the thought that now there was one human being who +could say of him that he had not lived up to his word. Keeping a +little behind Gertrude all the while, he went over in his mind all +the scornful things which she had a right to say to him. + +Presently Gertrude sat down on a stone at the roadside, and put her +basket on the ground; then she drew her kerchief still farther over +her face. + +"Sit down," she said to Ingmar, pointing to another stone. "I have +many things to talk over with you." + +Ingmar sat down, and was glad that he felt quite calm. "This will +be easier than I had expected," he said to himself. "I thought it +was going to be much harder on me to see Gertrude again, and to +hear her speak. I was afraid that my love for her would get the +better of me." + +"I should never have come like this, and disturbed you on your +wedding day, had I not been compelled to do so," said Gertrude. "I +shall soon be leaving this part of the world, never to return. I +was ready to start a week ago, when something came up that made it +necessary for me to put off going, that I might speak with you to-day." + +Ingmar sat all huddled up, with his shoulders hunched and his head +drawn in, as if he were expecting a tempest, saying to himself, +meanwhile: "Whatever Gertrude may think about it, I'm sure I did +the right thing in choosing the farm. I should have been lost +without it." + +"Ingmar," said Gertrude, blushing so that the little corner of her +cheek that could be seen behind the kerchief showed crimson. "You +remember, of course, that five years ago I was ready to join the +Hellgumists. At that time I had given my heart to Christ. But I +took it back, to give it to you. In so doing, I acted wrongly, and +that's why I've had to suffer all this. As I once forsook Christ, +even so have I been forsaken by the one I loved." + +When Ingmar perceived that Gertrude was about to tell him that +she was going with the Hellgumists, he at once showed signs of +disapproval. "I can't bear to have her join these Jerusalem people, +and go away to a strange land," he thought. And he opposed her plan +as vehemently as he would have done had he still been engaged to +her. "You mustn't think like that, Gertrude," he protested. "God +never meant this as a punishment to you." + +"No, no, Ingmar, not as a punishment, indeed not! but only to show +me how badly I had chosen the second time. Ah, this is no +punishment! I feel so happy, and lack for nothing. All my sorrow +has been turned into joy. You will understand this, Ingmar, when I +tell you that the Lord Himself has chosen me, and called me." + +Ingmar was silent; a look of weariness came into his eyes. "Don't +be a fool!" he said to himself. "Let Gertrude go. To put sea and +land between you and her would be the best thing that could happen-- +sea and land, yes, sea and land!" + +And yet that something within him which did not want to let +Gertrude go was, nevertheless, stronger than himself. So he said: +"I can't conceive of your parents allowing you to leave them." + +"That they'll never do!" Gertrude replied. "And I know it so well +that I wouldn't even dare ask them. Father would never give his +consent. He would use force, if necessary, to prevent my going. The +hard part of it is that I shall have to sneak away. They think now +that I'm going about the country selling my handiwork; so they +won't know about it until I have joined the Jerusalem pilgrims at +Gothenburg and am well out of Sweden." + +Ingmar was very much distressed to think that Gertrude would be +willing to cause her parents such heavy sorrow. "Can it be that she +realizes how badly she is behaving?" he wondered. He was about to +remonstrate with her, then checked himself. "You're hardly the +proper person to reproach Gertrude for anything that she may do," +he remarked to himself. + +"Indeed, I know it will be hard on father and mother," said +Gertrude, "but I must follow Jesus." And she smiled as she named +the name of the Saviour. "He has saved me from destruction. He has +healed my sick soul!" she said feelingly. + +And as if she had only now found courage to do so, she pushed back +her kerchief, and looked Ingmar straight in the eyes. It struck +Ingmar that she was drawing comparisons between him and some one +whose image she carried in her heart, and he felt that she found +him small and insignificant. + +"It will be very hard for father and mother," she reiterated. +"Father is an old man now, and must soon give up his school; so +they will have even less to live upon than before. When he has no +work to take up his mind, he will become restless and irritable. +Mother won't have an easy time with him. They'll be very unhappy, +both of them. Of course it would have been quite different could I +have stayed at home to cheer them." + +Gertrude paused, as if afraid to come out with what she wanted to +say. Ingmar's throat tightened, and his eyes began to fill. He +divined that Gertrude wanted to ask him to look after her old +parents. + +"And I fancied that she had come here to-day only to abuse and +threaten me! And instead she opens her heart to me." + +"You won't have to ask me, Gertrude," he said. "This is a great +honour for you to confer upon one who has behaved so badly to you. +Be assured that I shall treat your old parents better than I have +treated you." + +When Ingmar said this, his voice trembled, and the wary look was +gone from his face. "How kind Gertrude is to me!" he thought. "She +does not ask this of me only out of consideration for her parents, +but she wants to show me that she has forgiven me." + +"I knew, Ingmar, that you wouldn't say no to this. And I have +something more to tell you." She spoke now in a brighter and more +confident tone. "I've got a great surprise for you!" + +"How charmingly Gertrude speaks!" Ingmar was thinking. "She has the +sweetest, the cheeriest, and most tuneful voice I have ever heard!" + +"About a week ago," Gertrude continued, "I left home intending to +go straight on to Gothenburg, so as to be there when the Hellgumists +arrive. The first night I stopped over at Bergsana with a poor +widow whose name it Marie Boving. That name I want you to remember +Ingmar--_Marie Boving_. If she should ever come to want, you must +help her." + +"How pretty Gertrude is!" he thought, as he nodded and promised to +remember Marie Boving's name. "How pretty she is! What will become +of me when she goes? God forgive me if I did wrong in giving her up +for an old farm! Fields and meadows can never be the same to you as +a human being; they can't laugh with you when you're happy, nor +comfort you when you're sad! Nothing on earth can make up for the +loss of one who has loved you." + +"Marie Boving," Gertrude went on, "has a little room off her +kitchen, which she let me have for the night. 'You'll surely sleep +well to-night,' she said to me, 'as you are to lie on the bedding +which I bought at the sale on the Ingmar Farm.' But as soon as I +laid down, I felt a hard lump in the pillow under my head. After +all, it wasn't such extra good bedding Marie had bought for herself, +I thought; but I was so tired out from tramping around all day, +that I finally dropped off to sleep. In the middle of the night I +awoke and turned the pillow, so I shouldn't feel that hard lump. +While smoothing out the pillow, I discovered that the ticking had +been cut and clumsily basted together. Inside there was something +hard that crackled like paper. 'I don't have to lie on rocks,' I +said to myself; then I ripped open a corner of the pillow, and +pulled out a small parcel, which was done up in wrapping paper and +tied with string." + +Gertrude paused and glanced at Ingmar, to see whether his curiosity +was aroused; but apparently he had not listened very closely to +what she was telling. + +"How prettily Gertrude uses her hands when she talks!" he thought. +"I don't think I've ever seen any one as graceful as she is. +There's an old saying that man loves mankind above everything. +However, I believe that I did the right thing, for it wasn't only +the farm that needed me, but the whole parish." Just the same, he +felt to his discomfort that now it was not so easy to persuade +himself that he loved his old home more than he loved Gertrude. + +"I put the parcel down beside the bed, thinking that in the morning +I would give it to Marie. But at daybreak I saw that your name was +written on the wrapper. On closer examination I decided to take it +along, and turn it over to you without saying anything about it, +either to Marie or to any one else." Then taking a little parcel +from the bottom of her basket, she said: "Here it is, Ingmar. Take +it; it's your property." She supposed, of course, that he would be +happily surprised. + +Ingmar took the parcel, without much thought as to what he was +receiving. He was struggling to ward off the bitter regrets that +were stealing in on him. + +"If Gertrude only knew how bewitching she is when she's so sweet +and gentle! It would have been better for me had she come to +upbraid me. I suppose I ought to be glad that she is as she is," +he thought, "but I'm not. It seems as if she were grateful to me +for having failed her." + +"Ingmar," said Gertrude, in a tone that finally made him understand +that she had something very important to tell him. "When Elof lay +sick at the Ingmar Farm, he must have used that very pillow." + +She took the parcel from Ingmar and opened it. Then she counted out +twenty crisp, new bank notes, each of which was a thousand-krona +bill. Holding the money in front of his eyes, she said: + +"Look, Ingmar! here's every krona of your inheritance money. It was +Elof, of course, who hid it in the pillow!" + +Ingmar heard what she said, and he saw the bank notes--but he saw +and heard as in a daze. Gertrude placed the money in his hand, but +his fingers would not close over it, and it fell to the ground. +Then Gertrude picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket. Ingmar +stood there, reeling like a drunken man. Suddenly he raised his +arm, clenched his fist tight, and shook it, just as a drunken man +might have done. "My God! My God!" he groaned. + +Indeed, he wished that he could have had a word with our Lord, +could have asked Him why this money had not been found sooner, and +why it should have turned up now when it was not needed, and when +Gertrude was already lost to him. The next moment his hand dropped +heavily on Gertrude's shoulder. + +"You certainly know how to take your revenge!" + +"Do you call this revenge, Ingmar?" asked Gertrude, in dismay. + +"What else should I call it? Why didn't you bring me this money at +once?" + +"I wanted to wait until the day of your wedding." + +"If you had only come before, I'm sure I could have bought back the +farm from Berger Sven Persson, and then I would have married you." + +"Yes, I knew that." + +"And yet you come on my wedding day, when it's too late!" + +"It would have been too late in any case, Ingmar. It was too late a +week ago, it is too late now, and it will be too late forever." + +Ingmar had again sunk down on the stone. He covered his face with +his hands and wailed: + +"And I thought there was no help for it! I believed that no power +on earth could have altered this; but now I find that there was a +way out, that we might all have been happy." + +"Understand one thing, Ingmar: when I found the money, I knew at +once that it would be the kind of help to us that you say. But it +was no temptation to me--no, not for a second; for I belong to +another." + +"You should have kept it yourself!" cried Ingmar. "I feel as if a +wolf were gnawing at my heart. So long as I believed there was no +other course open to me, it wasn't so bad; but now that I know you +could have been mine, I can't--" + +"Why Ingmar! I came here to bring you happiness." + + +Meanwhile, the folks at the house had become impatient, and had +gone out on the porch, where they were calling: "Ingmar! Ingmar!" + +"Yes, and there's the bride, too, waiting for me!" he said +mournfully. "And to think that you, Gertrude, should have brought +all this about! When I had to give you up, circumstances forced me +to do so, while you have spoiled everything simply to make me +unhappy. Now I know how my father felt when my mother killed the +child!" + +Then he broke into violent sobs. "Never have I felt toward you +as I do now!" he cried passionately. "I've never loved you half so +much as I do now. Little did I think that love could be so cruelly +bitter!" + +Gertrude gently placed her hand on his head. "Ingmar," she said +very quietly, "it was never, never my meaning to take revenge on +you. But so long as your heart is wedded to the things of this +earth, it is wedded to sorrow." + +For a long while Ingmar sat motionless, his head bowed. When +he at last looked up, Gertrude was gone. People now came running +from the farm to find him. He struck his clenched fist against the +stone upon which he sat, and a look of determination came into his +face. + +"Gertrude and I will surely meet again," he said. "Then maybe it +will be altogether different. We Ingmarssons are known to win what +we yearn for." + + + +THE DEAN'S WIDOW + +Everybody tried to dissuade the Hellgumists from going to Jerusalem. +And toward the last, it seemed as though the very hills and vales +echoed the plea, "Do not go! Do not go!" + +Even the country gentlemen did their best to get the peasants to +abandon the idea. The bailiff, the judge, and the councilmen gave +them no peace; they asked them how they could feel sure that these +Americans were not imposters; for they had no way of knowing what +sort of folk they would be getting in with. In that far Eastern +country there was neither law nor order; there one was always in +danger of falling into the hands of brigands. Besides, there were +no decent roads in that land--all their goods would have to be +transported by means of pack-horses, as in the wild forests up +North. + +The doctor told them they would never be able to stand the climate; +that Jerusalem was full of smallpox and malignant fevers; they were +going away only to die. + +The Hellgumists answered that they knew all this, and it was for +that very reason they were going. They were going there in order to +fight the smallpox and the fevers, to build roads and to till the +soil. God's country should no longer lie waste; they would transform +it into a paradise. And no one was able to turn them from their +purpose. + +Down in the village lived an old lady, the widow of the Dean. She +was very, very old! She occupied a large chamber above the post +office, just across the street from the church, where she had lived +since the death of her husband. + +Some of the more well-to-do peasant women had always made it a rule +to drop in to see the old lady on Sundays, before the service, and +bring her some freshly baked bread, a pat of butter, or a can of +milk. On these occasions she would always have the coffee pot put +on the fire the moment they came in, and the one who could shout +the loudest always talked with her, for she was frightfully deaf. +Of course they would try to tell her about everything that had +happened during the week, but they could never be certain as to how +much she heard of what was told her. + +She never left her room, and there were times when it seemed as if +people had forgotten her entirely. Then some one, in passing, would +see her old face back of the draped white curtains at the window, +and think: "I must not forget her in her loneliness; to-morrow when +we have killed the calf, I'll run in to see her, and take her a bit +of fresh meat." + +No one could find out just how much she knew or did not know of +what went on in the parish. With the advancing years, she became +more and more detached, and apparently lost all interest in the +things of this world. Now she just sat reading all the while in an +old Postil, which she seemed to know by heart. + +Living with her was a faithful old servant, who helped her dress, +and prepared her meals. The two of them were in mortal fear of +robbers and mice, and they were so afraid of fire that they would +sit in the dark the whole evening rather than light the lamp. + +Several among those who had lately become followers of Hellgum, +used to call on the Dean's widow in the old days, and bring her +little gifts; but since their conversion they had separated +themselves from all who were not of their faith; so they no longer +went to see her. No one knew whether she understood why they did +not come. Nor did anybody know whether she had heard anything about +their proposed emigration to Jerusalem. + +But one day the old lady took it into her head to go for a drive, +and ordered the servant to get her a carriage and pair. Imagine the +astonishment of the old servant! But when she attempted to +remonstrate, the old lady suddenly became stone deaf. Raising her +right hand, her forefinger poised in the air, she said: + +"I wish to go for a drive, Sara Lena, you must find me a carriage +and a pair of horses." + +There was nothing for Sara Lena but to do as she was told. So she +went over to the pastor's to ask for the loan of his rig, which was +a fairly decent-looking turnout. That done, she was put to the +bother of airing and brushing an old fur cape and an old velvet +bonnet that had been lying in camphor twenty consecutive years. And +it was no small task getting the old lady down the stairs and into +the wagon! She was so feeble that it seemed as if her life could +have been as easily snuffed out as a candle flame in a storm. + +When the Dean's widow was at last safely seated in the carriage, +she ordered the driver to take her to the Ingmar Farm. + +Maybe the folks up at the farm were not surprised when they saw who +was coming! The housefolk came running out, and lifted her down +from the carriage, and ushered her into the living-room. Seated at +the table in there were quite a number of Hellgumists. Of late they +had been in the habit of coming together and having their frugal +meals in common--meals which consisted of rice and tea and other +light things; this was to prepare them for the coming journey +across the desert. + +The Dean's widow glanced around the room. Several persons tried to +speak to her, but that day she heard nothing whatever. Suddenly she +put up her hand, and said in that hard, dry voice in which deaf +people are wont to speak: "You do not come to see _me_ any more; +therefore, I have come to _you_, to warn you not to go to Jerusalem. +It is a wicked city. It was there they crucified our Saviour." + +Karin attempted to answer the old lady, who apparently did not +hear, for she went right on: + +"It is a wicked city," she repeated. "Bad people live there. 'Twas +there they crucified Christ. I have come here to-day," she added, +"because this has been a good house. Ingmarsson has been a good +name; it has always been a good name. Therefore, you must remain in +our parish," + +Then she turned and walked out of the house. Now she had done her +part, and could die in peace. This was the last service that life +demanded of her. + +After the old lady had gone, Karin broke into tears. "Perhaps it +isn't right for us to go," she sighed. But she was pleased that the +Dean's widow had said that Ingmarsson was a good name--that it had +always been a good name. + +It was the first and only time Karin had been known to waver, or +to express any doubt as to the advisability of the great +undertaking. + + + +THE DEPARTURE OF THE PILGRIMS + +One beautiful morning in July, a long train of carts and wagons set +out from the Ingmar Farm. The Hellgumists had at last completed +their arrangements, and were now leaving for Jerusalem--the first +stage of their journey being the long drive to the railway station. + +The procession, in moving toward the village, had to pass a +wretched hovel which was called Mucklemire. The people who lived +there were a disreputable lot--the kind of scum of the earth which +must have sprung into being when our Lord's eyes were turned, or +when he had been busy elsewhere. + +There was a whole horde of dirty, ragged youngsters on the place, +who were in the habit of running loose all day, shrieking after +passing vehicles, and calling the occupants bad names; there was an +old crone, who usually sat by the roadside, tipsy; and there were a +husband and wife who were always quarrelling and fighting, and who +had never been known to do any honest work. No one could say +whether they begged more than they stole, or stole more than they +begged. + +When the Jerusalem-farers came alongside this wretched hovel, which +was about as tumbledown as a place can become where wind and storm +have, for many years, been allowed to work havoc, they saw the old +crone standing erect and sober at the roadside, on the same spot +where she usually sat in a drunken stupor, lurching to and fro, and +babbling incoherently, and with her were four of the children. All +five were now washed and combed, and as decently dressed as was +possible for them to be. + +When the persons seated in the first cart caught sight of them, +they slackened their speed and drove by very slowly; the others did +likewise, walking their horses. + +All the Jerusalem-farers suddenly burst into tears, the grown-ups +crying softly, while the children broke into loud sobs and wails. + +Nothing had so moved them as the sight of Beggar Lina standing at +the roadside clean and sober. Even to this day their eyes fill when +they think of her; of how on that morning she had denied herself +the drink, and had come forth sober, with the grandchildren washed +and combed, to do honour to their departure. + +When they had all passed by, Beggar Lina also began to weep. + +"Those people are going to Heaven to meet Jesus," she told the +children. "All those people are going to Heaven but we are left +standing by the wayside." + +*** + +When the procession of carts and wagons had driven halfway through +the parish, it came to the long floating bridge that lies rocking +on the river. + +This is a difficult bridge to cross. The first part of it is a +steep incline all the way down to the edge of the stream; then come +two rather abrupt elevations, under which boats and timber rafts +can pass; and at the other end the up grade is so heavy that both +man and beast dread to climb it. + +That bridge has always been a source of annoyance. The planks keep +rotting, and have to be replaced continually. In the spring, when +the ice breaks, it has to be watched day and night to prevent its +being knocked to pieces by drifting ice floes; and when the spring +rains cause a rise in the river, large portions of the bridge are +washed away. + +But the people of the parish are proud of their bridge, and glad to +have it, rickety as it is. But for that blessed bridge they would +have to use a rowboat or a ferry every time they wanted to cross +from one side of the parish to the other. + +The bridge groaned and swayed as the Jerusalem-farers passed over +it, and the water came up through the cracks in the planks and +splashed the horses' legs. + +They felt sad at having to leave their dear old bridge, for they +knew it was something which belonged to all of them. Houses and +farms, groves and meadows, were owned by different persons, but the +bridge was their common property. + +But was there nothing else that they had in common? Had they not +the church in among the birches on the other side of the bridge? +Had they not the pretty white schoolhouse, and the parsonage? + +And they had something more in common. Theirs was the beauty which +they saw from the bridge: the lovely view of the broad and mighty +river flowing peacefully on between its tree-clad banks, and all +a-sparkle in the summer light; the wide view across the valley +clear over to the blue hills. All this was theirs! It was as if +burned into their eyes. And now they would never see it again. + +When the Hellgumists came to the middle of the bridge, they began +to sing one of Sankey's hymns. "We shall meet once again," they +sang, "we shall meet in that Eden above." + +There was no one on the bridge to hear them. They were singing to +the blue hills of their homeland, to the silvery waters of the +river, to the waving trees. And from throats tightened by sobs and +tears came the song of farewell: + +"O beautiful homeland, with thy peaceful farms with their red and +white tree-sheltered houses; with thy fertile fields and green +meadows; thy groves and orchards; thy long valley, divided by the +shining river, hear us! Pray God that we may meet again, that we +may see thee again in Paradise!" + +*** + +When the long procession of carts and wagons had crossed the +bridge, it came to the churchyard. In the churchyard there was a +large flat gravestone that was crumbling from age. It bore neither +name nor date, but according to tradition, the bones of an ancestor +of the Ljung family rested under it. + +When Ljung Bjoern Olafsson, who was now going to Jerusalem, and his +brother Pehr were children, they had once sat on that stone and +talked. At first they were as chummy as could be; then all at once +they got to quarrelling about something, became very much excited, +and raised their voices. What they quarrelled about they had long +since forgotten, but what they never could forget was, that while +they were quarreling the hardest, they heard several distinct and +deliberate rappings on the stone where they were seated. They broke +off instantly. Then they took each other by the hand, and stole +quietly away. Afterward, they could never see that stone without +thinking of this incident. + +And now, when Ljung Bjoern was driving past the churchyard, who +should he see but his brother Pehr, sitting on that selfsame stone, +with his head resting on his hands. Ljung Bjoern reined in his +horse, and signalled to the others to wait for him. He got down +from the cart, climbed over the cemetery wall, and went and sat on +the stone beside his brother. + +Pehr Olafsson immediately said: "So you sold the farm, Bjoern!" + +"Yes," answered Bjoern. "I have given all I owned to God." + +"But the farm was not yours," the brother mildly protested. + +"Not mine?" + +"No, it belonged to the family." + +Ljung Bjoern did not reply, but sat quietly waiting. He knew that +when his brother had seated himself on that stone, it was for the +purpose of speaking words of peace. Therefore, he was not afraid of +what Pehr might say. + +"I have bought back the farm," said the brother. + +Ljung Bjoern gave a start. "Couldn't you bear to have it go out of +the family?" he asked. + +"I'm hardly rich enough to do such things for that reason." + +Bjoern looked at his brother inquiringly. + +"I did it that you might have something to come back to." + +Bjoern was overwhelmed, and could hardly keep the tears back. + +"And that your children may have a place to come back to--" + +Bjoern put his arm around his brother's neck. + +"--and for the sake of my dear sister-in-law," said Pehr. "It will +be good for her to know that she has a house and home waiting for +her. The old home will always be open to any of you who may want to +come back." + +"Pehr, take my place in the cart and go to Jerusalem, and I'll stay +at home. You are far more worthy to enter the Promised Land than I +am." + +"No, no!" said the brother smilingly. "I understand how you mean +it, but I guess I fit in better at home." + +"I think you're more fit for Heaven," said Bjoern, laying his head +on his brother's shoulder. "Now you must forgive me everything," he +said. + +Then they got up and clasped hands in farewell. + +"This time there were no rappings," Pehr remarked. + +"Strange you should have thought of coming here," said Bjoern. + +"We brothers have had some difficulty in maintaining peace, when +we've met of late." + +"Did you think that I would want to quarrel to-day?" + +"No, but I become angry when I think of having to lose you!" + +They walked together down to the road. Presently Pehr went up to +Bjoern's wife, and gave her a hearty handclasp. + +"I've bought the Ljung Farm," he said. "I tell you this now so that +you may know you've always got a place to come to." Then he took +the eldest of the children by the hand, and said: "Remember, now, +that you have a house and land to come back to, should you want to +return to the old country." He went from one child to the other, +even to little Eric, who was only two years old and couldn't +understand what it all meant. "The rest of you youngsters must not +forget to tell little Eric that he has a home to return to whenever +he wants to come back." + +And the Jerusalem-farers went on. + +*** + +When the long line of carts and wagons had passed the churchyard, +the travellers came upon a large crowd of friends and relatives who +had come out to bid them goodbye. They had a long halt here, for +everybody wanted to shake hands with them, and say a few parting +words. + +And later, when they drove through the village, the road was lined +with people who wished to witness their departure. There were +people standing on every doorstep and leaning out of every window; +they sat upon the low stone hedges all along the way, and those who +lived farther off stood on mounds and hills waving a last farewell. + +The long procession moved slowly past all these people until it +came to the home of Councilman Lars Clementsson, where it halted. +Here Gunhild got down to say good-bye to her folks. + +Gunhild had been staying at the Ingmar Farm since deciding to go +with the others to Jerusalem. She had felt that this was preferable +to living at home in constant strife with her parents, who could +not become reconciled to the thought of her going. + +As Gunhild stepped down from the cart she noticed that the place +looked quite deserted. There was not a soul to be seen, either +outside or at the windows. When she reached the gate she found it +locked. She stepped over the stile into the yard. Even the front +door of the house was fastened. Then Gunhild went round to the +kitchen door; it was hooked on the inside! She knocked several +times, but as no one came she pulled the door toward her, inserted +a stick in the crack, and lifted the hook. So she finally got in. +There was no one in the kitchen, nor was there any one in the +living-room, nor yet in the inner room. + +Gunhild did not want to go away without letting her parents know +that she had been to say good-bye to them. She went over to the big +combination desk and bureau, where her father always kept his +writing materials, and drew down the lid. She could not at first +find the ink, so looked for it in drawers and pigeonholes. While +searching, she came upon a small casket which she remembered well. +It was her mother's--she had received it from her husband as a +wedding present. When Gunhild was a little girl her mother had +often shown it to her. The casket was enamelled in white, with a +garland of hand-painted flowers. On the inside of the lid was a +picture of a shepherd piping to a flock of white lambs. Gunhild now +opened the box to take a last peep at the shepherd. + +In this casket Gunhild's mother had always kept her most +cherished keepsakes-the worn-down wedding ring which had +belonged to her mother, the old-fashioned watch which had been +her father's, and her own gold earrings. But when Gunhild +opened the box, she found that all these things had been taken +out, and in their place lay a letter. It was a letter that she +herself had written. A year or two before, she had made a trip to +Mora by boat across Lake Siljan. The boat had capsized. Some of her +fellow-passengers were drowned, and her parents had been told that +she, too, had perished. It flashed upon Gunhild that her mother +must have been made so happy on receiving a letter from her +daughter telling of her safety, that she had taken everything else +out of the casket, and placed the letter there as her most +priceless treasure. + +Gunhild turned as pale as death; her heart was being wrung. "Now I +know that I'm killing my mother," she said, She no longer thought +of writing anything, but hurried away. She got up into the cart, +taking no notice of the many questions as to whether she had seen +her parents. During the remainder of the drive she sat motionless, +with her hands in her lap, and staring straight ahead. "I'm killing +my mother," she was saying to herself. "I know that I'm killing my +mother. I know that mother will die. I can never be happy again. I +may go to the Holy Land, but I am killing my own mother." + +*** + +When the long line of carts and wagons had passed through the +village, it turned in on a forest road. Here the Jerusalem-farers +noticed for the first time that they were being shadowed by two +persons whom they did not seem to know. While still in the village, +they had been so engrossed in their leave-takings that they had not +seen the strange vehicle in which the two unknown people sat; but +in the wood their attention was drawn to it. + +Sometimes it would drive past all the other carts and lead the +procession; then again it would take the side of the road and let +the other teams go by. It was an ordinary wagon, the kind commonly +used for carting; therefore, it was impossible to tell to whom it +belonged. Nor did any one recognize the horse. + +It was driven by an old man, who was much bent, and had wrinkled +hands and a long white beard. Certainly none of them knew who he +was. But by his side sat a woman whom they somehow felt they knew. +No one could see her face, for her head was covered with a black +shawl, both sides of which she held together so closely that not +even her eyes were seen. Many tried to guess from her figure and +size who she was, but no two guessed alike. + +Gunhild said at once, "It's my mother," and Israel Tomasson's wife +declared that it was her sister. There was scarcely a person among +them but had his or her own notion as to who it was. Tims Halvor +thought it was old Eva Gunnersdotter. + +The strange cart accompanied them all the way, but not once did +the woman draw the shawl back from her face. To some of the +Hellgumists she became a person they loved, to others one they +feared, but to most of them she was some one whom they had +deserted. + +Wherever the road was wide enough to allow of it, the strange +cart would drive past the whole line of wagons, and then pull to +one side until they had all gone by. At such times the unknown +woman would turn toward the travellers, and watch them from behind +her drawn shawl; but she made no sign to any of them, so that no +one could really say for certain who she was. She followed all the +way to the railway station. There they expected to see her face; +but when they got down and began to look around for her--she was +gone. + +*** + +When the procession of carts and wagons passed along the +countryside, no one was seen cutting grass, or raking hay, or +stacking hay. That morning all work had been suspended, and every +one was either standing at the roadside in their Sunday clothes or +driving to see the travellers off; some went with them six miles, +some twelve, a few accompanied them all the way to the railway +station. + +Throughout the entire length and breadth of the parish only one +man was seen at work. That man was Hoek Matts Ericsson. Nor was he +mowing grass-that he regarded as only child's play. He was clearing +away stones from his land, just as he had done in his youth, when +preparing his newly acquired acres for cultivation. + +Gabriel, as he drove along, could see his father from the road. Hoek +Matts was out in the grove prying up stones with his crowbar, and +piling them on to a stone hedge. He never once looked up from his +work, but went right on digging and lugging stones, some of which +were so big that Gabriel thought they were enough to break his +back--and afterward throwing them up on to the hedge with a force +that caused them to splinter, and made sparks fly. Gabriel, who was +driving one of the goods wagons, let his horse look out for itself +for a long time while his eyes were turned toward his father. + +Old Hoek Matts worked on' and on, toiling and slaving exactly as he +had done when his son was a little lad, and he strove to develop +his property. Grief had taken a firm hold on Hoek Matts; yet he went +on digging and prying up larger and larger stones, and piling them +on the hedge. + +Soon after the procession had passed, a violent thunderstorm came +up. Everybody ran for cover, and Hoek Matts, too, thought of doing +the same; then he changed his mind. He dared not leave off working. + +At noon his daughter came to the door and called to him to come to +dinner. Hoek Matts was not very hungry; still, he felt that he might +need a bite to eat. He did not go in, however, for he was afraid to +stop his work. + +His wife had gone with Gabriel to the railway station. On her +return, late in the evening, she stopped to tell her husband that +now their son had gone, but he would not leave off an instant to +hear what she had to say. + +The neighbours noticed how Hoek Matts worked that day. They came out +to watch him, and after looking on a while, they went in and +reported that he was still there, that he had been at it the whole +day without a break. + +Evening came, but the light lingered a while, and Hoek Matts kept +right on working. He felt that if he were to leave off while still +able to drag a foot, his grief would overpower him. + +By and by his wife came back again, and stood watching him. The +grove was now almost clear of stones, and the hedge quite high +enough, but still the little old man went on lugging stones that +were more fit for a giant to handle. Now and then a neighbour would +come over to see if he was still at it; but no one spoke to him. + +Then darkness fell. They could no longer see him, but they could +hear him--could hear the dull thud of stone against stone as he +went on building the wall. + +Then at last as he raised the crowbar it slipped from his hands, +and when he stooped to pick it up he fell; and before he could +think, he was asleep. + +Some time afterward he roused himself sufficiently to get to the +house. He said nothing, he did not even attempt to undress, but +simply threw himself down on a wooden bench and dropped off to +sleep. + +*** + +The Jerusalem-farers had at last reached the railway station which +was newly built in a big clearing in the middle of the forest. +There was no town, nor were there any fields or gardens, but +everything had been planned on a grand scale in the expectation +that an important railway community would some day spring up in +this wilderness. + +Round the station itself the ground was levelled; there was a broad +stone platform, with roomy baggage sheds and no end of gravel +drives. A couple of stores and workshops, a photographic studio, +and a hotel had already been put up around the gravelled square, +but the remainder of the clearing was nothing but unbroken stubble +land. + +The Dal River also flowed past here. It came with a wild and angry +rush from the dark woods, and dashed foamingly onward in a cascade +of falls. The Jerusalem-farers could hardly credit that this was a +part of the broad, majestic river they had crossed in the morning. +Here no smiling valley met their gaze; on all sides the view was +obstructed by dark fir-clad heights. + +When the little children who were going with their parents to +Jerusalem were lifted out of the carts in this desolate-looking +place, they became uneasy and began to cry. Before, they had been +very happy in the thought of travelling to Jerusalem. Of course +they had cried a good deal when leaving their homes, but down at +the station they became quite disconsolate. + +Their elders were busy unloading their goods from the wagons and +stowing them away in a baggage car. They all helped, so that no one +had any time to look after the children, and see what they were up +to. + +The youngsters meanwhile got together, and held council as to what +they should do. + +After a bit the older children took the little ones by the hand and +walked away from the station, two by two-a big child and a little +child. They went the same way they had come across the sea of sand, +through the stubble ground, over the river and into the dark forest. + +Suddenly, one of the women happened to think of the children, and +opened a food basket to give them something to eat. She called to +them, but got no answer. They had disappeared from sight. Two of +the men went to look for them. Following the tracks which the many +little feet had left in the sand, they went on into the woods, +where they caught sight of the youngsters, marching along in line, +two by two, a big child and a little child. When the men called to +them they did not stop, but kept right on. + +The men ran to overtake them. Then the children tried to run away, +but the smaller ones could not keep up; they stumbled and fell. +Then all of them stood still--wretchedly unhappy, and crying as if +their little hearts would break. + +"But, children, where are you going?" asked one of the men. +Whereupon the littlest ones set up a loud wail, and the eldest boy +answered: + +"We don't want to go to Jerusalem; we want to go home." + +And for a long time, even after the children had been brought back +to the station, and were seated in the railway carriage, they still +went on whimpering and crying: "We don't want to go to Jerusalem; +we want to go home." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JERUSALEM*** + + +******* This file should be named 15837.txt or 15837.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/3/15837 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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