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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Danish Parsonage, by John Fulford Vicary
+
+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: A Danish Parsonage
+
+Author: John Fulford Vicary
+
+Release Date: December 6, 2009 [EBook #30617]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DANISH PARSONAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jim Adcock from images obtained from the Internet Archive.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    A DANISH PARSONAGE
+
+
+
+
+    BY
+
+    AN ANGLER
+
+
+
+
+    LONDON
+
+
+    KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., 1, PATERNOSTER SQUARE
+
+
+    1884
+
+
+
+(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.)
+
+
+
+
+    CONTENTS
+
+    CHAPTER I.
+
+Introductory
+
+    CHAPTER II.
+
+The Danish Parsonage--Trout fishing on the Gudenaa
+
+    CHAPTER III.
+
+Rosendal
+
+    CHAPTER IV.
+
+The Danish Church--The clerical party in Denmark
+
+    CHAPTER V.
+
+Danish parishioners--The piano--English and Danish horses
+
+    CHAPTER VI.
+
+Pike, perch, and eel fishing--A silver wedding at a Danish
+proprietor's
+
+    CHAPTER VII.
+
+Danish horse-breeding--A fatal accident
+
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+
+The superstition of the Huldr--The tradition of Gefion--Of
+Churches--The legend of the sunken mansion--Of the boar Limgrim
+
+    CHAPTER IX.
+
+Kaempehoie or tumuli--Hidden treasure--Ghosts--Spectral
+Huntsmen--Witches--Gypsies--The book of Cyprianus--Nissen--Elle folk
+
+    CHAPTER X.
+
+The purchase of Rosendal--Pike fishing--Karl Lindal rides the English
+horse
+
+    CHAPTER XI.
+
+The legend of the Damhest--The Helhest--The Kirkelam--The
+Gravso--Burying alive to propitiate supernatural power--Traditions of
+robbers--The Basilisk--The Lindorm--Lygtemaend
+
+    CHAPTER XII.
+
+Horse racing in Denmark--A horse race
+
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Trout fishing in hot weather--Danish ladies riding--A practical visit
+to Rosendal
+
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Folketro--Havmaend--Havfruer--The gnome of the elder
+tree--Varulv--Marer--Strandvarsler--Kirkegrim
+
+    CHAPTER XV.
+
+The Pastor and his daughter--The Scotch landscape gardener--Folkeviser
+
+    CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Trout fishing--The legend of the Aamaend--Changelings--Wise men and
+wise women--Dvaerge--Tyge Brahe--Herr Eske Brok--The family Rosenkrands
+
+    CHAPTER XVII.
+
+A drive through part of Jutland--Silkeborg--Himmelbjerg Traditions of
+Holger Danske--Walling sinners up
+
+    CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Horsens--Veile--Legends--The Swedes in Jutland--Hamlet--Abbot Muus--A
+found treasure--The priest at Urlev--Koldinghuus
+
+    CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Holsted--Folke Eventyr--The story of the priest and his clerk--Of the
+queen who was walled up seventeen years--Of the Trold and the
+boy--Esbjerg
+
+    CHAPTER XX.
+
+In England--Hardy Place--Mrs. Hardy--Correspondence with Denmark
+
+    CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Mrs. Hardy visits Denmark--Helga Lindal--The yacht sails for
+Copenhagen
+
+    CHAPTER XXII.
+
+Yachting from Copenhagen to Christiania--Helga Lindal's Birthday
+
+    CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Christiania to Aarhus--Pastor Lindal and the yacht--John Hardy's
+wedding-day is fixed--The Domkirke at Aarhus--Traditions and legends
+
+    CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+Pastor Lindal joins the yacht for a cruise amongst the Danish
+islands--Samso and traditions--Endelave and the giantess--Odense and
+its historical traditions--Nyborg--King Christian and the monkey--The
+ghost of Queen Helvig--Maerkedage--Svendborg--St. Jorgen and the
+Lindorm--The murdered lady--Weather days
+
+    CHAPTER XXV.
+
+Vordingborg--Mariebo and traditions--Legend of Borre
+Island--Phanefjord and Gronsund--Legends of Phane and Gron--The
+pilgrim stone--Drive to Moen's Klint--The Underjordiske--Margrethe
+Skaelvig's wedding-dress--The twenty pigs and Gamle
+Erik--Praesto--Stevn's Klint--Hoierup--The termination "rup"
+explained--Copenhagen to Aarhus
+
+     CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+Pastor Lindal's views as to his parish--His daughter's as to her
+wedding-dress--The marriage--John Hardy and his wife's arrival at
+Hardy Place--With the Pastor--A daughter-in-law's duty--Pastor
+Lindal's strong opinions on the English church system--
+
+
+
+    ARGUMENT
+
+The Viking, _tenax propositi_, if he planned an expedition, carried it
+out, through all obstacles, or died in the attempt.
+
+The descendants, softened in manner and cast of thought by centuries
+of time, retain the same singleness of purpose.
+
+There is no other thought of the duty of life except to do it. If self
+has to be sacrificed, it is done without reserve.
+
+The result is that there are men and women who are the reflection of
+duty, and although this occurs in all lands, yet nowhere does it exist
+in greater purity than in the descendants of the Viking.
+
+
+
+
+    A DANISH PARSONAGE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+    "_Piscator_. Oh, sir! doubt not but that Angling is
+    an art. Is it not an art to deceive a Trout with an artificial
+    fly?--a Trout that is more sharp-sighted than any Hawk you
+    have named, and more watchful and timorous than your
+    high-mettled Merlin is bold. And yet I doubt not to catch a
+    brace or two to-morrow for a friend's breakfast."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+John Hardy had lived with his mother at Hardy Place. His father had
+died when he was six years of age, and there was consequently a long
+minority of fifteen years. The greatest influence in John Hardy's life
+was a trout stream that ran winding through an English landscape for
+four miles in the Hardys' property. John Hardy fished it as a
+schoolboy, and it was the greatest triumph he experienced as a lad, to
+catch more trout in it with a fly than the numerous fly-fishers to
+whom Mrs. Hardy's kindness gave permission. When college days came,
+John Hardy, ever intent on fishing, went to Norway in the vacation
+with the checkered result of getting an occasional salmon, and in the
+smaller streams on the fjelds a quantity of small trout. The grand
+scenery in the fjords, and the kindly nature of the people, led John
+Hardy to more remote districts, where sport was better, the fare and
+quarters worse, but some acquisition of Scandinavian language a
+necessity.
+
+Thus John Hardy not only gradually acquired a knowledge of many
+dialects in Scandinavia, but the ability to read and understand the
+simpler books in the language. He travelled and fished through Norway
+and Sweden, and by degrees learnt, from the necessity of speaking it,
+more and more of the Danish language, the language of Scandinavia, as
+English relatively is to broad Scotch. This naturally led to his going
+to Denmark, and his travelling through Jutland and the Danish islands.
+In Jutland he accidentally fished in a West Jutland river, and to his
+surprise found the difficult but good fishing that his heart longed
+for.
+
+John Hardy returned home, and was at Hardy Place with his mother the
+whole winter, and then, as April came round with the fishing season,
+John became restless, and told his mother of his Danish fishing
+experiences, and left for Copenhagen. His mother said, "Write me once
+a week, John, and bring me home a Scandinavian princess for your
+wife." John Hardy promised to write, but said he thought Scandinavian
+princesses did not rise to a fly. His mother's face grew grave, and
+she said, "You should marry soon, John; you are twenty-eight, and I
+want to see you married to a wife to whom you can trust Hardy Place
+and the care of your mother in her old age."
+
+"I can find no one yet, dear mother," said John Hardy. "I cannot bear
+you should have any one at Hardy Place you did not only like but
+love."
+
+"Bless you, John," said his mother. "I trust in your love; and I know
+some men are such gentlemen, and so was your father, and so are you,
+John."
+
+So Hardy left for Copenhagen by the English steamer from Hull to St.
+Petersburg, and was landed in the pilot-boat at Elsinore, and went
+thence by rail to Copenhagen. On the journey John Hardy thought that
+his best course was to get lodgings with a respectable family in
+Jutland near the Gudenaa, the little river that embouches in the
+Randers fjord and flows through part of Jutland, and is the principal
+river in it.
+
+John Hardy had taken from his bankers introductions to persons in
+Copenhagen, to whom he had communicated his wishes. The result was an
+advertisement in the _Berlinske Tidende_ that an Englishman required
+lodgings near the Gudenaa, with an opportunity of being taught the
+Danish language. The replies were many and of a very varied character,
+as might be anticipated from such an advertisement.
+
+But John Hardy received a reply from a Danish clergyman in Jutland,
+which struck his fancy beyond the rest. It was as follows:--
+
+"In reply to the advertisement in the _Berlinske Tidende_ of
+yesterday's date, I beg to offer lodgings in my house. It is a small
+parsonage in Jutland, and the Gudenaa is near. There is a towing-path
+on the banks, and where such exists the fishing is free, consequently
+no difficulty will arise as to permission to fish. The fishing is not
+particularly good, and if great anticipations exist on this score, I
+must say that they will not, in my opinion, be realized. Small fish on
+which the trout feed are abundant, as also the cadis worm and fly, and
+the trout do not take readily an artificial bait, either fly or
+minnow. I cannot, therefore, say that I think many trout can be
+caught. There is also much fishing with small nets. I can, however,
+teach Danish to an Englishman, although my knowledge of English is
+imperfect; but on the other hand, if the advertiser will teach my two
+sons, of sixteen and fourteen years of age, English, I should require
+no payment from him. I am a widower, with a daughter and the two sons
+already named. I can only add that he would be received kindly, and
+treated as a member of my family."
+
+The straightforwardness of this communication had its effect on John
+Hardy's open character, and he replied that he would accept the
+conditions stipulated, but that he could do so only on a payment of a
+monthly sum, which he was advised in Copenhagen was a full
+compensation, and rather more than would be expected, for the
+accommodation and cost that might be incurred by the Danish Pastor.
+
+The reply from the Jutland parsonage was: "The evident consideration
+shown by your answer to my letter should be sufficient, but before you
+come here will you kindly give me references in Copenhagen, or, if
+that be difficult, in England, where I might make inquiry. I am the
+Pastor of the parish where I reside, and it is due to my position that
+I should make inquiry before I can admit any one to my house under any
+circumstances. I do not wish to ask what is not right or reasonable,
+but as I am situated it is a necessity, however advantageous your
+coming here might be to me."
+
+This reply impressed John Hardy more than the previous communication,
+and he replied with the address of a bank in Copenhagen, with
+reference to his own bankers in London, for which John Hardy had to
+wait a week in Copenhagen. These replies were to the effect that John
+Hardy was a gentleman of position and character in England, and that
+any amount that might be incurred by him for expenses in Denmark would
+at once be paid by the Danish bank.
+
+John Hardy, it must be confessed, would rather have been fishing in
+the Gudenaa than waiting for references that would show he was to be
+trusted in a Danish household; but he was assured in Copenhagen that
+in Jutland an introduction is not only necessary, but that it should
+be supported by references, which when once done in a satisfactory
+manner, then the natural kindness of the Jutland people would be open
+to him. John Hardy's later experiences led him to recognize how true
+the advice he received in Copenhagen was in this respect.
+
+He left Copenhagen by the steamer for Aarhus, and went by rail to a
+small station on the railway, where the Pastor met him with a
+two-horse vehicle, that made the small distance of eight English miles
+a journey of nearly three hours. The Pastor was a man of fifty, with a
+fresh complexion and a kindly face, and asked many questions of John
+Hardy's family and friends, his position in England, his age, the
+income from his landed property, and his views and intentions in life.
+
+John Hardy had, however, heard he must expect this, and answered
+simply and frankly.
+
+When at length the little Danish parsonage was reached, with its
+whitewashed garden wall, with poplar trees and lilac bushes, John
+Hardy felt it was a relief to escape the close cross-examination to
+which he had been so long subjected, and to see the Pastor's two boys
+running out with eager curiosity to inspect the Englishman, and assist
+in taking his luggage to the room apportioned to him.
+
+"We shall have dinner shortly," said the Pastor. "Helga is not here to
+meet us, and that is a sign that we shall not wait long. Karl and Axel
+will show you your room and bring anything you may want, and help you
+to unpack your portmanteaus."
+
+John Hardy went to his room--a room with little furniture, but adapted
+as a sitting-room or bedroom. The two boys, with the desire that all
+boys have to be useful to a guest, assisted in undoing his luggage,
+and John Hardy was soon ready to follow them to the little dining-room
+of the parsonage.
+
+The table was laid with a little bunch of wild flowers and grasses
+here and there, but with little else. The Pastor received Hardy in a
+more friendly manner than he had exhibited before, and his daughter
+Helga appeared from a door leading from the kitchen, and was
+introduced by her father. John Hardy saw a tall woman of twenty, with
+fair hair and violet eyes, and bowed. The dinner was borne in by two
+women-servants, and Helga signed to John Hardy where he should sit.
+
+There was little conversation at dinner. John Hardy, for his part, was
+hungry, and also knew little Danish; but gradually, as the more
+substantial dishes disappeared, conversation arose, and John Hardy
+turned its direction to the fishing in the Gudenaa.
+
+"Your frank letters to me," said Hardy, "would not lead me to expect
+much; but there are trout in the Gudenaa, and it might be that a few
+might be caught."
+
+"You will not catch them with a fly, after the English fashion," said
+Karl. "An Englishman that came from Randers has been here, and he
+caught three only in a whole day."
+
+"I fear Karl is right," said the Pastor. "There is such an abundance
+of fish-food in the Gudenaa, that a means of catching them that leaves
+no option to the fish is apparently the only successful method."
+
+"That is the very position that interests me," replied Hardy. "The
+difficulty is the only pleasure in the sport."
+
+"They fish with the lines set at night, baited with a small fish, and
+catch, not only trout, but eels," said Karl. "You might try that. But
+they do not catch many."
+
+Helga had brought her father a large porcelain pipe with a long stem,
+and the Pastor was smoking slowly and vigorously. Coffee was brought
+in, and Helga offered Hardy a large pipe like her father's. This he
+declined.
+
+"Do you not smoke?" said the Pastor.
+
+"Yes," replied Hardy; "but we are not accustomed to do so in a lady's
+presence in England; and what an English gentleman would do in England
+he should do in Denmark."
+
+"Good," said the Pastor, "very good. But it is our custom to smoke.
+The practice is habitual with us. Helga, will you speak?"
+
+"I should be sorry you did not smoke, Herr Hardy," said Helga. "My
+father likes to have some one smoking at the same time. It will be a
+comfort to him."
+
+So John lit a cigar with some misgiving; and he sent Karl up to his
+room for a courier-bag, in which he had some fishing-books with
+trout-flies. Karl and Axel looked at the English trout-flies with
+interest.
+
+"Those feathered things," said Karl, "I have seen used, but they only
+catch small trout, and now and then a bleak. I have seen Englishmen
+use them here from Randers."
+
+John Hardy selected three flies and put them on a casting-line, and
+wound it round his hat, and he said, "Now, will you two boys go with
+me to fish at six o'clock to-morrow morning?"
+
+"Yes, that will we," said Karl. "Kirstin will call us, and will have
+coffee ready an hour earlier than usual, if you wish it."
+
+"Am I disturbing your house, Herr Pastor," said Hardy, "by suggesting
+this to your boys?"
+
+"By no means," said the Pastor. "It is now Thursday, and we shall not
+expect you to begin to teach them English until Monday, and the boys
+can have a free time until then. We have breakfast at ten to eleven,
+and you would have time to fish a little; and Kirstin will give you
+some bread and butter and coffee at six."
+
+"There is nothing unusual in this, Herr Hardy," said Froken Helga, in
+reply to a look of surprise from Hardy. "It will put us to no
+inconvenience."
+
+"That may be," said the Pastor; "but I think you should clearly
+understand that you are not likely to catch any trout."
+
+"That," said Hardy, "we must leave to the trout to decide."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+    "_Piscator._ Good morrow, sir! What, up and dressed
+    so early!
+    "_Viator._ Yes, sir. I have been dressed this half hour, for I
+    rested so well and have so great a mind either to take or to
+    see a trout taken in your fine river that I could no longer
+    lie a-bed.
+    "_Piscator._ I am glad to see you so brisk this morning and so
+    eager of sport, though I must tell you, this day proves so
+    calm, and the sun rises so bright, as promises no great
+    success to the angler; but however, we will try, and one way
+    or the other, we shall sure do something."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Kirstin, the elder of Pastor Karl Lindar's women servants, was about
+forty-five--a large-framed woman with a hard face. She possessed, in
+common with the Jutland lower class, a shrewd sense, yet highly
+suspicious, but at the bottom strong good nature. She had been with
+Pastor Lindal more than twenty years, and her devotion to him and his
+was complete. At all times she gave her advice, whether asked or
+unasked, on every topic, and materially assisted in economizing the
+pastor's narrow income. Her work was done with the exactitude of a
+clock, neat and precise; and if the work in the house was by any cause
+increased, she rose earlier and went to bed later, rejoicing in her
+capacity for work and usefulness. The influence her steady character
+had in the house was great, and on the Pastor's daughter, Froken
+Helga's leaving an educational institution at Copenhagen, Kirstin's
+strict sense of duty created an impression that Froken Helga never
+lost. She awoke to the fact of what her duty was--that it was to her
+father and his home. Kirstin's manner was not kindly, and she could
+give sharp answers, but the woman's kindly nature often showed itself
+in a strong light. Outside the Pastor's house she was respected and
+liked, and always went by the name of Praesten's Kirstin.
+
+At half-past five the morning of the day after John Hardy's arrival at
+the parsonage, Kirstin knocked at the door of his room, and brought in
+the accustomed coffee and its belongings.
+
+John Hardy was dressed, as he was always an early riser, and was
+attaching two large Irish lake trout flies to a stronger casting line
+than he had selected the night before.
+
+"Morn," said Kirstin. "I tell the gentleman that Karl and Axel have
+had coffee. Has the gentleman anything to command?"
+
+"Tell them I am ready to go fishing," said Hardy; "but if we catch any
+trout and the trout are in the kitchen by ten o'clock, can we have
+them cooked for breakfast?"
+
+"If the gentleman's fish are there, the frying-pan is ready," replied
+Kirstin; "but the Herr Pastor would not wish the gentleman to be
+without a breakfast."
+
+It was clear Kirstin doubted a trout breakfast's possibility. John
+Hardy began to doubt too; but he took his fishing-rod, a light
+sixteen-foot fly rod, and called the two boys, who rushed into his
+room eager to a degree.
+
+"Herr Hardy," said Axel, "they all say you will catch nothing--do you
+think you will?"
+
+The anxiety in the boy's face amused Hardy, who gave him the
+fishing-bag to carry, and his brother Karl the landing-net.
+
+John Hardy went to the bridge close to the parsonage, and looked up
+the river. The country was flat, chiefly arable land, with meadows
+here and there of coarse grass. The river had a peaty colour, and
+resembled in its flow some portions of the Thames.
+
+"Do you know where the deepest water is up the river, boys?" inquired
+Hardy.
+
+"Up by the tile works," said the boys both at once, "and above that it
+is not deep."
+
+Hardy walked up the towing-path, keeping his eye on the river, but not
+a trout moved. He saw the abundance of bleak and smaller fish, and it
+occurred to him that it was easy to account for the non-success of the
+fly-fishers in the Gudenaa. The fish would not be often feeding, as
+trout food existed in such quantity; and besides, to a voracious trout
+a plump little fish was more acceptable than an ephemera. If there
+were any fish feeding they would be in the shallows.
+
+Hardy tried small trout flies, but without success; not a fish moved,
+and the boys' faces had a disappointed look. He changed his casting
+line for the one with the Irish lake trout flies, and was soon fast in
+a trout. This Karl, in his excitement to get into the landing-net,
+nearly lost, but Hardy let the fish have line, and then drew it again
+within reach of the landing-net. This fish was full of food, and
+corroborated the Pastor's statement. The trout resembles the Hampshire
+trout, but the colours were more brightly painted. Hardy fished
+steadily for two hours, with the result of landing eight trout
+averaging a pound each, to the boys' intense delight. Kirstin and
+their father had both doubted Hardy, but there were the fish and could
+be cooked for breakfast. The boys never doubted Hardy after.
+
+"Axel, little man," said John Hardy, "run to the kitchen with the
+fish, and tell Kirstin that the Englishman wants to know if the
+frying-pan is ready."
+
+Axel was off like a hare.
+
+When Karl and Hardy reached the parsonage, the Pastor was at the door.
+"I see no fish," said he, "and I am glad I did not lead you to expect
+any success in that direction."
+
+"We have not been very successful," said Hardy, quietly taking down
+his rod. "A knowledge of the habits of the fish in different rivers,
+and a knowledge of the rivers is necessary, and this an intimate
+acquaintance only gives."
+
+"Yes, but, father," put in Kari, "Herr Hardy has caught a lot; he
+would not let us keep the small ones, but kept eight of the biggest.
+Axel has ran on with them. Kirstin told me the frying-pan would be
+ready, but not the gentleman's fish."
+
+When John Hardy was called to breakfast--a Danish breakfast
+corresponds much to an early English lunch--he found Karl and Axel's
+tongues wagging like a dog's tail at dinner-time, they were so full of
+the fishing. They had caught a few roach in the river, and about once
+in a moon a trout, and John Hardy's completer knowledge had impressed
+them. Hardy bowed to Froken Helga, and would have shaken hands, but
+she pointed to a seat, and Hardy sat down. The Pastor said grace, and
+attacked the trout with much appreciation of their merits.
+
+"We tried to cast a line out, father, with Herr Hardy's rod," said
+Axel, "but could not, the line fell all of a heap, while Herr Hardy
+threw it a long way; it hovered over the water for a second, and fell
+slowly on the water. The flies appeared like live insects."
+
+"You know, father," put in Karl, "the wider shallow in the river above
+the tile works? I saw a trout rise there, and pointed it out to Herr
+Hardy, He watched it, and when the trout rose again he walked straight
+into the river and caught it by a long cast. It was the biggest fish."
+
+"I have undertaken to teach you two boys English," said Hardy; "and if
+you will try and learn, I will teach you how to fish and give you rods
+and flies as well."
+
+"A thousand thanks, Herr Hardy," said Karl and Axel, with delight.
+
+"You have already prepared the way for performing your part of our
+contract, Herr Hardy," said the Pastor; "I can only hope I shall
+execute mine so well. With the boys' hearts in the work the rest is
+easy;" and Pastor Lindal regarded his manly and self-possessed guest
+with interest.
+
+John Hardy could now in the full light of a day in May consider Pastor
+Lindal; his age was apparently over fifty, his features were clear cut
+and handsome, his eyes blue, and his hair had been a light-brown.
+There was an impression of probity about him that struck Hardy
+forcibly. His manner was a trifle awkward to Hardy's notion, but it
+was kindly. His daughter Helga was like her father. Her complexion was
+clear and her voice musical. Her manner was, Hardy thought, not
+refined. It was simple and straightforward, and to John Hardy she
+appeared to want the ladylike tone of an English lady. The two boys
+Karl and Axel were like English lads of the same age, frank and open,
+and Hardy liked them.
+
+The Pastor had his pipe in full glow--his daughter had filled it--and
+Hardy, taught by his experience of the previous evening, lit a cigar.
+The Pastor said that he had his duties to attend to, and some of his
+parish children as he called them to visit, and that his daughter
+Helga had also her visits to make. Hardy replied that he should write
+to his mother and some business letters, and if dinner was at four, as
+the Pastor had intimated, that he should like to fish in the evening,
+to relieve Kirstin's doubts as to whether the frying-pan would be
+wanted for breakfast on the morrow by catching some trout the night
+before.
+
+"And you will take us, Herr Hardy?" said Karl and Axel with some
+anxiety.
+
+"Come to my room at three," said Hardy; "I will begin to teach you how
+to fish. I have a lighter fly rod, and we will prepare the tackle."
+
+After dinner John Hardy and the boys went to the river. Hardy had a
+sixteen-foot minnow rod, and put up a twelve-foot fly rod for the
+boys, and showed them how to cast it. They took it in turns, and Karl
+caught a trout. Hardy waded the shallows, fishing with a minnow, and
+the trout for an hour were on the feed. The largest trout he caught
+was over three pounds, and seventeen weighed nineteen pounds, by
+Hardy's English spring balance.
+
+John Hardy changed his clothes and came down to the room occupied by
+Pastor Lindal and his family as a sitting-room, and found Froken Helga
+playing on an old piano to the Pastor, who was smoking in his easy
+chair. She at once ceased.
+
+"We have caught more and larger fish, Herr Pastor," said Hardy; "the
+fishing in the Gudenaa is good, and any doubt as to there being trout
+for breakfast, and, if you wish, dinner, to-morrow, is at an end."
+
+"You English are a thorough people," said the Pastor; "whether it be
+sport or business, science or skill, you are to the front."
+
+"Our faith is that we owe it to our Danish ancestors," said Hardy;
+"the hard tenacity of the Vikings is what we admire most in history."
+
+"My faith is that it is the free and independent spirit of your
+institutions for ages," replied the Pastor. "You now enjoy the changes
+wrought by Cromwell, for which the English people then were ripe. But
+do light your cigar, and hear a suggestion I have to make for
+to-morrow. There is an old Danish place near here, called Rosendal.
+Its special beauty is the idyllic landscape of beech trees, a lake,
+and a valley where they grow such roses as will resist our Danish
+climate. The house is an old house, but has been restored by
+successive owners. The place is visited by people far and near. It is
+thoroughly Danish, and especially Jydsk (Jutlandsk). It is only two
+English miles from here, and my daughter Helga's only enthusiasm is
+Rosendal. She will go with you, with Karl and Axel. Is the walk too
+far?"
+
+"No, certainly not," said Hardy; "do we go before breakfast or after?"
+
+"Helga, order breakfast earlier," said the Pastor.
+
+"Yes, father," said Froken Helga; "but is it necessary for me to go to
+Rosendal, the boys can show Herr Hardy the way?"
+
+"You always like to go there and enjoy it," said her father. "You have
+been in the house some days preparing to receive Herr Hardy, and the
+walk will do you good. Go by all means."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+    "And I will make thee beds of roses,
+    And then a thousand fragrant posies,
+    A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
+    Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+John Hardy had risen early, and had time before breakfast to inspect
+the surroundings of the little Danish parsonage. The house was low, of
+two stories, with a large cellarage underneath, in which was stored
+articles of all kinds that might be injured by the frost of winter.
+The roof was brown tiles, with a high pitch, so that the snow should
+slip off easily. The chief entrance was through a little shrubbery
+surrounded by a white-washed wall leading up to a few steps to the
+front door. The living rooms were to the left of the inner hall, and
+the Pastor's study to the right, which was so arranged that access was
+easy from the front door, or by passing through an inner vestibule to
+the back of the house. The kitchen was to the rear of the left side,
+and the outbuildings, which consisted of stables for cows, horses, and
+sheep, were to the back of the main building. The Pastor had two
+horses, for the farm work of his glebe, and these were used for
+journeys to the railway station or elsewhere in an old four-wheel
+conveyance, which could scarcely be termed a carriage or a waggon. In
+fact, it answered both purposes. The rooms were warmed by iron stoves,
+in the winter, the fuel used being chiefly wood and turf. The Pastor
+had a sort of turbary right, which supplied him with the latter. The
+shrubbery in front of the main building was planted with poplars,
+lilacs, and laburnum. The grass on the lawn was coarse and rough, and
+an occasional cow was tethered on it, which did not improve the
+quality of the herbage.
+
+The income from all sources of Pastor Lindal was small, according to
+English views, but it was sufficient to enable him to maintain a happy
+home and to do his duty to his parish with strict economy. The
+difficulty was the future of his sons and daughter.
+
+After breakfast, in which the trout caught by Hardy the previous
+evening occupied a conspicuous position, the Pastor said--
+
+"When you return I shall be interested, Herr Hardy, to hear your views
+of Rosendal. The place is, as I told you, Danish; but I should like to
+hear how it looks through English spectacles."
+
+"You have told me, Herr Pastor," said Hardy, "that Froken Helga has an
+enthusiasm for Rosendal. I fear I shall be interested thereby, as she
+goes with us."
+
+Hardy looked at Froken Helga, who looked annoyed; and he saw he had
+said something which displeased her.
+
+The way to Rosendal was over the sandy road for two English miles,
+when the entrance gate was reached, leading up an avenue of lime trees
+that had been pollarded. The storms would certainly have pollarded
+them in a more irregular manner than the hand of man. The house was a
+much larger house than Pastor Lindal's parsonage, but after the same
+fashion. The entrance steps were wider, but the whole arrangement of
+the mansion was after the same plan. There was the same too near
+proximity of the stables and cow houses, possibly essential in cold
+weather, for their being attended to. The view from the front of the
+house was to a lake of about thirty acres. On each side of the lake
+were very large beech trees, with juniper bushes underneath; and the
+effect was, as the Pastor had said, idyllic. A narrow valley was
+planted with roses, and through it a path led to the lake, hence the
+name Rosendal. The beech trees were of great age, and the rising
+ground on each side had protected them from the prevailing winds. The
+effect on the eye, in comparison with the nakedness of the surrounding
+country, was forcible, and John Hardy was impressed by the natural and
+distinctive beauty of the place.
+
+Froken Helga had scarcely replied to his attempts at conversation on
+the way to Rosendal. She had run races with her brothers and entered
+into all their whims and caprices, but to John Hardy she had only
+replied in monosyllables; but when she saw the effect the beauty of
+the place had on Hardy, she said--
+
+"Is it not a pretty place?"
+
+"It has its peculiar beauty, Froken Helga," replied Hardy.
+
+"I would rather live here than any place I know," said Helga. "The
+peace and calm of the beech woods, and the fret of the wind waves on
+the shore of the lake, suggest thoughts that are unspeakable to me."
+
+Hardy started. She had spoken in a simple manner, but he felt that she
+experienced all she uttered. He now understood Pastor Lindal's words
+that Rosendal was Helga's enthusiasm. Then there was an appreciation
+of nature and her mysteries that Hardy had thought impossible out of
+English refinement and its influence.
+
+"Can we go through the house?" said Hardy, as if with a sudden
+determination. "I wish to see it."
+
+"The Forvalter or bailiff lives in the house, and if he is not at home
+his wife is, or their servant," replied Helga.
+
+The house had reception-rooms after the older Danish fashion, and were
+such as could be made comfortable, even to an English tenant. John
+Hardy asked the bailiff's wife if she could point out the boundary of
+the property; and this was done from the rising ground behind the
+house. A visit to the valley of roses was made, and a stroll through
+the beech woods. Karl and Axel had ran to the shores of the lake, and
+had hunted along its banks to find wild ducks' eggs, happily without
+success.
+
+On the way back to Pastor Lindal's parsonage, John Hardy attempted a
+conversation with Froken Helga; but it failed utterly. She talked with
+her brothers and walked with them. Hardy saw he was avoided. He had
+seen the same conduct in young girls in France, and attributed it to
+the same reason, and said nothing more.
+
+The Pastor, when his pipe had been, as usual, filled by Helga after
+dinner, and at the first vigorous puffs, addressed Hardy.
+
+"Let me hear about Rosendal, Herr Hardy. I can listen, but when Helga
+has filled my pipe, can make any allowance then, for anybody's
+prejudices, even an Englishman's."
+
+"Rosendal is a place with an accidental, peculiar beauty," said Hardy.
+"The configuration of the land is adapted to form a shelter to the
+beech trees, while the little lake is just in the right place to
+produce a pretty effect. The landscape is, as you say, a Jutland
+landscape; the grass in the meadows is coarse, and the arable land
+sandy."
+
+"You speak like a photograph, Herr Hardy," said Pastor Lindal. "But
+did you not like the house and grounds?"
+
+"The house is Danish, of a past fashion," replied Hardy, "and there is
+no difference in plan from your parsonage. The stables and outhouses
+are too near the house, and so is the kitchen garden; it may be
+convenient, but it is not to our English taste. The grounds are not
+made the best of; but this is a subject in which the climate must be
+consulted. The specimen trees we use for the purpose would, many of
+them, grow dwarfed, or not at all."
+
+"I have heard much of the English taste in this respect," said the
+Pastor. "I should like to see an English residence, in contrast to our
+dear Rosendal."
+
+"That you can judge of by some photographs of Hardy Place, my
+residence in England," said Hardy. "I will fetch them."
+
+He shortly after appeared with a set of four photographs, and a strong
+reading-glass.
+
+"There," said Hardy, "is the front of Hardy Place. You will observe
+the arrangement of the lawn, and you will see the fineness of the
+turf, which you will see nowhere else than in England. The
+conservatory is to the right of the front entrance, to be sheltered
+from the east wind; the house faces south. You will see by these other
+photographs different views of the house and its surroundings. The
+stables and gardens, for vegetables and fruit, are at some distance;
+while the home farm, equivalent to your Bondegaard, is an English mile
+distant. This gives greater privacy; while at Rosendal, the stables
+and house and farm are practically under one roof."
+
+"Herr Hardy would say, father, that we Danes want the refinement of
+the English," said Froken Helga, who did not like the correct
+criticism of a place she loved so well.
+
+"When I asked you the name of the owner of Rosendal," said Hardy,
+looking at her, "the answer I received from you might have led my
+thoughts in that direction, Froken Helga."
+
+"I gave no answer!" retorted Helga.
+
+"Just so," said Hardy, smiling.
+
+Helga understood him.
+
+The Pastor and his two boys had been looking at the photographs with
+much interest. "It is a Slot [a palace], and there is good taste
+throughout. And do you live there, Herr Hardy?"
+
+"Yes," replied Hardy, "except when I take a foreign tour. My mother
+resides there. My father died when I was young. But would not Froken
+Helga like to see the photographs?"
+
+Helga did not look up from the knitting, which was her constant
+employment every spare moment; so Hardy addressed himself to her
+father, as if he had not put the question.
+
+"Before I came here," said Hardy, "I read in the _Berlinske Tidende_
+an advertisement for the sale of Rosendal, which to-day appears to be
+the same place.
+
+"Yes," said Pastor Lindal. "It is the property of a Baron Krag; he
+will sell it if he can obtain about double its value. He has the
+argument on his side, that it is an exceptional place, and should sell
+at an exceptional price; hitherto he has not found a buyer on these
+terms. The property is small in extent."
+
+About a week after this conversation, John Hardy received the
+following letter from Copenhagen:--
+
+"I was honoured by your letter of the 10th of this month, and, in
+pursuance of your wishes, called at the Bank and enquired of you, and
+presented your letter, requesting them to give me information about
+you. They replied that they had heard from your London bankers that
+you had a considerable sum at your disposition in their hands, and
+that your yearly income was considerable, and that any services I
+rendered you would be promptly paid for. I accordingly send
+particulars of Rosendal, which I have already procured for other
+clients; and I send sketch of the estate. The price is much in excess
+of its value, 300,000 kroner (18 kroner is equal to L1 sterling). The
+price that has been bid is 200,000 kroner, and possibly an advance may
+be obtained on that. I wish to point out to you that 200,000 kroner is
+beyond the value of Rosendal in an economical sense, and the same
+money in the Danish funds would yield twice the income.
+
+"The cows, horses, and sheep, agricultural implements, all go to the
+purchaser. The land is managed by a bailiff, and the sources of income
+are chiefly from the sale of butter, barley, and produce. There is a
+small tile works; and a certain quantity of turf can be sold yearly.
+The income is therefore uncertain.
+
+"I think it also my duty to lay clearly before you, that if you wish
+to introduce any alteration in our Danish system of farming, that it
+would not be successful. There would be a passive antagonism with the
+people, who, if you let them be steered by a good bailiff, would give
+you no trouble. In the direction of any improvement, however, new
+agricultural implements from England of the simpler kind would be well
+received and adopted. The Danish cattle also are suitable to the
+country, and the introduction of English high class-breeds might not
+answer.
+
+"If you did not reside at Rosendal, the bailiff's accounts could be
+checked either by me or any other person you thought proper, and the
+place visited twice yearly, to report the condition and the state of
+the property.
+
+"I will ascertain the exact sum that will be accepted, if you desire
+it; but it will take time--negotiations for large properties are often
+much protracted in Denmark.
+
+"I wait, therefore, the honour of your reply, and respectfully greet
+you.
+
+"Obediently,
+"Axel Steindal,
+"_Prokurator._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+    "Many a one
+    Owes to his country his religion,
+    And in another, would as strongly grow
+    Had but his mother or his nurse taught him so."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The church at Vandstrup lay on rising ground from the river. It was
+white-washed, covered with red tiles, and surrounded by a white-washed
+wall enclosing God's acre, in which so many slept the last long sleep.
+There were a few poplars planted close to the church-yard wall, and a
+few weather-beaten ash trees, with a single dwarfed weeping willow
+over a grave. On Sunday, John Hardy watched with interest the
+church-going people collecting by the church gate. The men in dark
+Wadmel jackets with bright buttons, and the women with red ribands
+bound on their caps and knitted sleeves. The women left their wooden
+shoes in the dry ditch by the roadside, and put on leather shoes, and
+waited for the Pastor's arrival. Accuracy of time was not expected,
+and only when the Pastor appeared did the men throng into the church
+on one side and the women on the other. The interior of the church was
+simple to a degree. John Hardy with Karl and Axel sat on the men's
+side, and Froken Helga and Kirstin on the other. The service was
+similar to that of the English Protestant service, although relics of
+what would be now called Romanism remained. There were candles on the
+altar, and the Pastor chanted some portion of the service. John Hardy
+longed for the sermon. The thorough honest feeling exhibited by the
+Pastor's character in his home, with his evident refinement and
+education, had excited his curiosity as to what the sermon would be.
+
+The text of the sermon was from the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, part
+of ver. 42: "Give to him that asketh thee!"
+
+"When a man comes and asks anything of you, what should you give? The
+best thing is sympathy and love; material gifts he may want, but these
+kindliness will dictate, and kindliness is the real gold of life. If
+no power exists to give what is necessary to assist your neighbour in
+a material sense, yet to your ability give; and if you give at all,
+give kindly. Those of you who want not material things, yet may want
+kind sympathy when God smiteth with sorrow. Recollect, then, that that
+is the time for kindliness to be proved that is golden."
+
+This was the epitome of the sermon, and John Hardy could not hear a
+sound in the church, so intently was it listened to.
+
+"I could understand your sermon, Herr Pastor," said Hardy; "it was
+preached in such simple Danish, and I liked it. But what interested me
+was the earnestness with which you were listened to: every word was
+heard by every one of your congregation, and I could see felt."
+
+"It was not always so," said Pastor Lindal. "I have won the sympathy
+and friendship of the children of my parish by years of work amongst
+them. The character of the Jutland people is suspicious--there is a
+strange mixture of shrewdness and stolidity; they are slow to
+appreciate, but when once their sympathy is won, they are fast
+friends. It is impossible for a sermon to have any effect without you
+have won their friendship on other days than Sundays."
+
+John Hardy said nothing, but he thought that the application was true
+to other lands than Denmark, particularly England.
+
+The Pastor had to perform another service at an Annex Kirke (a
+subsidiary church), and left after a short meal to do so. Froken Helga
+went to her room, and Karl and Axel implored Hardy to go fishing; but
+he refused. "It is not right to do so," he said; "we have to keep the
+Sunday, and fishing is not keeping the Sunday."
+
+"But everybody does here, and more than, other days," said Karl.
+
+"That may be," said Hardy; "but I cannot do what I do not think is
+right."
+
+Kirstin was present and heard this conversation, and it met her
+evident approval. She told the boys that the Englishman must not be
+teased on a Sunday, that he might wish to read his Bible, and that he
+must not be disturbed. The boys left the room in bad humour.
+
+"Kirstin," said Hardy, "my being here will, I dare say, give you more
+trouble, and I wish to recognize it. I am an Englishman accustomed to
+many servants, and may be careless of what trouble I give. You must
+not judge me by what is the custom in Denmark. Here is forty kroner;
+will you kindly give what you think fit to others in the house, and
+keep the rest yourself?"
+
+"No," said Kirstin, "I will have no money. Herr Pastor says you will
+pay for your stay here by teaching, and it rests with him; also it is
+too much."
+
+Hardy had to pocket his money again with a dissatisfied look, but
+Kirstin understood him; and his face, on which nature had written
+"gentleman," and which she had closely observed since Hardy's arrival,
+appealed to her.
+
+"I have seen the gentleman," said Kirstin, "look at Froken Helga, and
+I will tell the gentleman something that may serve him. Froken Helga
+can never marry. Her duty is to her father and her brothers, and she
+knows and feels that."
+
+John Hardy was not in love with Froken Helga; but yet this simple
+Jutland peasant had divined what might occur, and had forewarned him.
+The explanation of Helga's conduct towards him was clear. He saw that
+she daily visited the people in the parish, and told the Pastor what
+was necessary to tell him, and that her usefulness in the parsonage
+and in every corner of it was a want that she filled. Kirstin
+understood all this, and saw that it could not be interrupted without
+a breach of duty.
+
+John Hardy went to his room, and did not come out of it until they
+were all assembled that Sunday evening in the little dining-room.
+
+The Pastor was tired, but very conversational; and when his great
+porcelain pipe had been filled as usual by Helga with Kanaster, he
+said, "I was struck by your evident interest in our service; but I was
+pleased to hear that you refused to go fishing with Karl and Axel,
+because the sabbath should be kept. Now, we have not that view,
+although it is the best view; and I say frankly that if you had taken
+the boys fishing, I should have not objected; but you said you felt it
+was not right, and I honour the thought. There is with us in Denmark a
+strong feeling against the Established Church, and a political
+question arose some years ago which will well illustrate it. On the
+7th of January, 1868, a bill was brought before our Lower House of
+Parliament as to military service, and the question was raised whether
+theological candidates should be eligible for military service. The
+issue was raised in the Lower House of Representatives and fought
+there. It then passed into the Higher House of Representatives, and
+was fought there. The strife was long and intensely bitter, the
+greater part of the population of Denmark becoming partisans for or
+partisans against the clerical party. After the fight in the Higher
+House, it was again referred to the Lower, and refought there, and so
+again to the Higher House, with two interludes of appeals to the
+country. The clerical party described the position of the clergy in a
+florid style. They declaimed that poets and painters had represented
+the life of a Danish priest as a beautiful idyl, each scene in
+relative harmony with surrounding nature, whose heart is not touched
+as wandering in the path-fields he hears the bells of the country
+church ringing in the morning of the sabbath. How lovely is the little
+white church, with its red roof and quaint gables, amidst its woods
+and meadows! The little parsonage standing in its own garden, with a
+little belt of trees close to the church, while around it flock the
+little country houses, as a hen gathers her chickens. Nothing is more
+exquisite than the perfect affection and peace that exists between the
+country clergyman and his congregation. He is the teacher of the
+young, the comforter of the old, in each house a welcome guest, and
+the estimation in which his holy calling is held invests him with
+respect. In spiritual need or worldly care every one of his
+congregation hasten to their minister. He is the curer of souls,
+adviser, father, friend. The homes of his flock are his own, and it is
+his pride to confer happiness and promote contentment."
+
+"That is a bright picture," said Hardy.
+
+"Yes," said Pastor Lindal; "but the opposite party drew another, which
+attracted many partisans. They said his reverence has a good time of
+it. He has a house which is better than a Danish farmer's, and a farm
+which is just as good. He has horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and poultry.
+He has, moreover, tithes and dues of many kinds; and besides these, it
+is necessary to stick a dollar in his fist whenever one must make use
+of him. Whilst the Danish farmer has to sweat behind his plough, the
+clergyman sits at his ease smoking his pipe in his study, and has
+nothing more to do than to preach on a Sunday, and to hear the
+children read once a week. Everything that is congenial to the taste
+of the Danish farmer, the clergyman turns up his nose at. He abuses
+the leaders of the people, and only reads conservative newspapers, and
+on election days he votes against all his parish. The farmer maintains
+and pays him, but his conviction is that he is better than any farmer.
+What, therefore, can be more stiff-necked of him than to refuse to
+serve his country with his own, reverend person? Off with his black
+coat and clap on a red, and let the corporal teach him. He is a
+learned fellow, but, doubtless, stupid at drill."
+
+"That last," said Hardy, "is a reference to Holberg's play of 'Erasmus
+Montanus.'"
+
+"Yes," said Pastor Lindal; "and it amused the country. But they got
+hold of another idea, and tore it to shreds: they said if the flock
+goes to war, the shepherd should not be absent. The result, however,
+was that theological candidates are liable to military service, and it
+makes a difference of possibly twenty men yearly. It, however, proves
+one thing, and that is, the Lower House had got hold of the clerical
+gown, and were determined, with bull-dog tenacity, to rend it."
+
+"A similar question in England," said Hardy, "would have produced the
+same result."
+
+"That I can well believe," said the Pastor; "but with you a
+congregation can be sold to the highest bidder, and is. There is no
+thought in England of adjusting the payment for church work to the
+work done, and so long as this exists it is a dangerous feature."
+
+"Without doubt," said Hardy.
+
+Before going to bed, Hardy said to Froken Helga, "Good night," as he
+had done on previous nights, without more than a bow; but to his
+surprise she held out her hand, and said--
+
+"Thank you, Herr Hardy; I have rarely seen my father so interested to
+talk with any one, and it is kind of you to interest him."
+
+"It is the contrary, Froken Helga; he interests me," said Hardy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+    "Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use
+    of manly exercises in their riper age."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+To John Hardy the days passed pleasantly at the little Danish
+parsonage. He taught the boys English a short time daily, and their
+bright faces and strong desire to learn made Hardy interested in their
+progress. If they were inclined to be inattentive, which was rare, the
+hint that he should not take them with him fishing secured earnest and
+immediate attention. The Pastor saw that the boys made progress in
+learning English with Hardy, and he himself taught them several hours
+daily, or, if he were absent, he set them work to do, and his daughter
+Helga sat in the room until the Pastor returned.
+
+Hardy accompanied him in his visits to his Sogneborn (literally,
+parish children), and he gradually became acquainted with the Danish
+farmers, and was known in the parish as Praesten's Englaender, or the
+parson's Englishman. He was amused by the habits of many of the men,
+in treating him as if he was a harmless idiot, to be humoured and
+always answered in the affirmative. Stories were told him of how in
+some parts of the river there were trout et Par Alen long (about four
+feet), but to amuse the idiot for the moment.
+
+The peculiarity of knickerbockers received much consideration, and it
+was a frequent question if Hardy adopted that dress for a sickness in
+his legs. Hardy's knowledge of farming and the management of cattle,
+particularly horses, was an unfailing source of conversation. There
+are many good horses bred in Jutland for sale in England, Germany, and
+Sweden. The original breed appeared to Hardy to be either Hungarian or
+Polish. These horses are well adapted for light carriage work; and
+many a horse foaled on a Jutland farm has been in a London carriage,
+to the considerable profit of the importer.
+
+The evenings at the parsonage passed in conversation with the Pastor,
+who held a sort of tobacco parliament. Hardy was a good listener, and
+was anxious to perfect himself in the Danish language. Froken Helga
+knitted and listened. The boys learned lessons or played games. The
+Pastor liked to hear his daughter sing; but it would be doing that
+worthy man strong injustice to say he liked the piano, which was very
+old and worse than worthless. It was to Hardy's ear torture to hear it
+in contrast with Froken Helga's clear voice. At last he could stand it
+no longer, and the matter came to a crisis.
+
+"Herr Pastor," said Hardy, "when at the exhibition of Copenhagen, of
+your national industry, I was much struck by the tone of a piano by a
+Copenhagen maker, and I have ordered one, and I shall be much indebted
+to you if you will allow it to be sent here until I return to
+England."
+
+"There will be much extra expense attached to that plan," replied the
+Pastor, "and, besides, it might get injured here."
+
+"Those considerations I am fully prepared for," said Hardy; "but if I
+may take the leaf from my mouth, as you Danes say, or speak plainly,
+your piano is worn out, and is spoiling Froken Helga's ear and taste
+for music. Her voice is excellent, and rings as clearly as a silver
+bell; but then the jingle of the piano is like the toothache."
+
+"We are all accustomed to it," said the Pastor; "but I only hear
+Helga's voice."
+
+So the piano appeared, and a man to tune it, and Froken Helga played
+it. The tone was good, and the Pastor listened to the old Danish songs
+he had heard so many times with delight.
+
+One evening Helga had to make a visit to a sick woman, and the Pastor
+puffed away at his teacup of a pipe, with longer puffs than usual.
+Hardy saw there was something in the way, and at last it struck him
+that he missed his daughter's song. He had once told Hardy that her
+voice was like her mother's.
+
+Hardy sat down to the piano, and played and sang an English ballad,
+and then another. He then sang a plaintive German song, with a manly
+pathos and taste, that showed the well-bred gentleman he was.
+
+The Pastor applauded loudly, and Hardy turned round, and, lo! there
+was Froken Helga, with a look on her face that Hardy never forgot, so
+intense was her surprise.
+
+"Helga," said her father, "go and thank Herr Hardy for his singing to
+me instead of you; he saw I missed you, my child, and he sang to
+divert me."
+
+"A thousand thanks!" said Helga, using a common Danish expression. "I
+never heard so beautiful a song! But why did you not tell us that you
+could play and sing before?"
+
+"Because I preferred Froken Helga's voice to that of Praesten's
+Englaender," said Hardy.
+
+Nothing would induce Froken Helga to sing that evening; her father
+almost commanded her, but she would not. At last she said, "I cannot,
+father; Herr Hardy sings too well."
+
+This speech was not forgotten for a long time, and Karl and Axel
+teased their sister with perpetual questions as to whether they or she
+was not doing something or other too well. If Karl caught no trout, he
+explained to his sister that he was afraid of fishing too well. If
+Axel had dirty hands, his explanation was that he was afraid of
+washing them too well.
+
+John Hardy had visited the Gudenaa within walking distance, or boating
+distance, and he wished to make longer expeditions from the parsonage.
+He inspected several of the farms near, and at last arranged with
+farmer Niels Jacobsen to rent stabling for three horses. He then wrote
+the following letter, addressed to a groom at Hardy Place:--
+
+"Robert Garth,
+
+"I want you to bring Buffalo to me in Denmark. The horse is to be
+taken to Harwich, and thence on board the steamer for Esbjerg. The
+steamers are fitted up with stables for horses, and there will be no
+difficulty. When you come to Esbjerg, take train to Horsens, where I
+will meet you. A telegram must be sent me to Vandstrup Praestegaard, to
+say when you will arrive at Horsens. Bring two hunting saddles and
+bridles, and some of the snaffle bits that I like.
+
+"Show this letter to the steward, and he will let you have what money
+he thinks is necessary for your journey.
+
+"Yours truly,
+
+"John Hardy."
+
+In little more than a week, Buffalo and Robert Garth were in Niels
+Jacobsen's stables.
+
+Buffalo was a good English-bred horse, a good jumper, with a chest
+like a wall, and hind-quarters up to weight. Niels Jacobsen and his
+neighbours had collected and criticized.
+
+"Gild bevars! sikken en Hest!" ["God preserve us, what a horse!"] said
+Niels, sucking away at his pipe, with a chorus echoing the same words
+from his neighbours. There was no doubt of their approval, and Buffalo
+had a succession of visitors and admirers for days.
+
+Hardy had communicated to Pastor Lindal that he intended to have one
+of his horses and a groom from England, and had great difficulty in
+preventing the Pastor turning out his own small stable to make room
+for Buffalo; but this Hardy would not allow. Robert Garth lodged at
+Jacobsen's, and Hardy, with that thoughtfulness he always had for
+those about him, arranged for his man's meals and sleeping quarters as
+nearly as possible to an English groom's notions.
+
+"Well, Bob," said Hardy, "you will shake down after a bit; but what I
+want you to do is, to help me to pick out a pair of light carriage
+horses from here. I have seen a lot, and you will have plenty to
+choose from. They will suit my mother, and I wish to take them over as
+a present to her."
+
+"I have seen some of them Danish horses," said Robert Garth, "and not
+half bad horses either; but it is the infernal lingo. They keep
+smoking them big wood pipes, and when they don't smoke they chews, and
+then they spits."
+
+"Where did you see any Danish horses?" asked Hardy.
+
+"At Sir Charles'; he had a pair, hardly up to fifteen hands, but very
+pretty steppers, with a thinish mane, a trifle small below the knee,"
+said Garth.
+
+"That's the very thing," said Hardy.
+
+As soon as it was known that the priest's Englishman wanted to buy two
+Jutland horses, plenty offered; and Karl and Axel were intensely
+interested in the trial of the horses, which went on in a rough piece
+of land close to the parsonage.
+
+When the horses were brought up, Hardy mounted one, and Robert Garth
+criticized. Hardy put the horse through its paces, and if his judgment
+was not favourable, it was declined; but if doubtful. Garth rode it,
+and Hardy looked on. A couple of horses were thus selected, and both
+had Robert Garth's unqualified approval.
+
+"They are both as handsome as paint, and as sound as bells," said
+Garth.
+
+"Are you a horse-dealer?" asked Pastor Lindal, of Hardy, one evening.
+
+"No, certainly not," replied Hardy.
+
+"You have shown every qualification for it," said the Pastor.
+
+"Possibly," said Hardy. "I see I have done this also too well. I only
+wanted the horses for my mother's carriage. She likes an open light
+carriage, and it is difficult to procure really good horses in England
+of a suitable size. The horses I have bought will suit her exactly, if
+we have good luck with them; that is, that they turn out well, and we
+have no accident with them. I shall buy a light four-wheel carriage at
+Horsens, and my groom will drive them, and we shall then see if it be
+necessary to discard either or both, before they are taken to
+England."
+
+"But why did you send for a horse from England?" said Pastor Lindal,
+to whom a horse was a horse and a cow was a cow.
+
+"I fear because I like a good horse," replied Hardy. "Your Jutland
+horses are not adapted to the saddle, except for lady's hacks, or
+light carriage work; my English horse would jump the ditches that
+abound in your Danish fields, and would, for instance, jump your
+garden wall."
+
+"That I am sure no horse can," said the Pastor, decidedly.
+
+"Does he mean, father," said Froken Helga, "that his horse can jump
+our garden wall?"
+
+"Yes," said Hardy; "it is scarcely five feet. But will you promise,
+Froken Helga, that if my horse does jump the wall, that you will not
+say that the horse does it too well? It is not me, but the horse that
+jumps the wall."
+
+Helga looked annoyed at the reference made to her saying that he sang
+and played too well for any one to follow after him, but she said
+nothing.
+
+Karl and Axel had listened. They too thought it impossible; but they
+believed in Hardy.
+
+"Well, Karl," said Hardy, "don't you believe in me and the English
+horse?"
+
+"No," said Karl. "A horse cannot jump the garden wall by himself, much
+more with a man on his back; no horse could do it. But I believe you
+can do anything."
+
+"Well, Herr Pastor," said Hardy, "I have no one who believes in me or
+my horse. Froken Helga regards me with suspicion; and no one in
+Jutland appears to believe more than they see."
+
+"Yes; but it is impossible," said Pastor Lindal.
+
+The next day after breakfast, Buffalo and one of the Danish horses
+were taken to the parsonage by Robert Garth. Buffalo had an English
+saddle on, and looked fully recovered from his journey to Denmark, and
+fit for anything. The Pastor, his daughter, and his two boys came out
+to see the English horse. Froken Helga had not seen it before, and it
+struck her as being the handsomest horse she had ever seen; and she
+observed the respect the English groom showed Hardy.
+
+"What do you think of the oats, Bob?" said Hardy.
+
+"First-rate," said Garth, touching his hat; "they have picked Buffalo
+up wonderful, and he is fit to go anywhere."
+
+Hardy mounted his horse. His mother had sent over his hunting
+breeches, and when mounted, the Pastor was struck with the manly
+figure of the quiet-mannered Englishman.
+
+"The horse will not take even such a jump as your garden wall," said
+Hardy, "in cold blood. I will give him a gallop down the field below,
+and then bring him up and jump the wall. You will see the grand spread
+of his stride as he gallops."
+
+Hardy rode like an English country gentleman accustomed to the saddle,
+and the great wide strides taken by Buffalo even the Pastor observed
+with astonishment. Suddenly Hardy turned and came at the garden wall,
+with Buffalo well in hand, who rose to the jump and cleared it easily,
+and out through a break in the shrubbery over the wall at the other
+side.
+
+Hardy rode quietly in through the entrance gate and dismounted. It was
+clear, by the demeanour of the English groom, that he saw nothing
+unusual in what had passed; but it was very different with the Danish
+family. The boys cheered, but Froken Helga had disappeared.
+
+"If you were not accustomed to do this," said the Pastor, "I should
+consider it was not right to risk so good a horse and your own limbs.
+A fall must be dangerous to you and your horse."
+
+"Yes; a fall would be, and is," said Hardy. "I have broken my arm and
+a collar-bone by falls when hunting."
+
+"Now, Herr Pastor," added Hardy, "you will see the difference between
+my English horse and one of the best horses we could buy here."
+
+"He can't jump a yard, master," said Garth; "it is no use trying him."
+
+Hardy mounted the Danish horse, and the difference was apparent in
+pace and action.
+
+"Bob," said Hardy, "they are no use for saddle horses, except for
+ladies; but they will do well for what we bought them."
+
+"Right you are, master!" said Garth, as Hardy remounted Buffalo, and
+went for a ride.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+    "Next, note that the eel seldom stirs in the day,
+    but then hides himself; and therefore is usually caught by
+    night, with one of those baits of which I have spoken."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The two Danish horses were driven by Garth, and, in his hands, soon
+grew accustomed to harness and the light carriage John Hardy had
+purchased at Horsens. Longer expeditions were made to fish the smaller
+Danish streams, and, to the great gratification of Karl and Axel, to
+Silkeborg. The lakes at Silkeborg, with their idyllic picturesqueness,
+interested Hardy, while the pike and the perch fishing yielded good
+sport. Hardy was skilful in spinning a heavy minnow deep in the water,
+casting it from a boat, and thus attracting the heaviest perch. A
+paternoster also in his hands caught a quantity of perch. Pike were
+caught by casting a dead roach, with a rod with upright rings, and
+Hardy threw his bait with a length and certainty that the Danish
+fishermen were not accustomed to. The bait would fall into a little
+spot of water amongst the reeds. A jerk and pull made the dead fish
+appear like a wounded live one; when out would rush Herr _Esox lucius_
+from his lair, and, after expostulating in the usual manner, would
+come into the boat with the sullen look of
+how-I-should-like-to-bite-the-calf-of-your-leg, peculiar to Herr
+Esox's genus.
+
+The Danish fishermen at Silkeborg began to entertain the notion that
+John Hardy, if his stay was prolonged, would depopulate the lakes of
+both pike and perch; and they hugged the idea with affection that at
+least he could not catch eels, with which the lakes abound.
+
+"Can you catch eels, Herr Hardy?" said Karl. "The fishermen say you
+may be able to catch pike and perch, but you do not know how to catch
+eels with a line in the lakes."
+
+"Yes," replied Hardy, "if you and Axel will undertake to take them off
+the hooks when caught; it is not an agreeable bit of work."
+
+"Yes, that will we," said Karl and Axel at once.
+
+They had then no idea of the difficulty of getting off the slime of an
+eel from their clothes, and what very pointed personal remarks would
+be made by Kirstin, when they returned to Vandstrup Praestegaard.
+
+The preparations for catching eels with lines was of immense interest
+to the boys. Hardy had several stakes made with sharpened ends. The
+stakes were driven into a shallow part of the lake, and a line
+attached to each, of about thirty yards' length. The line was a cotton
+one, with copper wire twisted in it; and to each line, at the distance
+of every six feet, was attached a strong gimp hook, baited with a dead
+minnow. The lines were laid down at dusk, with a weight at the end of
+about half a pound. A boat was chartered, and the lines visited at
+intervals the half part of the night. By drawing the line, it was easy
+to detect if an eel was on the line. The result was the constant
+employment of Karl and Axel in taking eels off the lines; and the next
+day their clothes were white and shiny, with slime from the eels.
+
+"You are so good to us, Herr Hardy," said Karl, "I wish you would live
+always with us."
+
+"We do not live only to catch fish," said Hardy; "each of us has his
+duty and work to do; but there is no reason why we should not enjoy
+the beautiful world God has given us, when we do our duty first. My
+duty I know; yours you have yet to learn."
+
+These simple words had a strong impression on the two lads, and were
+never forgotten; and when Karl and Axel returned to their father's
+house, they told him what Hardy had said, and he never forgot it
+either.
+
+"I think," said the Pastor to his daughter, "that Herr Hardy is as
+good as he is kind."
+
+One little circumstance that now occurred it is necessary to mention.
+Hardy had been some time at the parsonage, and he therefore offered to
+pay what he had agreed to pay for his board and lodging.
+
+The Pastor refused to accept payment, "You have come here, and whilst
+here have repaid us again and again by your kind ways and manners. My
+two boys have grown in a few weeks to be gentle and considerate in
+their conduct. They were rough and wild before. You have taught them
+English, and their progress has astonished me. I have taught them
+daily, but you have succeeded in teaching more in a few weeks than I
+have years. I cannot repay this. I can only say I will receive no
+money of yours."
+
+"But I am well able to pay the moderate sum you stated that was your
+wish I should pay, and I will pay it with pleasure."
+
+"That may be," said the Pastor, "but the principle is the same. I
+could not honestly take anything from you."
+
+"Then I must leave," said Hardy; "I could not remain here at your
+charge. I see I put you to more expenditure than is usual with you,
+and I could not continue to do so."
+
+"You are, of course, at liberty to leave when you wish," said the
+Pastor; "but if you will give way in this, I shall feel I have at
+least recognized in the only way in my power what you have done for me
+and mine."
+
+There was no doubt of the sincerity of the Pastor's meaning. His open
+face was as clear to read as print.
+
+Froken Helga was present at this interview, and Hardy looked at her in
+the hope of finding in her expression as to what he should do. She was
+knitting as usual. He thought there was a feeling that she wished the
+matter should drop, so Hardy said--
+
+"Well, Herr Pastor, all I can say is that the money is at your
+disposition, and if you refuse to take it when I go away I shall pay
+it to the Fattigkasse (poor box); and I must insist I have done
+nothing more than any Englishman would do."
+
+"Good, very good!" said the Pastor. "Let us shake hands, and there is
+an end of it."
+
+As Hardy took the Pastor's hand, he thought Froken Helga's face bore
+an expression of approval, but her retiring manner made it impossible
+to discover what her thoughts really were.
+
+A few days after, at breakfast, the Pastor said to Hardy, "There is an
+invitation for you to go to Gods-eier (landowner) Jensen's. They are
+going to celebrate their silver wedding. They have also invited me and
+my daughter Helga. Jensen breeds horses, and his reason for asking you
+is probably because he has heard of your English horse. Niels Jacobsen
+has talked with him about it. He saw him at a market some days ago.
+You can, of course, decline; and, at any rate, you can do as you wish.
+We shall go because they are friends of ours, and it would be a want
+of respect not to go on such an occasion as a silver wedding. There
+will be several persons there, and there will be a dinner at about
+three, and a dance after, in which the younger people will join."
+
+"Thank you," said Hardy; "I should like to see more of Danish society,
+and I should wish to go for that reason."
+
+John Hardy did not say that he had a strong wish to see Froken Helga
+in society. He had seen her only at home, perpetually knitting and
+occupied in the management of the affairs of the parsonage. He
+observed, when she expressed a wish, that neither the wayward boys nor
+the strong-minded Kirstin had the least thought of acting in
+opposition to it, and he felt an interest in the opportunity of seeing
+her in society, and observing whether there would be the same
+unbending nature.
+
+The invitation was therefore accepted.
+
+The distance was about five English miles, and Garth drove the pair of
+Danish horses in the neat livery of Hardy Place; and the Pastor and
+his daughter sat together, while Hardy sat beside Garth. He did this
+because he thought that Froken Helga would rather dispense with his
+society.
+
+"They will do eight miles," said Garth, "but I do not believe they
+will do more; they go what you may call pretty, but there is not much
+stay in them, and if you drive them out of their pace, they are cut
+down at once."
+
+"Yes, Bob," said Hardy; "but they will suit my mother, and they are
+just what she wants and would like."
+
+"Yes," said Bob Garth, "there is that; but they starves them so much
+when they are young, and that does not make sinew or bone."
+
+Notwithstanding Garth's predictions, the Jensen's mansion was reached
+in half an hour from Vandstrup Praestegaard, and Garth drove up with a
+flourish that impressed Herr Jensen, who was on the door steps.
+
+"Are these the horses the Englishman bought a few days ago, Herr
+Pastor Lindal?" asked Herr Jensen.
+
+"Yes," said Pastor Lindal. "But how are you, and how is Fru Lindal and
+your family?"
+
+"They are all right, thank you, Herr Pastor," replied Herr Jensen.
+"But I never saw horses so managed! Why, they could be sold in
+Hamburgh for a lot of money. They are fit for any carriage anywhere."
+
+If Fru Jensen had not appeared on the scene, it is possible that her
+husband's interest in the horses might have been prolonged
+indefinitely; but she conducted Froken Helga Lindal into the house,
+introduced herself to John Hardy, and told the Pastor to tell the
+English groom where to put up his horses and where to wait until he
+should be required to return to Vandstrup Praestegaard.
+
+Herr Jensen looked at the Englishman with interest, as he stood before
+him in his evening dress, broad-shouldered with fine limbs, his
+clothes fitting well, and looking like a wedge from his broad chest
+down to his feet.
+
+They went into an assembly-room, where many guests were gathered.
+There were several landowners of the district with their families, and
+John Hardy's simple manners and unmistakable stamp of gentleman made a
+favourable impression. He was introduced to a Froken Jaeger, and was
+told he would have to take her in to dinner. Hardy bowed.
+
+"How old are you?" said Froken Jaeger.
+
+"Twenty-eight," replied Hardy.
+
+"What is your profession?" inquired Froken Jaeger.
+
+"Landowner," replied Hardy. And Hardy was subjected to a
+cross-examination that elicited from him that his father was dead
+years ago, that his mother lived at Hardy Place, that he was a
+magistrate for the English county where he resided, and was also an
+officer in the yeomanry cavalry.
+
+"Then why do you not wear a uniform?" inquired Froken Jaeger, with
+some asperity.
+
+"Because it is not allowed, and I do not wish it, when in a foreign
+country," replied Hardy.
+
+It is to be feared that if the cross-examination had been much longer,
+that Hardy would have declined to answer any more questions, and have
+exhibited some of that insularity that is so common in Englishmen; but
+dinner was announced, and Hardy offered his arm, and Froken Jaeger was
+soon occupied in other and more material subjects. She was about
+thirty-five, according to Hardy's judgment, and had a long sharp nose
+and an equally sharp chin, tending ultimately to form what some people
+ungenerously call nutcrackers; but her appetite was good, and it left
+an opportunity to Hardy to observe his fellow guests.
+
+The Pastor sat near his host, and his daughter was paired with a young
+Danish landowner, who paid her great attention. Her dress was simple,
+with an ornament or two inherited from her mother; but her clear
+complexion, her tall figure and clean-cut features impressed Hardy.
+She talked with every one with animation, and Hardy could scarcely
+realize the comparison between the quiet figure steadily knitting with
+ear and eye always at her father's service to the perfect Danish lady
+before him.
+
+There were several toasts proposed during the dinner. The event of the
+day had to be particularly recognized, which was done with much
+enthusiasm. Then followed other toasts, and Hardy's health was drunk,
+to which he had to reply. He rose quickly, and said in Danish that his
+knowledge of the language was yet so imperfect that he could say
+little more than thanks, but that he would add that he owed a debt of
+kindness to the Danes with whom he had been brought in contact, and he
+thanked them and his host for their kindness and consideration to a
+foreigner. Hardy read in Froken Helga's face that what he had said was
+what had her approval, and that he had said enough.
+
+"You appear to look at Froken Helga Lindal, Herr Hardy," said Froken
+Jaeger; "are you engaged to her?"
+
+"No," said Hardy.
+
+"But what do you think of her?"
+
+"That she is an excellent daughter," replied Hardy.
+
+"And that she would make an excellent wife?" said Froken Jaeger.
+
+"Possibly," said Hardy, with a determination to say nothing more.
+
+The dinner party broke up. The elder people of the male sort adjourned
+to a very strong tobacco-parliament and cards; the younger went into
+the assembly-room, which was now converted into a ball-room. Froken
+Jaeger said, "Herr Hardy, I have put your name down in my list of
+dances for the first dance, and you will dance with me."
+
+Hardy went to Froken Helga Lindal, and besought her to deliver him
+from Froken Jaeger; but she declined, and said, "You have to dance
+with Froken Jaeger; you have taken her in to dinner, and it is our
+custom."
+
+"Then," said Hardy, "let me have one dance with you, a waltz?"
+
+Helga gave him her list, and he wrote his name down for the first
+waltz possible.
+
+"Is it your father's wish to stay here a long time, Froken Helga?"
+asked Hardy.
+
+"No; but it depends on you," replied Helga. "He will not leave until
+you wish, but I know the sooner he is home the better for him. But
+Herr Jensen will want to talk to you about his horses."
+
+"I will see him at once," said Hardy, "and tell him I will ride over
+to-morrow to see his horses, and that will, I think, prevent any delay
+arising from that cause."
+
+So Hardy went into the tobacco-parliament, and arranged with Herr
+Jensen to see him the following day, and the catechising Froken Jaeger
+had to wait while the dance and the waltz she loved so well had begun;
+but Hardy's appearance and his good dancing allayed her rising anger.
+
+"Do you dance much in England?" said Froken Jaeger.
+
+"No," said Hardy; "I do not like it."
+
+At length the time came for his dance with Froken Helga Lindal, and as
+they stood up the personal beauty of both was remarked. Helga's
+elastic movement on Hardy's arm, the ease with which she danced in
+perfect time, and her bright manner had its effect on Hardy. He was
+not quite sure but that he had just told Froken Jaeger a story, in
+saying that he did not like dancing.
+
+"You dance well, Froken Helga!" said Hardy.
+
+"I can do nothing so well as you," replied Helga. "But my father would
+wish to leave, and if you can arrange it, I shall thank you so much.
+You can do what you like; we cannot."
+
+A short time after, they were sitting behind the trotting horses, and
+the Pastor thanked Hardy for his consideration. "They are kind
+people," said he, "but they do not think that my duty is never to be
+away from my home, so that I can be called at any moment to do what
+duty may arise, and which, if I should delay or omit, would be wrong."
+
+"It is a strict view," said Hardy, "but it is the right one. I cannot
+say it is general in England."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+    "If the prayer be good, the commoner the better.
+    Prayer in the Church's words,
+    As well as sense, of all prayers bears the bell."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The next day after the late breakfast at the parsonage, John Hardy
+rode over to the Jensen's on Buffalo, and Garth followed on one of the
+Danish horses, and was received with much warmth. Herr Jensen walked
+round and round Buffalo, for he loved a horse, and admired the length
+of his step as Buffalo walked. He had heard the story of his jumping
+the wall at Vandstrup Praestegaard, and his desire to see him perform
+in that capacity was so great, that Hardy put him through a gallop and
+over a few fences, and Herr Jensen approved loudly. Fru Jensen was
+present and her two daughters, Mathilde and Maria Jensen.
+
+Hardy's quiet manner when he dismounted and made his respects to the
+ladies, as if he had just trotted his horse up the avenue, struck
+them, and they forgave him on the spot for leaving so early the night
+before. Hardy went into the old Danish Herregaard (country house), and
+was received with the usual Danish hospitality. The ladies talked
+incessantly of the proceedings of the night before, and Hardy had to
+bear the result of Froken Jaeger's severe cross-examination to the
+fullest particular. She had told all Hardy's answers to her questions,
+and they were possessed with Hardy's position in England, so far as he
+had chosen to answer Froken Jaeger, and the ladies were ready to
+pursue the inquiry further; but, fortunately for Hardy, Herr Jensen
+was anxious to show him his farm, and particularly his horses. Hardy
+at once assented, and Herr Jensen took him to see his brood mares and
+foals, with a few young horses not yet sold, which Herr Jensen was
+holding for a higher price than the people he sold to at Hamburgh
+would pay him. Garth accompanied them.
+
+"I have sold horses often to England," said Jensen; "but they will pay
+a price upon each particular horse. Some they will pay L40 for, some
+they will pay L18 for; and when the horses arrive at Hull, they will
+say there is some fault or defect in the higher paid-for horses, and
+the consequence is that I prefer selling to the Germans. They pay L25
+to L30 a horse, and take, perhaps, twenty or thirty yearly; and many
+of the best go to England after being trained, and the rest are sold
+in Germany or elsewhere; but I never hear any complaints of defects or
+the like."
+
+"That I can well understand," said Hardy. "In England, a really good
+horse has no price. If he is wanted, any price will be paid; but a
+horse with a fault is nowhere."
+
+"Our horses," said Jensen, "are good horses for light weights; but in
+England they are used chiefly for carriages now. I have two horses
+here that would make good saddle horses, and I wish you could try
+them."
+
+The two horses Herr Jensen referred to were in a pasture, tethered to
+an iron spike driven in the ground, with a rope giving them a range of
+a few yards of grass.
+
+"What do you think of these two horses, Bob?" said Hardy to Garth.
+
+"Very good park hacks," said Garth, "and just the thing for a lady to
+ride."
+
+"My man will try one of the horses if you like," said Hardy. "He is
+accustomed to horses."
+
+Garth fetched the saddle he had rode over in, and a light snaffle
+bridle, and mounted, and, after the usual difficulties that always
+occur with colts, he rode the horse, sitting firm and easy in the
+saddle, to Herr Jensen's great admiration.
+
+"He is a good horse," said Garth. "But, master, ask the governor one
+question, and that is how he feeds them in the winter."
+
+"What does he say?" asked Herr Jensen.
+
+"He asks how you feed your horses in the winter," replied Hardy.
+
+"That is the difficulty," said Jensen. "We have little to give them in
+the winter and spring, and it is hard work to keep them alive. We cut
+our grass in the meadows twice yearly; the first hay is good, the
+second is not so good by a long way."
+
+"Our notion is that a horse should always be kept well," said Hardy,
+"or his bone and sinew want firmness."
+
+"There is no doubt of that," said Herr Jensen. "We understand that
+very well; but yet what can we do? We breed horses to make money by
+them. If we fed them as you say, we could not get the cost back."
+
+"I have heard the same story in England," said Hardy; "a farmer has to
+treat his farm as a business, and, Herr Jensen, you are quite right in
+doing so."
+
+Hardy went over Herr Jensen's farm, and his knowledge of farming in
+all its branches so interested Herr Jensen, that it was late when they
+returned to the Herregaard. Dinner was ready, and Hardy had to bear a
+running fire of criticism from Fru Jensen and her daughters. He had
+not, they said, observed the particular merits of many of the Danish
+ladies who had been present at the dance of the previous evening, but
+doubtless he was preoccupied.
+
+"No," said Hardy, "I was not preoccupied. My difficulty is that I do
+not know Danish well, and Herr Jensen has had the greatest difficulty
+to understand me about horses; how, then, could I understand so
+difficult a subject as a Danish lady?"
+
+"Froken Jaeger says, you said that Froken Helga Lindal would make an
+excellent wife," said Fru Jensen.
+
+"Yes," said Hardy. "She asked me, and I said it was possible."
+
+Hardy said this in so strong a manner that it was even apparent to
+Herr Jensen that he did not wish the conversation extended, so Herr
+Jensen proposed a cigar and an adjournment to his own room.
+
+Hardy left at six o'clock, and rode to Vandstrup. On his way thither
+an occurrence happened that Hardy never forgot.
+
+Hardy, followed by Garth, had ridden on to within an English mile of
+Vandstrup, when he saw a waggon overturned, and a man lying underneath
+it. The horses were kicking in their harness, as they lay in the ditch
+by the roadside. The waggon was the same as is usually employed by the
+Danish farmer, for his farm work, and was heavy in construction. Hardy
+galloped up, and found the man lying under the waggon evidently
+seriously injured. He was a workman called Nils Rasmussen, and had
+taken a load of turf, in company with another man with a similar load
+in another waggon, to a village near Vandstrup. The turf discharged,
+there was the opportunity of getting drunk; and the horses of both
+waggons were driven hard down a slope in the road by their drunken
+drivers, and coming in contact, Nils Rasmussen was thrown out, and the
+waggon fell on him, whilst the struggling of the horses every moment
+increased the serious injuries he was receiving.
+
+Garth cut the horses free, and Nils Rasmussen was taken from under the
+waggon. Several people came running up, and one of them rode Hardy's
+Danish horse for the district doctor. Hardy assisted in carrying the
+injured man to his home, and sent Garth to the stables on Buffalo,
+with instructions to come to Rasmussen's house for orders. It was
+clear the case was serious from the first Hardy undressed the man, and
+found that he had more than one limb broken, while from the froth and
+blood in the mouth, internal injuries were present.
+
+When Garth returned, he was sent to the parsonage, with a request for
+a pair of dry clean sheets, a bottle of cognac, and some of Hardy's
+linen handkerchiefs. Garth returned in a white heat, without the
+articles he was sent for. Hardy had supposed that the news of the
+accident would have reached the parsonage, and after enumerating the
+articles required, he added a request that they should be given to
+Garth to take to Rasmussen's. Kirstin read the note, and put several
+questions to Garth, which, from his ignorance of Danish, it was
+impossible for him to answer; "When suddenly," said Garth, "she
+appeared to get into a rage. She rushed at me, beat me about the head,
+and shouted at me."
+
+The district doctor now came in, and Hardy's attention was occupied.
+He told him what he had seen of the accident, and the symptoms of
+injury internally. The doctor was used to cases either more or less
+grave of a similar character, and he showed much cool professional
+skill. "I will remain here," e said to Hardy, "until sent for. The
+case is hopeless, and all that can be done is to watch by him."
+
+When the doctor left, Hardy decided to remain, as Nils Rasmussen's
+wife and family were incapable of being of the slightest use. He sent
+Garth to his lodgings, with orders to come to Rasmussen's at six the
+next morning.
+
+Meanwhile Hardy had been expected at the parsonage, and it grew later
+and later.
+
+"He is stopping with the Jensens," said the Pastor,
+
+"No, he is not!" burst out Kirstin; "he is at Rasmussen's. He sent
+that man of his here a while since for a pair of sheets and a bottle
+of the best brandy to take to Rasmussen's, and you can see the writing
+he sent by his servant."
+
+The Pastor took the scrap of paper and read it aloud.
+
+"It is that bold, bad hussey, Karen Rasmussen!" said Kirstin.
+
+"How can you know that?" said Froken Helga.
+
+"Know it!" exclaimed Kirstin; "I am sure of it. No man can be so good
+as the Englishman appears to be."
+
+The Pastor and his family retired to rest with a shock of grief and
+pain. "He must leave at once," thought the Pastor.
+
+Shortly after six the next morning, Garth fetched one of Rasmussen's
+neighbours, whom he sent with the following note to the pastor,
+written on a similar scrap of paper as his unfortunate communication
+of the previous evening, and torn from his note-book.
+
+"Dear Herr Pastor,
+
+"Nils Rasmussen, the workman at Jorgensens, is sinking fast. You have,
+of course, heard of the accident? The district doctor at once saw the
+case was beyond all hope. Will you come immediately?
+
+"Yours faithfully,
+
+"John Hardy."
+
+As the Pastor left his house, he met one after another of Nils
+Rasmussen's neighbours coming for him. He heard of John Hardy's
+assistance and care, and that he had been the whole night acting as
+nurse, as the family were incapable.
+
+As the Pastor entered, he met Hardy.
+
+"It is too late, Herr Pastor," said the latter; "the man is dead. But
+go in and speak to the wife, and I will wait for you. Here is twenty
+kroner, which you can give her; the expenses of the funeral I will
+bear, and I can arrange that she shall receive ten kroner weekly,
+through the post-office, until they can help themselves."
+
+In half an hour the Pastor came out, and he said, "Hardy, I thank you
+for your attention to this poor man. You have done nothing more than
+what was right you should do, and what any one else should have done;
+but you have done your duty with a kindliness that does you honour."
+
+Hardy said nothing, the horror of watching a man dying in agony for a
+whole night had unstrung his steady nerves. On reaching the parsonage,
+he went to his room, and, wearied out, at last fell asleep.
+
+The Pastor, after the usual morning prayers with his household, said,
+"Stay, Kirstin! You have wickedly cast shame on an honest man; you
+have attributed sin to another without cause. You have heard that
+Rasmussen is dead, and how he died; but you do not know that the man
+you foully slandered had done his utmost for his brother man. When I
+came to Rasmussen's house, Herr Hardy's clothes were covered with dirt
+and blood. He had tended the dying man the whole night; he had torn up
+his linen shirt and under-clothing for bandages; and when I was about
+to speak to the widow, he gave me money for present need, and has
+ordered it so that she shall not want for the future. And yet this is
+the man to whom you would impute sin and shame. Ask forgiveness of
+God, and beg Herr Hardy's pardon. Go!"
+
+The hard-natured Jutland woman was overcome. Froken Helga's eyes
+filled with tears, and she went and kissed her father.
+
+"We were wrong to think evil of another, under any circumstances,"
+said the Pastor, "or to allow suspicion of evil to grow in our minds."
+
+Hardy was ignorant of the little episode thus acted in the Pastor's
+household, and when he came down from his room some time later, he
+found a breakfast waiting for him, the Pastor shook hands with him,
+and asked how he was.
+
+"I feel what I have gone through this night," replied Hardy, "but am
+quite well."
+
+"An honest answer," said the Pastor.
+
+"But, little father," said Froken Helga, "can you not tell Herr Hardy
+that he has been kind and good?"
+
+Praise from her father's lips for a duty well done was with Helga more
+than gold or incense; and how wrong had they not all been towards
+Hardy!
+
+"Your father has already said enough," said Hardy.
+
+"Then I will speak for myself," said Helga, "and say that I thank you
+for your goodness to Rasmussen and his family;" and she took his hand
+and kissed it.
+
+Hardy saw she was governed by a momentary impulse, but it evinced a
+warm sympathy for what she considered a good act, and impressed him
+the more so as her manner was always towards him cold and retiring.
+
+At this juncture Kirstin appeared in an unusual state of agitation.
+
+"I have come," she said, "to ask Herr Hardy's pardon, for what I have
+said and done."
+
+"My servant reports to me that you beat him yesterday," said Hardy,
+"and as you did not beat me I have nothing to forgive. I have told my
+man, if you do so again, to lay the matter before the authorities. He
+will have to come here in acting as my servant; but if you beat him
+because you cannot understand him, he must be protected, the more so
+as his orders are not to strike you, under any circumstances. The
+matter has been brought to the Herr Pastor's knowledge, and that is
+enough, and you can go out."
+
+There was a stern dignity in John Hardy's manner, always present in a
+man of his type when accustomed to obedience.
+
+Kirstin hesitated. "You can go out, Kirstin," repeated Hardy; and she
+obeyed.
+
+Froken Helga's implicit faith in the rigid character of Kirstin was
+shaken.
+
+Rasmussen's funeral took place shortly after, and on the Sunday the
+Pastor referred to Hardy's conduct.
+
+"It may hurt the sensibility of the Englishman who is with us, that I
+should refer to him thus publicly; but it is my duty, while the
+occurrence of Rasmussen's death has the force of its being recent to
+point out, not that it was his simple duty to do what he did, but the
+way and manner that duty was done showed a Christian charity that no
+one of us could do more than imitate."
+
+"I question whether you are right, to praise the conduct of an
+individual from the pulpit, Herr Pastor," said Hardy.
+
+"My duty," said the Pastor, gravely, "is to preach the parable of the
+Good Samaritan, and the recent occurrence will interest many who would
+not be interested otherwise."
+
+"My father has done what is right," said his daughter, with warmth. "I
+should have done the same."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+    "Oh, how happy here's our leisure!
+    Oh, how innocent our pleasure!"
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+John Hardy received a letter from his mother, dated from Hardy Place.
+
+"My dearest John,
+
+"Your weekly letters have become shorter, and I have read between the
+lines that you are keeping back something from your mother; but this
+doubt has been made a certainty from a letter of Robert Garth's to his
+friends here. He writes, so I hear, that the 'governor' is sweet on a
+parson's daughter in Denmark. Now, I know, dearest John, that you will
+always be the true gentleman your father was; but this has distressed
+me, because you say yourself nothing. Do come home to me. I miss the
+sound of your footstep, the manly voice that reminds me of your
+father, and, above all, your kindly manner to your mother. Write at
+once, as my anxiety is more than I can bear."
+
+There was more in the letter, breathing the same deep affectionate
+solicitude a mother alone feels. John Hardy wrote at once.
+
+"My dearest Mother,
+
+"If I had anything to tell you, I should have told you long ago. I
+have described Pastor Lindal's family to you in my letters, and, I can
+only add, my respect for him grows daily. He does his duty with a
+simplicity that is difficult to be understood in England, and I have
+learnt to look forward to hearing his Sunday sermons, from their
+freshness such as single-mindedness alone gives. I feel more the
+earnestness of religion and the simplicity with which it should be
+invested from the influence of his character. I know you will say that
+this has nothing to do with Froken Helga Lindal, his daughter, and you
+want to hear of her. All I can say is, that her character is what
+would attract you. She does her duty in the Pastor's household with
+simple exactness; she assists in visiting the parish, and is of
+material use to her father in this respect. She is spoken of
+everywhere and by all in praise and regard, and she is like her
+father--simple and true. I cannot say that I do not admire so perfect
+a nature, but I do not feel now a wish to ask her to be my wife, and
+if I did she would say 'no.' Her father is a widower, and his daughter
+is his right hand. His two boys, who are really good lads, have to be
+considered, and Froken Helga's influence over them is complete. Her
+leaving her father would leave him unassisted, and his two sons
+without the influence she alone possesses. She knows and sees this,
+and would sacrifice her life to her sense of duty. If she cared for
+me, there would be no difference; that would be sacrificed too. I can
+assure you that I shall never bring any one to Hardy Place that my
+mother cannot receive as her daughter. The kind affection and care you
+have always shown me is dearer to me than houses and land and wealth
+or the strongest feelings of selfishness.
+
+"I hope, dear mother, that this will set your mind at rest.
+
+"If you wish me to come home, I will do so; but I wish to stay longer,
+and when you see there is no real cause for anxiety, you may have no
+objection. The days pass pleasantly here. I teach the two boys English
+every day. They fish with me for trout in the river, the Gudenaa, and
+we make excursions together, and occasionally we visit a Danish family
+in the neighbourhood; and the genuine kindness I receive everywhere
+interests me. In the evenings Pastor Lindal is conversational, and his
+conversation is like his sermons, always fresh. There is no one
+thought harped upon and torn to tatters. To say he is a man of
+original thought would not describe him--it is individuality and
+simplicity; there is nothing extraordinary or unusual, but a clearness
+of colour, like a diamond, which is the more valuable when it has no
+colour."
+
+John Hardy wrote a little more on home affairs at Hardy Place, and
+closed his letter.
+
+In the evening, when the Pastor's pipe was as usual lighted by his
+daughter, Hardy asked him as to the superstitions in Denmark, and if
+they then were prevalent and had any force.
+
+"They are endless," said the Pastor, "and in every conceivable
+direction. There is no land so full of traditional superstition as
+Jutland."
+
+"When in Norway," said Hardy, "the superstition that struck me most
+was that of the Huldr, who in different districts was differently
+described. Generally the Huldr was described as a tall fair woman,
+with a yellow bodice and a blue skirt, with long fair yellow hair
+loose over the shoulders; but she was as hollow as a kneading trough,
+and had a cow's tail. She was described as coming to the Saeter farms
+on the fjelds, after they were vacated by the Norwegian farmers, with
+a quantity of cattle and milking cans; and I have heard the cattle
+call sang by Norwegians that they have heard the Huldr sing. I have
+spoken with people who have seen the Huldr, and described her to me
+with a vividness as if it were a real personage. I have heard people
+say they have seen her knitting, sitting on a rock with a ball of
+worsted thrown out before her, to entice mortals to take it up, when
+they must follow where she would lead."
+
+"We have not that superstition in Jutland," said the Pastor; "that is
+begotten of the lonely life in the isolated farms in the fields in
+Norway and their interminable woods and natural wildness of nature.
+Our superstitions are, as I said, endless. They consist of historical
+traditions of a supernatural character, of traditions attached to
+places, as old houses, churches, also of particular men, of hidden
+treasure, of robbers, and the like. Then there are the more
+supernatural superstitions, as of witches, ghosts, the devil, of
+Trolds, of mermen and mermaids, of Nissen, like your English pixey, of
+the three-legged horse that inhabits the churchyards, the were-wolf,
+the gnome that inhabits the elder tree, the nightmare, or, as we call
+it, Maren. There is also the tradition of gigantic dragons or
+serpents, called by us Lindorm, in which your story of St. George and
+the dragon prominently figures. There are also minor superstitions of
+the will-o'-the-wisp, the bird called in English the goatsucker, and
+the classical Basilisk."
+
+"But surely all those superstitions cannot exist now?" inquired Hardy.
+
+"I do not say they do; but they are hidden to a greater extent in the
+recesses of the hearts of the people than you would imagine."
+
+"Can you relate anything of these superstitions?" said Hardy. "It
+would interest me beyond everything."
+
+"Yes," said the Pastor. "I will give you an example in any one of the
+particular traditions I have mentioned, and I will begin with the
+historical superstition, as I mentioned that first.
+
+"When King Gylfe reigned in Sweden, a woman came to him, and she
+enchanted him so by her singing that he gave her leave to plough so
+much of his land as she could in a day with four oxen, and what she
+thus ploughed should be hers. This woman was of the race of the giants
+(Aseme). She took her four sons and changed them into oxen, and
+attached them to the plough. She ploughed out the place she had
+chosen, and thus created the island of Sjaelland. She did this from the
+Maelar lake in Sweden; and it is said that where there is a point of
+land in Sjaelland there is in the Maelar lake a bay, and vice versa, so
+that both the Maelar lake and Sjaelland island have one form, one is
+land, the other water. This tradition is common over Denmark, and with
+us has become classical. The woman's name was Gefion."
+
+"I have seen a delineation of the tradition," said Hardy, "at one of
+your Danish palaces, on a ceiling at Fredriksborg."
+
+"Yes, it is there; but you will find it everywhere in Denmark,"
+replied the Pastor. "Of traditions of churches, they are endless; but
+we will take one example, possibly by no means the best. When Hadderup
+church, between Viborg and Holstebro, was building, the Trolds tore
+down every night what had been erected in the day. It was therefore
+determined to attach two calves to a load of stones in a waggon, and
+where the calves were found in the morning to build the church. This,
+however, did not answer, and at last an agreement was made with the
+Trolds that they should allow the church to be built, on the condition
+that they should have the first bride that went to the church. This
+succeeded, and the church was built. When the first bridal procession
+should, however, go to the church, at a particular place a sudden mist
+fell upon them, and when it cleared off the bride had disappeared."
+
+"A very striking tradition," said Hardy. "It has a good deal of
+picturesque colouring."
+
+"Yes," said the Pastor, "and that is why I told you that particular
+tradition. But of places there is a tradition of Silkeborg, with
+nothing supernatural about it; but as you have been there fishing, it
+may interest you to know why it has obtained that name. The story is,
+that a bishop wished to build a house there, but he was uncertain
+where; so he threw his silk hat into the water as he sailed on the
+Gudenaa, and he determined that where his silk hat came to land, that
+there would he build his house. The hat came ashore at Silkeborg. The
+bishop, however, could not have sailed up the Gudenaa, and the
+probability is he must have gone down the lake, as the Gudenaa runs
+from the lake through Jutland to the sea at Randers."
+
+"There is a similar tradition," said Hardy, "in Iceland. When the
+Norwegian chiefs were conquered by Harold the Fair-haired, about 870,
+they cast the carved oak supports of their chairs, that they were
+accustomed to sit in at the head of their tables, surrounded by their
+dependents, and decided that where these drove ashore, they would
+found a colony; and where they did drive ashore was on the shores of
+Iceland. It may possibly have influenced the tradition you relate of
+Silkeborg."
+
+"Possibly," said the Pastor; "but of traditions of places, there are
+very many, and, as an example, there was in Randers province an
+island, and on the island a mansion; and when the family owning it
+were absent, three women-servants determined to play the priest a
+trick. They dressed up a sow like a sick person in bed, and sent for
+the priest to administer the sacrament to a dying person. The priest,
+however, saw the wicked deception, and at once left the island in his
+boat. Immediately the whole island sank as soon as he lifted his foot
+from the shore of the island. But a table swam towards him, on which
+was his Bible, which in his anger and haste he had forgotten to take
+with him. Where the island sank can, it is said, yet be seen the three
+chimneys of the mansion deep down in the water; and there are some
+high trees growing up through the water, to which, when they grow high
+enough, will the enemies of Denmark come and fasten their ships."
+
+"This story is only one of a class to the same effect," continued the
+Pastor. "It has many variations to a similar effect. You have heard of
+Limfjord in North Jutland. It derives its name after our tradition to
+the following: At the birth of Christ a Trold woman was so enraged at
+the circumstance of his birth that she produced a monster at a birth,
+and this monster gradually took the form of a boar; and it is related
+that when the boar was in the woods, its bristles were higher than the
+tops of the trees. This boar was called Limgrim, and rooted up the
+land so as to create the inlet of the sea that we call Limfjord; the
+name originally was Limgrimsfjord, since abbreviated to Limfjord."
+
+"What is your view of the origin of these traditions?" asked Hardy.
+
+"They are to me," said the Pastor, "an evidence of the continuous
+change the world undergoes, has undergone, and will undergo. The older
+the tradition, the more antagonistic it is to the known laws of
+nature; the later the tradition, the less improbable it is. We have
+seen how heathenism, with its unreasonable and wild vagaries, gave way
+to the early Christian Church. Then arose the ultramontane Church,
+which was succeeded by the purer light let in by Morten Luther; and
+changes are taking place, and will take place; and the use of these
+old traditions is to teach us that change must be. Age succeeds to
+age, and generation to generation. The science of geology teaches the
+same lesson. As we learn more of it, and more accurately of it, we
+gradually grasp the thought that endless ages have wrought changes,
+and will continue to work at the discretion of the Great Power that we
+feel and know exists. We can only say that the works of the Lord are
+wonderful, and trust in him."
+
+"Have you heard of the religion of Buddha?" said Hardy. "With all our
+present researches into it, we know comparatively little; but, taken
+broadly, it is a doctrine of slow development. A life exists, and
+gradually earthly passion ceases, and a state of perfect rest is
+reached, but through an endless series of change."
+
+"Yes," replied Pastor Lindal; "but it is a religion of the
+imagination. It has a certain beauty and a poetic charm, while the
+Christian religion has the reality of the principle that kindliness is
+the real gold of life, which I have learnt from you."
+
+Hardy felt that in his letters to his mother he had correctly
+described Pastor Lindal.
+
+Froken Helga had continued knitting as usual, but that she listened to
+every word her father uttered was clear to Hardy; and when he rose to
+go to his room for the night, she said, "Thank you, Herr Hardy; you
+have interested my father to speak in the way he only can."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+    "But he that unto others leads the way
+    In public prayer,
+    Should do it so,
+    As all that hear may know
+    They need not fear
+    To tune their hearts unto his tongue."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The next day, as soon as signs of the tobacco parliament were apparent
+by Froken Helga filling and lighting her father's pipe, Karl and Axel,
+who had been interested in listening to the conversation on traditions
+the previous evening, besought Hardy to lead Pastor Lindal to the same
+subject.
+
+"The many ancient burial places existing all over Jutland," said
+Hardy, "must have given rise to traditions of hidden treasure. Our
+English word for these tumuli is barrows."
+
+"And ours," said the Pastor, "is Kaempehoi, or Kaempedysse, meaning a
+fighting man's burial place; the verb to fight is kaempe, and present
+Danish. It was, however, a custom to bury treasure in secluded places,
+and to kill a slave at the place that his ghost might guard the
+treasure. There is a tumulus or barrow between Viborg and Holstebro.
+It is related that this barrow was formerly always covered with a blue
+mist, and that a copper kettle full of money was buried there. One
+night, however, two men dug down to the kettle, and seized it by the
+handle; but immediately wonderful things happened, with a view of
+preventing them from taking away the kettle and the money--first, they
+saw a black dog with a red hot tongue; next, a cock drawing a load of
+hay; then a carriage with four black horses. The men, however, pursued
+their occupation without uttering a word. But at last came a man, lame
+in one foot, halting by, and he said, 'Look, the town is on fire!' The
+two men looked, and sure enough the town appeared to them to be on
+fire. One of them uttered an exclamation, and the kettle and the
+treasure sank in the earth far beyond their reach. There are many of
+these stories, but the principle inculcated is, that when digging for
+treasure it must be carried out in perfect silence. You will have
+observed that a great many of the tumuli you have met with in Denmark
+have been opened. This has chiefly been done by the hidden-treasure
+seekers; but it has had one good result, and that is, it has enriched
+the museums in Denmark, especially that of Northern Antiquities in
+Copenhagen. You have probably seen the museum in Bergen, Norway. You
+will have seen precisely the same type of subjects there as in
+Copenhagen; and in the tumuli in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, what has
+been found is, _coeteris paribus_, identical in type."
+
+"You said just now that a slave was killed at places where treasure
+was hidden," said Hardy; "is there much belief in that direction?"
+
+"Yes; the belief in ghosts was very strong," replied the Pastor, "and
+still exists. The general view was that if a man's conduct was
+criminal in a high degree, that within three days after he 'walked;'
+that is, his ghost appeared at the places he had been attached to when
+in life, attended by more or less supernatural attributes. This, of
+course, arose from our Saviour's resurrection on the third day; but as
+to this, I will tell you a tradition that is an exception. There was
+once a man who was exceptionally wicked and bad; he was a thief and a
+robber, never went to church, and committed all manner of crimes. When
+he died and was buried in the churchyard, and the people who had
+attended the funeral had returned to the man's house to drink the
+Gravol--that is the beer that was specially brewed for consumption at
+a funeral--lo! there was the dead and buried man sitting on the roof
+of the house, glaring down on all those who ventured to look up at
+him. The priest was sent for, and he exorcised the ghost, and ordered
+him to remain, until the world's end, at the bottom of a moss bog, and
+to keep him there had a sharp stake driven through him; but,
+notwithstanding, the ghost rises at night, but as he cannot, from the
+exorcising of the priest, assume human form, he flies about in the
+likeness of the bird we call the night raven until cock crow."
+
+"In English," said Hardy, "the night jar. It was the practice in
+England to bury suicides with a stake driven through their bodies at
+four cross-ways. It is possible that this arose from a desire to
+prevent the ghost of the dead person from troubling the living, and
+being at a four cross-ways, that it should not know which direction to
+take."
+
+"It may be so," said Pastor Lindal; "but in discussing these things we
+are apt, as in philology, to assume our own comparisons to be correct.
+We have also the traditions of spectral huntsmen, with the
+accompaniment of horses and hounds with red-hot glowing tongues; and,
+singularly enough, the tradition often occurs that their quarry was
+the Elle-kvinder, that is women of the elves, but who are described as
+of the size of ordinary women. The spectral huntsmen have often been
+seen with the Elle-kvinder tied to their saddles by their hair."
+
+"Your traditions of witches," said Hardy, "appear to be similar to
+ours. You appear to have burnt and thrown them into ponds to drown
+after the same cruel custom as in England."
+
+"True," replied the Pastor, "and the description in Macbeth of witches
+answers to our traditions. On St. John's night witches were supposed
+to fly to Bloksberg, a mythical place in Norway, upon broomsticks and
+in brewing tubs. There they met Gamle Erik, the evil one, who entered
+their names in his ledger, and instructed them in witchcraft, and,
+after executing the witches' dance, they returned to their respective
+homes in the same fashion. This tradition is common to other
+countries, but in Jutland the belief was that the favourite form a
+witch adopted was that of a hare, which evaded the huntsmen, and could
+not be shot except by a piece of silver, which must have been
+inherited--a piece of silver purchased or given had no effect. The
+witch was then found in the person of some old woman with a wound, who
+was forthwith dealt with in the cruel fashion then the rule. The
+gypsies, or, as they are called with us, Tatarfolk, from their eastern
+origin, drove a good business by professing to cure the effects of
+witchcraft; they generally managed to cause the ill effect, however,
+before they cured it. They would give a drug to a farmer's cow, and
+call a few days after and offer to drive away the witch that possessed
+the cow. They would take with them a black furry doll tied to a
+string. A hole was dug several feet deep in the cowhouse; suddenly the
+black furry thing was at the bottom of the hole, just sufficient for
+some of the people to see it when it disappeared. That was the witch;
+the cow was, of course, cured by an antidote."
+
+"The gypsy is common enough in England," said Hardy; "but they do less
+in telling fortunes or in thieving farmyards then formerly was their
+custom. They appear to do a good business in small wares, as brushes
+and mats, which they take about in vans."
+
+"The gypsy," said the Pastor, "where superstition exists, trade upon
+it, and in old times in Denmark this brought them a rich harvest. They
+persuaded the farmers' wives that they must have inherited silver, or
+they could do nothing against evil influences, and acquired thereby
+many an old-fashioned heirloom. With us they have never pursued, as
+you suggest, a steady trade."
+
+"Have you not a tradition of a book called Cyprianus?" asked Hardy.
+
+"The idea of the book is from the Sibyll's books of Roman history,"
+replied Pastor Lindal. "The contents of Cyprianus is very differently
+described. It is related of it that it is a book of prophecy of
+material events, that is not in a religious sense. Also, it is
+described as containing formula for raising the devil, or a number of
+small devils, who immediately demand work to do, and whom it is fatal
+not to keep employed. There are many stories based on this, chiefly
+related of persons who accidentally find a Cyprianus and read some of
+it, when the hobgoblins appear, and the difficulty of the situation
+increases until some person versed in the use of the book applies the
+formula that sends the hobgoblins to their proper places."
+
+"The devil I have always heard in Norway as taking the form of a black
+dog," said Hardy.
+
+"It is the same in our traditions," said Pastor Lindal. "An
+extraordinary belief was that a carriage at certain times and places
+would not move, and that the horses could not draw it. The remedy then
+was, for those who knew how, to take off one hind wheel of the
+carriage and put it in the carriage, when the devil would have to act
+as hind wheel to the end of the journey, much to his supposed
+discomfort. There are many stories of this."
+
+"Hans Christian Andersen's stories have made us acquainted with
+Nissen, or the house goblin," said Hardy.
+
+"There is little more to tell you then," said the Pastor, "except that
+Nissen's description is defined by our traditions in Jutland to be a
+little fellow with sharp cat-formed ears, and to have fingers only,
+and no thumb. He is supposed to inhabit particular farm-houses and
+their range of buildings, and, when there is a scarcity of fodder,
+will steal from another farm; and if there be another Nissen there,
+they will fight each for the interests of the farm he frequents. He
+will play tricks on the people working at the farms, particularly so
+if every Thursday night his porridge is neglected to be put in its
+accustomed place, generally in the threshing barn."
+
+"But have you no traditions of underground people?" asked Hardy.
+
+"The stories of underground people are more abundant than any other
+class of tradition," replied the Pastor. "We call them Underjordiske,
+which means underground people; but by it is included Elle folk or
+elves, Trolds or goblins, and Bjaerg folk or hill people. Their homes
+are chiefly placed by tradition in the tumuli or barrows to which we
+have before referred; and at times a tumulus is seen as standing on
+four pillars, while the Underjordiske dance underneath and drink ale
+and mead. At times it is related that they come out of their dwellings
+in the barrows with their red cows, or to air their money, or clean
+their kitchen utensils. Through all these stories the manner of life
+of the Underjordiske is the same as that of the Danish Bonde or
+farmer. They are not, however, always supposed to live in the barrows,
+as several stories exist of the Bjaerg folk coming to a Bonde and
+asking him to shift his stable to another place, as the dung from his
+cattle falls on his (the Bjaergmand's) dining-table, and it is
+disagreeable. If the Bonde obeys, he is promised prosperity, and
+everything thrives on his farm. They can also, however, be revengeful,
+and are dangerous generally. Their particular aversion is church
+bells, and it is generally attributed to their influence that there
+are so few Underjordiske seen nowadays."
+
+"Can you relate any stories of them?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Very many," replied the Pastor. "There are several collections of
+these traditions, and although each collection is generally the same
+in character, yet the details and stories themselves widely differ.
+But I will tell you two of the stories. A Trold lived in a barrow
+between two church towers, about a mile from each other. This Trold
+had a wife, who was of Christian folk. It was necessary to get the
+services of a midwife, and the Trold fetched the nearest, and gave her
+for her services what appeared to be two pieces of charcoal; but the
+Trold's wife told her to take them home, but warned her that as soon
+as she put one foot outside she should suddenly jump aside, as the
+Trold would cast a glowing hot-iron rod at her. She followed the
+advice and went home, when the charcoal turned to silver money. The
+two women, however, became friends, and the midwife often spun flax
+for the Trold; but she was forbidden to wet her fingers with Christian
+spittle, and they brought her a little crock to hold water for her to
+wet her fingers in. This continued for some time, when at last the
+Trold wife came to the midwife and said, 'My husband, the Trold, will
+stay here no longer. He says he cannot bear the two ding-dong danging
+church towers.' So they left, flying, it is said, through the air on a
+long stick, with all their belongings."
+
+"A story with some imagery," said Hardy.
+
+"The next, however, is more so," said the Pastor. "On a St. John's
+night, or, as we call it, Sankt. Hans. Nat, the Bjaerg folk and Elle
+folk had collected to make merry. A man came riding by from Viborg,
+and he could see the assembled Underjordiske enjoying the feast. An
+Ellekone, or elf wife, went round with a large silver tankard, and
+offered drink to every one, and came at last to the horseman. He
+pretended to drink, but threw the contents of the tankard over his
+shoulder, put spurs to his horse, and galloped off. But the Ellekone
+was after him, and came nearer and nearer; her breasts were so long
+that they fell on her knees and impeded her. She therefore threw them,
+one after the other, over her shoulders, and continued the chase with
+renewed speed. Fortunately he was close to the river, and dashed
+through it. The Ellekone caught the hind shoe of his horse, and tore
+it off; but she could not go over the water. The tankard was said to
+be the largest ever seen in Denmark."
+
+"The story is a common one to many countries, but it scarcely exists
+with so much clear and distinct imagery as in your recital, Herr
+Pastor," said Hardy.
+
+"I think now we have had enough of traditions for one evening," said
+the Pastor.
+
+"What is your opinion of the effect of these traditions on the minds
+of the people generally?" asked Hardy.
+
+"It is difficult to say," said the Pastor; "we can but guess at their
+effect. As education and civilization progress, they lose their
+superstitious influence and interest and amuse. There is a wild
+picturesque imagery that must appeal to the most educated mind. They
+afford subjects to painters; but I have never seen a picture yet based
+on these traditions that grasped the graphic thought of the recital of
+the tradition. In a religious sense they do no harm; they excite the
+imagination of the people only to prepare their minds for the
+simplicity of the Christian faith, at least they assist to do so. When
+I visit my Sogneborn (literally, parish children), I tell the children
+these traditions, and when they grow older they like to hear anything
+I have to say; it assists me in suggesting religious thought when
+their minds are ripe for it."
+
+Froken Helga, who had all the evening knitted and listened to her
+father, dropped her knitting and went to him and caressed him. "Dear
+little father," she said, "you are always good and thoughtful."
+
+"I think so also," said Hardy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+    "But I am the most pleased with this little house
+    of anything I ever saw: it stands in a kind of peninsula too,
+    with a delicate clear river about it. I dare hardly go in,
+    lest I should not like it so well within as without, but by
+    your leave I will try."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The next day John Hardy received a letter from Prokurator Steindal of
+Copenhagen.
+
+"Your honoured instructions as to Rosendal I have attended to. The
+price they will sell for I have approximately arrived at, but I cannot
+advise you to buy. The value of Rosendal is not so great as the price
+asked, and it appears to me that you should hesitate before making a
+purchase that will pay you so little income. I feel it my duty to say
+that whatever your instructions may be, that I cannot act on them
+without a personal interview. If you wish, therefore, to pursue the
+matter further, you should come to Copenhagen and discuss it with me.
+I cannot advise a client to make a purchase to his prejudice; if I did
+so, I should not only acquire a bad reputation, but it would not be
+right for me to do so. I await, therefore, the honour of your reply."
+
+John Hardy went to Copenhagen, and returned in a few days to Vandstrup
+Praestegaard.
+
+The next day the Pastor had received the _Jyllands Post_, the local
+newspaper. When Hardy appeared at the breakfast table, he said,
+"Rosendal is sold to Prokurator Steindal of Copenhagen, and it is
+extra-ordinary that I have received a letter from him to say that I
+and my family have leave to visit Rosendal when we wish to do so, and
+that my two sons, Karl and Axel, have leave to catch all the pike in
+Rosendal lake. There is the usual notice of the sale in the _Jyllands
+Post_, and from the letter from Steindal, it must be true."
+
+"I have no doubt of its truth," said Hardy. "I would only suggest that
+we at once went to fish for the pike at Rosendal lake; my servant can
+bring the carriage, and I can ride my English horse, so that Froken
+Helga can enjoy another visit to Rosendal."
+
+"But," said the Pastor, "the permission to fish does not extend to
+you, Herr Hardy."
+
+"That may be," said Hardy, "but that is no reason why my advice should
+not be rendered as to how to catch the pike."
+
+Robert Garth brought the carriage and drove, and Hardy rode his horse
+Buffalo. The weather was pleasant, and the drive was enjoyable.
+
+When they came to Rosendal, the respectful demeanour of the bailiff
+towards Hardy struck the Pastor. Hardy placed his forefinger across
+his lips. The bailiff told Hardy that if they wished to have lunch in
+the mansion they could do so, after a walk in the beechwoods and by
+the lake and rosary.
+
+"The boys are so intent on the pike fishing," said Hardy, "that I will
+go with them. We shall try and catch a pike, and send it up to the
+bailiff's wife to be baked, and will then leave our lines and join
+you."
+
+"But, Herr Hardy, you have no permission to fish; it only extends to
+Karl and Axel," said the Pastor, with some firmness.
+
+"Then I think I must leave the boys to their own devices," said Hardy;
+"but I fear no pike will appear for our lunch."
+
+"It is better so than we should trespass on a stranger's kindness,"
+said the Pastor.
+
+So Hardy walked with the Pastor and his daughter through the
+beechwoods and by the lake.
+
+"I think now in the summer-time, with the beech trees in full leaf,
+and the reeds by the lake, and the grass in the meadows in full
+growth, that Rosendal is nearly at its best," said Froken Helga.
+
+"It has its beauty always," said her father. "I have seen it in
+spring, and in summer, and in autumn, and in winter; it has a charm of
+its own. It appeals to us with its idyllic nature."
+
+"You are right, little father," said Helga; "it has always its
+peculiar beauty. There is no place I love so much."
+
+Hardy, who had bought Rosendal, felt as if he was deceiving the open
+and kindly natures of the Pastor and his daughter, and he determined
+to keep the secret no longer. He would but wait an opportunity to
+clear the matter up.
+
+When they returned to the mansion of Rosendal, Garth and the bailiff's
+wife had prepared the refreshments they had taken with them. Garth
+waited at table. The bailiff's wife, however, appeared disquieted, and
+the Pastor asked what was the matter.
+
+"Only that the owner of Rosendal should sit at the head of the table,
+instead of between two boys," replied she.
+
+"The owner of Rosendal!" exclaimed the Pastor.
+
+"Yes. There he sits!" said the bailiff's wife, pointing at Hardy.
+
+"How do you know I am the owner of Rosendal?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Because the Prokurator Steindal has written my man to say so," said
+the bailiff's wife, "and we have expected it all along."
+
+"If that be the case, Herr Pastor, you might have allowed me to catch
+a pike for lunch," said Hardy; "for the boys did not."
+
+"But have you bought Rosendal, Herr Hardy?" asked Froken Helga.
+
+"I did so when in Copenhagen," said Hardy. "Is there any reason why I
+should not?"
+
+"But why have you not said a word to us?" asked Pastor Lindal.
+
+"Because it was so uncertain, and because I wished, as a surprise to
+you, to say that any enjoyment of Rosendal stands at your disposition
+and your family's," replied Hardy.
+
+They all looked at Hardy, but there was no doubt of the sincerity of
+his meaning.
+
+"And may we come here and catch the pike?" asked Karl, with some
+anxiety.
+
+"Yes, if you can, every fin of them," replied Hardy; "and we will, if
+the Pastor will now allow me, catch some this afternoon. I dare say
+Rasmussen's widow would like as many as we can catch. We will set a
+lot of lines and leave them, and roam about the place and visit them
+later, and the chances are, if there be pike, we shall catch a few."
+
+They wandered through the grounds and over the house and buildings
+with renewed interest.
+
+"Do you understand the management of such a property, Hardy?" inquired
+Pastor Lindal, who, since the Rasmussen incident, rarely addressed him
+otherwise than by his name simply.
+
+"I understand farming and the management of landed property in
+England," replied Hardy; "and it does not appear to me so very
+difficult to manage so small a place as Rosendal, with common sense
+and the assistance of so good a class of people as are already on the
+estate. I shall not, for instance, begin to cut down the beech trees,
+or drain the lake, although in an economical sense both would pay to
+do. The lake could be drained to a good meadow; draining at the same
+time the meadows adjoining, while the beech trees could be sold, and
+the land they occupy turned into tillage. The house is a poor
+residence and out of repair, so are the farm-buildings; but the place
+has its peculiar charm, which I should not interrupt."
+
+Pastor Lindal regarded the practical self-possessed Englishman with
+surprise.
+
+Hardy observed a look of displeasure in Helga's face at the thought of
+so pretty a situation being turned into a practical farm, so he said--
+
+"I have not possession yet, and shall not have until after I leave
+Denmark this summer, and I could do nothing now; but my intention is
+to consult a professional English landscape gardener, with the view of
+increasing the attraction of Rosendal. He would do nothing that would
+appear inconsistent with the natural beauty of the place."
+
+"But he will cut it up and make all sorts of changes!" said Helga, in
+a disappointed tone.
+
+"Yes," said Hardy; "and I see you think that it would not be the same
+old Rosendal to you again; but you have not seen how pretty the
+surroundings of our English homes are made by these means, and the
+exercise of judicious taste."
+
+"But it would not be the same Rosendal to me," said Helga,
+unconsciously uttering the very thought Hardy had read in her handsome
+face.
+
+"Possibly not," replied Hardy; "but your first exclamation would be
+that you could not have believed Rosendal could have been made so
+beautiful. A natural gem must be polished to exhibit its full beauty."
+
+"That may be; but the thought of seeing Rosendal changed, Hardy, is
+what strikes us," said the Pastor.
+
+"Well, Herr Pastor, there is one thing I will do," said Hardy, "and
+that is, before I do anything the plans shall be submitted to your and
+Froken Helga's judgment."
+
+"Which, I fear, we shall not understand," said the Pastor.
+
+"Yes, you will, because you will have the plan of the estate, as it
+now exists, before you as well as the plan of the proposed
+alterations; but, as far as I myself can see, no striking change would
+be desirable, or would be suggested."
+
+"But why have you bought Rosendal, Herr Hardy?" asked Helga, looking
+full at him. She had all a woman's curiosity, and it was inexplicable
+to her what motive Hardy could have had for his purchase.
+
+"I will tell you when my mother comes here next year," said Hardy.
+
+"You have bought it for a residence for your mother, then?" said
+Helga, inquiringly.
+
+"I cannot say I have," replied Hardy.
+
+They had come to the shores of the little lake, where the two boys had
+been anxiously watching the trimmers that Garth had assisted them in
+setting round the reeds; but although they saw several fish were on,
+Garth would not let them take the boat to the lines until his master
+came. Hardy saw the situation, and said--
+
+"Don't wait, Bob; take the lads to the lines, and let them pull them
+up."
+
+Several pike were brought ashore, but none of any size. It had been
+the habit of the former owner of Rosendal to use nets, and take out
+the largest fish, so as not to allow a few monsters to tyrannize over
+the rest of the fish in the lake. The boys had seen similar tackle to
+the English trimmers, but neither so neat nor effective.
+
+"We do not consider this method of fishing a fair way in England,"
+said Hardy; "it is adopted by poachers, to steal fish from private
+ponds, and it is not popular with anglers. The approved method is to
+troll for pike."
+
+"Very interesting to the fish, if they only knew it," said the Pastor.
+"I fear when on the hooks they would scarcely appreciate the
+distinction. For my part, I do not like the mode of fishing you have
+just practised, as a little fish is kept in misery until the pike
+chops him with his teeth, or it dies on the hook."
+
+"You are quite right to condemn it in that way," said Hardy; and,
+turning to Karl and Axel, added, "You hear what your father says; so
+when you wish to fish here you must troll, as you saw me do at
+Silkeborg; and as only one can troll in the boat at one time, I will
+give you my trolling-rod and gear, so that you can fish when you
+like."
+
+"Thank you, so much, Herr Hardy," said the boys at once. "You are
+always good, and think so much about us."
+
+"You are kind. Hardy," said the Pastor; while Froken Helga looked as
+if she did not understand Hardy.
+
+As they walked up to the mansion from the lake, they went through the
+valley of roses, which has before been described as giving the name to
+Rosendal.
+
+"What do you say, Froken Helga, to this place?" asked Hardy. "Is there
+no room for improvement here? There are a few ragged rose bushes
+widely distributed, and in the whole valley of roses scarcely a dozen
+roses in bloom at a time of the year when there should be abundance."
+
+"More roses might be planted, Herr Hardy," said Helga; "but your view
+would be to plant a straight row of standards, with a gravel walk down
+the middle."
+
+"You are like Kirstin, always imputing evil to me," said Hardy. "Such
+a walk would destroy the natural effect of the valley, and would be a
+sin to do."
+
+Helga started. She did not know that Hardy was ignorant of Kirstin's
+conduct towards him. The Pastor, with his delicate instinct, at once
+saw that Hardy was ignorant of Kirstin's tale of shame, or he would
+not have referred to it.
+
+"Whatever Hardy does, Helga," said the Pastor, "will be thoughtfully
+done."
+
+"No doubt of it," said Helga; "he is a cool and calculating
+Englishman." She was vexed at the illusion to Kirstin.
+
+When they came close to the mansion, Hardy said, "Now, here the
+grounds do not require alteration, provided they were always covered
+with snow, which, however frequent, is not what we can fall back upon
+in a summer residence, which Rosendal is. There is the straight drive
+up to the door steps, a clump of bushes each side of a bit of meadow
+grass, and that is all; and there is a straight view from the house to
+the lake, there is no break or change, nothing catches the eye except
+the tethered cows. It is like the toy houses made at Leipsic for
+children to play with. Surely a change that introduces a thought of
+beauty in the landscape would not be destructive to Rosendal, Froken
+Helga."
+
+"You appear, Herr Hardy, to find fault with everything Danish," said
+Helga, sharply; "our horses are inferior, our houses are, and even our
+gardens are."
+
+"But I never said you were," broke in Hardy, with a laugh.
+
+"No; but I see you think it," retorted Helga. "You have heard me say
+that I like Rosendal as it is, and you exhibit your English ideas to
+show how uncivilized and wanting in taste I am."
+
+"But are you not imputing evil," said Hardy, "like Kirstin, the
+grossly suspicious?"
+
+Helga blushed and said nothing, and Pastor Lindal determined to tell
+Hardy what Kirstin had imputed to him.
+
+As Garth brought round the horses and a man led out Buffalo, Karl was
+struck with a great wish to ride the English horse. He asked Hardy
+hesitatingly. Hardy told him to ask his father, who looked at Hardy.
+
+"The horse is likely to give him a fall," he said, "and he might get
+an awkward fall; but boys should learn to ride, and I have no
+objections if you have not."
+
+The Pastor assented, the stirrups were shortened, and Karl mounted.
+
+"Don't pull at his mouth," said Hardy; "he does not like a stranger
+interfering with his mouth."
+
+"And might I jump him over a ditch on the way home?" begged Karl.
+
+"You may; but I think you had better leave that alone," said Hardy.
+
+Garth drove, and Hardy chatted with the Pastor, but kept his eye fixed
+on Karl. Buffalo went along at a smooth trot after the carriage--so
+far, so well; but when they came to the meadow running down to the
+Gudenaa, Karl rode into the meadow and galloped at a water ditch in
+the same manner as he had often seen Hardy do. Buffalo stretched out
+and took the ditch like a bird, making a longer jump than was at all
+necessary. There was a loud splash and a scream from Froken Helga, and
+Buffalo, with an empty saddle, was galloping away.
+
+Hardy took the reins from Garth, as he said coolly, "Pick the lad out
+of the ditch, and catch the horse. There is nothing to fear, Herr
+Pastor."
+
+Garth called the horse, which stopped. He then assisted Karl out of
+the ditch, who was covered with peaty slime, wiped the mud from his
+face and mouth, and pointed to the carriage. Garth then crossed the
+ditch on a plank bridge and caught Buffalo, and rode him over the
+ditch, coming to the side of the carriage. Karl looked foolish.
+
+"There, is nothing to be ashamed of, Karl," said Hardy. "I had many a
+fall before I learnt how to stick on. It is what we all have to go
+through. Come up by the side of me, little man; you would make your
+father and sister in a mess."
+
+The Pastor and his daughter were, for the moment, much frightened by
+the incident; but Hardy's manner of treating it as a matter of course
+reassured them.
+
+"There was no cause for alarm, Herr Pastor," said Hardy. "Karl can, if
+he will, assure you that the mud at the bottom of the ditch was as
+soft as eider down. Garth, ride on; I will drive up to the parsonage,
+and thence to the stables."
+
+"Thank you for a pleasant day, Hardy," said the Pastor, as he went
+into his house.
+
+"Stop, Herr Pastor! here are the pike that were caught in the lake.
+Take what you like, and I will send the rest to Widow Rasmussen."
+
+The pike cooked that day for dinner was, Hardy thought, a fish with as
+strong a flavour of mud as any fish could possibly possess. The
+horse-radish sauce, and the sage and bread with which it was stuffed,
+availed nothing, and Hardy formed a resolution with regard to the lake
+that afterwards had the result of its being stocked with trout instead
+of pike.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+    "_Piscator._--I love such mirth as does not make
+    friends ashamed to look upon one another the next
+    morning."--_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+When the tobacco parliament began the evening after the excursion to
+Rosendal, Pastor Lindal said, "I have told Herr Hardy the nature of
+Kirstin's imputations against him, and what he said to-day to you,
+Helga, was in ignorance of that. I am quite sure that he would never
+have referred to Kirstin in the way he did had he known everything.
+His only thought was that Kirstin was generally suspicious and that
+was all. He had no idea that when you criticized his treatment of
+Rosendal that he was comparing your conduct with what was bad."
+
+Helga looked puzzled; but after a while she rose up from her seat, and
+extended her hand to Hardy. "I hope you will forgive me, Herr Hardy,
+if I have not understood you."
+
+"Thank you," said Hardy. "I had hoped that my character was so simple
+that it left nothing to the imagination or to construction. It appears
+to me to be a work of time to acquire the approving confidence of any
+one in Jutland."
+
+"I begin to think you are true," said Helga. "You have said no single
+word which has not been borne out; but your opinions differ from ours,
+and that widely."
+
+"There is, of course," said Hardy, "the difference of nationality, but
+in the wide world what is best is best, and if anything I do or say
+differs from your national feeling, yet if it be right and best it is
+best."
+
+"Good, very good," said the Pastor. "We are all in the hands of a
+Higher Power, and we have to obey it. It is not for us to criticize
+and doubt, but to obey."
+
+"But it is not a question of religion," said Helga, "if we Danes
+differ in opinion from the English or if our customs are different."
+
+"Just so," said the Pastor; "but God is over all. Nation may call to
+nation and generation to generation; but, as Herr Hardy suggests,
+nationalities may differ, but what is best in thought and deed will
+come to the front."
+
+"But why should he despise us?" asked Helga.
+
+"Herr Hardy despises nothing," replied her father. "He sees and
+appreciates what is good in us, and sympathizes with the stability of
+the Danish character, but he naturally values the broader thought in
+everyday life of the English people."
+
+"That is because he is an Englishman," retorted Helga.
+
+"You forget, Helga, that Herr Hardy is present," said her father, "and
+what you have said would pain him. If he be an Englishman he cannot
+help it, and if he should be English in thought and character it is
+not what you should condemn. He is only true to himself. Since he has
+been with us, what has his conduct been?"
+
+Helga knitted in silence; she felt the justice of her father's reproof
+and her injustice to Hardy.
+
+Hardy, to change the conversation, said to Karl, "Well, Karl, you have
+not told us how soft you found the ditch that you went to the bottom
+of."
+
+"I do not know how I fell off," said Karl. "I was suddenly under water
+in the ditch."
+
+"You fell off as Buffalo was about to jump. He checked his stride
+before he jumped, and then you tumbled off," said Hardy.
+
+"What should I have done?" asked Karl.
+
+"Stuck on," replied Hardy. "You have to learn the motion of the horse
+when jumping, which only practise gives."
+
+"It was like the Damhest," said the Pastor, "which is a legendary
+horse that comes out of mill-dams, ponds, or lakes, at night, and
+entices people to ride it, when it jumps into the water. The best
+story of it is from Thisted, a little to the north-west of this. Three
+tipsy Bonder (farmers) were going home, when one of them wished for a
+horse, that they might ride home, when, lo! there appeared a
+long-backed black horse, on whose back they all clambered, and there
+appeared room for many more. As the last man got up he exclaimed--
+
+'Herre, Jesu Kors
+Aldrig saae jeg saadan Hors.'
+
+'By the Lord Jesu's cross,
+Never saw I such a horse.'
+
+Instantly at that holy name the horse disappeared from under them, and
+the three Bonder were lying on the ground. The Danish word for horse
+is 'hest,' but the Jutland people use the word 'hors,' in their
+dialect."
+
+"There is a similar legend in the Shetland Islands; but, then, it is a
+little horse that jumps into the sea, with the unfortunate person it
+has enticed to mount it," said Hardy.
+
+"There is also a similar legend in France," said the Pastor. "The
+horse is called 'Le Lutin.' We have another legendary horse, that is
+said to abide in churchyards, and has three legs. The legend has
+arisen from the practice in old times of burying a living horse at the
+funeral of a man of distinction. This horse's ghost is called the
+'Helhest.' If any one meets it, it is a sign to him of an early death.
+It is a tradition of the cathedral at Aarhus, that such a horse is
+occasionally seen there. A man whose window looked out to the
+cathedral exclaimed one day to a neighbour, 'What horse is that?'
+There is none,' said his neighbour. 'Then it must be the Helhest,'
+said the other, who shortly after died. It is said that in the
+cathedral at Roeskilde, there is a narrow stone on which, in old
+times, people used to spit, because a Helhest was buried there. The
+word 'hel' is from 'hael,' a heel, because the horse lacked one hoof or
+heel. The legend appears to have existed in the Roman times, as they
+called it Unipes, or the one-footed."
+
+"The pronunciation of 'hel' in Danish is as if it were spelt in
+English as 'hael'" said Hardy. "I certainly never heard that legend
+before."
+
+"There are other legends of animals," said Pastor Lindal. "There is
+the Kirkelam, or the church lamb. This arose from the practice, when a
+church was founded, to bury under the altar a living lamb, to prevent,
+it was said, the church from sinking. This lamb's ghost was called the
+Kirkelam, and, if at any time a child was about to die, the church
+lamb was supposed to appear at the threshold of the door. In
+Carlslunde church tower there is a bas-relief of a lamb, to show that
+a living lamb was buried there when the church was built. It is
+related that a woman was sent for to nurse another woman who was very
+ill; as she went through the churchyard, she was aware of something
+like a dog or a cat rubbing itself against her clothes. She stooped
+down to look at it, in the half light of the evening, when, lo! it was
+the church lamb. The sick woman died at the very same instant, so runs
+the legend."
+
+"The legend of the Kirkelam," said Hardy, "is distinctive, insomuch as
+it appears symbolical, and not based, as most legends are, on the
+fancies and wild imaginations of the people."
+
+"In the olden times of Christianity," said Pastor Lindal, "it was
+found necessary to employ symbols, and to take measures to occupy the
+attention of an ignorant people, and it is possible that thus the
+practice arose to be followed by the legend."
+
+"It was a heathen practice to bury living creatures," continued the
+Pastor, "to avert the plague, when sometimes they buried children, or
+for other fantastic reasons. Thus, there is the legend of the Gravso,
+meaning the buried sow. The reason for its having been buried alive is
+lost. The sow is supposed to appear in the streets of towns, and when
+it appears is an omen of bad luck or death. Sometimes it is said that
+it runs between people's legs, and takes them on its back, and leaves
+them in strange places."
+
+"You said just now that children were buried to avert or stay the
+plague, when it visited Denmark," said Hardy; "does there exist any
+authentic record of such, or does it rest entirely on tradition?"
+
+"I fear we must admit it to have occurred," replied Pastor Lindal.
+"The records of it are too many and consistent to doubt the truth of
+the practice. There is a tradition of a place in Jutland where all the
+inhabitants died of the plague, and the inhabitants of an adjoining
+town averted the spread of the pestilence by buying a child of a
+gypsy, and burying it alive, which tradition says had the desired
+result. There is also a tradition that on the east side of a certain
+church in Jutland no one is buried, because a child was buried there
+to stay the plague. At another place, two children were purchased of
+very poor parents, and were buried alive in a sandhill, to stay the
+pestilence then raging in the district. The people gave them some
+bread and butter, to induce them to go into the living grave prepared
+for them; and when the first spadeful of sand was thrown into the
+hole, one of the children cried out, 'Mother, they are throwing sand
+on my bread and butter!' Comparing this with the treatment of witches,
+or women suspected of witchcraft, at the same epoch, it is not at all
+impossible that such senseless and cruel customs prevailed. The
+stories of robbers that may be well attributed to the same period have
+all a cruel tinge."
+
+"Can you tell us any?" asked Hardy.
+
+"A very great many. One story has been adopted and embellished, and
+has appeared in many lands, and it is possible that you may have heard
+it, so wide has the same story spread. The story is that a rich man
+had an only daughter, and amongst many suitors was a young stranger of
+singularly bold manners, and she accepted him with her father's full
+consent. But, as it happened, she went out for a walk in a wood near,
+and she came to a cave. She was astonished to find that this cave was
+inhabited and divided into rooms. There were chairs and a table and
+kitchen utensils in the first room, in the second room there was much
+old silver plate and costly articles, but in the inner room of all
+there were portions of dead bodies. She was terrified, and would have
+fled from these horrors, but she heard steps at the entrance of the
+cave, and the robbers entered. She hid herself under a bed, and, to
+her horror, she saw the man she had promised to marry bring in a
+woman, whom he brutally murdered; and as he could not get a gold ring
+off that was on her finger, he chopped it off with an axe, with such
+violence that it rolled underneath the bed where she was. The robber
+could not find it, and gave up the search. At night, the robbers all
+departed on a plundering expedition, when she hastened home. She said,
+however, nothing of what had happened. The wedding-day was fixed, and
+the wedding guests assembled; but when the festivities were at the
+highest, she produced the finger of the dead woman, with the ring on
+it! The bridegroom turned pale, and, after being put to the torture,
+confessed many murders, and was, with his band, executed with the
+cruelty then practised; that is, their entrails were cut out by the
+executioner, the bodies severed into pieces, and hung up to rot on a
+gallows."
+
+"The whole story is a very cruel picture," said Hardy.
+
+"So the stories of robbers all are," said the Pastor. "There is a
+story of a robber called Langekniv, or 'long knife.' His practice was
+to kill people by casting a heavy knife at them, with a string
+attached to it, so that he could possess himself of the knife again
+with celerity. He committed many murders. But one day a pedlar was
+going across a lonely heath, when he saw Langekniv coming. The pedlar
+fell down at first with fright, but afterwards pretended to be nearly
+dead from illness; and when Langekniv came up, he said, 'Take my pack
+and my money, and fetch a doctor; I am dying.' Langekniv thought that
+with a man who could be so easily robbed, it was not necessary to do
+more than he was asked; but as soon as he turned to go away, the
+pedlar struck him with his staff a blow on the ankle, that disabled
+him from running. He then ran for assistance, and Langekniv, after
+making it very hot for his captors by casting his long knife, was
+seized, and bound, and put in a cart, and was executed. When his
+entrails was being cut out by the executioner, he was asked if it
+hurt, and Langekniv replied that it was not so bad as the toothache.
+
+"There is one robber story, however, that illustrates the
+extraordinary manner in which a clue to a murder can sometimes be
+acquired. A pedlar was passing in a lonely hollow of a road on a heath
+in Jutland, when two robbers attacked him, and killed him under
+circumstances of great cruelty. A flock of wild geese was flying over
+head, and the pedlar said the birds of the air shall witness against
+you of my murder. Years went by, when, one day, the people were
+waiting in the churchyard for the priest to come to service. A flock
+of geese was flying overhead, when a horse-dealer from Holstein, a
+stranger to the place, said, 'There goes the pedlar's witnesses.'
+These words excited attention. The man lost all control over himself,
+and confessed the murder."
+
+"A very extraordinary story," said Hardy, "but a very possible one.
+But have you not traditions of very supernatural things, as the story
+of the Kraken?"
+
+"There is the tradition of the Basilisk, as we call it, and that of
+the Lindorm. The legend of the Basilisk is, of course, of classic
+origin. It is that when a cock becomes very old, it lays an egg, and
+the heat of a dungheap hatches it, and a Basilisk is produced. It is
+so hideous a monster, that whoever looks on it can no longer live, but
+melts away. It is also said that the Basilisk inhabits wells, and that
+it is dangerous to look down a well, as to encounter the gaze of a
+Basilisk would be to turn the beholder to stone. There is also another
+variation of the legend. The egg when laid by the cock must be hatched
+by a toad; but when the Basilisk is hatched, if it be first seen by a
+human being, it at once dies, but if the contrary, the beholder dies."
+
+"There is a novel written by Sir Walter Scott," said Hardy, "under the
+title of 'Count Robert of Paris' in which he describes the Varanger
+guard. It is possible that as such a body of men did exist, that such
+legends were brought back by them."
+
+"It may be," said Pastor Lindal; "but in all such matters we may
+dogmatize, and be very wide of the mark, although we cannot deny the
+possibility."
+
+"But what about the Lindorm?" asked Hardy.
+
+"The Lindorm is a legendary serpent," replied the Pastor. "Your
+English story of St. George and the dragon is a contest with a
+Lindorm, and we have many variations of the story. The principal
+incidents, however, coincide with your English story. One story of a
+Lindorm is, that a girl went out to milk her master's cows, and as she
+went over the fields she saw a little spotted snake. It appeared so
+pretty that she took it home and kept it in a box. Every day she fed
+it with milk and what else she could get that it would eat, but it
+became at last so large that it could not be kept in the box any
+longer. It ran after the girl wherever she went, and drank out of the
+milk-pails, as she milked the cows. This the house mother (the
+farmer's wife) objected to, and she said the snake should be killed to
+prevent further mischief; but the snake was not killed, and further
+mischief did occur. It became so big that it was not satisfied with
+what was given it, but seized the cattle, one after another, and ate
+them. It soon became the terror of the district. A wise woman,
+however, advised that a bull calf should be reared with fresh milk and
+wheat bread, to destroy the Lindorm. Meanwhile it had attained such a
+size, that every day a cow had to be given it, or an old horse, to
+prevent its taking the more valuable cattle. When, however, the bull
+calf was three years old, it was strong enough to combat the Lindorm,
+and killed it; but when the combat took place, the snake struck a
+large stone with its tail, and cut thereby a furrow in it, and the
+stone is shown to this day as a proof of the legend."
+
+"A very interesting legend," said Hardy. "Are there more?"
+
+"There is a remarkable one," replied Pastor Lindal, "as one of the
+legends of the old cathedral at Aarhus. Many years ago, it was
+observed that the bodies buried in the churchyard, then belonging to
+the cathedral, were taken away, no one knew how. At last, it was
+observed that a Lindorm had its habitation under the cathedral, and
+came out every night, and devoured the corpses. As it was feared that
+not only this would continue, but also that the foundations of the
+cathedral might be undermined by the excavations made by the Lindorm,
+it was determined to seek means to destroy it. At this time a glazier
+came to Aarhus, and when he heard the danger in which the cathedral
+was placed, he promised to help the town councillors to get rid of the
+Lindorm. He made a box of looking-glass so large that he could himself
+go into it, and to which there was only one opening, and which was not
+larger than that he could use his sword with effect. He had this box
+taken into the cathedral by daylight, and when midnight came he
+lighted four wax candles, which he placed in the four corners of the
+box. When the Lindorm came up the aisle of the cathedral and saw its
+reflection in the looking-glass, it thought that it was another
+Lindorm, with whom it could pair, and was so occupied in its
+contemplation that the glazier had the opportunity of cutting its
+throat with his sword, and it died of the wound thus given. The
+poisonous nature of the blood that flowed from the Lindorm, however,
+caused the glazier's death."
+
+"That is certainly a striking legend," said Hardy.
+
+"There is also a legend of a Lindorm that encircled a church and
+devoured the people as they came out, as it appeared only after their
+being in it. It had its head at one entrance and its tail at the
+other, and destroyed the people with both. The people then made a hole
+in the church wall, through which they escaped. Another legend is that
+a Lindorm bathes once a year in a lake, which after has a green film
+on it. This, however, you may have observed in the lakes at Silkeborg
+this summer, arising from the quantity of weed growth during the
+hotter weather."
+
+"I have observed what you mention," said Hardy, "and I should expect
+it is not the first time that an ordinary natural occurrence has been
+attributed to supernatural causes."
+
+"That applies," said the Pastor, "also to what you call in England
+will-o-the-wisp. We call this in Danish, Lygtemaend, or men with
+lanterns. The tradition is that they are spirits of wicked people,
+particularly of men who have measured land falsely, and so acquired an
+advantage over their neighbours. They are supposed to desire to
+mislead the traveller, and entice him into bogs and swamps. It is said
+that the best means to prevent being thus deceived is to turn one's
+hat, so that the back part should come to the front; care, however,
+must be taken not to point at a Lygtemaend, as he is then dangerous.
+Such is the tradition."
+
+"Your legends, this evening, have been more than usually interesting,
+Herr Pastor," said Hardy. "It would appear as if, with such a mass of
+legendary lore, you would have men growing up and becoming authors of
+the richest fancy."
+
+"Hans Christian Andersen is an instance," said the Pastor, "so is
+Ingemann, and, of late, Carl Andersen, the curator of Rosenborg
+palace. There are others also. It is no doubt that the human fancy,
+when led into extraordinary lines of thought, is influenced to produce
+them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+    "Who hunts, doth oft in danger ride;
+    Who hawks, lures oft both far and wide;
+    Who uses games, shall often prove
+    A loser; but he who falls in love
+    Is fettered in fond Cupid's snare.
+    My Angle breeds me no such care."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+An idea had occurred to Godseier Jensen which had filled the mind of
+the worthy proprietor and horse breeder. He had discussed the idea
+with his neighbours in all its branches, and had appealed to his
+paternal Government to assist him. The idea was a horse race, after
+the English model. Tentative advertisements appeared in the Danish and
+Swedish papers, and the replies in the support of the idea came in
+from all sides. A few Swedish noblemen owned race-horses, and they
+gave in their adhesion and support. The local horse-breeders and
+dealers were eager in its support, and the Government expressed their
+intention of assisting, in the hope that it might encourage the
+breeding of better class horses.
+
+John Hardy was early consulted in the movement, and heard a great deal
+of good advice and well-intentioned talk on the subject of horses and
+horse racing in particular. A prominent feature in the idea was
+naturally where the races should be held, and on this point John
+Hardy, at one time, thought the whole affair would fall through.
+
+A field was, however, found that gave a course round it of one and a
+quarter English miles, the soil was light, and the field did not make
+the best racing ground; but there was no better to be secured for the
+purpose, and the consequence was it was determined on. A grand stand
+was erected, and the course staked out, the day fixed, and the entries
+for the races were anxiously waited for by Herr Jensen, who acted as
+honorary secretary. They at last were able to arrange several flat
+races, a hurdle race--the hurdles rather low--a trotting match, a
+steeple-chase, and a consolation race. The steeple-chase course was
+down a sharpish incline, with a water jump at the bottom, and some
+fences specially erected, and about the middle of the course a stone
+wall of loose stones. This course was well in view of the grand stand,
+as well as from the middle of the flat-race course.
+
+John Hardy was implored by proprietor Jensen to enter Buffalo for the
+steeple-chase, but he declined, on the ground that he preferred to
+look on, and did not like risking so favourite a horse in a
+steeple-chase race. Herr Jensen was in despair; he himself and all his
+friends and acquaintances felt more interest in the steeple-chase than
+all the rest put together. The only entries for the race were some
+horses belonging to a cavalry regiment, but of these there were only
+four. The pressure that was brought to bear on Hardy was so great,
+that he saw he should give serious offence if he did not let Buffalo
+be entered for the steeple-chase. He, however, explained to proprietor
+Jensen that his servant, Robert Garth, would ride, but that his orders
+would be to ride carefully, avoid the other horses, and not press
+Buffalo. Now a fresh difficulty arose. The cavalry horses were entered
+by the subalterns of the regiment, who would ride the horses
+themselves, and the Englishman was going to send his servant to ride
+against them. There was the insular pride and bad taste of the English
+exemplified, and, in the end, John Hardy had to ride his own horse,
+very much against his will.
+
+The auspicious day dawned, and crowds attended, bearing positive
+testimony to the popularity of Herr Jensen's idea.
+
+The Pastor declined to go; he said he thought it was no place for him.
+"It is a day of amusement where a black coat and the notion of a
+sermon appears out of place."
+
+The Jensens insisted on taking Froken Helga and her two brothers, who,
+since they had heard that Hardy was to ride, were intensely excited.
+
+"I have prayed that you will win, Herr Hardy," said Axel, who was
+always a quiet lad in manner, and had become more so since his
+acquaintance with Hardy.
+
+"I am going to take care of my good horse, Axel," said Hardy. "I do
+not intend to risk his being injured by throwing him down or letting
+the other horses get too near, and, besides, I should not like to
+win."
+
+"And why not?" said Helga. "I cannot understand a man riding in a race
+and not doing his best to win it."
+
+"Your sympathies are with the cavalry officers, and I should please
+you best by not winning," said Hardy.
+
+"There is your professed superiority again," retorted Helga; "you say
+you are going to let the others win, suggesting that you could win the
+race if you chose to do so. I do not believe you can, and think you
+are afraid to ride hard. You speak of taking care of your horse, which
+means yourself."
+
+John Hardy looked her full in the face, with a stern expression he
+sometimes had. What she had said would have galled any man, and Hardy
+felt it keenly.
+
+The races began, and were well ridden, and ridden to win. There was no
+betting that John Hardy heard of. He and his servant Garth were asked,
+on the horses being trotted out, as to the probable winners, which
+they were able to indicate from their knowledge of what is and is not
+racing condition in a horse, and they were generally correct.
+
+The trotting match was a failure; there were several entries, but only
+one horse trotted both heats round the course, the others had not been
+trained properly or sufficiently. The hurdle race yielded much
+amusement; many horses had entered for that race, and several refused
+to jump at all, and there were many falls, to the delight of the
+populace, and only three horses went through the race, which was won
+by a neck, the three coming well in together.
+
+When the steeple-chase race was prepared for, Garth brought up
+Buffalo, looking, as he always did, a grand horse, and amongst the
+more horsey of the Danes there was much praise of him. John Hardy
+mounted; he had taken off his coat, waistcoat, and braces, and Garth
+had tied a blue silk handkerchief on his head. There was a quiet look
+of efficiency about John Hardy that was a contrast to the heavy
+mustachios cultivated by the cavalry officers and their rather weedy
+steeds. There was trouble in getting a start from the restiveness of
+one of the cavalry horses and the difficulty his rider experienced in
+managing it, but once away they swept down the slope, Buffalo two
+horse lengths behind. The water jump reached, the cavalry horses
+rushed into it, and Hardy had a difficulty in steering clear of the
+floundering men and horses and letting Buffalo fly the water jump. The
+water jump had been specially prepared, and was very shallow, and
+Danish horses appeared to have considered it was best to gallop
+through it. As it was the rule of the race that the jump must be
+taken, they were, by that rule, out of the race. They, however, kept
+on and rode well, taking the fences and wall, with Buffalo going wide
+of them in the rear. When they came to the rising ground again,
+corresponding to the slope they had ridden down, the Danish horses
+began to show signs of being ridden out of hand, and Buffalo passed
+easily in a canter, taking his fences as quietly as if at exercise,
+and came in an easy winner. The course had been about four to five
+English miles, a little too long, thought Hardy, for the Danish
+horses. Proprietor Jensen came forward to congratulate Hardy, and to
+thank him for enabling the race to be made interesting to them all.
+
+The prize was a silver cup, but Hardy declined to accept it, to the
+astonishment of stout proprietor Jensen and his friends.
+
+"What in the name of the devil's skin and bones does the man mean?"
+said Herr Jensen, with some heat. "Why, you have won it, and rode so
+well that it has been a pleasure to us all to see you."
+
+"The race has not been a fair one," said Hardy; "my horse has been
+specially trained for this sort of work, the horses I rode against
+have not, I therefore wish the cup given to the second horse."
+
+The Danish officers pressed Hardy to take the cup, but Hardy was firm.
+They spoke to him in that manly way habitual with Danish gentlemen,
+and Hardy liked them. They went up to Buffalo, which Robert Garth was
+leading up and down to cool; and Hardy induced one of the officers to
+try Buffalo at one of the small fences erected for the hurdle race;
+and when he came back, the Danish cavalry officer said, "Why, you
+could have ridden away from us from the first!"
+
+"No doubt," said Hardy.
+
+"And you did not, because you did not wish to let the race appear a
+hollow one," said the officer, "and it would disappoint so many."
+
+"I only entered my horse for the race," said Hardy, "under great
+pressure, not until I saw I should give offence to Godseier Jensen and
+many others who have been kind to me. They wanted to see my horse
+race. I intended to have let my servant ride, but when I heard I
+should have to ride against Danish gentlemen, I rode myself."
+
+"What a charger he would make!" said one of the cavalry officers.
+
+"He is too light in bone," said Hardy. "I am an officer in the
+yeomanry cavalry of my country, and use a bigger framed horse as a
+charger."
+
+"We will take the cup because it is your wish, Herr Hardy," said the
+officer, "but you must come and dine with some of us to-morrow, and
+bring your horse, and let the other men of our regiment see it. We are
+much obliged to you. You have taught us what we have heard of, and
+that is a hunting-seat. Cavalry men cannot go well across country,
+riding, as we do, with a cavalry seat. We dine at three. Ask for Baron
+Jarlsberg."
+
+Hardy accepted, and went up to the grand stand where Fru Jensen and
+her daughters were and Froken Helga Lindal. He had changed his clothes
+for a black morning coat and tweed trousers. The last race was being
+ran.
+
+"Herr Jensen has sent me to see you to your carriage, Fru Jensen,"
+said Hardy; "he is much occupied with his duties of honorary
+secretary, and settling the usual disputes that arise."
+
+"And was that you with a blue handkerchief round your head and nothing
+on but a flannel shirt?" asked Fru Jensen.
+
+"Yes," said Hardy; "but I had other garments on than a flannel shirt."
+
+"Of course," said Fru Jensen, "of course; but if I were your mother, I
+should be afraid of your catching cold."
+
+"But when, Fru Jensen, we ride a race, we have to be dressed for it,
+and the less clothes we have the better."
+
+"And you have won the race, I hear," said Fru Jensen; "but I did not
+know who won, and I see it is a silver cup. It will be something to
+take back to England. Your father, Helga, will be glad to hear Herr
+Hardy is to have a silver cup."
+
+Helga had perception enough to see that she had wounded Hardy in the
+early part of the day and that he had not forgotten it. He said
+nothing to her, but gave Fru Jensen his arm, and conducted them to the
+Jensen's carriage, a heavy four-wheeled conveyance, arranged to carry
+eight, by seats placed one after the other in a sort of four-wheeled
+dogcart with a long body.
+
+It had been a great desire of proprietor Jensen to have a dinner of a
+public character after the races, but this it was found not
+practicable to carry out within anything like a reasonable hour,
+according to Danish notions, and the consequence was Herr Jensen had
+to content himself with asking as many of his own friends and his
+friends' friends as he could to his own Herregaard. He was in the best
+possible humour. The races had gone off without a hitch, and every one
+had congratulated him. He had been told he had made a great hit with
+his Englishman, as the officers of the Danish cavalry regiment were
+delighted with him. It was, however, positively necessary that the
+worthy proprietor should return home to receive his friends.
+
+"Where is the Englishman?" he inquired, as he came to the carriage.
+
+"Here," said Hardy. "The ladies are waiting for you, and the carriage
+is ready to start."
+
+John Hardy was going to sit by the side of one of Herr Jensen's
+daughters, but he would not have it. The proprietor must talk over the
+races with Hardy, and he did, so volubly that Hardy could scarcely
+understand him. "I never saw anything so smart as the way you took
+those fences after passing the other horses! It was grand to see your
+horse going easily over about a foot above them; and the way you came
+in past the judges was splendid. I must say I did not like your
+refusal to take the prize; it was only a cup that cost us about L5 of
+your money, but it was the prize for all that, and was well won. If it
+was the smallness of its value," said the worthy proprietor, carried
+away by his enthusiasm, "I would give you a dozen such. They lost the
+race at once by not taking the water jump and galloping their horses
+through it without jumping it. I saw you were in a difficulty, but the
+way you held your horse and took the water jump was good. I did like
+the way also in which you spoke to the cavalry officers and letting
+one of them ride your horse over one of the hurdle jumps, and so let
+him see that they had been nowhere, and that you could have beaten
+them at any point of the race. After all, I think you were right to
+give up the cup with such a superior horse, but very few men would
+have done it, but the way you did it is what has made such a good
+impression. Come and stay with me as long as you like! There is a
+little river through my property with trout in it, you may catch them
+all if you like."
+
+"Thank you, Herr Jensen," said Hardy, "but I return to England
+shortly. I will, however, come over, with your permission, and fish
+your river, which is a little tributary to the Gudenaa, and I hear has
+some good trout in it. We have not liked to ask your leave, because
+you might have other friends for whom you would wish to reserve the
+fishing."
+
+"If I had," said the proprietor, "I would give it you; nothing would
+give me greater pleasure than to return your kindness to me. You gave
+up your own wishes about the racing only to oblige me; you did not
+wish to ride or risk your horse, but you did it to oblige me."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Hardy. "May I take Pastor Lindal's two
+sons, Karl and Axel, with me to fish? They will not depopulate the
+stream."
+
+"You may take anybody," said Herr Jensen, warmly.
+
+Froken Helga heard this conversation, and it showed her how
+differently Hardy had acted from what she had suggested to him in the
+morning before the races. Herr Jensen's unqualified praise had let her
+see how good Hardy had been, and how considerate for others, and she
+had accused him of being a coward and only caring for himself.
+
+When they came to proprietor Jensen's Herregaard, Hardy jumped out of
+the carriage, and assisted Fru Jensen and her daughters out, but to
+Froken Helga Lindal he only extended his arm, so that she might rest
+her hand on it on her descending from the carriage. She would have
+spoken, but Hardy was gone.
+
+The dinner at proprietor Jensen's was a very lively affair. Early in
+the dinner he proposed the Englishman's health, and Hardy responded
+briefly; and then came many other toasts, and the ultimate conclusion
+was there was nothing like horse-racing, and as the evening wore on,
+so did the fogginess of the subject. Hardy had sent Garth to his
+stables with Buffalo after the race, and told him to fetch them at
+Herr Jensen's Herregaard at an early hour with the carriage, and Hardy
+drove himself, talking to Garth, who sat beside him. Karl and Axel had
+preferred to stay to see the last festivities of the races and to walk
+home, consequently Froken Helga sat by herself in the carriage, and
+Hardy, after seeing her safely in and well cared for, did not address
+a word to her. They drove to the parsonage, and Hardy drove to the
+stables with Garth, to see Buffalo after his extra work that day, and
+Hardy walked back.
+
+The Pastor was smoking his pipe, listening to the events of the day as
+described by Karl and Axel. "You won your race. Hardy," said Pastor
+Lindal; "and the boys say easily."
+
+"Yes, I won the race I rode," said Hardy.
+
+"And, father, he would not take the cup, that is the prize he won; he
+said his horse was a better horse, and gave it to the man who came in
+second, and a long way behind he was," said Karl.
+
+Froken Helga knitted, but did not look up.
+
+"And did you not see the race, Helga?"
+
+"Yes, father," said Helga; "and I saw Herr Hardy win it."
+
+"But what is the matter, Helga?" asked her father, with some hardness.
+
+"Father, I have been wrong," said Helga. "Herr Hardy said he did not
+wish to risk his horse, and that he did not wish to win the race, but
+that he could easily if he chose. I did not like his professing to be
+so superior over us Danes, and I told him so, and that he was afraid
+to ride his horse, and that he knew he would not win. I now know that
+what he said was quite true, and that he has behaved well."
+
+"You should have heard how they cheered him when he came in," said
+Karl.
+
+"I do think, Helga, if you made so insulting a speech to Herr Hardy,"
+said the Pastor, with some asperity, "that it should be withdrawn. To
+tell a man that he is a coward and has false pride is too galling, and
+when not a single ground for it exists the more so. You might thereby
+have tempted him to risk his life, to say nothing of his horse."
+
+Helga burst into tears.
+
+Hardy rose and held out his hand to her. "I hope," he said, "you will
+think no more of this; I shall not. Your saying what you have to your
+father is enough for me. I do hope you will believe me when I say that
+after so frank an admission that I shall only respect the strong
+national feeling that prompted you. I admit a Danish gentleman can do
+all I can and possibly more."
+
+"You are a gentleman, Hardy," said the Pastor.
+
+Helga took Hardy's hand coldly, and left the room. She had made a
+mistake and had atoned, that was all.
+
+The next day Hardy rode Buffalo, attended by Garth on one of the
+Danish horses, to the quarters of the cavalry regiment, and was
+received with much kindness. A dinner had been arranged at a hotel
+near, and the men and officers of the regiment regarded Buffalo with
+much interest. One after the other asked leave to mount him and ride
+him a short distance over a bit of grass adjoining the cavalry
+barracks. Hardy let them inspect the horse to their hearts' content.
+His winning the race so easily the day before had its special value.
+Hardy's knowledge of cavalry accoutrements and horses was another
+point of common interest. He rode several of the best horses of the
+regiment, but preferred changing their heavy military bridles to his
+own light snaffle, and the effect was marked, and was noted by the
+cavalry officers.
+
+At dinner, the cup of the day before was produced, and Hardy had to
+drink out of it.
+
+"It is your cup and fairly won, but we appreciate the feeling that
+gives it to us," said Baron Jarlsberg, "and we shall keep it in the
+regiment as a memento of an English horse beating the best horses in a
+Danish cavalry regiment."
+
+Hardy rode to the parsonage, after a very pleasant time, with many
+expressions of good feeling from the Danish officers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+    "These are to be angled for with a short line not
+    much more than half the length of your rod, if the air be
+    still, or with longer very near, or all out as long as your
+    rod, if you have any wind to carry it from you."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Two days after the horse race recorded in the last chapter, John Hardy
+had asked the Pastor's permission to take Karl and Axel with him to
+fish Godseier Jensen's tributary to the Gudenaa. They had breakfast
+early, and Hardy asked for a little lunch to take with them, to which
+the Pastor willingly assented.
+
+"Hardy," said the Pastor, "may I ask you one thing, and that is, have
+you spoken to Kirstin about what I told you?"
+
+"No," replied Hardy. "Why should I? There is nothing that is necessary
+for me to say. She is your servant and not mine. If she be suspicious
+naturally and accuses me of gross misconduct, it is not for me to
+reprove her, although, if you believed it, I should clear myself, as I
+value your good opinion. Surely that is not necessary?"
+
+"No, by no means," said Pastor Lindal; "but I thought a reproof from
+you----"
+
+"You have given her reproof sufficient," interrupted Hardy, "and so
+have I, and there is no need to repeat it. It is true, I spoke to her
+without full knowledge of her conduct, but to say more is neither
+necessary nor expedient."
+
+The Pastor was surprised at the decided tone Hardy used. It had been
+his intention to clear the matter up, so that nothing should rest in
+Hardy's mind against Kirstin. He now understood that Hardy thought no
+more of the matter than that a woman-servant in his employ had said a
+foolish thing. This was a small matter, but it raised Hardy much in
+the worthy Pastor's estimation.
+
+Hardy had sent a note to proprietor Jensen, to say he was coming over
+to fish on his property, and to ask leave to put his horses in his
+stable. So Garth drove, and they got out of the carriage near the
+stream they were to fish, and Karl and Axel were soon busy in putting
+up the rods Hardy had given them. The stream ran through a flat
+meadow, and here and there was covered with reeds. There was little
+flow in the stream, but where it was deeper there were no reeds. The
+water rush was abundant on the banks, growing along the flat banks and
+out in the water. Hardy had heard there were plenty of trout there,
+but it appeared difficult to catch them. The day was warm and still,
+and it did not look at all propitious. Karl and Axel threw their flies
+into the water for a long time with no result--not a trout moved.
+Hardy did not fish, but looked on. It was clear the trout were not on
+the feed, and, moreover, the sun was high and the day bright. Hardy
+sat down and smoked. The two boys came back to him after their futile
+attempts to fish. They saw Hardy had not wetted his line, but had
+attached a dyed casting line to it, on which was a large but light
+thin wired hook. He then sent the boys hunting for grasshoppers and
+fernwebs, and letting out so much of the reel line as, with the
+casting line, would be as long as his rod, he let the grasshopper that
+he had put on the hook fall lightly on the water, and be carried down
+by the sluggish stream; there was a swirl in the water, and Hardy was
+fast in a big trout. The day, however, was so hot and bright that,
+after catching eight trout with much difficulty and steady fishing,
+Hardy decided to call at the Jensen's Herregaard, and give them the
+fish he had caught, and fish in the evening, when the sun was less
+powerful. The heat, as it sometimes is in Denmark, was excessive. He
+had been seen coming up the avenue of lime trees, and the stout
+proprietor came out to meet him, with his face full of pleasure and
+kindness, for he liked John Hardy.
+
+"Welcome, and glad to see you!" exclaimed Herr Jensen. "It is too hot
+and bright for fishing, and you have been wise to come up to the
+house. I thought it probable that you would not fish much, and I
+remained at home in the hope you might call."
+
+"We have caught a few trout for you," said Hardy; "but the heat in
+your flat country such a day as this is more than I care to bear. Your
+trout are larger on the average than in the Gudenaa, and are splendid
+fish. I have fished in many lands, and never saw better. The few fish
+we have caught to-day average a pound, but they are very young fish,
+and I never saw fish the same age so large."
+
+"How can you tell how old they are?" asked Herr Jensen, incredulously.
+
+"Why, you look at a horse's mouth, don't you? and it is the same with
+trout," replied Hardy; "that is, to some extent. The teeth get larger
+at the base, the jaw bone thickens with age, and the snout gets
+longer. I have often seen trout that have been reared from ova, and
+whose age was consequently known, and have closely observed their
+mouths. The fish in your stream grow fast from the great abundance of
+the food that trout thrive best on."
+
+"But come in out of the heat," said Herr Jensen, "and have a snaps or
+a glass of wine. My friends who come here to fish rarely catch so many
+trout in a whole day's fishing; and that when they consider the
+weather favourable; but you English appear to be born with a rod and a
+gun."
+
+Karl and Axel proposed going with Robert Garth to see the proprietor's
+horses and live stock, and, as they knew a little English, they got on
+very well with Garth, whom they considered a paragon of a servant. His
+respectful demeanour towards Hardy impressed them, and the way he did
+his work about the horses was always a matter of interest.
+
+Hardy went into the proprietor's spacious reception room, which was
+well but plainly furnished, with its aspect of neatness so dear to a
+Danish house mother.
+
+Fru Jensen and her two daughters were knitting, but rose to welcome
+Hardy, with the genial friendliness habitual with Danish ladies. They
+insisted on his staying to dinner, but Hardy objected, as he had Karl
+and Axel with him as well as his servant; but all objections were
+futile, and Fru Jensen left the room, to give the necessary directions
+for a very substantial dinner.
+
+Mathilde Jensen was about two and twenty, with a fresh complexion,
+blue eyes, and light hair, and a cheerful manner. "How is your
+beautiful horse, Herr Hardy?" she asked.
+
+"Quite fit to run another race," replied Hardy. "But do not you Danish
+ladies ride?"
+
+"Yes. We have each our own horse, and we often ride with father and by
+ourselves short distances," said Froken Mathilde; "but they are not
+such good horses as those you have purchased in Denmark."
+
+"They are never satisfied with their horses," said the proprietor;
+"they are always wanting me to buy a horse of a different colour than
+what they have got--first it's chesnut, and then dark bay."
+
+"Would you like to ride one of my Danish horses?" said Hardy. "They
+have been frequently ridden."
+
+"No, no; don't go putting that in their heads, Herr Hardy!" protested
+the proprietor. "They never had a petticoat on their backs."
+
+"If Froken Mathilde would lend her side saddle and an old skirt, my
+man shall try both the horses, while we are here," said Hardy. "I have
+no lady's saddle here, but from what I know of the horses there is no
+doubt but that they will carry a lady quietly, and better backs for a
+lady I have seldom seen."
+
+Proprietor Jensen's desire to see an English groom, whom he saw
+understood his business, handling his favourite animal, a horse,
+overcame whatever scruples he may have had as to its leading to his
+daughters riding Hardy's horses, and in a few minutes one of the
+horses was mounted by Garth, with a skirt tied to his waist, and the
+horse trotted and cantered up and down the avenue. The other horse was
+also tried. The English groom's perfect riding was much praised by the
+proprietor.
+
+"Do let me ride, father, just once up and down," begged Froken
+Mathilde; and before her father could object, she had slipped the
+skirt that Garth had just untied from his waist over her dress and
+mounted, with Garth's assistance.
+
+It was a pretty sight to see the handsome girl's enjoyment of riding
+the well-trained horse, as she rode up to where her father and mother
+and Hardy were standing.
+
+"Oh, father!" she exclaimed, "you must get me a horse like this, or I
+shall die, I know I shall;" and she went up and kissed her father in a
+coaxing manner.
+
+"What nonsense!" said the prudent Fru Jensen. "One horse is as good as
+another for you."
+
+"Well, well, we'll see," growled the proprietor, but pleased,
+nevertheless, to see his daughter, like himself, fond of horses.
+
+At dinner the conversation turned on Rosendal, which the Jensens had
+heard Hardy had purchased.
+
+"It is a pretty place," said the proprietor, "but the farm is not
+much. But why did you buy it? It cannot be as a speculation, as the
+price is excessive."
+
+"He intends to marry Helga Lindal and live there so that she will not
+be too far from her father, to whom she is so much attached," said
+Mathilde Jensen, laughing. "I can explain it all for him."
+
+"Thank you, for disposing of my affairs so nicely," said Hardy; "you
+have saved me a good deal of explanation."
+
+"Yes, but Pastor Lindal's daughter is going to marry the Kapellan
+(curate) he once had, a Kapellan Holm. She refused him, but her father
+wishes it, as Holm is a good man," said Fru Jensen.
+
+"In Denmark, you must know," said the proprietor, "that it is the
+custom for a Pastor's daughter always to marry the Kapellan."
+
+Hardy understood now the secret of Froken Helga Lindal's manner. She
+was attached to this Kapellan Holm.
+
+"But what are you going to do with Rosendal?" asked Herr Jensen. "It
+is a matter of interest to us; it is not far, and we should like such
+a neighbour as Herr Hardy."
+
+"The first thing I intend to do is to improve the grounds and repair
+the house, but I do not contemplate making much alteration."
+
+"I should so like to see Rosendal!" said Mathilde Jensen; and her
+younger sister, Marie Jensen, expressed the same wish.
+
+"Why, you have seen it again and again," said their mother. "You want
+Herr Hardy to take you."
+
+"So we do, little mother," said both the girls, "and we want him to
+let us ride his horses."
+
+"Snak!" said their father. The Danish word "snak" has its peculiar
+expressive force, its meaning in English being that nonsense is being
+talked.
+
+"Garth shall bring over both horses to-morrow," said Hardy, "and I
+will ride over; and I dare say Herr Jensen will accompany us, and lend
+my man a horse, as we should want him at Rosendal. If you assent, I
+will send a message to the bailiff, as you might like a little
+refreshment there."
+
+"A most excellent plan, Herr Hardy!" exclaimed Froken Mathilde; "but
+it leaves little mother home alone, which is the only fault in it. But
+you will drive, won't you, little father, and take mother and Herr
+Hardy's groom?"
+
+Of course everything was ordered as Froken Mathilde Jensen wished. She
+had made her father make many a sacrifice of his money and own wishes,
+but she repaid him with her real affection for him.
+
+As the evening drew on, Hardy and the two boys left, and tried the
+proprietor's little stream with a fly. The trout rose freely, and
+Hardy caught about a dozen. The fish rose best to a gray-winged sedge
+fly, when thrown high over the water and falling slowly and softly
+near the reeds. Karl and Axel had little success, the perfect
+stillness of the water to them was a difficulty.
+
+When they arrived at the parsonage, the Pastor was smoking in his
+accustomed chair, and his daughter was singing to him. She stopped as
+soon as she heard the carriage wheels. And after speaking a few words
+to the Pastor, Hardy went to his room. Karl and Axel remained, and,
+like other boys who go about very little, were very full of the day's
+experiences. The trying the horses was described, and Froken Mathilde
+Jensen's explanation of why Hardy had bought Rosendal was given in
+full, with Fru Jensen's statement as to Kapellan Holm; so that when
+John Hardy came from his room, he saw that something had passed which
+had disturbed both the Pastor and his daughter. He at once judged
+correctly what had occurred. The boys were in the habit of saying what
+was uppermost.
+
+It was clear, then, that what Proprietor Jensen had said about Froken
+Helga was correct.
+
+"We have caught a few trout," said Hardy, "and taken a few to the
+Jensens, who were so good as to make us stay to dinner, with the kind
+hospitality so conspicuous in Denmark."
+
+"They are hospitable people," said the Pastor.
+
+"But great gossips," added the daughter, who had scarcely noticed
+Hardy since his return. She got up and left the room.
+
+Hardy determined to risk a question. "Your daughter is, the Jensens
+say, attached to a Kapellan Holm, Herr Pastor?" said he, inquiringly.
+
+"No, decidedly not," said the Pastor. "I am sorry to say she dislikes
+him; his manner is not pleasant, and she considers him addicted to
+drink, of which I have never observed any sign. He is a good man, a
+little boisterous in manner. He is coming here to assist me in the
+winter, and will live with us. He is now in Copenhagen."
+
+Hardy thought Helga Lindal difficult to understand. That she would
+marry a man that the Pastor had described was not consistent with her
+character; but, then, women do inconsistent things. Her manner to him
+was not courteous--it was unfriendly; but now and then she would speak
+warmly and gratefully for any kindness Hardy showed her father.
+
+"Godseier Jensen and his family are going to Rosendal to-morrow," said
+Hardy, after smoking some time in silence.
+
+"Yes," said Karl; "the Froken Jensens want to ride Herr Hardy's
+horses."
+
+Helga had returned, and heard what Karl said.
+
+"Froken Mathilde Jensen is a girl with a cheerful character, open and
+honest, like the Danes naturally are," said Hardy.
+
+"I think she is a great deal too forward!" said Helga, sharply.
+
+Hardy looked at her; it was clear she meant what she said. To his view
+there was nothing to condemn in Mathilde Jensen's conduct. She had
+good animal spirits, was natural in manner, and affectionate to her
+parents, who rather spoilt her.
+
+The next day Hardy rode his English horse to the Jensens' Herregaard,
+and Garth followed with both the Danish horses.
+
+The Jensens were all on the doorsteps, as Hardy trotted up. The
+proprietor received him warmly, and his family did the like. He walked
+round Hardy's horse and admired him, as he had done on a previous
+occasion.
+
+"It is the breadth of his loins," he said, "that sends him over his
+jumps. I never saw anything so fine as when he passed the other
+horses, taking his leaps like nothing; and how he came in with a grand
+stride, by the winning post!"
+
+"As you breed horses, Herr Jensen," said Hardy, "you should import an
+English mare of Buffalo's stamp; it would enormously improve your
+breeding stud. A stallion would not do so well, and would be very
+costly. It is a slower process, but a more certain one."
+
+"Yes; but we Danes are poor," said the proprietor, "and I cannot
+afford the purchase of such a mare."
+
+"When I return to England, I will see what I can do for you," said
+Hardy.
+
+The side saddles were placed on Hardy's Danish horses, and they went
+to Rosendal, the Froken Jensens enjoying the ride greatly.
+
+Fru Jensen went through the dairy and criticized, her husband did the
+same with the farm buildings, and gave Hardy useful and practical
+advice, which Hardy noted down and afterwards followed.
+
+They strolled through the beech woods, and saw the valley of roses in
+its ragged and neglected condition. But the good proprietor would
+insist on seeing the farm, and on this also he gave Hardy many
+practical hints. They returned to the mansion and had such a lunch as
+Hardy had been able to arrange, which delighted Froken Mathilde Jensen
+from its incompleteness.
+
+"The fact is, Herr Hardy," she said, "you want a wife. You have no
+idea how to manage anything. We have none of us a napkin, and
+everything is served abominably."
+
+"I hope to induce my mother to come here next summer," said Hardy; but
+he knew Mrs. Hardy of Hardy Place would scarcely adapt herself to the
+situation Froken Mathilde suggested.
+
+"No doubt your mother will do everything," said Froken Mathilde, "but
+a wife is the one thing needful."
+
+"Possibly," said Hardy. "I will consult my mother on the subject."
+
+"I do not like, Mathilde," said Fru Jensen, "your saying such things
+to Herr Hardy. It is not what I should have said when I was your age."
+
+"That may be, little mother," replied Froken Mathilde; "but Englishmen
+are very dull, and you had none to talk to."
+
+As they rode back to the Jensens' Herregaard, the two girls wanted to
+race the horses back, to Herr Jensen's and his wife's great alarm.
+
+Hardy told them their parents did not wish it, and that, as they did
+not, he did not; and he, instead of riding with them, rode by the side
+of the proprietor's carriage. And when they arrived at the Herregaard,
+the girls dismounted, and Froken Mathilde said, with much emphasis--
+
+"Herr Hardy, we thank you for your kindness to us, but we both vote
+that you are frightfully dull and a bore; but we like you very much."
+
+The hospitable proprietor would not hear of Hardy's leaving; a glass
+of schnaps was inevitable and a smoke, and Rosendal was discussed
+again and again, and its advantages and defects considered from every
+point of view.
+
+At last, Hardy left, and rode to Vandstrup Praestegaard, in time for a
+later dinner than usual Hardy told the Pastor of the practical advice
+Proprietor Jensen had given him, and the Pastor commented on it and
+approved.
+
+Froken Helga asked if the Fru Jensen had given him any advice.
+
+"Yes," said Hardy, "and very good advice, about the management of the
+people and dairy." But, he added, the Froken Jensens had decidedly
+advised him to marry, so as to have some one to manage these details
+for him; but he had replied that he must consult his mother on such a
+subject.
+
+"And which you intend to do, Herr Hardy?" asked Helga.
+
+"Certainly," said Hardy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+    "Good God, how sweet are all things here!
+    How beautiful the fields appear!
+    How cleanly do we feed and lie!
+    Lord, what good hours do we keep;
+    How quietly we sleep!
+    What peace! what unanimity!
+    How different from the lewd fashion
+    Is all our business, all our recreation!"
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Froken Helga had filled the porcelain pipe with Kanaster one evening,
+when she said to her father that he should relate to Herr Hardy what
+he knew of Folketro.
+
+"What is Folketro?" asked Hardy.
+
+"It is the belief in supernatural subjects; for instance, the belief
+in the merman is a Folketro."
+
+"I know the beautiful old ballad that is sung in Norway of the merman
+king rising from the sea in a jewelled dress, where the king's
+daughter had come to fish with a line of silk. He sings to her, and,
+charmed with his song, she gives him both her hands, and he draws her
+under the sea."
+
+"Yes, we all know that ballad," said the Pastor; "it is known to all
+Scandinavians. We have, however, in Jutland, a tradition founded upon
+it. Two poor people who lived near Aarhus had an only daughter, called
+Grethe. One day she was sent to the seashore to fetch sand, when a
+Havmand (merman) rose up out in the sea. His beard was greener than
+the salt sea, but otherwise his form was fair, and he enticed the girl
+to follow him into the sea, by the promise of as much silver as she
+could wish for. She went to the bottom of the sea, and was married to
+the Havmand ('Hav' is a Danish word for the sea), and had five
+children. One day she sat rocking the cradle of her youngest child,
+when she heard the church bells ring ashore. She had almost forgotten
+what she had learnt of Christian faith, but the longing was so great
+to go to church that she wept bitterly. The merman at length allowed
+her to go, and she went to church. She had not been there long before
+the merman came to the church and called 'Grethe! Grethe!' She heard
+him call, but remained; this occurred three times, when the merman was
+heard loudly lamenting, as he returned to the sea. Grethe remained
+with her parents, and the merman is often heard bitterly grieving the
+loss of Grethe."
+
+"The same tradition occurs in many lands," said Hardy.
+
+"Yes, but that is the one we have here in Jutland," replied Pastor
+Lindal. "There is a story that comes from the neighbourhood of
+Ringkiobing, which may have a similarity with traditions elsewhere
+also; but the Jutland story is as follows: For a long time no ship had
+been wrecked on the west coast of Jutland, and consequently the
+Havmand had been a long time without a victim. So he went on land and
+threw a hook at the cattle on the sand hills, whither they frequently
+wandered from the farms, and dragged them into the sea. Close to the
+sea lived a Bonde, who had two red yearlings, which he did not wish to
+lose; so he coupled them together with twigs of the mountain ash, over
+which the Havmand had no power. However, he threw his hook at them,
+but could not drag the yearlings down to the sea, as they were
+protected by the virtue in the mountain ash. His hook stuck in its
+twigs, and the yearlings came home with it, and the Bonde hung it up
+in his house by the chimney. One day, when his wife was at home alone,
+the Havmand came and took away the hook, and said, 'The first calves
+of red cows, with a mountain ash couple, the Havmand could not drag to
+the sea, and for want of my hook I have missed many a good catch.' So
+the Havmand returned to the sea, and since then has never taken any
+cattle from that part of the coast."
+
+"It is very possible that the cattle were stolen by people landing
+from the sea," said Hardy.
+
+"Probably," said the Pastor. "There is another story of a Havmand's
+body being washed up by the sea, close to the church, and it was
+buried in the churchyard. But the sea every year washed away so much
+of the sandy coast that the people were afraid the church would be
+washed away; so they dug up the Havmand, and found him sitting at the
+bottom of the grave, sucking one of his toes. They carried him down to
+the sea, for which he thanked them, and said that now the sea should
+ever cast up as much sand as it washed away, and both the church and
+churchyard should never suffer from the encroachments of the sea."
+
+"A story with more apparent improbability than usual. But the
+impression appears to exist that these supernatural beings could never
+really die. Is it not so?" inquired Hardy.
+
+"It would appear so," replied the Pastor; "but in the case of Trolds
+or Underjordiske, their deaths are occasionally referred to in the
+traditions about them."
+
+"But are there no legends of mermaids?" said Hardy.
+
+"Many," replied the Pastor. "The Danish word is 'Havfru,' or
+sea-woman. On the Jutland coast a mermaid or Havfru was accustomed to
+drive her cattle up from the sea, so that they could graze in the
+fields ashore. This the Bonder did not like. They, therefore, one
+night, surrounded the cattle, and secured both them and the Havfru in
+an enclosure, and refused to let them go until they had been paid for
+the grass the sea cattle had consumed from their fields. As she had no
+money, they demanded that she should give them the belt that she wore
+round her waist, which appeared to be covered with precious stones. To
+ransom herself and cattle, she at length consented, and the Bonder
+received the belt; but as she went to the sea-shore she said to the
+biggest bull of her herd, 'Root up,' and the bull rooted the earth up
+that was over the sand in their meadows, and the consequence was the
+wind blew the sand so that it buried the church. The Bonder,
+therefore, had small joy of the belt, particularly when they found it
+was only common rushes."
+
+"There is a ballad," said Hardy, "that I met with in Norway of Count
+Magnus and the Havfru. She promised him a sword, a horse, and a ship
+of miraculous powers; but he was true to his earthly love."
+
+"The people often sing it here," said the Pastor, "and a good ballad
+it is. It is, however, well known in England. There was a common
+belief that there were cattle in the sea, and it is related that a man
+once saw a red cow constantly in the evening feeding on his standing
+corn. He asked his neighbours' assistance, and they secured it. It had
+five calves whilst in the man's possession, and each of them cow
+calves; but they gave him so much trouble from their unruly nature
+that he beat them frequently. One day he did so by the seaside, when a
+voice from the sea called the cattle, who all rushed into the sea.
+
+"There is a very common story of a fisherman, on the west coast of
+Jutland, seeing a Havmand riding on a billow of the sea, but shivering
+with the cold, as he had only one stocking on. The fisherman took off
+one of his stockings and gave it to the Havmand. Some time after, he
+was on the sea fishing, when the Havmand appeared, and sang--
+
+
+    'Hor du Mand som Hosen gav.
+    Tag dit Skib og drag til Land,
+    Det dundrer under Norge.'
+
+    'Listen, you man, who gave the stocking.
+    Take your ship and make for land,
+    It thunders under Norway.'
+
+
+The fisherman obeyed, and a great storm ensued, and many people
+perished at sea."
+
+"It is common to observe that where the natural disposition of the
+people is a kindly one, there exists in their legends instances of a
+similar character, where a kindness is recollected and rewarded," said
+Hardy.
+
+"It occurs often," said Pastor Lindal, "in the legends of the
+Underjordiske."
+
+"Hans Christian Andersen has a story about the elder tree, but it is
+not very clear what position the fairy of the elder tree bears in
+tradition," said Hardy.
+
+"There is supposed to exist in the elder tree a supernatural being, a
+gnome or fairy, called the Hyldemoer, or fairy of the elder tree,"
+replied the Pastor. "She is said to revenge all injury to the tree;
+and of a man who cut an elder bush down, it is related that he died
+shortly after. At dusk, the Hyldemoer peeps in through the window at
+the children, when they are alone. It is also said that she sucks
+their breasts at night, and that this can be only averted by the juice
+of an onion."
+
+"Is there any distinct legend of the Hyldemoer?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Not that I know of," replied the Pastor. "There is a saying that a
+child cannot sleep if its cradle is made of elder tree, but there is
+no story with any incidents, that I am aware of. A cradle of elder
+tree is not likely to be often made."
+
+"The legend of the were-wolf is very general in all Europe," said
+Hardy. "Does the tradition exist with you?"
+
+"It is called the Varulv with us," replied the Pastor. "It is said to
+be a man, who changes into the form of a wolf, and is known by a tuft
+of hair between the shoulders. When he wishes to change himself from
+the human form to a wolf, he repeats three times, 'I was, I am,' and
+immediately his clothes fall off, like a snake changing its skin. It
+is said that if a woman creeps under the caul of a foal, extended on
+four sticks, that her children will be born without the usual pains of
+childbirth, but that the boys will be Varulve, and the daughters
+Marer, or mares. The superstition about the latter, I will tell you
+presently. The man, however, is freed by some other person telling him
+he is a Varulv. In the other traditions on the subject elsewhere, the
+Varulv is supposed to attack women near their confinement; and it is
+related that a man, who was a Varulv, was at work in the fields with
+his wife, when suddenly a wolf appeared, and attacked her. She struck
+at it with her apron, which the wolf tore to pieces. Then the man
+reappeared, with a torn piece of the apron in his mouth. 'You are a
+Varulv,' said the woman; and the man said, 'I was, but now you have
+told me so I am free.' This is the Jutland legend of the were-wolf."
+
+"What is that of the Marer, or mares?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Marer is the plural of Mare," replied the Pastor. "It is a woman,
+who, like the Varulv, changes to the form of a mare. It is the
+nightmare, which, as we all know, is dreadful enough. A woman who is a
+Mare (the final e is pronounced as a) is known by the hair growing
+together on her eyebrows. It is a very old superstition. It occurs in
+Snorro's 'Heimskringla,' where King Vauland complains of a Mare having
+ridden him in his sleep. There are several stories based on the
+superstition. A Bondekarl--that is, a farm servant--was ridden every
+night by a Mare, although he had stopped up every hole to prevent her;
+but at last he discovered that she came through a hole in an oak post,
+which he stopped with a wooden pin, as soon as he knew she was in the
+room. As the day dawned, she assumed her human form, having no power
+otherwise. The man married her, and they lived together very happily.
+One day, the man asked his wife if she knew how she came into the
+house, and showed her the little wooden pin, which yet stood in the
+oak post. His wife peeped through the hole, and as she stood and
+looked, she suddenly became so small that she could go through the
+hole. She disappeared and never returned. There is also a story of a
+certain Queen of Denmark, who was very fond of horses, but she liked
+one horse far beyond the others. The groom observed that this horse
+was always tired in the morning, with the appearance of its having
+been ridden all night. He at length suspected that it was ridden by a
+Mare. He, therefore, one night took a bucket of water and threw it
+over the horse, when, lo! the queen sat on the horse's back."
+
+"The superstition is evidently an ancient one," said Hardy. "There is
+no doubt that people had the nightmare very badly in old times, from
+their habits of life and sudden and violent changes taking place in
+their circumstances."
+
+"There is a method of catching a Mare," said the Pastor; "and that is
+by putting a sieve over her when she is acting a nightmare. It is said
+she can then be caught, as she cannot come out until she has counted
+all the holes in the sieve."
+
+"There are difficulties enough attending that," said Hardy. "But
+surely this must exhaust all the subjects you call Folketro?"
+
+"By no means," said the Pastor. "We have a very dangerous coast on the
+west of Jutland, and I have heard sailors say of our sandy coast that
+they prefer rocks to sands to be wrecked on. There has consequently
+arisen a superstition as to omens, and these are called Strandvarsler,
+or omens from the sea-shore or strand. Varsel is an omen, Varsler is
+the plural of the word. In old times it was said to be dangerous to go
+on the roads or paths near the coast, as the Strandvarsler were often
+met. They were ghosts of people who had been drowned and still lay
+unburied in the sea. It is related that one evening a Strandvarsel
+jumped on a Bonders back and shouted, 'Carry me to church!' The Bonde
+had to obey, and went the nearest way to the church. When he came
+close to the churchyard wall, the Strandvarsel jumped over it; but the
+Kirkegrim, of whom I will speak directly, seized the Strandvarsel, and
+immediately a combat took place between them. When they had fought a
+while, they both rested to take breath. The Strandvarsel asked the
+Bonde, 'Did I hit him?' 'No,' said the Bonde. So they fought again,
+and again they rested, and the Strandvarsel put the same question.
+'No,' said the Bonde. They fought again, and they rested, and the same
+question was put by the Strandvarsel. 'Yes,' said the Bonde. 'It was
+lucky for you that you said "Yes,"' said the Strandvarsel, 'or I would
+have broken your neck.' The legend goes no farther. There is, however,
+another story, but of the same character in its bearing. A
+Bondekone--that is, a farmer's wife--went out to milk her cows. She
+saw that a corpse had been washed up by the sea, and there was a purse
+of money on its waist. As there was no one near, she took the money,
+which she thought she could have as much need of as any one else. But
+the next night the Strandvarsel came and made so much noise outside
+her window that she came out, and he said she must help him. There was
+nothing to do but to obey, she thought; so she said farewell to her
+children, as she expected death, and went out to the Strandvarsel.
+When she came out, he told her to take him by his leg and drag him to
+the nearest churchyard, which was three English miles distant. When
+they came to the churchyard, the Strandvarsel said, 'Let me go, or the
+Kirkegrim will seize you.' This she did; but as soon as the
+Strandvarsel was in the churchyard, the Kirkegrim rushed at the
+Bondekone, and seized her by her skirt; as this was old, it gave way,
+and she escaped. But she had a good time of it after, with the money
+she had taken from the corpse by the sea-shore."
+
+"These legends are fresh and interesting," said Hardy; "thank you very
+much. But is there no story where an omen had effect?"
+
+"There are several," replied the Pastor, "and the people on the west
+coast have the reputation of having what is called a clear sight of
+the future in this respect. There was a man who stated that a ship
+would be wrecked at Torsminde, which would be laden with such heavy
+timber that it would take four men to carry each of the pieces of
+timber. He said he had the warning from a Strandvarsel. A year passed,
+when a ship was wrecked, with such heavy railway iron that it took
+four men to carry each rail. It was certainly a mistake for the omen
+to say it would be timber when it was iron; but as it was correct
+about four men having to carry each piece of railway iron, and the
+ship did wreck at Torsminde, it was considered a true warning or
+omen."
+
+"But that brings the superstition down to quite recent time," said
+Hardy.
+
+"I have already told you that these superstitions yet live in the
+hearts of the people; they do not confess them openly, but they do
+exist here and there."
+
+"What is the superstition about the Kirkegrim?" asked Hardy.
+
+"The Kirkegrim," replied the Pastor, "is a spirit or gnome that
+inhabits the church, and revenges any injury to it or the churchyard.
+That is all; there are no stories about it, beyond what I have
+related, that I know of."
+
+"It is, in fact, a spiritual churchwarden," said Hardy, "after our
+English notions. It is to be regretted we have not them in England."
+
+"I think, little father, you have talked a long time, and you are
+tired," said Froken Helga.
+
+"You are right, Froken," said Hardy. "Thank you, Herr Pastor, for a
+series of interesting legends. I can only say how sorry I am that I
+must go to England shortly. My mother wishes to have me at home, as
+she is lonely without me, and I cannot bear she should be so any
+longer."
+
+"And when, Herr Hardy, do you propose to leave?" inquired Helga.
+
+"In about a week, Froken," replied Hardy, to whom he thought it
+appeared a matter of indifference whether he went or stayed.
+
+"My father will miss you much, and so shall we all," said Helga. "You
+have been good and kind, and there has nothing happened about you that
+we have not liked."
+
+Hardy looked at her. It was clear that, as usual, she said nothing but
+what she meant.
+
+"If you come here again, you will go to Rosendal?" said the Pastor.
+
+"Yes," replied Hardy. "My intention is to go to Rosendal in May, next
+year, and I hope to bring my mother with me; but, meanwhile, I have
+told the bailiff that the place is at your disposition, and Karl and
+Axel can catch all the fish in the lake they can; and as it is my
+intention to clear the lake of pike and put in trout instead, I hope
+they will use their best endeavours. My rods and tackle I will leave
+to assist them."
+
+"You are so good to us, Herr Hardy!" said Karl.
+
+"Yes; but I am afraid I have a proposition to make with regard to you,
+Karl, which may interrupt the fishing."
+
+"And what is that?" asked the Pastor.
+
+"Your present view with regard to Karl is that he should go to
+Copenhagen and be a legal student. Now, my proposition is that he
+returns with me to England, that he resides at Hardy Place and learns
+English, during the winter. I will get a tutor in the English curate
+with the English rector of my parish. I will, meanwhile, inquire if I
+can find him a place in an English house of business in London, and,
+if I can, it will be a better future for him than that of a legal
+student in Copenhagen. At any rate, the experiment can be tried; and
+there is another reason--it will cost you, Herr Pastor, nothing."
+
+"It is kind," said the Pastor. "I will think of it, and I thank you,
+Hardy."
+
+"I have much to thank you for, Herr Pastor. I have learnt much here,"
+said Hardy, "and as you will take nothing from me for the cost I have
+put you to during my stay here, it will give me the opportunity of
+repaying in part my debts to you."
+
+The Pastor rose up and extended his hand to Hardy, and said, "I cannot
+say how much I thank you. I accept it, Hardy."
+
+His daughter had knitted as usual, but her head was bent over her
+work.
+
+"Helga," said the Pastor, "why do you not speak?"
+
+"Because, father," said Helga, "Herr Hardy is so good I do not know
+what to say. He is better than other men."
+
+When Hardy said "Good night" to her, before he went to his room, she
+said, "Good night, sir!" in English, but would not take the hand Hardy
+held out to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+    "_Piscator._--But come, sir, I see you have dined,
+    and therefore, if you please, we will walk down again to the
+    little house, and I will read you a lecture on angling."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Froken Helga and Kirstin the next day were much occupied in preparing
+Karl's outfit; old stockings had to have new feet, cloth had to be
+bought and the tailor sent for, as well as a Syjomfru, or seamstress,
+to assist about his shirts. An inquiry, however, directed to Hardy on
+the subject, put a stop to all the bustle.
+
+"How many stockings of a thick kind had Karl better take?" asked
+Helga. "We are preparing his outfit, and there is but a short time to
+get his clothes and shirts made."
+
+'"The less he takes the better," replied Hardy. "It is better he
+should get his clothes in England. He will then appear like lads of
+the same age do in England in dress. It is very galling to a lad not
+to be dressed as other boys. English boys are apt to tease on the
+subject of anything foreign in dress and manner. I know it is not good
+conduct to do so, but it is done. If, therefore, you will let me order
+his things in England, it will be best, and save you much trouble
+now."
+
+"But my father would find it difficult to pay for the expensive
+English things," retorted Helga.
+
+"No, he will not; that I will care for," said Hardy, using a familiar
+Danish phrase.
+
+"Then I must mention it to my father," said Helga.
+
+"Certainly," said Hardy; "but tell him that as I have undertaken to
+make an effort on Karl's behalf to assist him to an independent
+position, it will be less difficult for me to do so if he is well
+dressed."
+
+"You despise everything Danish, Herr Hardy, even a boy's clothes,"
+said Helga, as she was leaving the room.
+
+"Stop," said Hardy; "I want to ask you one question. Do you not
+yourself think, Froken Helga, that what I propose is best for Karl?"
+
+"Yes," said Helga, almost involuntarily.
+
+"Then why should you suggest to me that I despise everything Danish?"
+asked Hardy. "No country has interested me more."
+
+Helga looked at him, as if begging him to say no more, and went to her
+father's study. She told him what Hardy had said. "I think it is so
+noble of him, little father, to be so considerate; he seems to think
+beforehand of everything."
+
+"Yes," said Pastor Lindal, "I have learnt to know that if he does
+anything, he is sure to find out the kindest way to do it. I will go
+at once and thank him."
+
+"And I told him, little father, that he despised everything Danish,
+even to a boy's clothes," said Helga, between whom and her father
+existed a perfect trust in one another; "and he looked hurt, and I
+feel so sorry, little father."
+
+"You treat him as if you disliked him, Helga, but if you do he has
+certainly given no cause, and he is entitled to common civility. I
+think what you told me you said to him at the horse-race was
+irritating and wrong."
+
+"I feel it was, little father, but I do my utmost to try not to like
+him or any one. Kirstin has told him that my duty is to you and Karl
+and Axel, and that I could never marry. I know it is my duty to live
+for you, little father, and that you could not get on without me."
+
+"You have a duty to yourself, Helga," said her father, gravely, as he
+saw that his daughter liked Hardy, and that her conduct towards him
+had only been an effort to do what she thought her duty in life. He
+saw also that in a short time Hardy would see it too. "There is no man
+I like so much," added he; "but I do not wish to lead you to like any
+one, yet there is no good in struggling against what is natural and
+necessary. Now, Helga, answer me this--has he said anything to you?"
+
+"No, no; not a word!" replied Helga, quickly.
+
+"I was sure of it," said her father, "and he will not; he is under my
+roof, and he will say nothing to me or you--he has too much delicacy
+of feeling to do so."
+
+"But, little father, he looks on me as an inferior," said Helga. "He
+is so superior in everything, that I feel as if he said, 'You are a
+simple country girl.'"
+
+"Well," said her father, "what are you else? But I am sure he never
+said or, by his manner, led you to infer that he thought you his
+inferior."
+
+"It is not that," said Helga. "If he but opens the door and enters a
+room or leaves it, he does so in a manner I cannot describe. He is not
+like other men. He does everything well and knows everything well. He
+makes me feel I am so small."
+
+"When he is with me," said the Pastor, "he makes me feel the better
+Christian and more kindly towards every one. When he first came he
+taught me one sentence I shall never forget, 'that kindliness is the
+real gold of life.'"
+
+"But you said that on the first Sunday he was here, little father, in
+your sermon," interrupted Helga.
+
+"But I learnt it from him," said the Pastor. "But there is something I
+think I had better tell you, as there should be perfect confidence,
+even in thought, between us, my child. When Karl came from the
+Jensens' the other day, he repeated what Mathilde Jensen said about
+Hardy buying Rosendal. I think myself it is probable--mind, I only say
+probable. I see he observes everything you do, and that your unfair
+speeches hurt him. He asked me if you were, as Fru Jensen said,
+attached to Kapellan Holm, and his manner for the moment changed. He
+is going to bring his mother over to Denmark, and, judging from his
+character of simple kindly consideration for every one, it is clear he
+wishes his mother to see you before he speaks."
+
+"Oh, little father, it cannot be true," said Helga; "it cannot be
+true!"
+
+"No, it is not true; but it is, as I said, probable," replied her
+father. "But there is one thing I should like to tell him myself, if
+you dislike what I have said, and that is, if he should entertain
+anything of the sort, that you have no wish in that direction. I do
+not think it right to let him nurse the probability in his mind that
+you might listen to him when he comes with his mother next year, when
+it would be painful to her to see her only son get a Kurv" (literally,
+a basket; the meaning is a rejection). "I think we should save them
+this, as it would be a heavy blow to both son and mother."
+
+"But Kirstin has told him I cannot marry, little father," said Helga,
+"and he believes it."
+
+"Herr Hardy will not care what an old woman says," replied her father;
+"but there is no need to say anything whatever, and nothing must be
+said unless you feel you could never listen to him."
+
+"I do not know what to say, little father," said Helga, with a bright
+gleam of coming happiness in her eyes.
+
+"Then we will say nothing, and let things take their course," said
+Pastor Lindal. "It is best so. You do not know your own mind yet, and
+it is possible it is the same with Hardy; only do not build too much
+on this, Helga. And now kiss your little father, and I will go and
+thank Hardy for his goodness about Karl."
+
+John Hardy was writing a letter to his mother.
+
+"We shall be home in ten days from the date of this letter, dearest
+mother, and this letter will be three days reaching you. The route we
+shall take is by the cattle steamer from Esbjerg to Harwich, from
+which latter place I will telegraph. I shall bring the two Danish
+horses I have bought for your own use, and as Garth has had them in
+training some time they will be ready for you to use at once.
+
+"I shall bring a son of Pastor Lindal's with me; his age is, as I have
+told you in a former letter, about sixteen. His father has been good
+to me, and would receive no payment for my stay with him; but I have
+left the money to be distributed in his parish as he should direct. My
+view is to let Karl Lindal stay at Hardy Place this autumn and winter,
+but in the spring to get him a situation with a foreign broker in
+London. His knowledge of English is only from what I have taught him,
+and it is necessary that he should learn more to fit him for an office
+in England. He is also a raw country lad, and a stay at Hardy Place
+will work a change, and prepare him for a wider sphere than a retired
+Danish parsonage.
+
+"I am expecting the gardener you have sent over to survey Rosendal and
+plan some improvement in the grounds. He has been two days at
+Rosendal, and, I fear, has had the usual difficulty of language.
+Garth, however, has been with him, to assist his measuring. Pastor
+Lindal and his daughter are in a state of alarm at what I am going to
+do there. They fear I shall destroy the natural beauty of the place. I
+shall soon be home now, and am longing to see your dear kind face
+again."
+
+The tobacco parliament, as Hardy always called it, had scarcely began,
+when Kirstin announced that there was an Englishman at the door.
+
+"It is the Scotchman, Macdonald, the gardener, my mother has sent over
+to see Rosendal," said Hardy. "May he come in and show you his plans?"
+
+"We should like to see them beyond everything," said Froken Helga,
+eagerly.
+
+"The difficulty about the place is that the farmyard is at the house,"
+said Macdonald. Hardy interpreted.
+
+"We cannot interfere with that now, Macdonald. We must make the best
+of it as it is," said Hardy.
+
+"Just what I expected," said Macdonald, unfolding his plans. "There is
+the plan of Rosendal as it now is--that is, the house, woods, lake,
+and gardens; you must look it all over first, and see if you know the
+place, and then you'll be prepared for the next plan. You see,
+Mr. Hardy, there is practically little room for alteration. The little
+low whitewashed wall round the house can come down, the kitchen garden
+made into a shrubbery with walks; the turf is so coarse that you
+cannot make anything of it. The kitchen garden can be placed at the
+back. The valley of roses can be made into a pretty place, and I
+should advise the _Pinus Montana_ being planted, to contrast with its
+dark green the roses when in bloom; it will shelter them also. The
+little wall being down, the ground can be sloped and planted, as shown
+in plan. For the valley of roses I have prepared a large plan."
+
+Hardy interrupted, but seeing the Pastor about to speak, said--
+
+"No, Herr Pastor; we must have Froken Helga's opinion first. She it is
+that has so blamed the obstinacy of my conduct in thinking that
+Rosendal can be improved. Let her speak; but, first, Macdonald has
+more to say."
+
+Macdonald suggested several other changes, which, although small in
+themselves, yet in the aggregate made considerable alteration.
+
+"Well, Froken Helga?" said Hardy, after she had seen the plans.
+
+"I think it will make Rosendal perfectly lovely," said Helga, warmly.
+"I should not have thought it possible so few simple changes could
+effect so much."
+
+"The cost," said the Pastor, "cannot be much either. I heartily
+approve of the plans."
+
+"We will come over and see you at Rosendal to-morrow, Macdonald, and
+go through the plans on the spot," said Hardy. And after Macdonald had
+experienced the hospitality of the Pastor, he left.
+
+"He is a clever man," said the Pastor, referring to Macdonald.
+
+"He is a good man," said Hardy; "but he has been educated to such
+work, and consequently he sees things that did not even strike the
+quick intelligence of Froken Helga Lindal."
+
+"I have been very foolish and----" said Helga, but stopped and
+blushed.
+
+"Not at all," said Hardy. "You had liked Rosendal as it is. It was
+very natural that you should have thought any change would be for the
+worse."
+
+"Thank you, Herr Hardy," said Helga; but her voice had a softer tone.
+"I wish," she added, after a pause, "you would sing to us the German
+song you sang once to my father."
+
+Hardy rose at once and did so. He looked round to ask if he should
+sing another song, when he saw Helga looking at him as a woman
+sometimes looks at the man to whom she has given her heart. Her back
+was turned to her father and brothers. Hardy sang the popular
+"Folkevise," beginning--
+
+
+    "Det var en Lordag aften
+    Jeg sad og vented dig
+    Du loved mig at komme vist
+    Men kom dog ej til mig."
+
+
+This song of the people possesses a rare plaintiveness, and describes
+how a peasant girl had expected her lover, but he came not, and her
+grief at seeing him with a rival. The ballad is touching to a degree,
+and the verse--
+
+
+    "Hvor kan man plukker Roser
+    Hvor ingen Roser groer?
+    Hvor kan man finde Kjaerlighed
+    Hvor Kjaerlighed ej boer?"
+
+    "Where can one pluck roses
+    Where no roses grow?
+    Where can one find affection
+    Where no affection lives?"
+
+
+is exquisitely tender. Helga had heard the song often, and sang it
+herself, but it had never seemed to possess such a depth of feeling.
+
+Hardy got up from the piano, and saw that Helga's eyes were tearful.
+
+"I thank you, Hardy," said the Pastor. "No man can sing like that
+unless his heart is true."
+
+"I am sure of it, father," said Helga. "I never heard anything so
+beautiful in my life!"
+
+"But, Hardy, you are going away; and how will you take the piano?"
+asked Pastor Lindal.
+
+"If you would allow it to remain with you, Herr Pastor, during the
+autumn and winter, I should be much indebted to you," said Hardy. "But
+if Froken Helga would accept it as a recollection of a cool and
+calculating Englishman, I will give it her with pleasure."
+
+Before the Pastor could reply, his daughter had.
+
+"I will accept it gratefully;" and she rose up and, after the Danish
+manner, gave her hand to Hardy, and said, using a Danish expression,
+"a thousand thanks."
+
+"Thank you, Hardy, very much," said the Pastor. "You have done us many
+kindnesses; but after visiting the poor and the sick in my parish, the
+knowledge that I shall hear my daughter's voice, that is so like my
+wife's, singing in the winter evenings, will be a comfort to me."
+
+The next day they went to Rosendal, and met Macdonald with his plans.
+The being on the spot and understanding what was proposed to be done
+was a different thing to seeing the plans at the parsonage. The
+reality struck Helga. She was much interested, and Hardy saw that she
+understood and entered into everything. There was nothing to suggest
+or to alter in Macdonald's plans, and Hardy at once arranged for their
+execution. The Danish bailiff was at first obstructive, but Hardy's
+quiet, decisive manner changed the position, and gradually it dawned
+upon him that the place would be greatly improved, and that the
+residence of an English family for part of the year at Rosendal would
+not prejudice him.
+
+Karl and Axel had been on the lake trolling, but they had caught
+nothing, and came back disappointed to the mansion, and begged Hardy
+to fish, if but to catch one pike.
+
+Hardy said he could not leave the Pastor and his daughter while he
+went fishing with them.
+
+"We must have a pike for dinner," said the Pastor, "and as the boys
+cannot catch one, you must, Hardy."
+
+"May I go in the boat?" asked Helga. "I have never seen Herr Hardy
+fish."
+
+"Oh, pike-fishing is nothing," said Karl "It is trout-fishing with a
+fly that Herr Hardy does so well."
+
+Hardy got into the boat, and put his gear in order, which had been
+disarranged by the boys' efforts to fish. A man accustomed to the lake
+rowed it, and Helga stepped into it. She remarked it was wet and
+dirty.
+
+"That is the boys' doing," said Hardy, as he pulled off his coat for
+her to sit on.
+
+They rowed on the lake, and Hardy cast his trolling-bait with the long
+accurate cast habitual to him, and caught four pike, and then directed
+the boat to be rowed ashore.
+
+As Froken Helga stepped ashore, where her father and brothers were
+waiting for her, she said, "I can understand the boys' enthusiasm for
+Herr Hardy; when Lars (the boatman) pointed out a place where a pike
+might be, although yards away, the bait was dropped in it and the pike
+caught. I wish Herr Hardy would let me see him catch fish on the
+Gudenaa with flies."
+
+"We can do that to-morrow evening," said Hardy, "as you cannot get up
+at three in the morning, as we are accustomed to do."
+
+"I cannot let little father miss his evening talk with you, Herr
+Hardy, and to get up at three in the morning these summer days is no
+hardship to me. May I go to-morrow?" asked Helga.
+
+"Certainly, if you wish it," said Hardy.
+
+As they returned home, Karl expressed no wish to ride Buffalo, and
+Garth rode it, and Hardy drove his Danish horses.
+
+"I should like to see how you drive; may I come up and sit beside
+you?" said Helga.
+
+After they had gone a little way, Hardy said to her, "Take the reins
+and drive. I have bought these horses for my mother, and she will
+drive them herself, and you can drive them. Draw the reins gently to
+the horses' mouths and let them go as you wish them. To slacken speed,
+draw the reins firmly but gently, and they will obey."
+
+Helga drove the carriage to the parsonage.
+
+"Little father," said Helga, "I have driven you all the way from the
+entrance gate at Rosendal."
+
+"I am glad," said the Pastor, "you did not tell me that before, as I
+should have been in great anxiety."
+
+"But Herr Hardy was sitting by me, little father," said Helga, "and
+there was no danger when he is near."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+    "The trout and salmon being in season have, at their
+    first taking out of the water, their bodies adorned with
+    such red spots, and the other with such black spots, as give
+    them such an addition of natural beauty as I think was never
+    given to any woman by artificial paint or patches."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+John Hardy had tied a couple of casting lines with the flies he
+usually fished with on the Gudenaa, and came down a little before
+three the next day.
+
+Karl and Axel yet slept, but their sister called them, and after the
+accustomed cup of coffee and rusks they went out to fish on the
+Gudenaa. Of late Hardy had hired a flat-bottomed boat, and a man
+called Nils Nilsen rowed or punted it with a pole, as on the Thames,
+or he went ashore on the towing-path and pulled it up the river with a
+towing rope, while a minnow was cast from the boat.
+
+Hardy had taken a travelling rug for Helga to sit on, and Nils Nilsen
+towed the boat up the river, while Hardy fished with a minnow and
+caught a few trout. When they reached the shallows, which Hardy
+usually fished with a fly, he sent the boys on land to cast from the
+bank, and Nils Nilsen took the pole to punt the boat slowly down the
+stream. The trout rose freely for about an hour, and Helga had charge
+of the landing-net, and lost for Hardy several good fish, to Nils
+Nilsen's great disgust. She saw the long casts Hardy made, the light
+fall of the fly on the water, while a slight motion of the line threw
+the flies repeatedly on the surface of the river like real flies, and
+as soon as a trout rose the line was tightened with a sudden motion,
+and the trout drawn gradually to within reach of the landing-net.
+
+"May I try, Herr Hardy, to throw the line for the Fish?" asked Helga.
+
+"Certainly," replied Hardy, and he shortened the line to allow her to
+do so.
+
+Her first attempt was to hook Hardy's cap; her next was to hook Nils
+Nilsen by the ear.
+
+"It seems so easy to do," said Helga, as she handed Hardy the rod, who
+showed her how to cast the line as well as he was able.
+
+"You will fish better from the bank, where it is not necessary to cast
+such a long line," said Hardy. "We will try a little lower down."
+
+Helga followed his instructions, and at length hooked a trout, which
+Hardy picked out with the landing-net.
+
+"I do so like this sort of fishing," said Helga; "it is the way a lady
+should fish, if she fished at all."
+
+"Many English ladies are good fly fishers," said Hardy; "and I have
+seen them catch salmon in Norway. I will, with pleasure, leave my rods
+and tackle here, if you would like to fish with Axel; he can show you
+how to attach the flies to the line, and anything else necessary."
+
+"Thank you so much!" replied Helga; and as she raised her eyes to his,
+with her handsome face lit up by exercise, Hardy saw how beautiful she
+was. Her manner towards him had changed. She talked freely to him now,
+and without reserve.
+
+"We will put a mark on the trout you have caught," said Hardy, "that
+we may know it again after it has been in the frying-pan. The Herr
+Pastor does not often eat fish of his daughter's catching. It weighs
+just half an English pound."
+
+"How can you tell?" asked Helga.
+
+"I guess it to be so; but we will soon see," replied Hardy, as he took
+a little spring balance out of his pocket, and held it up to her with
+the trout on it. "That little line is the half-pound, and the fish
+pulls the spring to that line."
+
+"What a pretty thing to weigh with! Is it silver?" asked Helga.
+
+"Yes, it is silver," replied Hardy. "I will leave it with you, with
+the rest of the fishing gear, on the condition that the first time you
+catch a trout weighing one pound you write and tell me all about it."
+
+"Yes, that I will!" said Helga. "I write my father's letters, and
+shall have to write to you for him about Rosendal."
+
+At breakfast, Helga described to her father all the little incidents
+of the morning, and her bright fresh look testified to the benefit of
+early morning exercise.
+
+"I think, Helga," said the Pastor, "that when Karl is gone, you had
+better go fishing in the morning with Axel; you look the better for
+it."
+
+When the tobacco parliament was opened that evening, and the Pastor
+had finished puffing like a small steam launch to get his porcelain
+pipe well lit. Hardy asked him if there was anything in the
+superstitions of Jutland, corresponding to those of the sea, about the
+rivers.
+
+"Yes," replied the Pastor. "Our Danish word for river is 'Aa'
+(pronounced like a broad _o_). Thus, the Gudenaa is the Guden river.
+The tradition is that each river has its Aamand or river man, who
+every year craves a life; if a year passes without a victim, he can be
+heard at night saying, 'The time and hour are come, but the victim is
+not yet come.' Sometimes the Aamand is called Nokken."
+
+"That is the Norsk name," said Hardy. "In Scotland they have a
+superstition as to changelings; that is, a human child is stolen and a
+child of the Trolds substituted. This is referred to by Sir Walter
+Scott in one of his poems. Does anything of the sort exist in your
+Jutland traditions?"
+
+"There are several varied stories," replied Pastor Lindal. "One is of
+a couple who had a very pretty child; they lived near a wood called
+Rold Wood. The Trolds came one night and stole the child, leaving one
+of their own in its place. The man and his wife did not at first
+notice any change, but the wife gradually became suspicious, and she
+asked the advice of a wise woman, who told her to brew in a nutshell,
+with an eggshell as beer barrel, in the changeling's presence, who
+exclaimed that it had lived so many years as to have seen Rold Wood
+hewn down and grow up three times, but had never seen any one brew in
+a nutshell before. 'If you are as old as that,' said the wife, 'you
+can go elsewhere;' and she took the broom-stick and beat the
+changeling until it ran away, and as it ran he caught his feet in his
+hands and rolled away over hill and dale so long as they could see it.
+This story has a variation that they made a sausage with the skin,
+bones, and bristles of a pig, and gave the changeling, who made the
+same exclamation, with the result as I have before related. There is
+also another variation, where the changeling is got rid of by heating
+the oven red hot and putting it into the oven, when the Trold mother
+appears and snatches it out, and disappears with her child."
+
+"The superstition would appear to have arisen from children being
+affected with diseases which were not understood," said Hardy.
+
+"We can only speculate," said the Pastor, "in these subjects; the
+origin is lost in the mists of time. There is one story of a
+changeling that has some graphic incidents. When a child is born, a
+light is always kept burning in the mother's room until the child is
+baptized, as the Trolds may come and steal it. This was not done at a
+place in North Jutland, because the mother could not sleep with the
+light burning. The father therefore determined to hold the child in
+his arms, so long as it was dark in the room, but he fell asleep;
+shortly after he was aroused, and he saw a tall woman standing by the
+bed, and found that he had two children in his arms. The woman
+vanished, but the children remained, and he did not know which was his
+own. He consulted a wise woman, who advised him to get an unbroken
+horse colt, who would indicate the changeling. Both children were
+placed on the ground, and the colt smelt at them; one he licked, but
+the other he kicked at. It was therefore plain which was the
+changeling. The Trold mother came running up, snatched the child away,
+and disappeared."
+
+"The advice of the wise woman was clever. It is, as you say, a graphic
+story," said Hardy. "But who were the wise women?"
+
+"There were both men and women. They were called Kloge Maend and Kloge
+Koner, or wise men and wise wives. They pretended to heal diseases, to
+find things lost or stolen, and the like. They were often called white
+witches, as in England. There was a man called Kristen, who pretended
+to have wonderful powers. A certain Bonde did not believe in him, and
+one day told him that he had a sow possessed with a devil. The sow was
+simply vicious. Kristen at once offered to drive the devil out of the
+sow. He instructed the Bonde and his men not to open the door of the
+stable in which the pig was, even if they saw him (Kristen) come and
+knock and shout, as the devil would take upon him his appearance, to
+enable him to escape better. Kristen went into the stable and began to
+exorcise. The sow, however, rushed at him and chased him round the
+stable, and every time Kristen passed the door, he shouted to the
+Bonde and his men to open it, but they, pretending to follow his
+instructions, would not. At last, when Kristen was nearly dead with
+fatigue, they opened the door. Of course, Kristen never heard the last
+of that sow."
+
+"That is not a bad story," said Hardy.
+
+"You have read Holberg's comedies?" said the Pastor. "In one of them
+you will recollect a thief is discovered from amongst the other
+domestics of the house, by their being ranged behind the man who had
+been asked to discover the thief, and who tells them all to hold their
+hands up. He asks if they are all holding their hands up, as his back
+is towards them. They all reply, 'Yes;' and the man then asks if the
+person who has stolen the silver cup is holding up his hand. The thief
+replied 'Yes,' thus discovering himself. There is a story of a watch
+being stolen in a large household in Jutland. The white witch was sent
+for, and he discovered the thief by ranging the domestics round a
+table and making each domestic put a finger on the table, over which
+he held a sharp axe. He asked each if they had stolen the watch, as
+the axe would fall and cut off the finger of the one who had. He
+detected the thief by his at once removing his finger."
+
+"Verily a wise man," said Hardy. "In Norway I used to meet with the
+word 'Dvaerg,' as applied to supernatural beings.
+
+"Dvaerg is dwarf in Danish," replied the Pastor; "but there are many
+stories of them, and in a superstitious sense. Dvaerg are analogous to
+Underjordiske, or underground people. The tradition of their origin
+is, that Eve was one day washing her children at a spring, when God
+suddenly called her, at which she was frightened, and hid two of the
+children that were yet unwashed, as she did not wish Him to see them
+when dirty. God said, 'Are all your children here?' and she replied,
+'Yes.' God said, 'What is hidden from Me shall be hidden from men;'
+and from these two children are descended the Dvaerg and Underjordiske.
+The most striking story of a Dvaerg is that in the Danish family Bille,
+who have a Dvaerg in their coat of arms. There was, many hundred years
+ago, such a dry time in the land that all the water-mills could not
+work, and the people could not get their corn ground. A member of the
+family of Bille was in his Herregaard, and was much troubled on this
+account. A little Dvaerg came to him, who was covered with hair, and
+had a tree in his hand plucked up by the roots. 'What is the matter?'
+said the Dvaerg. 'It is no use my telling you' said Bille; 'you cannot
+help me.' The Dvaerg replied, 'You cannot get your corn ground, and you
+have many children and people that want bread; but I will show you a
+place on your own land where you can build seven corn-mills, and they
+shall never want water.' So Herr Bille built the seven mills, and they
+have never wanted water, winter or summer. The Dvaerg gave him also a
+little white horn, and told Herr Bille that as long as it was kept in
+the family, prosperity would attend it. This legend belongs to
+Sjaelland."
+
+"I suppose there are many traditions in families in Denmark?" said
+Hardy.
+
+"Very many," replied the Pastor. "There is a story of Tyge Brahe, or,
+as you call him in England, Tycho. He was at a wedding, and got into a
+quarrel with a Herr Manderup Parsberg, and it went so far that they
+fought a duel. Tyge Brahe lost his nose. But he had a nose made of
+gold and silver, so artistically correct that no one could see that it
+was any other than his own nose, and of flesh and blood; but to be
+sure that it should not be lost, he always carried some glue in his
+pocket."
+
+"I never heard that story of the great astronomer," said Hardy.
+
+"There is a story also of a Herr Eske Brok, who lived in Sjaelland. He
+was one day walking with a servant, and was swinging about his
+walking-stick, when suddenly a hat fell at his feet. He picked it up
+and put it on, when he heard an exclamation from his servant Then said
+Brok, 'You try the hat;' and they found that whoever had the hat on
+was invisible to the other. After a while, a bareheaded boy came to
+Brok's house and inquired for his hat, and offered a hundred ducats
+for it, and afterwards more. At last, the boy promised that if he gave
+him the hat none of his descendants should ever want. Brok gave the
+hat to the boy; but as he went away he said, 'But you shall never have
+sons, only daughters.' So Eske Brok was the last of his name."
+
+"That boy must have been a Dvaerg," said Hardy.
+
+"Quite as probable as the story," said the Pastor. "There is, however,
+another impossible story of a Herr Manderup Holck of Jutland. He was
+taken prisoner by the Turks, and his wife contrived his escape by
+sending him a dress of feathers, so that he could fly out of his
+Turkish prison and home to Jutland. She, with very great prudence,
+collected all the bed-clothes in the parish, that he should fall soft
+when he alighted in Jutland."
+
+"The story is so improbable that it must be very old indeed," said
+Hardy.
+
+"I think the tradition about the Rosenkrands' arms is older," said
+Pastor Lindal. "The date attached to it is given as A.D. 663. The son
+of the then King of Denmark went to England to help an English king,
+whose name is given as Ekuin, in his wars. He secretly married the
+daughter of the crown prince, and by her had a son. She placed the
+child in a box of gold, and placed a consecrated candle and salt in
+the box, because the child was not baptized. One day, her father,
+Prince Reduval, rode by and saw the child, and as it was in a gold box
+he concluded that it came from a noble source. He brought it up under
+the name of Karl. King Ekuin died, and Prince Reduval succeeded, and
+he was the first Christian king in England. He desired to marry Karl
+to his daughter, who was his own mother; but when the marriage should
+take place, she confessed that the bridegroom was her own son. The
+king therefore wanted to burn her at the stake, but Karl arranged
+matters so that his father should be married to his mother, who for
+nineteen years had been separated from her. Karl had painted on his
+arms a white cross, to show he was a Christian, then white and blue,
+to show he was both an English and a Danish prince. In one quartering
+he had a lion painted white with a crown, to signify Denmark, and in
+another quartering a lion, to signify England, and then a design like
+a chessboard, to betoken the long separation of his father and
+mother."
+
+"I think the story rather clashes with history," said Hardy; "but
+Rosenkrands means a wreath of roses."
+
+"Yes, it does," said the Pastor. "One of them went to Rome, and the
+pope gave him a wreath of roses; hence the name."
+
+"You will miss Herr Hardy, little father," said Helga. "In two days he
+leaves us. Cannot he stay longer?"
+
+"No, I cannot," said Hardy. "My mother wishes me to return. She is
+anxious to see me, and I am anxious to tell her my experiences in
+Denmark; but whatever my own wishes are, I must obey hers."
+
+"What sort of person is your mother?" asked Helga.
+
+"The best and kindest," replied Hardy, as he took a photograph out of
+his pocket-book and handed her, which Helga looked at with evident
+interest.
+
+"I feel what you say of her is true," said Helga. "Little father, it
+is a noble face."
+
+"It is like you, Hardy," said the Pastor. "She must have been
+handsome."
+
+"Yes, but she is," said Hardy. "Here is a photograph of her picture at
+twenty-two;" and he handed the Pastor another photograph.
+
+Helga looked over her father's shoulder. "It is lovely!" she said,
+with warmth. "It is more like you, Herr Hardy, than the other."
+
+"As you like the photographs, Froken," said Hardy, "keep them; it is
+seldom a compliment is so well uttered."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+    "_Viator._--That will not be above a day longer; but
+    if I live till May come twelvemonth, you are sure of me again,
+    either with my Master Walton or without him."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The next morning, John Hardy was up early, studying the excellent map
+of Jutland by Oberst Mansa. It gives the roads and by-ways with much
+care and correctness. The idea had occurred to him to drive the
+hundred and odd English miles from the parsonage to Esbjerg. The
+horses must be sent there to meet the steamer; the weather was
+settled, and as it was early in August, the early mornings and
+evenings were pleasant He accordingly sketched out the route, with the
+distances from one little Jutland town to another, and it was clear a
+good deal could be seen and the drive would be enjoyable.
+
+Hardy came down to the little reception-room, where breakfast was
+usually served, and opened out Mansa's map on the table. Froken Helga
+was there, and her two brothers, Karl and Axel.
+
+"I want to speak to your sister, boys," said Hardy; "you will hear all
+about it by-and-by, if you will go out for a while."
+
+The boys left. Helga looked a little startled. Hardy said, "I have an
+extraordinary proposition to make; but you must not look so
+frightened." Helga had turned pale, her knitting dropped. "I only want
+your attention to this map of Jutland," added Hardy. He saw her face
+was now full of colour; but what about the map of Jutland? Hardy, an
+inconsistent man for the moment, was thinking of who else in the world
+but Kapellan Holm, and his being at Vandstrup Praestegaard all the
+winter, and that was not the map of Jutland. Suddenly it flashed
+across his mind that Pastor Lindal had told him about Kapellan Holm,
+and that Karl had repeated what Mathilde Jensen had said about his
+buying Rosandal. As he sat thinking, he looked all the time at Helga.
+At length he said, "I am going home to my mother, Froken, but I hope
+to be here in May; earlier I cannot come, because it would be cold for
+my mother to travel."
+
+"We shall be glad to see you, Herr Hardy; and I long to see your
+mother," said Helga.
+
+Then Hardy knew that Kapellan Holm was nowhere, and his face grew
+bright, and he was ready for the map of Jutland.
+
+Hardy explained his idea of driving to Esbjerg, and the extraordinary
+proposition was that he proposed to take not only Karl, but Helga
+Lindal herself and Axel.
+
+"I should so like it," said Helga, "but----"
+
+"I know," said Hardy, "that there are likely to be several 'buts.' The
+serious one is that the Pastor would not like to leave his parish for
+five days. Can this be arranged? Can he get any one to come here?"
+
+"He will write the Provost" (the dean), replied Helga. "But he has
+already arranged to go to Esbjerg to see Karl off to England, and as
+we thought you might go to England earlier, a Hjaelpe-praest is ready to
+come here at any time; a day more or less will make no difference."
+
+"The next 'but' is, whether the Herr Pastor would like it," said
+Hardy.
+
+"That I am sure he will; but he must consider the expense," replied
+Helga, "and there would be the extra railway expense of my returning
+here."
+
+"Then we leave at midday for Silkeborg," said Hardy. "Will you,
+Froken, tell your father about it? he is in his study; and now we can
+tell the boys;" and he called them, sent Axel for Garth, and told Karl
+to be ready at midday.
+
+The Pastor immediately bustled in. "What a scheme you have hatched!"
+he said.
+
+"Yes; but you cannot have had time to have heard it," said Hardy,
+"much more to condemn it."
+
+"Helga came into my study and said, 'Little father, Herr Hardy wants
+to drive us all by stages to see Karl off; can we go?' Now, is that
+the scheme?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Hardy. "We want you to send our heavy luggage to
+the station for Esbjerg, and a telegram to Silkeborg to order dinner
+at five and beds, and leave here at midday. The next day we can get to
+Horsens, and then to Veile, or farther. I have taken out the different
+places and distances by Mansa's map, which you can check. Here is also
+the English guide-book for Jutland. We can have a row on the lake at
+Silkeborg this evening, and as I have been your guest so long, I
+invite you to be mine to Esbjerg. I must leave now, or we should miss
+the steamer."
+
+Hardy's quiet self-possession overcame the scruples the Pastor was
+about to make. He had been bound to his parish for years, and not even
+his youngest son would enjoy the drive to Esbjerg more.
+
+"Honestly said," the Pastor spoke, addressing Hardy, and using a
+familiar Danish phrase, "I should enjoy it more than I can say."
+
+Helga liked Hardy's way of treating the money difficulty. It was done
+with such tact that it seemed as if Hardy was receiving a favour.
+
+Axel came in with Robert Garth.
+
+"Bob," said Hardy, in English, "we shall drive to Esbjerg by stages;
+clear everything, and get ready to start at twelve."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Garth, and was gone.
+
+"What did you say." said Helga, whose knowledge of English was slight.
+Hardy explained.
+
+The man's ready obedience struck her, and lingered in her mind long
+after. She was not accustomed to the prompt execution of such an order
+by a servant, and attributed it to Hardy's personal character and
+influence.
+
+After breakfast, during which much conversation arose on the proposed
+drive, Hardy came down with his fly-rods, books, and reels, and the
+precious little spring balance.
+
+"There," he said, "Froken Helga, is all the fly-fishing gear; the
+flies in the small book are best for the Gudenaa. I hope you will
+break all the rods and smash all the tackle, to give me the pleasure
+of bringing you fresh ones from England."
+
+She thanked him in the Danish manner that Hardy liked so much in her.
+
+At twelve they left for Silkeborg. Hardy drove, and Garth rode
+Buffalo. The Pastor sat by Hardy's side, and told many an interesting
+anecdote of the places they passed. The circumstances of the Danish
+families, the tradition of a Kaempehoi or tumulus, and the social
+condition of the people were all known to him. Hardy drove slowly, as
+the day was warm, and he wished to spare his horses, and it was not
+until a little after five that they reached the hotel at Silkeborg.
+Hardy had been there before, with Karl and Axel, and they knew him,
+and obeyed his telegram to the letter.
+
+"I have a proposition to make," said Hardy, "but I will leave it to my
+guests to do as they please, I propose we have a row on the lake this
+evening, but not for long; but to-morrow that we rise at six and
+charter one of the wheel boats, that is the paddle-wheel boats that
+are worked by hand, and visit Himmelbjerg, and have breakfast there,
+and the carriage can meet us at the foot of the hill, at a point to
+the south of it, and we can drive on to Horsens."
+
+"Excellent!" said Helga, using a Danish expression. "But it will be a
+long day for my father."
+
+"We should get to Horsens at six, and we can telegraph to the hotel to
+be ready to receive us at that time," said Hardy. "But the next day is
+only nineteen English miles to Veile, and would be less fatiguing."
+
+"I like to be tired, Hardy, by outdoor exercise," said Pastor Lindal.
+"Your plan is excellent, and is just what I should not only like, but
+enjoy."
+
+The row on the lake was very pleasant. The Pastor told the story of
+Bishop Peter applying to the pope to decree a separation of all the
+married priests from their wives, and how the three sisters of the
+priest there drew lots who should go to Rome to get a dispensation for
+their brother to keep his wife. The lot fell on the youngest, and she
+went to Rome and got the pope's permission; but on the condition that
+she should have cast three bells, which she shipped at Lubeck, one
+bell was lost in the sea, and the two others were placed in two
+churches near Aarhus.
+
+The view from Himmelbjerg has the strong charm of great variety. The
+lakes are spread out below, amongst woods, heaths, meadows, and
+cultivated land. The early morning gives the view at its best. There
+are views and views, but the variety of prospect from Himmelbjerg
+impresses. Juul So, the lake at the foot of the Himmelbjerg, is at
+times lovely.
+
+Axel was, however, very hungry. The view might be good, but a growing
+boy's appetite is good also. He asked his father if he might go to the
+restaurant in Himmelbjerg and get a bit of Smor-brod (bread and
+butter). Karl said he wanted to go, too. There had been the long row
+up the lakes, the walks about Himmelbjerg, and even Froken Helga
+looked hungry. As soon as they came to the restaurant, the waiter told
+them that breakfast was waiting for them.
+
+"Waiting for us!" said the Pastor; "it is more likely we shall have to
+wait for our breakfast."
+
+"I thought that you might prefer that the breakfast should be ready,
+and I ordered it yesterday. I sent a note up last night," said Hardy.
+
+The breakfast was the more enjoyed from Hardy's thoughtfulness, so
+much so that when the inevitable porcelain pipe was filled, it was a
+difficulty to get the Pastor down the Himmelbjerg. When they at last
+reached the carriage, which a man from the hotel at Silkeborg had
+driven, as Garth had charge of Buffalo, the Pastor decided to go in
+the carriage, and not by Hardy's side. Helga, after seeing her father
+comfortable, got up by Hardy, and talked to him unreservedly.
+
+The bright ripple of Helga's talk was pleasant to hear in its clear
+transparency. She told Hardy of her father so long as she could
+recollect, and the great sorrow that fell upon him when her mother
+died, and how difficult it was to keep him from the bitter memory of
+his loss; that she was with him at every spare moment, and how at
+times it was beyond her power to cheer him; but that since Hardy had
+been with them, her father had scarcely shown a sign of the sorrow
+they knew was always at his heart.
+
+"It is the way you listen," said Helga, "that my father likes. You
+cannot, he says, speak Danish as well as we Danes, but your manner of
+listening is perfect, and that there is a respectful attention
+impossible to describe."
+
+"I can describe it," said Hardy, laughing. "The fact is, I know Danish
+not very perfectly, and my whole attention is necessary to grasp what
+is said."
+
+"I told him so," said Helga; "but he said there is more than that--it
+was true politeness."
+
+"Well," said Hardy, "you have now explained that you have not so good
+an opinion of me as your father."
+
+"No," said Helga; "that's not my meaning. I only related what passed,
+and I am not able to judge any one like my father."
+
+"I have heard, however, that you have differed from your father in
+judging a particular person," said Hardy, "and a man whom your father
+speaks well of."
+
+"That is Kapellan Holm," said Helga, quickly, "My father has told you
+about him?"
+
+"Yes," replied Hardy; "but I do not wish you to tell me any more about
+him, and to prevent your thoughts being occupied by the Kapellan,
+would you like to drive a few miles?"
+
+"Gladly," replied Helga, using the pretty Danish phrase that so well
+expressed her meaning.
+
+She insisted on taking off her gloves to drive, and said she could not
+feel the reins so well, and disliked wearing gloves in hot weather.
+
+Hardy showed her how to hold the reins so as to feel the horses' mouth
+slightly. She appeared to like to hear the quick sound of the horses
+trotting.
+
+"How easily they go! There is no difficulty in slackening or
+quickening their speed, and they obey the least touch on the rein,"
+said Helga.
+
+"We have been training them for my mother to drive, and Garth drives
+well," said Hardy.
+
+"I should so like to learn to ride!" said Helga, carried away by her
+admiration of the horses.
+
+"That is what I once offered to teach you," said Hardy, "and you
+replied in the negative so decidedly that I did not like to refer to
+the subject afterwards."
+
+"Yes; Kirstin said it was not womanly to ride, and that I was not a
+Bondetos" (a peasant girl), replied Helga. "But I do not see that it
+is different in that respect to driving a horse in a carriage, and if
+horses are kept, I think that it is useful to be able to ride them.
+There was also another reason why I did not wish you to teach me to
+ride, that I cannot tell you."
+
+"Then do not tell me," said Hardy. "But supposing I am at Rosendal, in
+May, next year, will there be any objection then, if your father has
+none?"
+
+"No," said Helga, involuntarily.
+
+"Then I will recollect to bring over an English lady's saddle," said
+Hardy.
+
+The Pastor, overcome with his walk, his breakfast, and the warmth of
+the day, had fallen asleep, and woke up to the situation that his
+daughter was driving the carriage.
+
+"Stop!" he cried; "you will upset the carriage, Helga. You must not
+drive; you will throw down the horses."
+
+"She has driven for the last ten miles, Herr Pastor," said Hardy.
+
+The worthy Pastor, however, was so decided, that Hardy had to take the
+reins and drive into Horsens. He had telegraphed and ordered dinner at
+six, and drove into the hotel yard, but was scarcely prepared to find
+so many people collected there. They had simply come to see Buffalo,
+whose reputation had risen after the horse-race. They smoked, spat,
+criticized, and praised. "Sikken en Hest."
+
+As they came in, Hardy gave a very necessary order to his servant,
+Robert Garth, namely, to get the horses' feet well washed, as the
+roads are so sandy.
+
+The dinner was well served, and much praised by Pastor Lindal, who of
+course had a legend to relate, of Holger Danske, whose sword was
+buried with him near Horsens. The sword was so heavy that, when it was
+taken from the Kaempehoi, or tumulus, twelve horses could not draw it.
+The walls of the house in which it was placed shook, and so much
+unhappiness occurred that the sword was restored to its resting place
+in the tumulus, and on its return journey two horses could draw it
+easily. Holger Danske was so big a man, that when he had a suit of
+clothes made, the tailors were obliged to use ladders to take his
+measure; but one day an unfortunate tailor tickled him in the ear with
+his scissors, and Holger Danske thought it was a flea, and squeezed
+him to death between his fingers."
+
+"There were giants in those days," said Hardy.
+
+"There is in the Kloster (cloister) Church at Horsens a hole in the
+wall, across which is an iron cross. Behind this a nun was walled up
+alive. She had, it was said, been confined of a dog. There is a stone
+in which a dog is figured, to preserve the recollection of so very
+extraordinary a circumstance, and a place is shown where her fingers
+marked the stone of the wall in her last agony."
+
+"The practice of walling people up," said Hardy, "was very general in
+Denmark, was it not?"
+
+"Yes, if tradition be true," said the Pastor, "which, as you know, we
+must receive _cum grano salis_. There is a story of a man walling up
+his woman-servant, because she cooked a cat for his dinner. He had
+caught a hare, but a dog had stolen it, so she cooked a cat instead.
+This enraged her master, and he walled her up alive."
+
+"Thank you, Herr Pastor, for your legends," said Hardy; "but I should
+like to walk through the little town, and I dare say Karl and Axel
+would too, if we may leave you and Froken Helga."
+
+"By all means," said the Pastor, "and Helga will go too."
+
+"No, little father, I will stay with you," said Helga. "You will have
+no one to fill your pipe, and will feel lonely."
+
+As John Hardy went out, he gave Karl and Axel some money. The boys
+asked what it was for.
+
+"To buy anything you like, as far it will go," said Hardy.
+
+The boys, however, would not take it; they were sure their father
+would not wish it, after the expense Hardy had already been put to on
+their account.
+
+"Your father would be quite right," said Hardy; but he recollected it,
+and this small circumstance, told him that Karl could be trusted, and
+assisted him more to get Karl a situation of trust than Hardy's
+influence and that of his friends.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+    "_Viator._--Methinks the way is mended since I had
+    the good fortune to fall into your good company."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Horsens was explored the next day, but Hardy had a purpose in view. He
+knew his mother would like to see photographs of his Danish friends.
+The chief reason for a walk the night before was to ascertain the
+photographer's shop. This he discovered, and proposed that they should
+all be separately photographed.
+
+"You want to show your mother our photographs," said Helga.
+
+"I do," said Hardy. "You have all been so kind to me that it would
+interest her."
+
+"I should like to see the photographs before they are sent you," said
+Helga.
+
+"That you can," said Hardy. "They shall be sent you, and if you do not
+like them, do not send them to me."
+
+"Nonsense," said the Pastor; "they shall of course be sent you. I can
+understand that if you have a photograph it will describe more than
+any description, and we will send them, or rather the photographer
+shall; it is not that we should wish to appear other than as we really
+are. If the photographs are not what is called successful, you can
+explain that, if you like, but I, for my part, would rather not be
+favoured by any artificial process."
+
+"You are right, little father," said Helga; and they were all
+photographed separately, except Hardy and Karl, as the Pastor objected
+to the latter. "They will see Karl himself, and there is no need of
+the expense," he said; "and Hardy we shall not forget."
+
+They left Horsens a little after midday for Veile, a distance, as
+before stated, of about nineteen English miles. Pastor Lindal sat by
+Hardy as he drove, and as they passed by Engom, he told the story of
+how Ove Lunge had sold himself to the evil one, "Ove Lunge made a
+bargain with the owners of the land near to acquire as much land as he
+could ride a foal just born round, whilst the priest was preaching a
+sermon in the pulpit at Engom Church. They assented readily; but the
+foal ridden by Herr Ove Lunge went like a bird, and two black boars
+followed, rooting up the line the foal took, so as to enclose the
+land. On his way, Herr Ove Lunge met a Bonde with an axe, and he was
+obliged to turn aside, as the evil one has no power against an edge of
+steel. Therefore there were many irregularities in the foal's course.
+The Bonde who had thus sought to interrupt Herr Ove Lunge, rushed to
+the church at Engom, and besought the priest to vacate the pulpit, who
+did so, and thus saved much land passing into Herr Ove Lunge's
+possession. As Herr Ove Lunge had sold himself to the evil one, he can
+of course find no rest, and his ghost is seen, followed by his hounds,
+as he hunts at night over the property thus acquired."
+
+"Are their many legends relating to Veile?" asked Hardy.
+
+"A few," replied the Pastor, "and some historical, Gorm den Gamle,
+that is Gorm the old and his Queen Thyra, are buried in two tumuli, or
+Kaempehoi, at Jellinge, near Veile. At Queen Thyra's tumulus there was
+once a spring of water which sprung up, it is related as evidence of
+her purity. One day, however, a Bonde washed a horse that had the
+glanders at the spring, when it at once dried up.
+
+"At the same place, Jellinge (the final e is pronounced like a), in
+the year 1628, a priest called Soren Stefensen was suspected by the
+Swedes of being in correspondence with the Danes, when the Swedes were
+invading Jutland, and had occupied Jellinge, The messenger who went
+with his letters was taken, and a letter was found in a stick he
+carried. The Swedes hung him up to his own church door by his beard to
+a great hook, and he is said to have hung there a long time; but at
+last they took him down, and hung him on a gallows. He was priest at
+Veile, and the governor of the Latin school there, from 1614 to 1619."
+
+"In Shakespeare's play of 'Hamlet'" said Hardy, "it is described of
+Hamlet's father that he smote the sledded Polaks on the ice."
+
+"Our story of Amlet, not Hamlet, is as follows," said the Pastor. "At
+Mors, a place in Jutland, there was a king called Fegge. He had a
+tower at a place which is now called Fegge Klit ('klit' is a
+sand-hill), and from thence he sent his ships to sea, in the Western
+sea, that is your North sea. He and his brother Hvorvendil took turns
+to rule at land or at sea, so that one should be at sea three years,
+and the other on land three years. Fegge, however, became jealous of
+Hvorvendil's power and good luck, and killed him and married his wife,
+which murder was avenged by Amlet, her son, who slew Fegge, whose
+grave is yet shown at Fegge Klit. The word 'sledded,' is bad Danish
+for driving in a sledge. Polak is a Pole, and near Veile they
+committed great atrocities. They killed women and children, and stole
+the Bonder's cattle; and a man had often to buy his own bullock, and
+the price went down to such a degree that the price at last reached
+about 2d, (English) for a cow. They were hired by the Swedes to
+plunder Denmark. They came to a Praestegaard, near Veile, and stole and
+plundered; but a man in the priest's service, called Hans Nielsen,
+told the priest's wife to give them all the drink she could. They all
+got drunk. Hans Nielsen took away their arms. He then bound them one
+by one, and made one of them shoot all the rest, one after the other.
+This man confessed he was a Dane, but had joined the Swedes. So Hans
+Nielsen killed him with a sword, for being a traitor. The Poles were
+all buried in a hole, which is now called Polakhullet, or the Pole's
+hole. They committed such devastation in the very district we are now
+passing, that a man from Thy met a woman from Skaane, in Sweden, and
+she at once offered to marry him in the dialect of the time.
+
+
+    "'Aa vil du vaere min Mand?
+    Saa vil a vaere din Kone;
+    Du er fod i Thyeland,
+    Og a er fod i Skaane.'
+
+    "'Oh, will you be my man?
+    So will I be your wife;
+    You are born in Thyeland,
+    And I am born in Skaane.'
+
+
+This is a nursery rhyme to this day. There is also a weed called
+Charlock in England, the seed of this was brought by them with the
+fodder they had with them, and it is now all over Denmark."
+
+"What you have told me about Shakespeare's play would, I fear, excite
+some controversy amongst persons who make Shakespeare their study in
+England," said Hardy.
+
+"I can only say," rejoined the Pastor, "that the tradition is as
+related by me."
+
+"We shall soon be at Veile," said Hardy, turning round to Froken Helga
+Lindal. She had heard that her father talked incessantly to Hardy, so
+was satisfied that all went well.
+
+"I wish it was double the distance away," she said; "I enjoy
+travelling like this so much!"
+
+Veile is a pretty little Jutland town, and as they drove up to the
+hotel Hardy had selected and telegraphed to, they determined to have a
+walk in the neighbourhood at once, and postpone dinner a little later.
+
+"There was a fire once in Veile, in the year 1739," said the Pastor.
+"A woman who was thought out of her mind, at Easter visited a
+neighbour, who showed her the clothes she had made to wear at Easter;
+but the woman said, 'What will this avail, when the whole street will
+be burned in eight days; but although I shall perish in the flames,
+yet my body will be laid out in the town hall before I am buried?' The
+next Sunday, a boy in firing off some powder he had put in a door key,
+set fire to a house. The mad woman, as she was called, had forgotten
+some things in the house, and went in for them; but her clothes caught
+on fire, and she died from the burns she received. She was taken to
+the town hall as the nearest place, and the street she indicated was
+burnt.
+
+"There is another story of an old monastery near Veile. The name of
+the abbot was Muus (mouse). He was so hostile to the king that it was
+determined to suppress the monastery. The force commissioned to
+execute the king's order sent word to the abbot that he could leave
+the monastery, if not, they should be obliged, in execution of their
+orders, to arrest him. This message was given the abbot when he was at
+dinner, and he replied that the mouse must have time to eat his dinner
+in peace. The commander of the force replied not longer than the cat
+will permit, and took the place by force. It is said this happened in
+the thirteenth century."
+
+"The place appears to bristle with legends," said Hardy. "Are there
+more?"
+
+"Many more; but I will not tell you any more until after dinner."
+
+"That is right, little father," said his daughter, who always feared
+that he might get too tired before he retired to rest.
+
+The dinner at Veile was excellent. The host had asked Hardy what they
+would like, and Hardy had replied that he would leave it to him to get
+as good a dinner as he could. The consequence was that the host did
+his best. The Pastor was greatly pleased at Hardy's simple manner of
+ordering a dinner, but that it should be successful was a greater
+success still.
+
+The tobacco-parliament continued to be held, although for the time at
+Veile. The journey had a good effect on Pastor Lindal, whose
+temperament was naturally cheerful. He talked on subjects that Hardy
+had no idea he had any knowledge of in natural science. He had studied
+Darwin, and had even read a book of Sir John Lubbock's. At last Hardy
+interrupted.
+
+"There are no more legends or traditions of Veile, are there?" he
+said.
+
+"As I have said before, there are many," was the reply, "and here is
+one. Once there were two brothers living near Fredericia, one was
+rich, the other was poor. The place they lived at wanted a church. The
+rich brother would contribute nothing, and his brother said that if he
+were so rich he would build the church himself. The next night he
+dreamt that on a bridge at Veile, called the southern bridge, he would
+hear of something to his advantage. He went to Veile, and walked up
+and down it all day. At last an officer passed and repassed him, and
+asked him what he wanted. He told him he had dreamt he would find a
+treasure on Veile bridge. The officer replied, 'I dreamt that I should
+find a treasure in a barn near Fredericia,' belonging to a Bonde he
+named. It was the man's own name. He found the treasure. One day he
+was out looking round for a place to build the church on when he met
+his brother, who did not know what had happened. He said, 'I am going
+to build the church, and I am looking round to find the best site.'
+'Indeed,' said the rich brother; 'if you build the church, I will give
+the bells.' But when he saw the church would be built, it vexed the
+avaricious man so much to have to give the bells, that he went and
+hung himself.
+
+"There is an authenticated story of a priest, as we are generally
+called," continued the Pastor, "at the time of the plague, in 1654. It
+was brought by a ship to Copenhagen, and spread rapidly. The priest at
+Urlev Praestegaard had some clothes sent him belonging to his
+relatives, who had died of the plague at Copenhagen. His name was
+Soren Pedersen Prip. As soon as he saw the plague had occurred in his
+household, his only thought was how to prevent its spreading in his
+parish. He forbade all intercourse; and as his servants, wife, and
+children died one after the other, he hoisted a flag, as a signal when
+he wanted a coffin, which, as he had no one to send to fetch it, he
+managed to convey on a wheelbarrow, and he himself buried all his
+household. But that the people should not be without hearing God's
+word, he preached to them from a stone in the churchyard, which is yet
+shown. There is said to be also a carved wooden basrelief of him in
+the church."
+
+"He might have said, 'Exegi monumentum aere perennius'" said Hardy.
+"Such a man exhibits one side of your national character that the
+world has honoured and will honour. You say the stone can be pointed
+out. It is a matter of surprise to me that the stones used in many
+places in your old walls about churchyards and old buildings are so
+varied in character: there are, for instance, red and grey granite,
+syenite, the older sandstones, but all of the older geological
+formations. The side, for instance, of Viborg Cathedral is like a
+piece of old-fashioned patchwork from this cause, and has not a good
+effect."
+
+"In the glacial period these stones were brought down by the ice and
+stranded on Jutland," said the Pastor; "they are scattered over the
+whole country more or less. There is a legend of a giant who lived at
+Veile, who threw these stones at Graverslund Church; but he was a bad
+shot, and this accounts for the stones being found everywhere. His
+name was Gavl; but it was the ice of the glacial period that was the
+giant."
+
+"It will not be possible to visit Kolding," said Hardy, "because it
+would make us too late for the steamer. We shall have a longer run
+than usual to-morrow, and reach Esbjerg midday the day after, and the
+steamer leaves at night. Are there any traditions of Kolding, Herr
+Pastor?"
+
+"A number, and, of course, attached to Koldinghuus, which was erected
+in the thirteenth century," said the Pastor. "The oldest story is that
+of the bloodstains in Koldinghuus. It is said that a king lived there,
+who had an only daughter. For some reason he determined to kill her,
+and decided that as she was fond of dancing she should be danced to
+death. He therefore, amongst his officers, sought out the toughest for
+the work; but his daughter danced with nine of them without signs of
+giving way. The king was enraged. He danced with her himself, and then
+cut with his dagger the belt she wore, which had sustained her, so
+says the legend. Her mouth filled with blood, and she died in her
+father's arms. Nothing could wash the stain of her blood out of the
+floor.
+
+"As to Kolding itself, there are several stories," continued the
+Pastor. "There is more than one about the church clock, which never
+keeps time, the reason is that the men in an adjoining town, not far
+from Kolding, had in a time of scarcity borrowed seed from the men
+from Kolding, and had pledged a neighbouring meadow, which should
+belong to the men of Kolding if the value of the seed was not paid on
+a certain day and at a certain hour. When the time came, the men of
+Kolding induced the clock-keeper to alter the clock; and when the
+borrowers came to repay the loan, it was too late, and the meadow was
+adjudged to belong to the men of Kolding. There is a variation of this
+story, that the widow of Henning Limbek borrowed the money and pledged
+the meadow with the same result. She was on the bridge and heard the
+clock strike twelve and she at once returned home and surrendered the
+meadow to the men of Kolding. There is another story of a rich man who
+lived near Kolding, and they offered him a large sum for the meadow,
+and the terms were settled at a feast. The rich man, however, had a
+horse, and he affirmed that the horse would gallop from his house to
+Kolding by a certain time. This the men of Kolding denied as possible.
+He then offered to wager the meadow against a considerable sum that
+the horse would. The horse performed the journey within the time
+stated, but the clock had been altered. Ever since, the church clock
+has never been correct."
+
+"Not very correct of the men of Kolding," said Hardy, "and, I fear,
+not a good side of the Danish character."
+
+"I cannot deny that such principles occur with us," said Pastor
+Lindal; "possibly we have learnt it from the English."
+
+"We shall have to start at six to-morrow, Herr Pastor, to reach
+Hoisted," said Hardy. "The hotel there is moderate, and we can only
+expect what we can obtain. We shall have to break our longest journey
+where we can, to give the horses a little rest."
+
+"Therefore, we should go to bed early," said the Pastor.
+
+"But I cannot go to bed without thanking you, Herr Hardy, for your
+goodness to my father," said Froken Helga. "I have never seen him so
+bright, and I thank you." She thanked him in her Danish manner by
+shaking hands.
+
+"There is little need to thank me," said Hardy. "I have learnt much
+from your father, and am thankful for it; but I hope with time to win
+the same kindly trust from him as you already possess, and I think
+deservedly."
+
+Helga never forgot these words. They echoed in her recollection
+through the winter months, and Kapellan Holm was nowhere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+    "_Piscator._--Come, sir, let us be going; for the
+    sun grows low, and I would have you look about you as you
+    ride, for you will see an odd country, and sights that will
+    seem strange to you."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+John Hardy, before he retired to rest, had arranged with the hotel
+manager at Veile to telegraph to Baekke, where he designed to have a
+late breakfast, or rather lunch, and to a little inn, a few English
+miles further on, where they could pass the night. Thus the horses
+could rest at Baekke, and then go further to a station that would leave
+them but a little distance to reach Esbjerg.
+
+It was eleven before they reached Baekke, travelling over not the best
+of roads, and when they got there Hardy's forethought in telegraphing
+was apparent. The Pastor was tired, but as conversational as ever.
+Karl and Axel were obviously hungry, and as there was nothing to be
+had but fried eggs, and the usual indigestible _et ceteras_, Hardy was
+anxious to get on to their destination for the night. The Pastor went
+into the carriage, and Helga got up by Hardy's side, but her father
+had specially stipulated that she was not to drive the horses. This,
+of course, had to be obeyed, as the Pastor's wish once expressed was
+enough for Helga. The direction was over by-roads, and it was perhaps
+best the Pastor had been so decisive.
+
+Helga talked as before, unreservedly, and the ring of her clear voice,
+with its transparent truth, was a pleasure to hear.
+
+"Travelling like this is such a pleasure," she said; "the sound of the
+step of the horses even has its effect, as we feel they go easily to
+themselves. There is the succession of change of place and scene,
+fresh green meadows after dry and dusty roads, and, after a dull bit,
+there comes a pretty prospect of a country house, with its woods and
+lake. The coming also to a fresh place every night has its interest. I
+cannot think of a more pleasant way of travelling. Do you, Herr
+Hardy?"
+
+"Yes," said Hardy. "I like a fresh breeze blowing in the wished-for
+direction, and an English sailing yacht, as a means of travelling. You
+do not go so fast as you appear to sail, but it is pleasant to see the
+bright wave flashing by, and to feel the yacht rushing through the
+sea."
+
+"But, then, there is not the varied change of scene as in travelling
+as we now do, Herr Hardy," said Helga.
+
+"There is nothing like yachting for variety, if there be favourable
+winds, but on that it is dependent," said Hardy. "For instance, the
+Mediterranean can be explored in a winter, and places in Spain and
+Portugal visited on the way to Gibraltar, and then Italy and the
+Ionian Islands and Greece."
+
+"It must be a great drawback to be so dependent on the wind," said
+Helga.
+
+"Yes; and particularly so in yachting on the coast of Norway, amongst
+the Danish islands, or up the Baltic," said Hardy; "but this
+difficulty is got over by the use of steam, and steam yachts are
+becoming the rule."
+
+"Have you a yacht, Herr Hardy?" asked Helga.
+
+"I am having one built," replied Hardy. "My mother likes the sea, and
+I am having one built so that she may be as comfortable as possible.
+It is a steam yacht, and we shall be at sea in a fortnight, and I
+shall take Karl, if he wishes."
+
+"He likes the sea, and when we go to Copenhagen from Aarhus in the
+steamer, we enjoy the journey," said Helga.
+
+"There is one small matter which has struck me with regard to Karl,"
+said Hardy, "and that is, you Scandinavians are liable to what you
+call Hjemve (home sickness). I wish you would ask your father to say
+to him that he goes to England to try to get on in life, and that it
+is childish to be afraid of meeting strange people, but to look to the
+future and not be occupied with the present."
+
+"Thank you very much, Herr Hardy; you are very thoughtful. Karl has
+been very quiet the last two days, and you have anticipated what I had
+thought," said Helga.
+
+They had arrived at Hoisted, where they had to pass the night. The
+modest little inn did its best for them, and the Pastor was glad to
+rest; but after dinner his enjoyment of his pipe was great. It is not
+understood in England that such is good or necessary. _Tot homines
+quot sententiae_. The question is in England, Is it wrong for a parson
+to enjoy his pipe? The answer is, "No," with some people, "Yes," with
+others; but the question whether it is good for him is very generally
+answered in the negative.
+
+"You have but few stories of the people, or, as you call them,
+Eventyr?" asked Hardy.
+
+"There are very many," replied the Pastor. "But in Norway you will
+have found an even richer store. The grandness of nature there has
+influenced the imaginations of the people. Their legends, traditions,
+and stories are more romantic and weird. Their traditions of the Huldr
+are exquisitely fantastic and picturesque to a degree. Their
+Folke-Eventyr is rich in colour. There is a depth of thought and of
+the knowledge of human nature as it is that fills the mind with
+astonishment. There is in them all a sense of justice, a feeling of
+appreciation of what is good and true, as if the thought had been
+inspired. Nationally, the Norwegians are honest, and their
+Folke-Eventyr has contributed to form the character of the people. It
+has engendered a respect for what is good and true. There is also an
+idea of rough justice and humour; and I will tell you a story which
+will illustrate this. There was once a priest who was very
+overbearing. When he drove in the roads, he shouted to the people he
+met, 'Out of the way, I am coming; out of the way!' He did this so
+often that the king determined to check his pride, and drove to the
+priest's. As he was coming, he met the priest, who shouted as usual.
+The king drove as he should do, as king, and the priest had to give
+way. When the king was at the side of the priest's carriage, he said,
+'Come to me at the palace to-morrow, and if you cannot answer three
+questions I put to you, I will punish you for your pride's sake.' This
+was treatment the priest was not accustomed to. He could bully the
+Bonder, but answering questions did not suit him. So he went to his
+clerk and told him that one fool can ask more questions than ten wise
+men could answer, and that he must go up to the palace to the king and
+reply to his questions. So the clerk went in the priest's gown. The
+king was in the balcony with his crown and sceptre, and was dressed in
+such a costume that he looked a king."
+
+"'So you have come,' said the king.
+
+"'Yes,' said the clerk. It was quite certain that he was there.
+
+"'Tell me' said the king, 'how far the east is from the west?'
+
+"'A day's journey,' answered the clerk.
+
+"'How can that be?' said the king.
+
+"'The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and generally does
+it in a day,' answered the clerk.
+
+"'Good,' said the king. 'But tell me now how much money I am worth?'
+
+"'Well,' replied the clerk, 'Christ was sold for thirty pieces of
+silver, and I should put you at twenty-nine.'
+
+"'A good answer,' said the king. 'But tell me now what I am at this
+moment thinking about?'
+
+"'That's easy to answer,' replied the clerk. 'The fact is, you think I
+am the priest, but I am only the clerk.'
+
+"'Then go you home and be priest, and, let the priest be clerk,'
+commanded the king."
+
+"A very excellent story," said Hardy, "and, as you say, shows a strong
+sense of rough justice and humour."
+
+"There is a child's story," said the Pastor, "with its humour; but it
+is very simple, as all stories of the people should be. A boy found a
+pretty box in a wood, but he could not open it, for it was locked. A
+little further he found a key. The question was whether the key would
+fit the box. He blew into the key and put the key into the lock, when
+lo! it fitted, and the box opened. But can you guess what was in the
+box? No, of course not. There was a calf's tail in the box, but if the
+calf's tail had been longer, so would this story be."
+
+"But that is a Norwegian story," said Hardy. "Are there none
+essentially Danish?"
+
+"They are related to some extent in H. C. Andersen's stories, and they
+have been translated into English. There is a story, however, that may
+not have been translated. A king and queen had no children; but a
+beggar came to her and said, 'You can have a son, if you will let me
+be his godfather when he is christened.' The queen assented. The queen
+had a son, but the king had to go to war to quell a rebellion. The
+king made her promise that she would nurse the child herself, and not
+trust to nurses and other people. The queen did so, and the beggar
+stood godfather. The beggar bent down over the child, and said that
+everything it wished for it should have. This the king's attendant
+heard. He was accustomed to attend the king when hunting, and he
+thought that such a child was worth possessing. The queen, however,
+watched the child night and day. One day she was in a summer-house and
+had fallen asleep, with the child in her lap; when she woke the child
+was gone. When the king returned, he had a tower built in a wood, and
+he walled the queen up in it, as a punishment for losing the child.
+The attendant brought the child up as his own, and there was no
+suspicion. He took the child, when grown up, out hunting when the king
+went, and taught him to wish for such and such a head of game, and if
+he shot an arrow at it, he always hit. The king could not understand
+how so young a hunter could always be so successful, but the attendant
+assured him that it was only a sure hand and eye. The attendant had
+meanwhile become very rich, by getting the king's son to wish him to
+be so. The attendant had taken a girl into his service, who grew up to
+be very beautiful. She had suspicions that all was not right, and
+asked the attendant; but he would not tell her. At last the attendant
+told her the boy must be killed, and she must do it, and cut out his
+tongue, to show him that she had murdered him. She, however, killed a
+hind, and cut out its tongue, and showed the attendant the tongue. The
+attendant thought she had done as she was told, and told her the
+story, which the king's son heard from a place where she had hid him.
+The king's son immediately wished the attendant should be a
+three-legged dog, that must always follow him. He wished the girl to
+be a rose and put her in his button-hole. The king's son then attended
+the court, as the king wished to go hunting. 'Where is the attendant?'
+asked the king. 'He is here close by,' said the king's son. The king
+was satisfied with the answer, and went out hunting. The king's son
+led the hunt to the tower where the queen was walled in, and wished
+that the tower might fall down and the queen be found in it yet
+living. This happened, although she had been there seventeen years.
+The prince then took the rose out of his button-hole, and married the
+girl who had so well served him."
+
+"A graphic story," said Hardy, "and has the same tendency that you
+attributed to the Norwegian stories of the people, or Folke-Eventyr."
+
+"There is a story more peculiarly belonging to Jutland," said Pastor
+Lindal, "and that is of a Trold who lived in a wood in a large
+Kaempehoi, or tumulus. He was an old grey-bearded Trold, and the people
+in the district were afraid of him. There was an old woman who lived
+near with her son. They had a cow, and it was difficult to get grass
+for it, particularly in the winter. The boy took the cow and grazed it
+on the Trold's Kaempehoi. The Trold came out and objected, and
+threatened, and drove the boy and the cow away. The boy, however, got
+a piece of soft cheese from his mother, and stole a bird sitting on
+its eggs in a nest, these he put in his pocket; so the next day he
+took the cow to the same place, and the Trold came out and threatened.
+The Trold took up a stone and pressed it in his hand, so that water
+came from it, to show how he could crush him. The boy said that is
+nothing, and took the cheese from his pocket and pressed it, so that
+it appeared as if he was squeezing more out of a stone than the Trold
+could. So the Trold said, 'I will throw a stone up, and you can count
+until it comes down. The boy did so, and counted up to one hundred and
+thirty-one. 'That is good!' said the boy. 'But now count for the stone
+I cast;' and the Trold counted, but the boy threw the bird up in the
+air, and of course it flew away. The Trold was astonished, and asked
+the boy if he would come into his service. The first thing was to
+fetch water, as the Trold wanted to brew. The Trold had a large bucket
+to fetch water, which the boy could not even lift; so he said, 'This
+will not do at all; we had best fetch in the river.' But this the
+Trold could not do. The boy behaved in the same way with fetching turf
+and fuel; and when the Trold went out to pick nuts, he picked up
+stones and gave the Trold to crack. This gave him the toothache, but
+the boy advised him to fill his mouth full of water and sit on the
+fire until it boiled. This did not succeed, and so the boy continued
+to tease the Trold until he compassed his destruction, and taking all
+the Trold's gold and silver, he went home, and had enough to live on
+all his days, with his mother."
+
+"I have heard a parallel story from many lands," said Hardy.
+
+"That is true enough; it is a story very widespread, with different
+incidents and features," said the Pastor.
+
+The next day they drove into Esbjerg, and Garth and Hardy put the
+horses on board the steamer for England. It would leave in the
+evening, when the tide would allow it to get out of dock.
+
+The Pastor had arranged to stay the night at Esbjerg, to see the very
+last of his son Karl on his leaving for England.
+
+As they left, Hardy said, "I shall be at Rosendal in May, and I hope
+my mother will be with me; but you will hear from me many times before
+then, and I dare say Karl will write you more frequently than I do."
+
+Helga said simply, "I thank you, Herr Hardy, for your kindness to us."
+
+The steamer left that night, and the next day Pastor Lindal went to
+the railway station at Esbjerg to take three tickets to the station
+nearest his parsonage. Three tickets were handed to him, and the
+Pastor expostulated.
+
+"They are first-class tickets, and----"
+
+"Yes," said the station clerk; "but they are already taken and paid
+for."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+    "_Piscator,_--But, look you, sir, now you are at the
+    brink of the hill, how do you like my river, the vale it winds
+    through like a snake, and the situation of my little
+    fishing-house?"--_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+As John Hardy drove up to the front of Hardy Place, the young Danish
+lad was struck with the beauty of the lawns and shrubberies.
+
+"This is by far prettier than Rosendal, Herr Hardy," he said.
+
+Mrs. Hardy had evidently been waiting some time for the sound of
+wheels on the carriage drive, and as her son alighted, she received
+him with warm natural affection.
+
+"John, my own boy, I am so glad to see you again," she said; "you have
+been too long away from your mother."
+
+"You will have me all to yourself until next May, mother, and then you
+will have me with you at Rosendal," said her son. "But here is Karl
+Lindal, son of Pastor Lindal, of Vandstrup Praestegaard, Denmark."
+
+The tall, fair-haired lad, with his honest blue eyes, favourably
+impressed Mrs. Hardy, who could see beyond outward appearance and
+awkwardness of manner.
+
+"Welcome to Hardy Place, Mr. Karl Lindal," she said, taking the lad's
+hand kindly. "You can have no better introduction here than as my own
+boy's friend."
+
+Karl bowed. He saw a tall elderly lady, dressed in good taste and
+perfect neatness, strikingly like her son. They entered the inner
+hall, where Mrs. Hardy had been sitting, and tea was served, and she
+and her son talked to each other with that kindly confidence not so
+frequent nowadays. Karl looked at the old portraits on the wall, and
+observed the quiet taste of the decorations and furniture, with its
+appearance of comfort, so conspicuous in an English home.
+
+Mother and son had much to say to each other; but at length John Hardy
+observed a tired look on the young Dane's face, and he took him up to
+the bedroom Mrs. Hardy had directed to be prepared for him, near her
+son's rooms.
+
+"Karl," he said, "here is your room, and everything you are likely to
+want ready. If you want anything, press that nob, which rings a bell,
+and a man-servant will answer it; but as he may not understand you,
+come for a moment into my dressing-room, and I will show you where my
+things are, and if you want anything, take it."
+
+There was a strong contrast between Hardy's rooms in his own home and
+the single little room he had occupied in Denmark, and Karl said so.
+
+"Yes," said Hardy; "you will find a good deal of difference between
+England and Denmark, but you will find me the same John Hardy."
+
+"I have not dressed, mother," said Hardy, as he came down just before
+the gong was struck for dinner; "my young Danish friend is not
+supplied with evening dress, and I thought he might feel a trifle less
+strange, where everything must strike with the force of novelty a lad
+of seventeen, if I appeared as he has usually seen me."
+
+"You are the same thoughtful, considerate old John," said his mother,
+proud of her son's kind heart; "but I do think, John, you look better
+than when you left."
+
+"I am better," said John. "The fare at the little Danish parsonage was
+simple and good. At first I missed a few things that I was accustomed
+to here, but the excellence of the quality of everything at the
+Pastor's soon made me forget them. I think, too, my mother, I have
+learnt much. The simplicity with which the Danish Pastor did his work
+with exact conscientiousness interested me. There was never a thought
+of postponing a duty under any circumstances. There was never a
+thought that a duty done was a sacrifice of self, but his duty was
+done with a serious singleness of purpose and thorough trust in God,
+that had a strong influence on his parishioners. They saw he was
+sincere and true."
+
+"You are drawing a good picture of the Pastor, John," said his mother;
+"but," she added in a whisper, as John took her into dinner, "what
+about the Scandinavian princess?"
+
+"I will tell you all about her after you have seen her photograph,"
+said John. "I will give it you when you go into the library after
+dinner. I will give Karl Lindal some English to read, as he must lose
+no time in acquiring the language."
+
+Karl Lindal felt awkward and uneasy at dinner. The novelty of
+everything so occupied him that he was the more gauche in manner. This
+Mrs. Hardy observed, and said little to him. It was best the lad
+should be left to get over the change that had impressed him.
+
+When John Hardy joined his mother in the library, he found her with a
+large reading-glass, looking at Helga Lindal's photograph. "It is a
+good face, John, like her brother somewhat, and fine features," said
+his mother. "Is she tall?"
+
+"About five feet eight, mother," replied John. "She is like her father
+in character--simple and true, and with common sense."
+
+"But you wrote me, John, that if you did propose to her that she would
+not accept you, on account of her father wanting her assistance and
+relying so much on her," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"I did, mother; but her father wished her to become engaged to a
+curate of his called Holm," said John. "She refused Holm, as she did
+not like him, and I think her father would wish her to marry any one
+she did like. His view appears to be that she owes a duty to herself,
+and he would think it his duty to prevent her sacrificing all her
+young life even to him."
+
+"Why, the man is right, John, and his photograph says as much!" said
+Mrs. Hardy. "But, John, answer me plainly--have you said anything to
+her?"
+
+"No," replied Hardy. "I do not feel certain of myself without you,
+mother. I want you to see her."
+
+"Have you led her to expect that you might speak to her John?" asked
+his mother.
+
+"When I went there first, she behaved towards me as if she disliked
+me," replied John; "but her manner changed. I had offered to teach her
+to ride: she declined in a very decided way; but in driving to
+Esbjerg, she said she should like to learn, and that her objection,
+whatever it was, did not exist longer. I said I would teach her when I
+came again to Denmark. One evening, I sang the German song you have
+heard me sing so often, and I turned round suddenly and saw her face;
+she looked at me as if she loved me with all her heart, but possibly
+so simple a nature as hers was carried away by the song's influence. I
+turned away my face, that it might reflect nothing to her."
+
+"Did anything else occur, John?" asked his mother.
+
+"Yes," replied John. "A few evenings before I left, I showed her
+father and herself your photographs; she exhibited a warm interest in
+them, particularly that one of the picture. I gave her the
+photographs, and she thanked me as if I had given her something she
+had a great wish for."
+
+"It is a long way for an old woman, John," said Mrs. Hardy; "but I
+would go to the end of the earth to see you happily married. I like
+her face," added she, looking at Helga Lindal's photograph; "it is
+good and firm of purpose for so young a woman. Is she ladylike, John?"
+
+"Her manner is simple and sincere," he replied; "and I never saw
+anything that you, mother, would not approve of; but, living as she
+does, and has, she has not seen much society, or acquired any
+artificial manner. Her management of her father's house is practical,
+and the obedience to her wishes and orders as complete as they ever
+are in Denmark. Their servants are not as ours are."
+
+"Why you do like her, John," said his mother.
+
+"I do, but I do not feel certain of myself," said John. "The time I
+have known her is short, and it may be only a passing fancy; and what
+I want, mother, is your help in knowing my own mind, but, above all,
+hers. You will understand her instantly."
+
+"But why did you buy Rosendal, John?" asked his mother; "in all your
+letters you never gave a reason."
+
+"I bought it on an impulse," replied John, "but I did think I might
+want it at the time. It is a place you can live in, mother, until you
+are tired of it, but from which you can help me."
+
+"I do not think you need fear, John, her being carried off by any
+one," said Mrs. Hardy, to whom the idea of any woman not being in love
+with her son was impossible.
+
+"I must risk it," said John, "but I could not do other than I have
+done. If I had spoken a word to her when a guest in her father's
+house, it would have been wrong. But I wanted to talk with you, my
+mother. I have no secrets from you; and John kissed her, and wished
+her 'Good night.'"
+
+A few weeks at Hardy Place made a great change in Karl Lindal. He
+talked English better, and his manners were not so boyish. He felt
+also the influence of the good people about him, and had lost his
+home-sickness.
+
+The experimental trip in the new steam yacht that Hardy had had built
+(and which he had christened the _Rosendal_) was a great delight to
+the young Dane, who was naturally fond of the sea. The yacht made a
+few short trips in the English Channel, and was then laid up for the
+winter. Karl made himself useful on board the yacht, and his greatest
+pleasure was to do anything for John Hardy or his mother. The lad's
+thankfulness for the kindness he received was thorough, and Mrs. Hardy
+liked the lad.
+
+"Is your sister Helga like you, Mr. Karl Lindal?" asked Mrs. Hardy,
+one day, when her son was not present.
+
+"She is more clever in everything than I am," replied Karl, "and she
+is so good to me and Axel, and gives up everything for us. She is four
+years older."
+
+At last a letter came to John Hardy, from Vandstrup Praestegaard.
+
+"Herr Hardy,
+
+"My father desires me to say that they are proceeding with the work at
+Rosendal, and that there is nothing specially to report at present, as
+there is nothing being done contrary to your wishes, and there is no
+room for complaint on what is being done.
+
+"My father also desires me to express his thanks for your kindness
+about the tickets from Esbjerg. It was a matter that surprised us all,
+except me, and it was my fault in saying that my coming back from
+Esbjerg would be an additional cost to him; I understood the
+completeness of your kindness at once. I felt you would not let it be
+a burden to my father on my account and Axel, and that when you were
+taking the tickets that you might as well include my father's also;
+but to take first-class tickets was not necessary, and what we did not
+wish.
+
+"I promised to write if I caught a trout that weighed one pound,
+English, by your measure. I have fished many times, and caught one by
+the bend in the river just below the tile works. Axel got it into the
+landing-net, and my father has seen it weighed, and it is just a
+little heavier than the line that marks the one pound English. I thank
+you also for your consideration in this. My father is pleased to see
+me looking fresh and well after going out fishing, and he says no fish
+are so good as those Helga catches. I thank you, Herr Hardy, for your
+thinking that this would also please my father.
+
+"We all send you friendly greeting from here, and our best affection
+to Karl.
+
+"Helga Lindal."
+
+John Hardy translated the letter for his mother, and gave it to her
+with the original.
+
+"Her handwriting is ladylike, John," said his mother, "there is no
+doubt of that; and she writes such a beautiful, simple letter! I like
+her, John! If you love her, do not lose her for the world."
+
+John Hardy was touched.
+
+"Bless you, my mother," he said; "your heart is as mine; you love
+again with your son's love. But I know it is best to wait until May,
+when we can go there."
+
+Karl Lindal wrote to his father in Denmark.
+
+"My all-dearest Father,
+
+"The kindness I receive from Herr Hardy and his mother is great. They
+are most kind. I feel it not possible to express my thanks; but I am
+always trying to be useful, to show how thankful I am. They are so
+different from Danish people. I cannot say how beautiful Herr Hardy's
+house is. It is far prettier than Rosendal. I learn English every day
+with an English Kapellan; he is very kind, and he teaches me the
+English games of cricket and lawn tennis. Mrs. Hardy, that is Herr
+Hardy's mother, is beautiful. She touches my cheek with her hand, and
+she asks if Helga is like me. I answer that Helga is better, and she
+seems to be pleased to hear me say so. Herr Hardy has taken me out in
+his yacht, that is a pleasure vessel with steam power; he has called
+it the _Rosendal_.
+
+"I have been out with Herr Hardy shooting partridges. He has had many
+gentlemen down to shoot, but they none of them shoot so well as Herr
+Hardy. A flock of the birds get up, and Herr Hardy, who shoots with a
+double-barrelled gun, always gets two. His gamekeeper, or Jaeger, told
+me that they always could depend on the governor, as they call Herr
+Hardy.
+
+"Herr Hardy took me to London, and I went to the Zoological Gardens,
+where there were a great many rare animals, and to the Haymarket
+Theatre, which is like the Royal Theatre at Copenhagen. I was measured
+for clothes by a tailor in London, and Herr Hardy has given me many
+more things than necessary; but he is so kind I do not know what to
+say or do. I send my best love to you and Helga and Axel.
+
+"Your son,
+
+"Karl Lindal."
+
+Another letter came from Vandstrup Praestegaard.
+
+"Herr Hardy,
+
+"My father desires me to say that the work at Rosendal is nearly
+finished, and that the land where the trees are to be planted is
+prepared for them. There is nothing that he sees neglected, or that he
+should bring to your notice.
+
+"We have received many letters from Karl, and we are interested in
+them. He writes and describes your house, and repeats again and again
+your goodness to him. He describes your mother as very kind. We have
+no doubt but this is you. My father says if you do anything, you do it
+always in the kindest way. I do not doubt but that this is so, and we
+all thank you gratefully, and greet you kindly.
+
+"Helga Lindal."
+
+John Hardy translated this letter for his mother. She read it, and
+said--
+
+"John, the letter is a letter to keep for all time! I feel so proud of
+you, my own boy, that such a letter should be addressed to you. I
+never read so beautiful a letter; so short, and yet so exquisite in
+its simplicity! You can trust your future to her, John."
+
+"Thank you, my mother," replied her son. "I know I can trust her, if
+she will trust me."
+
+"Why, John, you can offer her wealth, position, and influence," said
+Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"All which would be nothing with her," said John "She would be as
+content to marry me on a bare subsistence as if I had a larger income
+than we have. Position is nothing to her, because she scarcely
+understands it; and as for influence, she has more influence for good
+in her father's parish than any person in it."
+
+"A faint heart, John," suggested his mother.
+
+"Yes, I know that; but my heart is not faint," said John. "I only wait
+to be sure of it, and your approval, mother."
+
+Karl Lindal made progress in learning English and Hardy made inquiries
+for a berth for him with a foreign broker. In reply to the question as
+to Karl's character, Hardy told the story of the young Dane's refusing
+taking any money from Hardy in their driving tour to Esbjerg. This
+slight matter made a favourable impression, and the young Dane entered
+on his duties. Hardy procured lodgings for him in London, with a young
+medical man who had recently married, and had began to keep house, and
+whose relatives resided near Hardy Place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+    "Only a sweet and virtuous soul
+    Like seasoned timber, never gives
+    But when the whole world turns to coal,
+    Then chiefly lives."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The interior of Rosendal had been painted, and sketch plans of the
+different floors and rooms had been submitted to Mrs. Hardy.
+Lithographed drawings of Danish furniture had been procured in
+Copenhagen, so that she could select what furniture she thought
+necessary for their stay at Rosendal during the summer, and this was
+purchased for John Hardy by Prokurator Steindal, and sent to Rosendal.
+
+The planting and improvements in the grounds had been carried out.
+
+Robert Garth and a manservant were sent with the horses, a carriage,
+and the heavy impedimenta to Esbjerg by steamer, late in April, to
+prepare for the occupation of the mansion at Rosendal.
+
+Then came a letter from Vandstrup Praestegaard.
+
+"Herr Hardy,
+
+"We have heard that your servants are preparing Rosendal for your
+mother's residence there. It has occurred to my father that everything
+may not be at first ready for her, and he has directed me to write and
+say that if she will come here on her arriving in Jutland, that we
+will do our best to make her stay a pleasant one. We are all so
+grateful for your goodness to Karl, that it would gladden us to do
+anything for your mother.
+
+"We send respectful greetings to her and to yourself.
+
+"Helga Lindal."
+
+John translated the letter to his mother.
+
+"Accept it, John," she said. "My maid can be driven over by Robert
+Garth, the two miles you say that Rosendal is situated from the
+parsonage, if she would be in the way there."
+
+"No, my mother," said Hardy; "you do not know the language. I will go
+to Rosendal, and you can certainly take your maid with you. Pastor
+Lindal knows a little English, and so does his daughter. It will be a
+good sign if she has been learning it in the winter; I left my
+Danish-English books there, but I suggested nothing to her in this
+direction."
+
+"How simply to the point her letter is, John!" exclaimed Mrs. Hardy.
+"There are no phrases about their accommodation not being so good, or
+that their means are narrow; she simply says they will do their best,
+and that they would be glad to do it. It is not possible to doubt
+her."
+
+"It is like her manner," said John. "I can fancy I hear the words she
+writes."
+
+Towards the middle of May, Mrs. Hardy, her son, and two women-servants
+travelled overland to Jutland, from Flushing.
+
+Robert Garth met them at the railway station, and drove them to the
+parsonage.
+
+Parson Lindal was at the door, and welcomed Mrs. Hardy with much
+old-fashioned politeness. "Welcome, and glad to see you," he said in
+English to her, while he warmly greeted Hardy in Danish.
+
+Helga was standing by her father, regarding their visitor with great
+interest; she had shaken hands with John Hardy, and welcomed him back
+to Jutland. The Pastor introduced his daughter to Mrs. Hardy, who held
+out her hand to Helga, and drew her closer and kissed her, as if she
+had been her daughter.
+
+"You are a beautiful edition of your brother Karl, Miss Lindal," she
+said. "He has become a great favourite of mine, and you will be glad
+to hear he is well spoken of in London."
+
+Robert Garth drove one of the servants to Rosendal, and had orders to
+fetch John Hardy in the evening, at the parsonage.
+
+The Pastor had time for a word with Hardy, as his mother went to
+change her travelling dress.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Hardy; but what a trick you played us about the
+tickets from Esbjerg! I did not like it at first, but when I thought
+of your friendly intentions, I forgave you; but I cannot thank you
+enough for your goodness to Karl, and your wisely placing him in
+lodgings with the chance of good influence. That is good of you,
+indeed."
+
+"Where is Axel?" asked Hardy.
+
+"He is at Copenhagen, at a school for a time," replied the Pastor. "He
+will be home in the summer for a holiday."
+
+"What about Rosendal?" asked Hardy.
+
+"It is much improved; in a month or six weeks it will be lovely,"
+answered the Pastor. "The plan was excellent that you adopted, and, as
+you have been written, it has been executed well."
+
+When Mrs. Hardy appeared, perfectly well dressed, as she always was,
+John could see that the Pastor observed her well-bred manner. "Your
+parsonage, Herr Pastor," she said, "has a look of calm contentment and
+quiet that strikes me in coming from busy England."
+
+"That is near the reality, Mrs. Hardy," replied he; "but it is not the
+fact with all our Danish parsonages, men vary here as they do
+elsewhere."
+
+"That may be; but you have the greater opportunity for attaining the
+actuality of what is simple and true," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Possibly we have," replied Pastor Lindal; "but I fear we are all
+liable to neglect opportunities which suggest only."
+
+John Hardy had been obliged to assist at this conversation as
+interpreter, when Kirstin announced dinner was served. Hardy rose and
+shook hands with Kirstin.
+
+"It is an old servant, mother," said Hardy; and Mrs. Hardy rose and
+shook hands with Kirstin, and then the Pastor took Mrs. Hardy in to
+dinner.
+
+Mrs. Hardy's ladylike tact soon enabled her to get on with the
+Pastor--she used the simplest English words, and Hardy was able to
+talk to Helga.
+
+"I have brought the side saddle," he said.
+
+"I have seen it at Rosendal; and your man Garth has been exercising
+the horses with a skirt daily, to make them more accustomed to a lady
+riding them," said Helga.
+
+"Well?" said Hardy, inquiringly.
+
+"I shall be glad to learn to ride, Herr Hardy, if you will kindly
+teach me," said Helga. "Your man has told us that the horses and
+carriage were at our disposal until your mother came. We have not
+often used them, as my father said that if I wished to learn to ride,
+I had better wait until you came, as you understood horses, and that
+he was afraid some accident might occur."
+
+John Hardy had apprised Mrs. Hardy of the inevitable porcelain pipe,
+which, as she did not like tobacco smoking, her son asked the Pastor
+to hold his tobacco-parliament in his own study, where he went to keep
+him company.
+
+Thus Mrs. Hardy was alone with Helga for some time. She found that
+Helga could speak a little English, and Mrs. Hardy led her to speak of
+the management of the little household at the parsonage, and then of
+her father, which with Helga was an inexhaustible theme. She told
+Mrs. Hardy of John's gift of the piano, which she said she had
+accepted because her father liked to hear her sing.
+
+"I feel it was wrong to have accepted it," she said, "but I did so on
+the impulse of the moment; my father had been listening to my singing,
+and it seemed to draw his mind away from his great sorrow, and I
+thought any feeling of my own should be sacrificed to that."
+
+"Why, what a dear child you are!" said Mrs. Hardy, led away by Helga's
+earnest blue eyes, and she kissed her affectionately. "You talk a good
+deal better English than I expected," she added.
+
+"Perhaps so," replied Helga. "Mr. Hardy left his books here for Axel,
+and I have been learning all the winter, in the hope of being of use
+to you; I knew you would want some one to speak English, as your son
+might not always be at hand. Karl has written with such gratitude of
+you, that it is the only way that occurred to me that I might really
+be useful to you."
+
+"You are a dear, sensible girl, Miss Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy,
+caressing her; "and so it will be. And will you come and stay with me
+as long as your father can spare you, at Rosendal, and help me to get
+the house in order?"
+
+"I will do anything for you, Mrs. Hardy," replied Helga, earnestly.
+
+John Hardy came in to wish them "Good night," before he left for
+Rosendal.
+
+"I shall drive over in the morning to see if you wish to go to
+Rosendal, mother," he said.
+
+"Certainly I do, John," replied his mother, "But I have a message for
+you;" and she whispered, "I like her already, John; she is perfectly
+good and true."
+
+John Hardy was right when he said that his mother's influence on his
+own thoughts would crystallize them.
+
+The next few days were occupied in settling down at Rosendal.
+Mrs. Hardy was charmed with the place. Its natural beauty was what
+such a mind as hers could recognize, and she praised Rosendal to
+Helga, to the latter's great satisfaction.
+
+Helga was assiduous in learning English, and daily became more useful
+to Mrs. Hardy, The Pastor often came to dinner, and the days passed
+pleasantly.
+
+"John," said Mrs. Hardy, one day, when she was alone with her son,
+"you have asked me to ascertain what Helga Lindal's feelings are to
+you, if I possibly could. I cannot. All I can say is, marry her, and
+you will never regret it. Ask her. She is the best and truest woman I
+ever met."
+
+"Very good, mother," replied John. "I will."
+
+That day Pastor Lindal came to dinner, and his daughter was to return
+with him in the evening, to remain at home.
+
+John Hardy asked Helga to walk through the grounds, while her father
+was conversing with Mrs. Hardy, They went to a particular place that
+John recollected, and he said--
+
+"Froken, do you remember your asking me at this spot why I bought
+Rosendal?"
+
+"Yes, perfectly," said Helga, frankly; "and you said you would tell me
+when your mother came."
+
+"My reason is, and was, because you said there was no place you should
+like to live at so much as Rosendal."
+
+"Do you mean you will give it to us?" asked Helga.
+
+"My meaning is that I will give it to you, Helga. I want you to be my
+wife."
+
+"I will, if you will wait. Hardy; my father cannot live without me
+now."
+
+"Wait!" cried Hardy; and he looked into her blue eyes. "Why, you have
+loved me a long time, and never told me so! I have been in doubt and
+fear."
+
+"You never need doubt it more. Hardy," said she, saying "du" to him
+for the first time. "When you came here first, I tried not to like
+you; then I tried to disgust you with me, and you were so good and
+manly that I loved you with all my heart. I thought," she added, "you
+would have spoken to me when you proposed the driving tour to Esbjerg,
+and I was so frightened."
+
+"Yes," said Hardy, "it was in my mind, but I was a guest in your
+father's house, and I had to ask my mother's blessing and support. But
+tell me one thing, what was the reason that you would not tell me
+about your refusing to learn to ride?"
+
+"My reason was that I did try not to like you, and then I refused."
+
+"I see," said Hardy, kissing what he thought the most beautiful mouth
+in the world.
+
+When they returned to the house, Mrs. Hardy saw her son's bright face,
+and knew he had been accepted.
+
+"Dear mother," said John, caressing her, "she's won."
+
+Mrs. Hardy embraced Helga warmly, and the Pastor saw how the matter
+stood, and held out his hand.
+
+"I have understood you all along, Hardy, and you are a noble fellow.
+You have my consent, willingly."
+
+Helga was preparing to return with her father, but Mrs. Hardy
+interposed.
+
+"You can have John, Herr Pastor," she said; "but I must have my
+daughter here, that I may get to know more of her. John shall go with
+you, but I must have her for to-night."
+
+The Pastor had to give way, and John Hardy went with him, and they
+held a tobacco-parliament, and John slept in his old room at the
+parsonage.
+
+Mrs. Hardy, when they were gone, said, "Tell me all about John, my
+darling, all you know;" and Helga told her.
+
+"He is like his father," said Mrs. Hardy; "he was so true and good a
+gentleman, that I feel the same interest as if it were my own marriage
+over again, and my son has been my all for years. He has told me so
+much about you, that before I came it was the holding up the mirror to
+memory; all what he said, and had dwelt in my mind, came back."
+
+Helga told her that she could not marry until her father was too old
+to attend to his duty; that he could not, and would not, give his duty
+up until pronounced unfit.
+
+"I will arrange all that," said Mrs. Hardy, "You shall be married to
+John this summer, and you must say no more; you must leave that to me.
+Your father's greatest happiness will be to see you happily married,
+and he has told me so."
+
+A few days after, John Hardy and his mother and Helga Lindal called at
+the Jensens'. John frankly told them the story of his engagement, and,
+as he was going to be married in Denmark, asked the two Froken Jensens
+if they would be bridesmaids. Helga wished it.
+
+Mathilde Jensen reminded Hardy that she had said he bought Rosendal
+because he wanted to marry Helga Lindal.
+
+"Yes," said John; "I thanked you for so disposing of me."
+
+The worthy proprietor was delighted that John Hardy would be his
+neighbour for some time of the year, and thanked him for the mare
+Hardy had sent over from England to improve his breeding stock. John
+Hardy had made him a present of it.
+
+"She is," said the proprietor, "as handsome as can be; but she has a
+temper."
+
+"She is Irish," said Hardy. "But you will find the horse foals easy to
+manage; the mares may give a little trouble, but they will go like
+birds."
+
+The Jensens pressed them to stay to an early dinner, and Mrs. Hardy
+thought they had best do so. The well-bred English lady made a strong
+impression on the Jensen ladies, and the genuine Danish hospitality
+appealed to Mrs. Hardy.
+
+The result of this visit was a return visit to Rosendal. The exact
+service and the excellent arrangements of everything had its effect on
+the Jensens, and the consequence was that numerous calls were made at
+Rosendal.
+
+Helga had returned to the parsonage, when John Hardy one day came to
+his mother with a telegram. The steam yacht Rosendal was at Aarhus.
+
+"Let us go to Copenhagen, John," said Mrs. Hardy, "and take Helga with
+us. She is fond of the sea, and I enjoy her society. It is the perfect
+truth that is in everything about her that I love."
+
+"She will not go if I ask her, mother," said John; "but if you do she
+may."
+
+"Telegraph to them to have steam up, John," said his mother, "and I
+will drive to the parsonage."
+
+His mother left, and, to John's astonishment, Helga returned with her,
+ready to go anywhere.
+
+"The Pastor insisted on her going," said Mrs. Hardy, "and I promised
+to bring back his youngest son, who is at school at Copenhagen. The
+Pastor is a sensible man. He said to his daughter, 'Why should you not
+enjoy the kindness your future husband can show you?' and there was an
+end to her objections."
+
+They hurried to the station, and got on board the Rosendal after a
+short railway journey.
+
+"You had better go below and get your dress changed, Helga; my mother
+will show you where your berth is. What you want is a warm woollen
+dress that a little sea water will not hurt. There are several
+belonging to my mother on board."
+
+When Helga came up, they were at sea. The pilot was steering.
+Mrs. Hardy was sitting on a wicker chair on deck. Some one in a
+sailor's dress placed a chair for her.
+
+"When you are tired of sitting here," said Hardy, for he it was, "you
+can go into the deck-house and lie down. We shall have dinner at six.
+There is Samso, and before you rise to-morrow we shall be at
+Copenhagen, I shall have to be up all night."
+
+The yacht delighted Helga. The dinner was served so well that it
+surprised her; and when they came on deck, it was a pleasure to see
+the distant lights in the fine summer's night, and to feel the yacht
+rushing through the smooth sea.
+
+"I do like this. Hardy," she said. "Must I go to my berth? I would
+rather be on deck and hear your voice now and then."
+
+"No," said Hardy; "because you must not draw off my attention. We have
+to look after the pilot, and I am the only man on board that knows
+Danish;" and Helga went at once.
+
+Mrs. Hardy, who had heard what had passed, was pleased to see her
+rapid compliance with what was necessary.
+
+When Helga came on deck the next day, they were at anchor near the
+Custom House at Copenhagen. Mrs. Hardy was already up, and they had
+breakfast.
+
+Hardy gave some necessary orders as to coaling, and they went ashore
+and saw the Museum of Northern Antiquities, Thorwaldsen's Museum, and
+much else, and lunched at the Hotel d'Angleterre in the King's New
+Market, or Kongens Nytorv.
+
+"Now, Helga, what is there more to see?" asked Hardy.
+
+"There is the picture gallery in Christiansborg Slot, but there are so
+many steps up to it that it will fatigue Mrs. Hardy; but, if we might,
+I should like to call and see Axel, and arrange about his coming back
+with us," said Helga. "To-morrow you could see Rosenborg, which is
+certain to interest you; we have to give notice to-day to the
+curator."
+
+"I shall be henpecked, mother," said Hardy. "She orders everything
+already."
+
+"No, you will not," said Helga, who understood him, although he had
+spoken in English. "I shall give my life to you, and my will too."
+There was no mistaking the look in those blue eyes. "You might be
+interested," she added, "in going to the Royal Theatre. The play
+to-night is one of Holberg's comedies, 'Den pantsatte Bondedreng,'
+that is, 'The Farmer's Boy left in Pledge.' It is a good play and
+popular. I can tell the story of the play to Mrs. Hardy before she
+goes, as you. Hardy, already know it."
+
+"I give myself entirely in your hands, Helga. You shall be obeyed
+before marriage, and obey me after," said Hardy, laughing.
+
+"It is not a question of obedience," replied Helga. "I am yours
+altogether when I am your wife."
+
+As she had said this in Danish, Hardy explained to his mother.
+
+Mrs. Hardy said, "She is a jewel, John, and without price;" and rose
+from her seat and kissed her on the parting of her hair.
+
+"Don't do that, mother," said John; "you make me wish to kiss her head
+off."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+    "Oh, ye valleys! oh, ye mountains!
+    Oh, ye groves, and crystal fountains!
+    How I love, as liberty,
+    By turns to come and visit ye!"
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Axel's joy at the unexpected pleasure of seeing his sister and Hardy
+was unbounded, but when he heard he was going on board the yacht for a
+cruise, and then to return home, he was wild with delight.
+
+They went to the theatre that evening, and to Rosenborg the next day,
+and the yacht left in the afternoon for Elsinore, and anchored for the
+night.
+
+Mrs. Hardy preferred being at sea to staying longer at Copenhagen. The
+theatre with its excellent acting interested her, but the knowledge of
+the language was wanting, and detracted from her enjoyment of
+Holberg's dramatic genius, which for so many years has interested the
+Danish public. Rosenborg, with its rich and varied treasures for four
+hundred years, was a greater enjoyment to her, and is alone worth a
+visit to Copenhagen.
+
+"We have supplies and coal on board, mother," said Hardy, "and we can
+run up the Swedish coast to Gothenborg and see the falls at
+Trollhaettan, by starting early, and can then cruise down the Danish
+coast."
+
+"I think, John," said Mrs. Hardy, "I would rather go up to
+Christiania; we can write Pastor Lindal from Elsinore that we shall do
+so. We can lay to during the darker hours at many places, or, as we
+take a pilot from here to Christiania, can run on. The weather is
+calm."
+
+Helga had heard what Mrs. Hardy had said, and, as Hardy looked at her,
+she said, "Where your mother pleases."
+
+The next day, at breakfast time after English fashion, the yacht was
+fifty miles from Elsinore, and sea life began. The decks were clean
+and everything in order. The fore-staysail was set, as well as the
+fore and main sails, to catch the wind from the westward, and the
+yacht ran steadily, to the comfort of all on board.
+
+Hardy had every arrangement made for his mother's comfort, her chair
+and wraps and footstool were all placed on deck, as he knew she liked,
+and Helga watched him doing this with pleasure.
+
+"I think, Helga," he said, "it may interest you to inspect the yacht.
+Axel has been everywhere except up the masts." And Hardy showed her
+the engines, the many contrivances for economizing space, the compact
+little cooking-galley, and the berths for his own use and friends, as
+well as the little library they had on board, the stores and pantry.
+"And now," he said, "as the sea air will make you hungry, and you are
+not accustomed to an English breakfast, what would you like for lunch?
+There is a list of soups, also preserved meats, and a lot of things
+sent from Hardy Place."
+
+"I will have anything that has come from Hardy Place," said Helga; and
+Hardy gave directions accordingly, to her subsequent approval.
+
+They walked up and down the deck, and Hardy pointed out the different
+places on the coast on the chart, stopping at times to speak to
+Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"I think this is the most delightful way of travelling. Hardy," said
+Helga, "and I recollect that you said so when you drove us to Esbjerg.
+There is more living interest at sea; the changes and contrasts are
+greater, that is, in natural features."
+
+"You are right, Helga, except that you call me Hardy. Now, my name is
+John, positively John."
+
+"I cannot pronounce it as you do," said Helga, "and I am afraid you
+will laugh at me. The name with us is spelt 'Jon,' pronounced 'Yon.'
+We have also 'Johan,' pronounced 'Yohan.'"
+
+"I am aware of the learning you exhibit, Helga; but, notwithstanding,
+my name is John, and if you do not call me so, I shall be obliged to
+kiss you until you do, and my mother will say I shall be quite
+justified in taking that course."
+
+Helga went and sat down by Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"He is teasing me," she said, as she laid her head on Mrs. Hardy's
+lap.
+
+"John," said Mrs. Hardy, as she touched Helga's cheek, "you do not
+take care of your Scandinavian princess; her skin is so thin and
+clear, that this little cheek is at fever heat with the action of the
+sun and wind. Tell my maid to bring the lotion I use, and a sponge."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Hardy," said Helga, "but I do not mind the sun
+burning me; it makes my face a little warm, that is all."
+
+"She does not know how handsome she is, John," said Mrs. Hardy, in
+French; "but her beauty lies in this, that there is nothing so
+beautiful as what is true."
+
+After lunch, John Hardy told one of his men to fetch some rope quoits,
+to amuse Axel, and cleared part of the deck for the purpose. Helga,
+however, joined in the game with the zest of a child; her clear voice
+and laughter and natural grace made conquests of the yacht sailors.
+
+"Uncommon neat about the spars!" exclaimed an old salt; "a smart craft
+when she's got all her sails bent, I'll be bound."
+
+"Well, pilot," said Hardy, "where can you put us in for shelter for
+the night? We want to go up the Christiania Fjord by daylight, and
+when the ladies will be on deck. It has, besides, been a long run for
+the engineers."
+
+"We shall have Frederikstad abeam at ten tonight, if she goes as she's
+going, and we can lay off there until the morning," replied the pilot.
+"There is no anger in the weather, and it will be a fine night. In
+fact, there will be no night; we are close on St. Hans' night, the
+longest day."
+
+"We will keep the fires banked, anyway," said Hardy, "and set a
+watch.''
+
+"Yes, better weigh," said the pilot. "The chances are the custom-house
+officers will board, and you had best keep your burgee and ensign
+flying, as then they may not trouble you."
+
+At six the wind fell, and the sails were taken in, and the sea was
+soon without a ripple. Mrs. Hardy and Helga sat on deck after dinner,
+enjoying the changing beauty of the shore and the soft tints that rest
+on the northern lands at close of day. Hardy had wraps brought up from
+below, to keep the dew off his mother and the Scandinavian princess,
+and chatted with them.
+
+When they determined to go below, Helga, in her Danish manner, shook
+hands with Hardy, and said, "Tak for i dag" (thank you for to-day). "I
+have never enjoyed life so much."
+
+"Mother," said John, when Helga had gone, "you surprised me when you
+said you would rather go up to Christiania; you did so that I might
+see my princess for a few days when her mind is animated by what is
+strikingly novel to her, so that the bright transparency of her
+character should be more apparent. Thank you, my mother!"
+
+"We have one heart, John," replied his mother.
+
+John Hardy went on deck, anything but disposed to sleep. "Pass the
+word to get up for drift-lines and two men to go in a boat fishing."
+
+The night, or rather the softer daylight, was favourable for catching,
+Pollock and one man rowing. John Hardy worked two lines and the other
+man two. They pulled in round the islands and soon caught many fish,
+which made a welcome addition to the breakfast-table the next day.
+
+At eight they were under weigh, steaming up the grander scenery of the
+Christiania Fjord. Helga had come on deck, and Hardy saw she was
+interested in the scenery they were passing.
+
+"We are in the Christiania Fjord," he said.
+
+"How lovely and lake-like!" said Helga, when the breakfast-bell rang.
+"Must we go below, John?"
+
+"There is no need whatever, now that you have called me, John;" and he
+directed her breakfast and his own to be brought on deck, and that his
+mother should be informed they were having breakfast on deck, which
+brought Mrs. Hardy up with them.
+
+"We are making progress, mother," said Hardy, "and, for the first
+time, I have been called John; but only under desperate threats."
+
+"You will not let him tease me, Mrs. Hardy?" said Helga, with an
+appealing look and earnest tone.
+
+"Do you wish me to punish him?" said Mrs. Hardy, smiling. "Shall I
+have him thrown overboard, or put in irons?"
+
+"No, no!" cried Helga, who was doubtful how far the maternal authority
+might extend amongst the English.
+
+"Then we will both of us forgive him this time?" said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Yes, I will, Mrs. Hardy," said Helga, with an earnestness that left
+no doubt.
+
+"Now then," said John, "as I have been condemned and pardoned, let us
+have breakfast. I was afraid to go to sleep last night, so went
+fishing, to catch some fish for breakfast, and here they are."
+
+"Why, John, were you afraid to go to sleep?" asked Helga, anxiously.
+
+"Because I knew I should dream of you, Helga," replied Hardy, "and
+have not been in bed all night because of that, and because I went
+fishing. Moreover, I suspect you of being a 'Mare,' your eyebrows grow
+together, and I dread the nightmare."
+
+"My eyebrows do not grow together," replied Helga, firmly.
+
+"Let me see," said John; and he took her face between his hands, and
+added, "I am not certain, I must look closer;" and kissed her between
+the eyes.
+
+"It is time for me to interfere," said John's mother; and she rang a
+small handbell in the deckhouse.
+
+"Oh, don't, mother!" said John, with a piteous look.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Hardy! what are you going to do with Him?" asked Helga, with
+concern.
+
+"First, he shall have no more breakfast, because he has finished,"
+said Mrs. Hardy; "and then I will condemn him to----"
+
+"No, no!" said Helga, beseechingly.
+
+"I must," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+The great black-bearded steward came in to take away the breakfast
+things.
+
+"Do go away; you are not wanted!" said Helga; and she pushed him out,
+and shut the door of the deck-house.
+
+Mrs. Hardy got up and embraced her affectionately.
+
+"Why," said she, "I was only going to condemn him to love you always,
+all his life, and with all his heart. You must not mind if he teases a
+little, all men do; but he is as good as gold, and as true as
+yourself."
+
+"Now, Helga," said John, "let the steward clear away, and have a walk
+on deck. I will not tease you any more until next time. But where is
+that boy Axel?"
+
+Axel had become a favourite with the men, for English sailors like a
+quick lad. He had an undying interest in knots and the contrivances on
+board the yacht, and the men liked the little Dane, as they called
+him. John Hardy sent a man to find him.
+
+"He is down in the fok'sle, sir, learning knots off the men," said the
+man, touching his cap.
+
+"Axel is trying to learn our English way of tieing knots, Helga," said
+Hardy, "and my men have taken him in charge. They will be kind to him,
+and would teach a lad no harm."
+
+"When you were with us last year, you were so thoughtful of every one,
+and you were so kind; but when you tease me, I think you love me
+less," said Helga, slowly; "and I see you are thoughtful still. But
+why do you tease me?"
+
+"Because I love you so; I do not know how to behave wisely," replied
+John. "You called me a cool and calculating Englishman; but if you
+knew how it hurt me when you said so, you would not have said what you
+did."
+
+Mrs. Hardy had come on deck, and Helga went to her. Mrs. Hardy saw she
+was agitated, and was alarmed, but waited for Helga to speak.
+
+"I know now he loved me from the first time we went to Rosendal," said
+Helga, "and I have been so bad to him. What I have said and did was
+hard."
+
+"He understands it all, Helga, and there is no need for grief when you
+are so happy in the certainty of John's truth," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Thank you; thank you!" said Helga. "I feel so weak against his
+strength."
+
+"Go and tell him so," said Mrs. Hardy, "if you feel so, and enjoy the
+beautiful scenes he is taking you through."
+
+"There is not the weirdness in the scenery here, Helga, as further
+north, on the west coast of Norway. The hills here are rounder in
+form, as if by the action of ice ages ago," said Hardy. "Your father
+has often explained to you the action of glaciers, and how the large
+stones or boulders found in Jutland were conveyed by the ice and left
+where the ice grounded."
+
+"It is lovely to pass a fresh prospect every minute," said Helga, "and
+to sail so easily through the still waters. The sun is hotter here
+than I think with us; it scalds more."
+
+"Pass the word to get the awning up," said Hardy to one of his men;
+and presently half a dozen willing hands had done it.
+
+"How pleasant!" said Helga. "The draught of air under the awning makes
+it feel so delightfully fresh. The colour of the foliage, the grass,
+the rocks, and sea appear distinct in effect of colour, John; how is
+that?"
+
+"It is one of the many phases of nature," replied John. "The air is
+very clear here, and it may be that the summer being so short, nature
+paints in fresher colours."
+
+"When shall we reach Christiania?" asked Helga.
+
+"About three, as the yacht is going; the order I have given is, to run
+forty revolutions, that is a little more than half speed," replied
+Hardy. "If you wish to reach Christiania earlier, I will give the
+order for full speed."
+
+"You must do what your mother wishes, John," said Helga.
+
+"I am," replied John; "her wishes are that I should consult yours.
+Now, for instance, we shall get to Christiania at three; what would
+you like to see this afternoon?"
+
+"Oscarshall," said Helga, "and Tidemand's pictures is what I long to
+see; but we had best go there to-morrow. We can take a walk this
+afternoon."
+
+"And come back to dinner and go to the theatre?" added John.
+
+The New Palace came in view about two, and then Akershuus Castle, and
+the yacht was put in her berth by the pilot.
+
+Mrs. Hardy declined to go ashore, as she said she should be too
+fatigued to go to the theatre, and John had a walk with his princess.
+He tried to inveigle her into saying that she wanted something, that
+he might get it for her; but his sly ways were detected.
+
+At the theatre a French Vaudeville was acted, which John thought his
+mother was greatly tired of and would have left, but Helga's interest
+at being in a foreign theatre, and seeing so many strange faces, was
+so apparent that Mrs. Hardy would not leave. The night when they came
+out of the theatre was beautiful, and John, at his mother's wish,
+steered the yacht's gig a little out of the harbour before they joined
+the yacht.
+
+The next day was Helga's birthday, her twenty-first, and at eight
+o'clock, Norsk time, the yacht was dressed with bunting.
+
+Before Helga had finished dressing, Mrs. Hardy's maid came into her
+state-room, with a small packet, containing a handsome turquoise ring
+from Mrs. Hardy, and a leather case from John Hardy, with the initials
+"H. H." There was a slight blush on her cheek as she remarked this.
+Her name was to be Helga Hardy.
+
+"Mr. Hardy has directed me to show you the contents of the
+dressing-case, as you may not understand how to open the secret
+drawer," said Mrs. Hardy's maid. "This is a little gold key, and opens
+the dressing-case; there is scent, tooth-powder, and soap, and the
+whole is ready for use. And this is the way the jewel drawer opens;
+you press this knob, and it flies open, and is filled with the
+jewellery Mr. Hardy thought you might like. When you wish to shut the
+drawer, you push it so, and it closes with a spring."
+
+Mrs. Hardy's maid opened the jewel drawer again, and left it for Helga
+to examine its contents. The initials were engraved as a monogram on
+different articles, even the ivory brushes had them. Mrs. Hardy had
+told her that light blue suited her, and there was a turquoise
+bracelet in good taste, and several rings, some of which did not fit
+her, as John Hardy when he bought her betrothal ring in Copenhagen had
+not been able to get them altered, as his stay in Copenhagen was
+short. Her first impulse was to decline such a costly present, next
+she thought, "He cannot have told his mother." The breakfast bell
+rang, and she went into the saloon where breakfast was served, and
+kissed Mrs. Hardy, whose present she wore and thanked her warmly. John
+Hardy wished her many happy returns of the day in a kindly Danish
+phrase.
+
+"But how do you like John's present, my child?" said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+Helga looked at John. She saw at once that his mother not only knew
+all about it, but had probably suggested it. "I thought it too costly
+to accept," said Helga.
+
+John put his hands on her two shoulders and shook her gently. "You
+must not," he said in Danish, "be stiff-necked on your birthday. My
+mother bought what I have given you in London, and the jewellery was
+sent to Copenhagen for us to select from. It is all my mother's
+choice."
+
+"In the winter?" said Helga.
+
+"Yes, my child, in the winter. I understood John, although he had so
+many doubts and fears. He told me so much about you that I ordered the
+dressing-case, which John has paid for," said Mrs. Hardy, "and if I
+were you I would thank him."
+
+She thanked him in the pretty Danish manner that so well became her,
+and said, "Thank you, Mr. Hardy; you are so good to me."
+
+If the black-bearded steward had not come in at this moment, it is to
+be feared that John would have run the risk of being summarily
+adjudicated upon as before described.
+
+"Where is Axel?" asked John.
+
+"He is out fishing, sir; been out since six o'clock, with one of the
+men forard," replied the steward. This was explained to Helga, and
+breakfast proceeded.
+
+"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "that Helga should write her father, and
+say that we have arrived here and shall leave to-morrow evening; and,
+John, you could ask him to meet us at Aarhus when we arrived. I fear
+the worthy Pastor may think you have carried off his daughter, John."
+
+"The very course I intend to take, mother, and in which you have aided
+and abetted, and I bless and thank you for it," said John.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+    "Come, live with me and be my love.
+    And we will all the pleasures prove,
+    That valleys, groves, or hills, or field,
+    Or woods and sleepy mountains yield."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Helga wrote her father as follows:--
+
+"My All-dearest Father,
+
+"You were written to that we were going to Christiania from Elsinore.
+I did not know that it was so far, but the steamship Herr Hardy has
+sails as fast as the steamer from Aarhus to Copenhagen, and everything
+is so clean and nice, and seeing fresh places, has been a great
+pleasure. Mrs. Hardy has been, as Karl said, as kind as any one could
+be, and I cannot say how grateful I am to her. We are to go to
+Oscarshall to-day and many other places in Christiania; and Mr. Hardy
+has asked me to write and say that we shall leave here to-morrow, and
+shall call at Fredrikshavn and telegraph to you from there the time we
+may expect to be at Aarhus, and they think you might like to come and
+see the steamer, and stay the night on board, and return home the next
+day with us. Herr Hardy has written a letter, which I enclose, as he
+said you might wish to hear from him to say how glad his mother would
+be to see you on English ground, as an English ship is as English
+land. If you can come, dear little father, I should be so glad! I hope
+Kirstin has managed everything for you in my absence. She said I was
+wrong to go away from you, and perhaps I am, and it is a sad thought
+to me; but it is not for long, and if I have been led away to do what
+is not fitting, you will tell me, and I will do what you say. Axel is
+very happy on board. Herr Hardy is very good to him, and his men are
+so friendly and teach him how to tie knots and go fishing with him,
+that he is very happy all day long.
+
+"Mrs. Hardy greets you kindly, and Herr Hardy says I must say that he
+thanks you for teaching him to love what is good and true. Live well,
+little father.
+
+"Your daughter,
+
+"Helga Lindal."
+
+John Hardy gave directions that the yacht should fill up with coal and
+supplies; and in the two days they were at Christiania, a good deal
+was seen. There is much to see, and much of natural beauty in
+Christiania, and Helga was interested. When they got under way and
+steamed down the Christiania Fjord and saw the effect of the sun
+setting, which then had its special beauty, Helga thought she had
+never seen anything so lovely.
+
+"No! not even Rosendal?" asked John.
+
+"Rosendal has its own charm," replied Helga; "there can be other
+places that have their singular beauty."
+
+"I am so glad that you say that," said Hardy. "You may even come to
+think that the place where my fathers have lived in England has its
+charm;" and he held her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes.
+
+"I have promised to marry you, John," said Helga, "and it is not
+whether your house is beautiful or not; wherever you live I will give
+my life to you."
+
+"Bless you, dearest," said John, "I will never forget what you say;"
+and he never did.
+
+When the yacht had cleared the Christiania Fjord, the night was fine
+and clear, but a breeze sprang up from the westward, and grew fresher
+towards morning. This had the effect of sending the yacht along under
+sail and steam, and at eight o'clock the next day the pilot was sent
+ashore at Frederikshavn with a telegram for Pastor Lindal, that they
+hoped to arrive at Aarhus at six in the evening.
+
+"When are you going to marry your Scandinavian princess, John?" asked
+Mrs. Hardy, when she was settled in her usual place on deck.
+
+"I am afraid to say anything, mother, to Helga," replied her son. "I
+see there does exist a doubt in her mind as to whether she is not
+doing what is wrong in leaving her father for this cruise, much more a
+cruise for life. I fear to approach the subject with her, as it may
+lead to her entertaining a fixed determination not to marry until her
+father's death."
+
+"There is no selfishness about Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "and,
+moreover, he is a sensible man. He is certain to desire that his
+daughter should be well and happily provided for; besides, he has seen
+enough of you, John, to value you, and I see he likes you. I think you
+are right not to speak to Helga on the subject; leave it to me and
+Pastor Lindal."
+
+"Thank you, mother, a thousand times," said John. "I understand you
+perfectly well, and I will do anything you think best or shall
+arrange."
+
+"What I have thought of, John, is this," said his mother: "you can be
+married, say, the first of August, and remain at Rosendal for your
+honeymoon, and then come home to Hardy Place."
+
+"And what will you do, mother?" asked John.
+
+"I see you do not want your own mother in the way during the
+honeymoon," said Mrs. Hardy, smiling. "You can send the yacht round to
+Esbjerg, and I will meet it by rail as soon as you are married, and
+return home in the yacht to Harwich."
+
+"What! go home alone, mother?" said John. "I cannot let you do that!"
+
+"Well, you can see me safely off at Esbjerg, John," said Mrs. Hardy,
+"But this is the way that will please me best, and I wish to give you
+a welcome home with your wife, and I long to see her at the head of
+the table at Hardy Place."
+
+"You are the same good mother, ever;" and John took his mother's hand
+and kissed it.
+
+As soon as the entrance of the outer harbour at Aarhus could be made
+out, John Hardy went on the bridge with his binocular, and
+distinguished Pastor Lindal's head appearing over the parapet wall at
+the pierhead.
+
+"Your father is on the pier, Helga, and you can see him with this
+glass," said Hardy, handing her his binocular. This she found
+difficult to do, as there were so many other heads appearing; but all
+doubt was at an end as the yacht glided past the pierhead of the outer
+harbour, for there was the worthy Pastor himself.
+
+The yacht was soon brought to, and Pastor Lindal stepped on deck, to
+be met with much affection from his daughter and Axel. It was clear to
+Mrs. Hardy that Helga's attachment to her father was one of simple
+trust in each other, the same as existed between herself and her own
+boy John.
+
+The Pastor was ceremoniously polite to Mrs. Hardy, but he greeted John
+Hardy with much warmth and thanks. He was pleased with the yacht and
+its many clever contrivances for saving space and arriving at comfort,
+and at dinner was, for him, merry. He was delighted to see his
+daughter with such a fresh and healthy look, after the cruise to
+Christiania. Axel, usually a quiet and retiring lad, talked
+incessantly; he had so much to relate of all that passed since leaving
+Copenhagen, that at length the Pastor stopped him; but Hardy
+intervened, "Let him run on, Herr Pastor; he is describing very well.
+He will come to an end with what he has to say, shortly."
+
+The Pastor had thus, from Axel's point of view, the whole history of
+the cruise from beginning to end.
+
+"And what do you say, Helga?" asked the Pastor.
+
+"I never thought that life could be made so pleasant and so happy,
+little father," replied Helga. "Mrs. Hardy is kinder than I can say."
+
+"And Hardy was not?" said the Pastor, smiling.
+
+"He is like his mother, little father; their natures are the same,"
+replied Helga. "But he is a man, and men are never so good as women."
+
+John Hardy laughed, and, as the conversation was in Danish, told his
+mother what Helga had said.
+
+"It is her simple naturalness that makes her say that, John," said
+Mrs. Hardy. "She sees in me what she thinks a perfect woman, although
+I am an ordinary Englishwoman; while she does not understand the
+rougher nature men possess. Her thorough truth in thought and feeling
+is her greatest charm."
+
+Axel, however, put his oar in. "Why, father how can Helga say Herr
+Hardy is not as good as Fru Hardy? He gave her a toilet box with
+costly things in it."
+
+"Yes, little father, it is true," said Helga; "but it was too costly a
+present, and I did not like to accept it."
+
+When dinner was over, Mrs. Hardy told her son to go on deck, and take
+Axel with him. She then asked Helga to show her father the
+dressing-case John Hardy had given her. The Pastor started when he
+read the initials, "H. H." His quick apprehension realized the
+position.
+
+"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "our children leave us as we grow
+older; and is there any better wish for them than that they should
+have a happy future?"
+
+Mrs. Hardy held out her hand, and Pastor Lindal grasped it. He
+understood her, and, with the ceremonious politeness habitual to him,
+raised her hand to his lips.
+
+"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "they can be married on the first of
+August. There is no reason to delay the happiness of their young life.
+They can remain near you at Rosendal for a month, and come to England
+for the winter, and return to you in May."
+
+Helga was present, and heard all Mrs. Hardy had said. She put one hand
+on her father's shoulder.
+
+"Father," she said in Danish, "I will wait your wish and time."
+
+"Mrs. Hardy is right, Helga," said her father, "I shall miss you, but
+it will be a joy to me to lose you to Hardy. He is the one man I like,
+and I hope he is the one man you love."
+
+"I can never forget how we wronged him, when Rasmussen was injured and
+died, and how noble he has always been!" said his daughter. "I have
+been unkind and bad to him, and I now know pained him with what I
+said. Little father, what you say I should do that will I do."
+
+"Mrs. Hardy," said the Pastor, "my daughter assents to what you
+propose, and I assent. You can order the matter as you will."
+
+"I will promise you. Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "that all the
+time she can she shall be in Denmark, and that I will be to her as her
+own mother." Mrs. Hardy held out her hand to the Pastor, and the
+compact then made ever after was adhered to.
+
+Mrs. Hardy rose, and kissed Helga on her flaxen hair. "Will you tell
+John, or I?" she asked.
+
+"I cannot," replied Helga, earnestly.
+
+"Then, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "we will go on deck, and I
+should like a walk about Aarhus, if you will take me, and John can
+take his wife that is to be."
+
+When Mrs. Hardy came on deck, she said to her son, "The first of
+August, John; it is so settled."
+
+John Hardy lifted his mother from the deck, and positively kissed her
+in the sight of his own men and a numerous crowd of curious Danes, who
+had collected to see the yacht, and f Helga had not jumped ashore, it
+was not at all improbable but that she might have shared the same
+fate.
+
+The trust and confidence the mother and son had in each other was a
+comfort to the Pastor. It was the best guarantee for Helga's future.
+
+"It is late," said the Pastor; "but I know the clerk at the Domkirke
+(cathedral), and you can possibly see it."
+
+The advantage of seeing the Domkirke with the Pastor was obvious to
+Mrs. Hardy, and they were much interested in the details he gave of
+the old vestments preserved in the Domkirke and the ancient folding
+pictures at the altar, the date of which is 1479, but the pictures are
+Italian and older.
+
+"The old church tradition," said the Pastor, "is that the patron
+saint, St. Clement, after suffering martyrdom, came ashore after
+floating about the sea for eleven hundred years, bound to a ship's
+anchor, which circumstance is delineated in more than one place in the
+Domkirke. One of the stories of the Domkirke is recorded on a stone,"
+continued the Pastor. "It is the figure of a woman with a hole in her
+left breast. She was shot by a rejected lover, as she went to the
+Domkirke to attend the church service of the times. The stone must
+have been once in an horizontal position, as it is worn as if it had
+been placed at the entrance of the Domkirke, as is believed to be the
+case, and much trodden on."
+
+"Are there more stories connected with the Domkirke?" asked
+Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Yes, many," replied the Pastor. "There is the story of the monks
+being killed by bricks falling on them from the arched roof, when
+playing cards behind the altar. There is also the story of a large
+hunting horn, which is said to be now preserved in one of our museums,
+which horn was used at the evening service before Good Friday, in
+catholic times. It was blown through a hole in the roof of the
+Domkirke, and the words shouted as loud as possible, 'Evig forbandet
+vaere, Judas' (For ever may Judas be accursed). There is also the
+monument of Laurids Ebbesen who had been unfaithful to the king, who,
+when he visited the Domkirke, cut the nose off the monumental figure
+with his sword. The ship which is hung up in the Domkirke, is a model
+which Peter the Great of Russia had made in France, and it was sent by
+a French vessel from Toulon, which was wrecked at the Scaw, or, as we
+call it, Skagen. The cargo of the ship was sold by auction. A seaman
+of Aarhus bought the model, which is that of a ship of war with
+seventy-four cannon, and gave it to the Domkirke, at Whitsuntide,
+1720."
+
+"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+It must, however, be recorded that notwithstanding the interest John
+Hardy had in such lore as the Pastor possessed in such rich abundance,
+he was very much interested in another direction. At length, after
+much absorbing contemplation, he said, "I never saw such blue as there
+is in your eyes, Helga!"
+
+The next day they returned to Rosendal, and Pastor Lindal to his
+parsonage with Helga. He had been pleased with his berth on board the
+yacht, and the comfortable opportunity the deck-house afforded for
+holding a tobacco-parliament, which Mrs. Hardy bore with much
+patience.
+
+As the yacht was at Aarhus, Mrs. Hardy wished to make a tour amongst
+the Danish islands before sending it to Esbjerg.
+
+"I think, John," she said, "that to-morrow we will invite Pastor
+Lindal and Helga to dinner, and we will talk over the arrangements for
+your wedding. I should not offer to give her a wedding outfit, as I
+think she would not like it. I should give her a good watch and chain,
+as a wedding present, and lockets to the two Miss Jensens. It is clear
+that the quieter the wedding is the more likely to meet the Pastor's
+wishes and his daughter's."
+
+"I think," said John, "that you are right, but I should wish to let
+Helga know that I would bear any expense they wished. I should be so
+glad if you would say so to her, mother. When we were at Christiania,
+I wanted her to let me get her gloves or anything else she might wish
+for, and she said 'You need not try to buy my goodwill, John; you
+possess it' but she used a Danish word which 'goodwill' does not
+translate."
+
+"I had better ascertain their wishes, John," said his mother, "and say
+we only wish to further them; and this once settled, you must come
+with me on board the yacht, so that your mother may have her own boy
+with her for a while. It will be better for you, as here you would be
+restless; and as to your plans for teaching Helga to ride, you can do
+so after you are married and are staying here."
+
+John caressed his mother and assented.
+
+Helga had filled the porcelain pipe after dinner, and Mrs. Hardy and
+Pastor Lindal sat in a garden seat in the grounds at Rosendal, the day
+following the decision of Mrs. Hardy's views for her son's wedding.
+
+"We should wish to obey any wishes you may have, Herr Pastor, as to
+the wedding," said Mrs. Hardy, after a general conversation with him.
+
+"John will remain at Rosendal for a month, and then go to England for
+the winter, and come to you again in May."
+
+The Pastor took several long pulls at his pipe and created a cloud of
+smoke. At last he said--
+
+"I have not thought of it, Mrs. Hardy." And it was plain he had not.
+
+"I will, then, say what I think," said she. "The wedding should be at
+your church; and will you marry them?"
+
+"Certainly; it is my intention," he replied.
+
+"The wedding to be as quiet as possible," continued Mrs. Hardy, "and
+proprietor Jensen's daughters to be bridesmaids; and John has an old
+college friend who will come here to be his best man, and will return
+with me to England in the yacht, from Esbjerg."
+
+Mrs. Hardy's practical common sense impressed the Pastor; he assented
+sadly.
+
+"There is nothing to mourn over or regret, Herr Pastor, and you will
+feel the constant joy of knowing that she is happy with the man of her
+choice, and that as long as I live I will watch over her as my own;
+also the pleasure of looking forward to her stay in Denmark every
+summer will occupy and interest you."
+
+The Pastor smoked in silence, but his heart was sad.
+
+It was fortunate that John and Helga appeared, the latter laden with
+blooms gleaned in the valley of roses. Her face was bright with
+happiness.
+
+"Mrs. Hardy," she said, "John has persisted in picking rose after
+rose, holding them up to my cheek and telling me that I am the fairest
+rose, and that I am going to be the rose of Rosendal, and has teased
+me dreadfully."
+
+"I think John is right to say so, and to say so to you," said
+Mrs. Hardy, smiling kindly at her.
+
+The Pastor felt what Mrs. Hardy had once said, that we should love
+with our children's love, and the sadness left his face. He began to
+share his daughter's love for Hardy.
+
+Mrs. Hardy rose from her seat, and drew Helga away, and John had to be
+content to follow her with his eyes only.
+
+"Your father, Helga, last year, went for a tour with John; can he do
+the same now? On Monday, I am going with John in the yacht for a
+cruise amongst the Danish islands," said Mrs. Hardy, "do you think he
+would like to go with us? It would allow of his being better
+acquainted with us, and would distract his thoughts from dwelling on
+your leaving him."
+
+"Nothing could be better or kinder, Mrs. Hardy," replied Helga. "I
+will write for the priest who generally does my father's duty in his
+absence, at once."
+
+"Stay," said Mrs. Hardy, "if your father leaves with us, it will
+enable you to get ready for your wedding in his absence; it will be
+better so. And here is a little packet. It will meet any expense; it
+is not from John, it is from me;" and Mrs. Hardy kissed her
+affectionately and was gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+    "_Piscator._--But, my worthy friend, I would rather
+    prove myself a gentleman by being learned and humble, valiant
+    and inoffensive, virtuous and communicable, than by any fond
+    ostentation of riches."
+    --_The Complete Angler._
+
+
+Pastor Lindal accepted the invitation to join the yacht. He was
+anxious to know more of Mrs. Hardy, in whose hands he felt so much of
+his daughter's future lay.
+
+Mrs. Hardy had, as she had done before every Sunday, attended the
+parish church, and Helga thanked her for the contents of the packet of
+Danish bank notes. It was more in amount, she said, than she wanted,
+and would return Mrs. Hardy three-fourths of it.
+
+"It is very kind," said Helga; "but I can only accept what is
+positively necessary, and I accept that because it would relieve my
+father from an expense that he cannot well bear, and because John
+might wish to see me well dressed when I am married to him."
+
+"Would you not like to make Kirstin and your father's other servants a
+present when you are married?" said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Yes, I shall; but I cannot use your money to do that, Mrs. Hardy. I
+shall give them what I have of my own, and what they know I have
+valued; it is not much, but they would like it best."
+
+This conversation had ended when they reached the parsonage, where
+Robert Garth was waiting with the carriage to drive Mrs. Hardy and her
+son to Rosendal.
+
+"John," said Mrs. Hardy, as they drove away, "she is worthy of your
+best affection. There is not a day passes but that something arises
+which makes me love her more and more." Mrs. Hardy loved again with
+her son's love.
+
+"Mother," said John, "she is so dear to me; there is nothing that is
+not truth with her."
+
+"You are right, John," said his mother. "Give her all your heart, and
+she will give you hers."
+
+"I know it, mother," said John.
+
+Pastor Lindal accompanied them to Aarhus, and when they came on board
+the yacht, John Hardy spread out the chart of the Danish islands
+before him.
+
+"We can reach Nyborg to-night, Herr Pastor," said he, "and call and
+stop at Svendborg, and run round Moen's Klint to Copenhagen, and
+passing Elsinore to Aarhus again, stopping at any place on the way."
+
+"But the time?" asked the Pastor.
+
+"A week," replied John; "or you can land at any place, and return by
+rail in a few hours."
+
+"No, Herr Pastor," interposed Mrs. Hardy, "you must not bind us to
+time. We shall see if the cruise is a benefit to you, and if so, you
+must prolong it."
+
+The Pastor always surrendered when challenged by Mrs. Hardy.
+
+Whilst they were at lunch, the _Rosendal_ steam yacht was passing
+Samso.
+
+"This island," said John Hardy, "appears from the chart to be a sand
+bank washed up by the sea."
+
+"So is all Denmark," said Pastor Lindal. "The legends and traditions
+belonging to Samso, however, are not as old as those of Jutland, and
+it would therefore appear not to have been inhabited at so early a
+period. There is an historical tradition that in 1576 a mermaid
+appeared to a man of Samso, and directed him to go to Kallundborg,
+where King Frederick II. was then staying with his court, and tell him
+that his queen would have a son, which would become a mighty ruler.
+The king questioned the man, who stated that the mermaid's name was
+Isbrand, and that she lived in the sea, not far from land, with her
+mother and grandmother, and that it was the latter that had foretold
+the birth of Queen Margrethe, who united the three Scandinavian
+kingdoms under one crown. King Frederick sent the man home, and
+commanded him not to come to the court again.
+
+The king's son was Christian IV., under whose rule Denmark attained
+its zenith of power. Once, when Christian IV. was driven ashore by a
+storm on Samso, he saw the priest's man ploughing. The king took the
+plough and ploughed a furrow, and told the man to tell his master that
+the king had ploughed for him."
+
+"A good way to acquire popularity in those times," remarked
+Mrs. Hardy. "But are there any more stories of the kind?"
+
+"There is the story of the Church of the Holy Cross. There is a tablet
+said to be yet in the church, on which there is an inscription,"
+replied the Pastor. "This states that a gilt cross in the church was
+washed ashore bound to a corpse, but that when they would take the
+corpse to a particular churchyard, that four horses could not move the
+waggon in which it was placed. They then tried to draw the waggon to
+another churchyard, with the same result; but at last they directed
+the horses to the church at Onsberg, and then two horses could easily
+draw it; so the corpse was buried in the eastern end of the church,
+and the church afterwards called the Church of the Holy Cross. The
+date is given as 1596. There is also a story of the Swedish war of
+1658, when a party of Swedish cavalry took a tailor prisoner, and set
+him at work on a table in a farm-house, while they fired at a mark on
+the door, the balls passing close to his head. It is said the door yet
+exists, with the bullet marks in it."
+
+"We have an island in sight, on the starboard bow, called Endelave;
+are there any traditions existing there?" asked Hardy.
+
+"There is only the story of a giant who threw a stone from thence to
+Jutland, which was so large that two girls saved themselves from a
+bull by climbing to the top of it. There is, however, the variation
+that it was thrown by a giantess from Fyen (Funen) with her garter. I
+know of no special legend from Endelave."
+
+"There is a town marked Kjerteminde on the chart; is that in
+recollection of anything specially historical, as would appear from
+the name?" asked Hardy.
+
+"When Odin built the town called Odense," replied the Pastor, "the
+other towns were envious of its better appearance and condition, and
+particularly the town now called Kjerteminde, and complaint was made
+to Odin, who was angry, and replied, 'Vaer du mindre' (literally, 'be
+you less'); this was that they should continue to be smaller towns
+than Odense. In time the name from Vaer du mindre became altered to its
+present name of Kjerteminde. There is also the variation that the name
+is from St Gertrude's minde (memory) contracted to Kjerteminde. She
+was the sailors' patron saint."
+
+"There is more to be said of Odense, as it was founded by Odin," said
+Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"What I can tell you of Odense," said the Pastor, "is history,
+chiefly. There is the story that a rich man called Ubbe gave his
+property to St. Knud's (Canute) Church under singular circumstances.
+His relatives wanted him to leave his property to them, and they
+placed a woman in his household, if possible, to influence him in
+their favour, and she did not. Ubbe had become blind. He directed some
+tripe to be cooked, possibly because his teeth were gone. The woman,
+however, having no tripe, cut up an old felt hat and gave him. This he
+chewed and chewed, when a little child told him what it was. He was
+angry at the deceit, and gave his property to the Church; and the name
+of a portion of his lands was changed from Ubberud to Kallun (tripe).
+Odense is the birth-place of Hans Christian Andersen, whose stories
+have been translated into English," continued Pastor Lindal; "but,
+like other translations, they lose immeasurably by translation."
+
+"What is the chief historical interest connected with Odense?" asked
+Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"The death of St. Knud," replied the Pastor. "He was the grand-nephew
+of Canute the Great. He was killed in the church of St Albanus, in
+1086, by his rebellious subjects. He wanted to make war on England, as
+he claimed the English throne, and they resisted; so far it is
+history. The story is that he was pursued, and fled to the church, and
+prayed for his enemies. He saw a Jutland man looking at him through a
+window of the church, and the king asked for water. The man ran to a
+stream and fetched water in a cup; but as he reached it to the king,
+another man struck the cup with his spear, and the water was spilt,
+and the king was killed by a stone thrown at him. The man who had
+prevented the king getting the cup of water went out of his mind, and
+had always a burning thirst, and on going to a well to drink fell
+down, and stuck in it over the water, which he could not reach, and so
+perished. The king was canonized, but is said to occasionally visit
+the church, where he was buried, from his place amongst the angels.
+This church he had just commenced to build. There is a story that when
+the tower was building, an apprentice told his master he was as good a
+builder. The master-builder went out of the tower on the scaffolding
+and stuck an axe into it, and told the apprentice to go and fetch it,
+if he could. The apprentice went, but called out that an adjoining
+village was approaching the town of Odense. 'Then God have mercy on
+your soul' said the master-builder. The apprentice fell to the ground
+and was killed. There is, however, a variation of this story, which
+localizes it in Copenhagen at Our Lady's Church there, and that the
+apprentice cried out that he saw two axes. The result was the same."
+
+"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy. "You must try and
+keep up the practice of speaking English." The Pastor was in the habit
+of falling back on his own language when he had a difficulty, for John
+Hardy to interpret.
+
+"I think we should have but one language all over the world," said the
+Pastor, "and that language should be English."
+
+"There is not much to see at Nyborg, mother," said John, "and the
+pilot says if we leave early to-morrow that we had best anchor outside
+the harbour, clear of the course of the steamers from Korsor. We shall
+have the anchor down at six, and we can go ashore and have dinner a
+little before eight, and then the Pastor can hold his second
+tobacco-parliament before we turn in. We shall also have to engage
+another pilot, as it is difficult navigation to Svendborg; and if we
+start at six, we shall be there at eight to-morrow, which will enable
+us to see Svendborg and its pretty neighbourhood, and in the evening
+can anchor under shelter of Vaeiro, an island, so as to reach
+Vordingborg early to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Hardy followed her son's explanation on the chart. He was himself
+the registered owner of his yacht, and acted as his own skipper when
+on board; and as his men had been with him in other yachts, of which
+he had been the owner, they had confidence in him, as they had seen
+his courage and seamanship again and again put to the proof.
+
+"You are always self-reliant, John," said his mother.
+
+"Yes; but Pastor Lindal has taught me on whom reliance should be
+placed," said John. "The simple trust he has and the simple faith of
+which he is convinced are in his life and practice. No sermon can have
+such influence as to be with him one day in his parish when he visits
+those he sees it necessary to visit. It is the simplicity of perfect
+truth about him that has made his daughter a pearl without price."
+
+"I believe every word of what you say, John," said his mother. "She
+has now my heart as completely as she has yours."
+
+There is not so much to see in Nyborg. The walk in the wood is pretty
+with its thoroughly Danish prospect, and there is little else to
+interest. Pastor Lindal was tired when they reached the yacht, but
+revived with the tonic effect of a good dinner. They adjourned to the
+deck-house, and Hardy essayed to fill the porcelain pipe with
+Kanaster, but failed. The pipe was too hard pressed with tobacco and
+would not draw, and it was not John Hardy only who missed Helga.
+
+"Is there anything to relate about Nyborg, Herr Pastor?" asked Hardy.
+
+"There is not much specially," replied the Pastor. "There is the story
+of the monkey taking Christian II. out of his cradle when there was a
+royal residence at Nyborg, and jumping out of the window with him, and
+taking him upon the roof, so that it was with difficulty that they got
+him down again. There is also the story of the ghost of Queen Helvig,
+who was married to Valdemar Atterdag. She is said to have appeared for
+years to the sentry on the ramparts, and to have always left a dollar
+under a stone, which he collected; but one day, he was sick, and told
+a comrade to fetch the dollar, but no dollars were placed under the
+stone after. Queen Helvig was imprisoned there for a long time, under
+a charge frequently preferred in those days."
+
+"Had you not particular days called Maerkedage, to which particular
+importance was attached?" asked Hardy.
+
+"They were principally the greater festivals of the Church, or on New
+Year's Day," replied the Pastor. "Thus, for instance, if the sun shone
+out so long on New Year's Day that a horse could be saddled, it was a
+sign of a fruitful year; also, if a girl or a young man wished to know
+whom she or he would marry, they write the names of suspected persons
+on different pieces of paper, and put them under their pillows on New
+Year's Eve, and the one thus dreamt of is the one selected; also, if a
+turf is cut from the churchyard New Year's Eve, the person who puts it
+on his or her head can see who will die in the year, as their ghosts
+will appear in the churchyard. There is also another means to the same
+end, and that is when people sit at a table New Year's Eve; those that
+will die in the year cast a shadow, but without a head. Tyge Brahe has
+particularized many days in the year as being unlucky, on which to
+attend to any business or to do anything important, but they are so
+numerous that they are not regarded."
+
+"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "you are tired with your walk about
+Nyborg, and your speaking so much in English; I wish to suggest a
+subject that will give you something to think of."
+
+"What may that be?" asked the Pastor.
+
+"I have thought," said Mrs. Hardy, "that you might like to see us at
+home in England before the winter. John will leave at the end of
+August, and you might go with him. What I feel is, that I should like
+during the winter you should feel that your daughter is well cared
+for."
+
+"I will go," said the Pastor; and he held out his hand to Mrs. Hardy
+in his Danish manner, and the matter was at an end. Mrs. Hardy's
+kindly tact always overcame him.
+
+The visit to Svendborg entailed so much to see and explore, that it
+was not until late in the evening that the yacht was reached. The
+Pastor was, however, fresher than the evening before, possibly because
+they had not walked so much, but had driven.
+
+"What we have seen at Svendborg, Herr Pastor, is very pretty," said
+Mrs. Hardy, "but it differs from an English landscape; and it is only
+by seeing both that you can realize the contrast."
+
+"That is very possible," replied Pastor Lindal. "The same landscape
+painted by different artists would make each their impression; how
+much more, then, would nature, with influences we cannot understand,
+produce different effects?"
+
+Mrs. Hardy looked as if a fresh field of thought was opened to her,
+and her son observed his mother's look of surprise.
+
+"I have been often astonished," he said, "to hear from Pastor Lindal
+and Helga a similar cast of thought that has given me something to
+think of for long after. I think it is the outcome of a natural
+singleness of thought we do not often meet."
+
+"I believe you are right, John," said his mother. "But possibly Herr
+Pastor can tell us a tradition of Svendborg;" and she raised her voice
+and addressed him.
+
+"There is the tradition of St. Jorgen," he said, "or, as you call it
+in English, St. George and the dragon. The features of the story, of
+course, are the same; with us the tradition runs as follows:--There
+was a temple inhabited by a dragon, who issued from it and laid waste
+the country. Each day the monster craved a human life, until at last
+lots were drawn as to who should be the victim, and from this neither
+the king nor his family were exempt, and the lot fell on his only
+daughter. The king offered half his kingdom to any one who should
+destroy the dragon. A knight called Jorgen attempted to do so, by
+putting poisoned cakes in the dragon's way; but that availed nothing.
+He then attacked it, and the monster retreated to Svendborg; but it
+again came forth, and a combat between the knight and the dragon
+ensued. The dragon was slain, and where its poisonous blood poured out
+no grass will grow. The combat is said to be delineated on the church
+bells. It is very probably only an echo of the Greek story of Perseus
+and Andromeda. You will observe the dragon in our tradition is said to
+have issued from a temple. We had no temples, the Greeks had.
+
+"There are not many special traditions connected with Svendborg. There
+is the story of a noble lady who was murdered at Svendborg, but the
+murderers were men of rank, and the whole town agreed to pay
+blood-money, and some farms were apportioned to the murdered woman's
+relatives and a wooden cross set up over her grave; and it was agreed
+that when the wooden cross fell into decay, whoever first repaired it
+should possess the farm so apportioned. The consequence was that a
+wooden cross was always kept ready to repair the original cross. This
+story has many variations and is differently localized."
+
+"Are there not many proverbs with regard to the weather, or the like,
+in Denmark?" asked Hardy.
+
+"There are, but they are identical with the English," replied the
+Pastor. "There are some that may be new; for instance, we say that
+there is always some sun on a Saturday, that the poor may dry the
+clothes they wash. The farmers also say that if the priest takes his
+text from St. Luke in preaching his Sunday's sermon, it is sure to
+rain. Also, that a southerly wind is like a woman's anger, it always
+ends in weeping. Of days in the week we say, that if it rains on a
+Sunday and a Monday it will rain the whole week. Again, we say--
+
+
+    'Sondags Veir til Middag
+    Er Ugens Veir til Fredag.'
+
+    'Sunday's weather to midday
+    Is the week's weather to Friday.
+
+
+There is another of the same character:
+
+
+    'Tirsdag giver Veir til Torsdag,
+    Fredags Veir giver Sondags Veir,
+    Lordag har sit eget Veir,
+    Mandag enten vaerre eller bedre.'
+
+    'Tuesday's weather is Thursday's weather,
+    Friday's weather is Sunday's weather,
+    Saturday has its own weather,
+    Monday is either worse or better.
+
+
+The same, I believe, exists in England," continued the Pastor, "or at
+least very nearly allied to it."
+
+"It is so," said Hardy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+    "Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
+    The bridal of the earth and sky."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+The yacht had anchored for the night to the east of Vaeiro, an island
+and lighthouse. The pilot and steward had gone ashore to purchase
+fresh milk. The morning was without a breath of wind, and the yacht
+was motionless.
+
+"What a sense of calm and peace!" said Mrs. Hardy, as she came on
+deck. "There is not a fish coming to the surface of the still water,
+or a bird in the air, or a boat visible. It is almost desolation."
+
+"We are out of the track of vessels," said Pastor Lindal, "and there
+are few fish just here, consequently no sea-birds in pursuit of them."
+
+"You will soon see more life, mother," said Hardy, "From our position
+we are seventeen knots to Vordingborg, which we shall reach shortly
+after breakfast. We shall have to take another pilot there, for the
+difficult channel by Gronsund out to the Baltic, as our present pilot
+is not allowed to go beyond Vordingborg."
+
+"Your pilots, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "appointed by your
+Government, appear men well selected for their duty. They are all
+experienced men and well-conducted. We have been yachting on many
+shores, but the pilots we have taken in Denmark have been all men that
+have given me a feeling of confidence."
+
+"There is much employment for pilots on some parts of our coast," said
+the Pastor, "and the men soon acquire experience."
+
+When they came on deck after breakfast, the yacht was half-way to
+Vordingborg.
+
+"What is the land on the starboard bow?" asked Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Falster," replied the Pastor, "and to the south is Laaland. One of
+the chief towns is Mariebo; it is so called from the special wish of
+the Virgin, as evidenced by a shining light having been seen there
+every night. Queen Margrethe bought the site for a church, from the
+owner, Jens Grim, and the place was called Mariebo. The termination
+'bo' is present Danish for an abode or dwelling, as it was supposed
+the Virgin had been there. 'By' is present Danish for a town. In the
+church there is the figure of a monk on one of the pillars pointing at
+another pillar, where it is said a treasure is buried. A Danish
+antiquary is said to have found in the Vatican a paper stating that
+when the monks were driven out of Mariebo, they had hid their
+documents in a pillar of the church. It is not known to me whether any
+search has been made. The owner of the site, Jens Grim, was attacked
+by people from Lubeck; they besieged his two fastnesses. They
+succeeded in taking one of them by a very simple stratagem. Jens Grim
+had lost his knife, which the Lubeckers found, and took it to the
+fastness, where they knew he was not, and said they had come to take
+possession by Jens Grimes order, and produced the knife. They were
+admitted and took the place."
+
+"What do you propose to do at Vordingborg, John?" asked Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"We are close to it, mother," replied John. "It is likely to be a
+similar place to Svendborg."
+
+"There is not much to see at Vordingborg. There are the ruins of King
+Valdemar's castle; the portion most prominent is called the Goose
+Tower, because the figure of a goose was used as a weathercock," said
+the Pastor. "If I might suggest, a drive in a carriage in the
+neighbourhood would, I think, interest you. The scenery is the same
+type as at Svendborg."
+
+The Pastor's suggestion was followed, and he poured forth much
+historical learning connected with Vordingborg.
+
+"Is there no legend?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Yes," replied the Pastor; "but it is one common to a great many
+places. It is this. A giantess wished to remove a tumulus or Kaempehoi
+from Vordingborg to Moen. She put it in her apron; but there was a
+hole in it, and the Kaempehoi fell into the sea near the coast, and
+formed what is called Borreo, or Borre Island. That is the only legend
+I know, or can recollect at present, particularly attached to
+Vordingborg. But do you not propose an excursion to Moen's Klint?"
+
+"That we do, as it is different from any other place in Denmark," said
+Hardy. "The difficulty is, if it should come on to blow hard in the
+eastern sea, as you call the Baltic, the yacht would have to run back
+to Gronsund, or go to Copenhagen."
+
+"Then," said the Pastor, "why not leave the yacht at Gronsund? You can
+get a carriage and a pair of horses to drive through the whole of
+Moen, about sixteen English miles, and return the same evening to the
+yacht."
+
+John Hardy laid Mansa's map and the chart before his mother, who
+assented.
+
+"Where can we get horses?" he asked.
+
+"At Phanefjord, I expect," replied the Pastor. "They could be ordered
+to be ready at the ferry at six in the morning, and in three hours we
+could reach Liselumd, from whence Moen's Klint can be explored on
+foot."
+
+"Is it too much for you, mother?" said Hardy. "It will be a long day;
+but the next day, weather permitting, we should be under weigh for
+Copenhagen, and you would have rest."
+
+"It will be a long day, John," replied his mother, "but not too long.
+I like Pastor Lindal's plan."
+
+"What is the meaning of the name Phanefjord?" asked Hardy. "Is it
+derived from the Greek?"
+
+"There was a giant called Gronjette, or the Green Giant; he gave his
+name to the fjord, which is called Gronsund. He was married to a
+giantess called Phane; hence Phanefjord. They are said to be buried at
+Harbolle, and their graves are one hundred yards (English) long. He
+was accustomed to ride through the woods with his head under his left
+arm, with a spear, and surrounded by hounds. The Bonder always left a
+sheaf of oats for his horse, so that he should not ride over their
+freshly sown fields, when the Jette or giant went on his hunting
+excursions. There is even an epitaph on Gron and Phane:--
+
+
+    'Nu hviler Gron med Phane sin;
+    Som traettede rasken Hjort og Hind.
+    Tak, Bonde, god! den dyre Gud,
+    Nu gaar du tryg af Sundet ud.'
+
+
+Literally--
+
+
+    'Now rests Gron and his Phane;
+    They followed the quick buck and hind.
+    Thank, peasant, the good God,
+    That now you can safely go through the fjord.'
+
+
+There is a story of Gron. He halted one night and knocked at a Bonde's
+door, and told him to hold his hounds by a leash. Gron rode away, and
+was absent two hours. At length he returned, but across his horse was
+a mermaid, which he had shot. This was before the time of powder. Gron
+said to the Bonde, 'I have hunted that mermaid for seven years, and
+now I have got her.' He then asked for something to drink, and when he
+was served with it he gave the Bonde some gold money; but it was so
+hot it burnt through his hand, and the money sunk in the earth. Gron
+laughed, and said, 'As you have drank with me, you shall have
+something, so take the leash you have held my hounds with.' Gron rode
+away, and the Bonde kept the leash, and as long as he did so all
+things prospered; but at last he thought it was of little value, and
+threw it away. He then gradually grew poorer and poorer, and died in
+great poverty."
+
+"A very good legend, and thank you, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"There is an old ballad," continued the Pastor, "called 'The Pilgrim
+Stone,' which opens with a mother calling her three daughters to go to
+the early Catholic church service of the times, and then the water was
+so shallow between Moen and Falster that they could jump over it. The
+three daughters were attacked by three robbers and killed by them.
+They put their bodies in sacks; but they were seized by the father and
+his men, and then it appeared that the three robbers were brothers to
+the murdered girls, having been stolen, when they were very young, on
+their way to school. The two eldest were hung, and the youngest made a
+pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and when he returned he lived a few years
+at Phanefjord, and was buried where the pilgrim stone marks the place.
+The ballad is of the simplest character and incomplete; but such is
+the story. Under different conditions it is recited in other places in
+Denmark; but it is dramatic in all cases."
+
+"It is indeed dramatic," said Mrs. Hardy. "The stories of giants
+appear to have had their origin from natural forces, as ice, or the
+heat of summer, but have been blended with human attributes."
+
+The drive to Moen's Klint from Gronsund was full of interest from
+Pastor Lindal's knowledge of the past history of so many places.
+
+"There are not so many traditions in the low part of Moen as in Hoie
+Moen; that is where the cliffs are," said the Pastor. "The cliffs are
+chalk, with layers of flint, and were supposed to be peopled with
+Underjordiske or underground people, the chief of whom was called the
+Klinte Konge, or cliff king. Klint is the Danish word for cliff. His
+queen is described as being very beautiful, and she resided at the
+place called Dronningstol, or the queen's throne or chair, and near it
+was her sceptre, in old times called Dronningspir, but now called
+Sommerspir. The Klinte Konge was supposed to reside at Kongsberg. He
+was always at war with another Klinte Konge, at Rygen, and there is an
+old ballad on the subject. It is said that when Denmark is in danger,
+the Klinte Konge and his army can be seen ready to resist the invader.
+There are very many variations of this superstitious story, more or
+less picturesque."
+
+"Are there any stories of communications between the Underjordiske and
+mortals?" asked Mr. Hardy.
+
+"There is such a story. A woman called Margrethe Skaelvigs was going to
+Emelund to borrow a dress of Peer Munk's wife, to be married in, when
+an old woman met her, and asked where she was going. Margrethe told
+her. 'When you pass here on Saturday, I will lend you a bridal dress;'
+and she gave Margrethe a dress of cloth of gold, and told her to
+return it in eight days; but that if Margrethe saw no one when she
+brought it back, she might keep the dress. No one appeared, and
+Margrethe kept the dress."
+
+"The conjecture might be that the dress was given her by her intended
+husband," said Hardy, "who adopted this method of giving her a dress.
+I should like to impose on Helga in the same way."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense, John," said Mrs. Hardy, who feared that it might
+not be agreeable to Pastor Lindal; and, to turn his thoughts in
+another direction, asked him if there were not other legends of a
+different type.
+
+"Yes; there is one very commonly repeated," he replied. "A Bonde had
+twenty pigs ranging through the wood by Moen's Klint. He lost them,
+and after searching for a whole year, he met Gamle Erik (the devil;
+literally, Old Erik) riding on a pig and driving nineteen before him,
+and making a great noise by beating on an old copper kettle. The pigs
+were all in good case, except the one Gamle Erik rode, which bore
+traces of bad treatment. The Bonde shouted and called, and Gamle Erik
+was frightened, and dropped the copper kettle, and let the pigs be
+pigs. So the Bonde had not only his pigs, but a copper kettle to
+recollect Gamle Erik by."
+
+Mrs. Hardy was much pleased with the scenery about the cliffs, and the
+contrast of the dark blue sea against the white chalk, and the varied
+prospects in the woods.
+
+The drive had been full of interest, and Mrs. Hardy thanked Pastor
+Lindal for his suggesting it, and the pleasure of hearing his
+narrations on the very places with which they were connected, and
+added--
+
+"I shall come again another year, Herr Pastor, on purpose to enjoy
+your society, if you will act as guide."
+
+"God willing, it will be a pleasure to me," said he; "but these few
+days have had their effect on me. I appear to see things with a
+clearer view, that at home have been difficult to me. Travelling
+develops the mind, and gives it a broader cast of thought. You, who
+have travelled so much, Mrs. Hardy, appear to have been influenced by
+the process."
+
+"Thank you for your compliment, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy. "It is
+well put."
+
+At eight the following day, the yacht was passing Moen's Klint, at
+sea, bound for Copenhagen. There was a stiff breeze from the westward,
+and in passing Praesto Bay the yacht was in a short rough beam sea,
+that made things very lively to all on board, except possibly the
+Pastor, as his ears gradually assumed a greenish tint.
+
+John Hardy consulted the pilot, and the yacht was brought up and
+anchored under Stevn's Klint, in shelter, much to Pastor Lindal's
+comfort, who appeared at lunch fully recovered from his sea-sickness.
+
+"Praesto," said he, "is so called after a priest called Anders; he was
+a monk at the time of the Reformation, but adopted the reformed
+religion. He had only a small copper coin, which always returned to
+him when he spent it, and received no other payment for his services.
+In the arms of the town of Praesto is a man in a priest's dress,
+supposed to be in his memory."
+
+"Were there any Underjordiske in the cliff at the yacht's bow?" asked
+Hardy.
+
+"There was fabled to be an Elle Konge," replied Pastor Lindal, "or
+king of the elves, and he occupied not only Stevn's Klint, but also an
+adjoining church, where a place in the wall is shown as his residence,
+and is called Elle Kongen's Kammer, or the king of the elves' chamber.
+In the neighbourhood of this church are the remains of an oak wood.
+The trees therein are said to have been trees by day, but the soldiers
+of the elf king by night. The church referred to is Storehedinge, and
+was built by a monk against the wishes of the great man of the
+locality, who, when the church was built, cut off the monk's head. The
+figure of a monk's head is on a stone in the wall by the altar.
+
+"The church a little to the south of the lighthouse is called Hoierup,
+and was built in fulfilment of the vow of a seaman when in danger. As
+the cliff crumbles away, the church is said to go a cock's footstep
+back on the mainland every Christmas night."
+
+"What is the meaning of 'rup' as a termination to so many Danish
+places?" asked Hardy.
+
+"It is your English 'thorp,' or Swedish 'torp,' or German 'dorf,' a
+village," replied the Pastor. "Vandstrup, for instance, is 'the
+village by the water,' as the Danish word for water is Vand. It is, as
+you know, close to the river."
+
+The pilot had predicted that the wind would lessen at four o'clock in
+the afternoon, and the yacht got under weigh, and, carrying plenty of
+sail and full steam, made a rapid passage across Kioge Bay, so
+disturbing sometimes to the breakfast of the Kiobenhavner, who trusts
+himself to a pleasure excursion on its waters.
+
+Off Dragor, the jack was again hoisted for the Copenhagen pilot, and
+the Rosendal steam yacht was at anchor off the Custom House at
+Copenhagen, before a late dinner, that evening.
+
+"We must fill up with coal and water, mother, and it had better be
+done here," said Hardy; "it would give us time for an excursion to
+Roeskilde to see the Domkirke, or elsewhere."
+
+"No, John," said Mrs. Hardy. "I want to purchase many articles that
+you will want at Rosendal after you are married, that you would never
+think of; and I must leave something for the Pastor to tell me next
+summer."
+
+"But what shall I do with Pastor Lindal tomorrow?" asked John Hardy.
+
+"He will like to be left to himself, to go where he wishes," replied
+his mother; and she was right. As the yacht left Copenhagen a day or
+so after, Mrs. Hardy refused to visit the beautiful vicinity of
+Copenhagen. "No, John; and no, Herr Pastor," she said. "I must keep
+something to see for other years, and something to look forward to and
+wish to see. I even decline to hear the story of the soldier who shot
+from Kronborg Castle a cow with a cannon in Sweden, and that although
+he did not hurt the milkmaid. The Herr Pastor must keep something to
+tell me another season."
+
+"But, mother, we can anchor at Elsinore, and you could see Kronborg
+Castle," urged her son.
+
+"So I will another year, John," she replied. "Get your mud-hook up, as
+you call it, and let me have my way. I hope not only to visit more of
+Denmark, but also of Sweden and Norway, and hope not only the Herr
+Pastor will be with us, but his daughter."
+
+"Thank you kindly," said the Pastor, shaking hands with her in the
+manner frequent in Denmark.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+    "Come, live with me and be my love,
+    And we will some new pleasures prove.
+    Of golden sands and crystal brooks.
+    With silken lines and silver hooks."
+    _The Complete Angler._
+
+
+When Pastor Lindal arrived at his parsonage, he was received by his
+daughter with much affection. She saw he was benefited by the cruise
+in the yacht, and was in good spirits.
+
+"Little father," she said, "you look so well. Thank you, Mrs. Hardy,
+for taking him with you; it will give my father so much to talk of, in
+the winter, to Axel; and thank you, John, too."
+
+"I am glad there is a word for me," said Hardy, using, as he often did
+with her, a Danish phrase. "I was beginning to think I was not to be
+spoken to at all."
+
+"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "that the Pastor and Helga might come to
+us to-morrow, John, and that, as you are so impatient for a
+tete-a-tete interview with Helga, you can have a ramble in your woods
+at Rosendal, while I discuss the matters that have to be arranged with
+the Pastor."
+
+John thought this a very excellent arrangement; but Pastor Lindal
+declined. He had much to see to in his parish, and he could not, he
+said, after the absence of a week, return to his parish and not visit
+it. He explained that he felt it to be his duty to feel the pulse of
+his parish, to see what changes of thought occurred and what
+circumstances had arisen that might influence his Sogneborn (children
+of his parish). This, he said, guided him in what he preached.
+
+"I agree with every word you say, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.
+"There can be no better view of what your duty is. The shepherd should
+always watch;" and, as she read disappointment in her son's face, she
+added, "You can, however, spare us Helga to lunch with us at Rosendal;
+John can drive over for her, and she shall return early."
+
+Pastor Lindal assented, and John Hardy drove over as early as he
+thought advisable, and in returning to Rosendal insisted on Helga's
+driving and telling him everything that had occurred in his absence at
+sea.
+
+It was a pleasure to Mrs. Hardy to see their happy faces as they drove
+up at Rosendal.
+
+"Bless you, dear mother!" said John. "It has been so sweet to hear the
+thankfulness with which she speaks of every little attention we showed
+her father when at sea. It was your considerate goodness that
+suggested it all."
+
+"You must let me have your princess, John, for a few minutes," said
+his mother. "You have to consider her, and that there are subjects
+that we can discuss better without you."
+
+"I agree to five minutes, and no longer," said John, with some warmth.
+"For goodness' sake, mother, do not be unreasonable, and keep her an
+unconscionable time."
+
+"There is no doubt of his affection for you, Helga," said Mrs. Hardy,
+"and it is a joy to me to see it; but come into my sitting-room, and
+tell me what you have done about your wedding-dress."
+
+"Here is the money you kindly gave me," replied Helga. "I have thought
+it over, and I think that John would rather marry me just as I am than
+that I should appear any different; and my father, I feel, would wish
+it so." Mrs. Hardy recollected the cloud on the Pastor's open face
+when her son had referred to giving Helga a wedding-dress. "I have,
+therefore, not used any of the money, Mrs. Hardy," added Helga; "but I
+am very grateful for your considering me as if I were your daughter."
+
+"I will always act a mother's part to you, Helga," said Mrs. Hardy;
+"your freedom from selfishness, as well as honesty of feeling, make me
+love and respect you. It is not money, or money's worth, that is
+everything. I have always taught my son that kindliness is the real
+gold of life."
+
+"When John came here first," said Helga, "he said that, and my father
+has liked him from that moment."
+
+"But you did not, Helga?" said Mrs. Hardy, as if asking the question,
+and smiling.
+
+"I did, really," replied Helga; "but I thought it was wrong to think
+of him, and I treated him in a manner of which I am ashamed. I would
+give anything to recall what I said to him."
+
+John Hardy came bustling in. "Mother!" he exclaimed, "I really cannot
+let you take up all Helga's time with discussions."
+
+"What we have discussed, John, is yourself," said his mother, "and I
+can wish for nothing better for you than Helga's golden truth and
+love. You can take her for a walk in the woods until lunch, but mind,
+John, to be back punctually at one."
+
+"Why, that is only an hour, mother," protested John, who was becoming
+quite unreasonable and impatient.
+
+"And twelve times as long as you would let your mother speak to her
+daughter that is to be," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+"Now, Helga," said John, "I recollect you called me a cool and
+calculating Englishman. I shall take you down to the lake, where it
+will be cool, and there I shall find a Smorblomst, or a buttercup, and
+by placing it to your chin, I shall be able to calculate the
+transparency of your complexion from the reflection of colour."
+
+"Don't tease me, John, about what I said to you last year," said
+Helga, imploringly. "If I said anything that pained you, I am sorry
+for it; but do not always keep it alive against me."
+
+"There is the rose of Rosendal, mother, and the jewel of Hardy Place,"
+said Hardy to his mother, on his unpunctual return to lunch. "She is
+so good and single-minded that it is impossible to invent ways of
+teasing her."
+
+"Then I should not try, John," said his mother.
+
+A few days before John's marriage, his friend and neighbour, Sir
+Charles Lynton, arrived at Rosendal.
+
+"It is a lovely place, John," said his friend; "but, I suppose,
+nothing to be compared with the loveliness of your Scandinavian
+princess?"
+
+"Don't quiz," said Hardy; "but come out and try a cast for an hour or
+so for the Danish trout. We can also visit a landowner near, who
+breeds good Jutland horses, and I know that is in your line."
+
+"By all means," said his friend.
+
+The stout proprietor, Jensen, was pleased with their visit, and the
+opportunity of hearing another Englishman's opinion as to his stock of
+horses.
+
+"They want bone," said Sir Charles, "and to be kept better through the
+winter."
+
+"Then it would not pay to breed horses," said the proprietor. "A
+big-boned horse would be more expensive to keep up, and would not
+stand the cold and wet of our climate. We have no market for very
+high-class horses; that is, we might sell one now and then, but not
+many."
+
+A short tobacco-parliament on horses was inevitable, and hints were
+exchanged and thoughts expressed very valuable in their way, but not
+necessary to be recorded here.
+
+The wedding took place in the little Danish church at Vandstrup, and
+was witnessed by a large number of Hardy's Danish acquaintances and
+the Pastor's friends. The Pastor made a long discourse, for his heart
+was full.
+
+Mrs. Hardy would not hear of her son's accompanying her to Esbjerg.
+She left with Sir Charles Lynton, for Horsens, to continue the journey
+the next day to Esbjerg, where the yacht had been sent to meet them.
+
+It was not until the middle of September that John Hardy and his wife,
+with Pastor Lindal, left Denmark by the overland route for Hardy
+Place. The time of their arrival at the station for Hardy Place was
+therefore known some time before, and confirmed by a telegram from
+Hardy on their reaching England.
+
+Mrs. Hardy was on the platform, with a tall young man Pastor Lindal
+did not know.
+
+"It is your son Karl, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.
+
+A year's residence in England had made a great change in the Danish
+lad, and he appeared so English that the Pastor hesitated before he
+spoke to him in Danish. Karl's reply assured him that if he was
+changed outwardly, there was no change that he could regret.
+
+Mrs. Hardy welcomed the Pastor and her son's wife warmly. Two
+carriages had been prepared, and John Hardy and his wife went in the
+first, and Mrs. Hardy, the Pastor, and Karl in the second. When they
+reached the entrance to Hardy Place, there was a considerable crowd of
+well-wishers, who cheered lustily. There was an arch with the words--
+
+    "Saxon and Dane are we,
+    But all of us Danes
+    in our welcome of thee."
+
+"It is kindly meant," said the Pastor, to Mrs. Hardy; "and I like the
+full ring of the English cheer."
+
+At the door at Hardy Place there was another crowd, and amid more
+English cheers the fair Dane John Hardy had brought home as his wife
+alighted at Hardy Place.
+
+Mrs. Hardy took possession of Helga, and left her son to speak to his
+friends and thank them for their reception, and entertain them.
+
+"I have only asked Sir Charles Lynton to dinner, John," said
+Mrs. Hardy. "I was afraid Helga might not be at her ease with a party
+of perfect strangers the very first day she is here."
+
+The Pastor was delighted with Hardy Place. "I see now," he said, "how
+you knew how to deal with Rosendal. Your English landscape gardening
+is good. I never saw so beautiful a place! The impression on me is
+that of neatness and taste."
+
+"Sir Charles Lynton comes to dinner, Herr Pastor," said Hardy; "and
+you shall go and see his place to-morrow--it is only eight English
+miles from here--and then you must tell me what you would like to see
+or do during your very short stay in England. I dare say Karl can
+suggest something. He must go to his work in London to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Hardy brought Helga down to the drawing-room before dinner,
+dressed in her neat Danish dress, and a flower in her hair. She shook
+hands with Sir Charles Lynton, and thanked him for his coming to her
+wedding in Denmark.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Hardy, "I shall take her in to dinner and place her
+at the head of your table, John, as the new mistress of Hardy Place,
+and a better there cannot be."
+
+Helga did not clearly understand, and John explained in Danish. "My
+mother," he said, "wishes to instal you in the position she has
+herself so long occupied as mistress here."
+
+"No," said Helga, decidedly. "I am her daughter, and will serve her
+gladly. You surely would not wish me to usurp your mother's place,
+John, and that to-day?" She had said this in Danish, and she added in
+English, "No, Mrs. Hardy; you are housemother here, and I am your
+daughter and owe you a daughter's duty."
+
+It had been Mrs. Hardy's dream that when her son brought his wife
+home, the latter should occupy her seat, and rule as Mrs. Hardy of
+Hardy Place. As Helga put it, she had got a daughter, and that was
+all. Helga took Mrs. Hardy's hand and kissed it.
+
+"What a trump she is, John!" exclaimed Sir Charles Lynton. "She will
+be the greatest joy and comfort to your mother all her life. I shall
+advertise in the Danish papers for a wife."
+
+"Let Helga sit at your side, mother," said John, "and the Pastor at
+your right."
+
+The Pastor did not appear to think what had passed was unusual in his
+daughter's conduct, but this little episode prepared the way for young
+Mrs. Hardy of Hardy Place acquiring many friends.
+
+During Pastor Lindal's short stay in England, John Hardy did his best
+to interest him in English life and manners. The Pastor's wish was to
+visit an English country church, and to see the whole working of an
+English parish. His disapproval of the gift, or, worse still, the
+sale, of a cure of souls was utter and complete.
+
+"Your system of selling or giving livings is bad," he said. "No actual
+sympathy can arise between the clergyman and his parishioners unless
+they are interested in his selection."
+
+When he had attended the parish church on the Sunday, Hardy questioned
+him.
+
+"The perfect neatness and order in the church," said the Danish
+Pastor, "leave nothing to be desired; what is wanting is the warmth of
+human sympathy and life. The service is cold and lifeless, the sermon
+like dead leaves. The congregation hear, but they do not listen. There
+is a want of harmony created by your system; it produces a barrier
+between your clergyman and his flock; it prevents their working well
+together, as a rule. In a few cases you will have exceptional men that
+will get over any difficulty, and will do their duty well if you bind
+them with chains; but it is not in that direction you should look, but
+to a Christian bond of sympathy and common interest, as a rule."
+
+"You are a keen observer, Herr Pastor. It is so," said Hardy.
+
+"It is not necessary to be a keen observer to see it," replied Pastor
+Lindal. "It lies so near the surface that it is not seen, when deeper
+causes are looked for and ascribed as producing results they are far
+from effecting."
+
+"Your criticism is hard on the English country parishes," said Hardy;
+"if you were here longer, you might alter the decisive character of
+your opinion."
+
+"It is possible, but the contrast strikes me," said Pastor Lindal. "I
+speak as I see."
+
+"That I do not doubt," said Hardy; "and I think the impression of
+contrast between your own parish and that of mine is wide."
+
+"There is but one principle, and that is that 'charity suffereth long,
+and is kind,'" said the Pastor; "and when you came to Denmark and said
+that kindliness is the real gold of life, there was nothing struck me
+so much. It was my very thought in a phrase. I cannot therefore
+understand why it should not be a more active principle in your
+churches."
+
+"It is in the hearts of a great many English people," said Hardy.
+
+"It may be," said Pastor Lindal, "but it is not apparent to a stranger
+in your parish church. But there is another matter cognate to us if
+not to you, and that is the relief of the poor. Your system is costly,
+but it creates the evil. You assist the poor to be paupers; we assist
+the poor not to be so, and it costs us less. You train up children in
+your work-houses to look to the poor rate or poor box, as we call it,
+in after life as something to fall back on, in case of need, or
+without need. The system is bad, as it creates more claimants on your
+poor rate. This we prevent by teaching the children to earn a living.
+The interest your clergy have in this is indirect, and it appears to
+me they have little power to be of use, if they had the wish to be so,
+which with many men must be a strong wish."
+
+"It is so;" said Hardy, "and it does not appear to me so extraordinary
+that you should observe it, as the contrast between what exists with
+you and in England is so marked."
+
+The Pastor left for Harwich to meet the Danish steamer, and John Hardy
+and Helga accompanied him. Helga was cheerful until her father had
+left, but for a long time wore a sad expression on her face. John
+Hardy and his mother did their best to comfort and allay, but without
+success. At last came a letter from her father, and her sadness
+vanished. The good man wrote of Hardy and Mrs. Hardy, and how worthy
+they were of her affection, and it was her duty now to give them her
+gratitude and love; and she became bright at once. John Hardy's
+friends called, and Helga mixed in English society and gradually
+became accustomed to her new home, and no one was so popular as young
+Mrs. Hardy of Hardy Place.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES
+
+
+
+
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