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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories by Foreign Authors, by Various
+
+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: Stories by Foreign Authors
+
+Author: Various
+
+Posting Date: August 25, 2012 [EBook #5336]
+Release Date: March, 2004
+First Posted: July 2, 2002
+Last Updated: August 14, 2005
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS
+
+SCANDINAVIAN
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHER . . . . BY BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP . . . . BY JUHANI AHO
+
+THE FLYING MAIL . . . . BY M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCHYARD . . . . BY BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+TWO FRIENDS . . . . BY ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+HOPES . . . . BY FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHER
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+
+
+From "The Bridal March." Translated by Prof. R. B. Anderson.
+
+
+THE FATHER
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+The man whose story is here to be told was the wealthiest and most
+influential person in his parish; his name was Thord Overaas. He
+appeared in the priest's study one day, tall and earnest.
+
+"I have gotten a son," said he, "and I wish to present him for baptism."
+
+"What shall his name be?"
+
+"Finn,--after my father."
+
+"And the sponsors?"
+
+They were mentioned, and proved to be the best men and women of Thord's
+relations in the parish.
+
+"Is there anything else?" inquired the priest, and looked up.
+
+The peasant hesitated a little.
+
+"I should like very much to have him baptized by himself," said he,
+finally.
+
+"That is to say on a week-day?"
+
+"Next Saturday, at twelve o'clock noon."
+
+"Is there anything else?" inquired the priest.
+
+"There is nothing else;" and the peasant twirled his cap, as though he
+were about to go.
+
+Then the priest rose. "There is yet this, however," said he, and
+walking toward Thord, he took him by the hand and looked gravely into
+his eyes: "God grant that the child may become a blessing to you!"
+
+One day sixteen years later, Thord stood once more in the priest's
+study.
+
+"Really, you carry your age astonishingly well, Thord," said the
+priest; for he saw no change whatever in the man.
+
+"That is because I have no troubles," replied Thord.
+
+To this the priest said nothing, but after a while he asked: "What is
+your pleasure this evening?"
+
+"I have come this evening about that son of mine who is to be confirmed
+to-morrow."
+
+"He is a bright boy."
+
+"I did not wish to pay the priest until I heard what number the boy
+would have when he takes his place in church to-morrow."
+
+"He will stand number one."
+
+"So I have heard; and here are ten dollars for the priest."
+
+"Is there anything else I can do for you?" inquired the priest, fixing
+his eyes on Thord.
+
+"There is nothing else."
+
+Thord went out.
+
+Eight years more rolled by, and then one day a noise was heard outside
+of the priest's study, for many men were approaching, and at their head
+was Thord, who entered first.
+
+The priest looked up and recognized him.
+
+"You come well attended this evening, Thord," said he.
+
+"I am here to request that the banns may be published for my son; he is
+about to marry Karen Storliden, daughter of Gudmund, who stands here
+beside me."
+
+"Why, that is the richest girl in the parish."
+
+"So they say," replied the peasant, stroking back his hair with one
+hand.
+
+The priest sat a while as if in deep thought, then entered the names in
+his book, without making any comments, and the men wrote their
+signatures underneath. Thord laid three dollars on the table.
+
+"One is all I am to have," said the priest.
+
+"I know that very well; but he is my only child, I want to do it
+handsomely."
+
+The priest took the money.
+
+"This is now the third time, Thord, that you have come here on your
+son's account."
+
+"But now I am through with him," said Thord, and folding up his
+pocket-book he said farewell and walked away.
+
+The men slowly followed him.
+
+A fortnight later, the father and son were rowing across the lake, one
+calm, still day, to Storliden to make arrangements for the wedding.
+
+"This thwart is not secure," said the son, and stood up to straighten
+the seat on which he was sitting.
+
+At the same moment the board he was standing on slipped from under him;
+he threw out his arms, uttered a shriek, and fell overboard.
+
+"Take hold of the oar!" shouted the father, springing to his feet and
+holding out the oar.
+
+But when the son had made a couple of efforts he grew stiff.
+
+"Wait a moment!" cried the father, and began to row toward his son.
+Then the son rolled over on his back, gave his father one long look,
+and sank.
+
+Thord could scarcely believe it; he held the boat still, and stared at
+the spot where his son had gone down, as though he must surely come to
+the surface again. There rose some bubbles, then some more, and finally
+one large one that burst; and the lake lay there as smooth and bright
+as a mirror again.
+
+For three days and three nights people saw the father rowing round and
+round the spot, without taking either food or sleep; he was dragging
+the lake for the body of his son. And toward morning of the third day
+he found it, and carried it in his arms up over the hills to his gard.
+
+It might have been about a year from that day, when the priest, late
+one autumn evening, heard some one in the passage outside of the door,
+carefully trying to find the latch. The priest opened the door, and in
+walked a tall, thin man, with bowed form and white hair. The priest
+looked long at him before he recognized him. It was Thord.
+
+"Are you out walking so late?" said the priest, and stood still in
+front of him.
+
+"Ah, yes! it is late," said Thord, and took a seat.
+
+The priest sat down also, as though waiting. A long, long silence
+followed. At last Thord said:
+
+"I have something with me that I should like to give to the poor; I
+want it to be invested as a legacy in my son's name."
+
+He rose, laid some money on the table, and sat down again. The priest
+counted it.
+
+"It is a great deal of money," said he.
+
+"It is half the price of my gard. I sold it today."
+
+The priest sat long in silence. At last he asked, but gently:
+
+"What do you propose to do now, Thord?"
+
+"Something better."
+
+They sat there for a while, Thord with downcast eyes, the priest with
+his eyes fixed on Thord. Presently the priest said, slowly and softly:
+
+"I think your son has at last brought you a true blessing."
+
+"Yes, I think so myself," said Thord, looking up, while two big tears
+coursed slowly down his cheeks.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP
+
+BY
+
+JUHANI AHO
+
+
+In spite of ethnological and philological distinctions, geographical
+association makes it more natural to include a Finnish tale in the
+volume with Scandinavian stories than in any other volume of this
+collection.
+
+
+From "Squire Hellman." Translated by R. Nisbet Bain. Published by the
+Cassell Publishing Co.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP
+
+BY
+
+JUHANI AHO
+
+
+When father bought the lamp, or a little before that, he said to mother:
+
+"Hark ye, mother--oughtn't we to buy us a lamp?"
+
+"A lamp? What sort of a lamp?"
+
+"What! Don't you know that the storekeeper who lives in the market town
+has brought from St. Petersburg lamps that actually burn better than
+ten PAREA? [Footnote: A pare (pr. payray; Swed., perta; Ger., pergei)
+is a resinous pine chip, or splinter, used instead of torch or candle
+to light the poorer houses in Finland.] They've already got a lamp of
+the sort at the parsonage."
+
+"Oh, yes! Isn't it one of those things which shines in the middle of
+the room so that we can see to read in every corner, just as if it was
+broad daylight?"
+
+"That's just it. There's oil that burns in it, and you only have to
+light it of an evening, and it burns on without going out till the next
+morning."
+
+"But how can the wet oil burn?"
+
+"You might as well ask--how can brandy burn?"
+
+"But it might set the whole place on fire. When brandy begins to burn
+you can't put it out, even with water."
+
+"How can the place be set on fire when the oil is shut up in a glass,
+and the fire as well?"
+
+"In a glass? How can fire burn in a glass--won't it burst?"
+
+"Won't what burst?"
+
+"The glass."
+
+"Burst! No, it never bursts. It might burst, I grant you, if you
+screwed the fire up too high, but you're not obliged to do that."
+
+"Screw up the fire? Nay, dear, you're joking--how CAN you screw up
+fire?"
+
+"Listen, now! When you turn the screw to the right, the wick
+mounts--the lamp, you know, has a wick, like any common candle, and a
+flame too--but if you turn the screw to the left, the flame gets
+smaller, and then, when you blow it, it goes out."
+
+"It goes out! Of course! I But I don't understand it a bit yet, however
+much you may explain--some sort of new-fangled gentlefolk arrangement,
+I suppose."
+
+"You'll understand it right enough when I've bought one."
+
+"How much does it cost?"
+
+"Seven and a half marks, and the oil separate at one mark the can."
+
+"Seven and a half marks and the oil as well! Why, for that you might
+buy parea for many a long day--that is, of course, if you were inclined
+to waste money on such things at all, but when Pekka splits them not a
+penny is lost."
+
+"And you'll lose nothing by the lamp, either! Pare wood costs money
+too, and you can't find it everywhere on our land now as you used to.
+You have to get leave to look for such wood, and drag it hither to the
+bog from the most out-of-the-way places--and it's soon used up, too."
+
+Mother knew well enough that pare wood is not so quickly used up as all
+that, as nothing had been said about it up to now, and that it was only
+an excuse to go away and buy this lamp. But she wisely held her tongue
+so as not to vex father, for then the lamp and all would have been
+unbought and unseen. Or else some one else might manage to get a lamp
+first for his farm, and then the whole parish would begin talking about
+the farm that had been the FIRST, after the parsonage, to use a lighted
+lamp. So mother thought the matter over, and then she said to father:
+
+"Buy it, if you like; it is all the same to me if it is a pare that
+burns, or any other sort of oil, if only I can see to spin. When, pray,
+do you think of buying it?"
+
+"I thought of setting off to-morrow--I have some other little business
+with the storekeeper as well."
+
+It was now the middle of the week, and mother knew very well that the
+other business could very well wait till Saturday, but she did not say
+anything now either, but, "the sooner the better," thought she.
+
+And that same evening father brought in from the storehouse the big
+travelling chest in which grandfather, in his time, had stowed his
+provisions when he came from Uleaborg, and bade mother fill it with hay
+and lay a little cotton-wool in the middle of it. We children asked why
+they put nothing in the box but hay and a little wool in the middle,
+but she bade us hold our tongues, the whole lot of us. Father was in a
+better humor, and explained that he was going to bring a lamp from the
+storekeeper, and that it was of glass, and might be broken to bits if
+he stumbled or if the sledge bumped too much.
+
+That evening we children lay awake a long time and thought of the new
+lamp; but old scullery-Pekka, the man who used to split up all the
+parea, began to snore as soon as ever the evening pare was put out. And
+he didn't once ask what sort of a thing the lamp was, although we
+talked about it ever so much.
+
+The journey took father all day, and a very long time it seemed to us
+all. We didn't even relish our food that day, although we had milk soup
+for dinner. But scullery-Pekka gobbled and guzzled as much as all of us
+put together, and spent the day in splitting parea till he had filled
+the outhouse full. Mother, too, didn't spin much flax that day either,
+for she kept on going to the window and peeping out, over the ice,
+after father. She said to Pekka, now and then, that perhaps we
+shouldn't want all those parea any more, but Pekka couldn't have laid
+it very much to heart, for he didn't so much as ask the reason why.
+
+It was not till supper time that we heard the horses' bells in the
+courtyard.
+
+With the bread crumbs in our mouths, we children rushed out, but father
+drove us in again and bade scullery-Pekka come and help with the chest.
+Pekka, who had already been dozing away on the bench by the stove, was
+so awkward as to knock the chest against the threshold as he was
+helping father to carry it into the room, and he would most certainly
+have got a sound drubbing for it from father if only he had been
+younger, but he was an old fellow now, and father had never in his life
+struck a man older than himself. Nevertheless, Pekka would have heard a
+thing or two from father if the lamp HAD gone to pieces, but
+fortunately no damage had been done.
+
+"Get up on the stove, you lout!" roared father at Pekka, and up on the
+stove Pekka crept.
+
+But father had already taken the lamp out of the chest, and now let it
+hang down from one hand.
+
+"Look! there it is now! How do you think it looks? You pour the oil
+into this glass, and that stump of ribbon inside is the wick--hold that
+pare a little further off, will you!"
+
+"Shall we light it?" said mother, as she drew back.
+
+"Are you mad? How can it be lighted when there's no oil in it?"
+
+"Well, but can't you pour some in, then?"
+
+"Pour in oil? A likely tale! Yes, that's just the way when people don't
+understand these things; but the storekeeper warned me again and again
+never to pour the oil in by firelight, as it might catch fire and burn
+the whole house down."
+
+"Then when will you pour the oil into it!"
+
+"In the daytime--daytime, d'ye hear? Can't you wait till day? It isn't
+such a great marvel as all that." "Have you SEEN it burn, then?"
+
+"Of course I have. What a question! I've seen it burn many a time, both
+at the parsonage and when we tried this one here at the storekeeper's."
+
+"And it burned, did it?"
+
+"Burned? Of course it did, and when we put up the shutters of the shop,
+you could have seen a needle on the floor. Look here, now! Here's a
+sort of capsule, and when the fire is burning in this fixed glass here,
+the light cannot creep up to the top, where it isn't wanted either, but
+spreads out downward, so that you could find a needle an the floor."
+
+Now we should have all very much liked to try if we could find a needle
+on the floor, but father rang up the lamp to the roof and began to eat
+his supper.
+
+"This evening we must be content, once more, with a pare," said father,
+as he ate; "but to-morrow the lamp shall burn in this very house."
+
+"Look, father! Pekka has been splitting parea all day, and filled the
+outhouse with them."
+
+"That's all right. We've fuel now, at any rate, to last us all the
+winter, for we sha'n't want them for anything else."
+
+"But how about the bathroom and the stable?" said mother.
+
+"In the bathroom we'll burn the lamp," said father.
+
+That night I slept still less than the night before, and when I woke in
+the morning I could almost have wept, if I hadn't been ashamed, when I
+called to mind that the lamp was not to be lit till the evening. I had
+dreamed that father had poured oil into the lamp at night and that it
+had burned the whole day long.
+
+Immediately when it began to dawn, father dug up out of that great
+travelling chest of his a big bottle, and poured something out of it
+into a smaller bottle. We should have very much liked to ask what was
+in this bottle, but we daren't, for father looked so solemn about it
+that it quite frightened us.
+
+But when he drew the lamp a little lower down from the ceiling and
+began to bustle about it and unscrew it, mother could contain herself
+no longer, and asked him what he was doing.
+
+"I am pouring oil into the lamp."
+
+"Well, but you're taking it to pieces! How will you ever get everything
+you have unscrewed into its proper place again?"
+
+Neither mother nor we knew what to call the thing which father took out
+from the glass holder.
+
+Father said nothing, but he bade us keep further off. Then he filled
+the glass holder nearly full from the smaller bottle, and we now
+guessed that there was oil in the larger bottle also.
+
+"Well, won't you light it now?" asked mother again, when all the
+unscrewed things had been put back into their places and father hoisted
+the lamp up to the ceiling again.
+
+"What! in the daytime?"
+
+"Yes--surely we might try it, to see how it will burn."
+
+"It'll burn right enough. Just wait till the evening, and don't bother."
+
+After dinner, scullery-Pekka brought in a large frozen block of wood to
+split up into parea, and cast it from his shoulders on to the floor
+with a thud which shook the whole room and set in motion the oil in the
+lamp.
+
+"Steady!" cries father; "what are you making that row for?"
+
+"I brought in this pare-block to melt it a bit--nothing else will do
+it--it is regularly frozen."
+
+"You may save yourself the trouble then," said father, and he winked at
+us.
+
+"Well, but you can't get a blaze out of it at all, otherwise."
+
+"You may save yourself the trouble, I say."
+
+"Are no more parea to be split up, then?"
+
+"Well, suppose I DID say that no more parea were to be split up?"
+
+"Oh! 't is all the same to me if master can get on without 'em."
+
+"Don't you see, Pekka, what is hanging down from the rafters there?"
+When father put this question he looked proudly up at the lamp, and
+then he looked pityingly down upon Pekka.
+
+Pekka put his clod in the corner, and then, but not till then, looked
+up at the lamp.
+
+"It's a lamp," says father, "and when it burns you don't want any more
+pare light."
+
+"Oh!" said Pekka, and, without a single word more, he went off to his
+chopping-block behind the stable, and all day long, just as on other
+days, he chopped a branch of his own height into little fagots; but all
+the rest of us were scarce able to get on with anything. Mother made
+believe to spin, but her supply of flax had not diminished by one-half
+when she shoved aside the spindle and went out. Father chipped away at
+first at the handle of his axe, but the work must have been a little
+against the grain, for he left it half done. After mother went away,
+father went out also, but whether he went to town or not I don't know.
+At any rate he forbade us to go out too, and promised us a whipping if
+we so much as touched the lamp with the tips of our fingers. Why, we
+should as soon have thought of fingering the priest's gold-embroidered
+chasuble. We were only afraid that the cord which held up all this
+splendor might break and we should get the blame of it.
+
+But time hung heavily in the sitting-room, and as we couldn't hit upon
+anything else, we resolved to go in a body to the sleighing hill. The
+town had a right of way to the river for fetching water therefrom, and
+this road ended at the foot of a good hill down which the sleigh could
+run, and then up the other side along the ice rift.
+
+"Here come the Lamphill children," cried the children of the town, as
+soon as they saw us.
+
+We understood well enough what they meant, but for all that we did not
+ask what Lamphill children they alluded to, for our farm was, of
+course, never called Lamphill.
+
+"Ah, ah! We know! You've gone and bought one of them lamps for your
+place. We know all about it!"
+
+"But how came you to know about it already?"
+
+"Your mother mentioned it to my mother when she went through our place.
+She said that your father had bought from the storeman one of that sort
+of lamps that burn so brightly that one can find a needle on the
+floor--so at least said the justice's maid."
+
+"It is just like the lamp in the parsonage drawing-room, your father
+told us just now. I heard him say so with my own ears," said the
+innkeeper's lad.
+
+"Then you really have got a lamp like that, eh?" inquired all the
+children of the town.
+
+"Yes, we have; but it is nothing to look at in the daytime, but in the
+evening we'll all go there together."
+
+And we went on sleighing down hill and up hill till dusk, and every
+time we drew our sleighs up to the hilltop, we talked about the lamp
+with the children of the town.
+
+In this way the time passed quicker than we thought, and when we had
+sped down the hill for the last time, the whole lot of us sprang off
+homeward.
+
+Pekka was standing at the chopping block and didn't even turn his head,
+although we all called to him with one voice to come and see how the
+lamp was lit. We children plunged headlong into the room in a body.
+
+But at the door we stood stock-still. The lamp was already burning
+there beneath the rafters so brightly that we couldn't look at it
+without blinking.
+
+"Shut the door; it's rare cold," cried father, from behind the table.
+
+"They scurry about like fowls in windy weather," grumbled mother from
+her place by the fireside.
+
+"No wonder the children are dazed by it, when I, old woman as I am,
+cannot help looking up at it," said the innkeeper's old mother.
+
+"Our maid also will never get over it," said the magistrate's
+step-daughter.
+
+It was only when our eyes had got a little used to the light that we
+saw that the room was half full of neighbors.
+
+"Come nearer, children, that you may see it properly," said father, in
+a much milder voice than just before.
+
+"Knock that snow off your feet, and come hither to the stove; it looks
+quite splendid from here," said mother, in her turn.
+
+Skipping and jumping, we went toward mother, and sat us all down in a
+row on the bench beside her. It was only when we were under her wing
+that we dared to examine the lamp more critically. We had never once
+thought that it would burn as it was burning now, but when we came to
+sift the matter out we arrived at the conclusion that, after all, it
+was burning just as it ought to burn. And when we had peeped at it a
+good bit longer, it seemed to us as if we had fancied all along that it
+would be exactly as it was.
+
+But what we could not make out at all was how the fire was put into
+that sort of glass. We asked mother, but she said we should see how it
+was done afterward.
+
+The townsfolk vied with each other in praising the lamp, and one said
+one thing, and another said another. The innkeeper's old mother
+maintained that it shone just as calmly and brightly as the stars of
+heaven. The magistrate, who had sad eyes, thought it excellent because
+it didn't smoke, and you could burn it right in the middle of the hall
+without blackening the walls in the least, to which father replied that
+it was, in fact, meant for the hall, but did capitally for the dwelling
+room as well, and one had no need now to dash hither and thither with
+parea, for all could now see by a single light, let them be never so
+many.
+
+When mother observed that the lesser chandelier in church scarcely gave
+a better light, father bade me take my ABC book, and go to the door to
+see if I could read it there. I went and began to read: "Our Father."
+But then they all said: "The lad knows that by heart." Mother then
+stuck a hymn-book in my hand, and I set off with "By the Waters of
+Babylon."
+
+"Yes; it is perfectly marvellous!" was the testimony of the townsfolk.
+
+Then said father: "Now if any one had a needle, you might throw it on
+the floor and you would see that it would be found at once."
+
+The magistrate's step-daughter had a needle in her bosom, but when she
+threw it on the floor, it fell into a crack, and we couldn't find it at
+all--it was so small.
+
+It was only after the townsfolk had gone that Pekka came in.
+
+He blinked a bit at first at the unusual lamplight, but then calmly
+proceeded to take off his jacket and rag boots.
+
+"What's that twinkling in the roof there enough to put your eyes out?"
+he asked at last, when he had hung his stockings up on the rafters.
+
+"Come now, guess what it is," said father, and he winked at mother and
+us.
+
+"I can't guess," said Pekka, and he came nearer to the lamp.
+
+"Perhaps it's the church chandelier, eh?" said father jokingly.
+
+"Perhaps," admitted Pekka; but he had become really curious, and passed
+his thumb along the lamp.
+
+"There's no need to finger it," says father; "look at it, but don't
+touch it."
+
+"All right, all right! I don't want to meddle with it!" said Pekka, a
+little put out, and he drew back to the bench alongside the wall by the
+door.
+
+Mother must have thought that it was a sin to treat poor Pekka so, for
+she began to explain to him that it was not a church chandelier at all,
+but what people called a lamp, and that it was lit with oil, and that
+was why people didn't want parea any more.
+
+But Pekka was so little enlightened by the whole explanation that he
+immediately began to split up the pare-wood log which he had dragged
+into the room the day before. Then father said to him that he had
+already told him there was no need to split parea any more.
+
+"Oh! I quite forgot," said Pekka; "but there it may bide if it isn't
+wanted any more," and with that Pekka drove his pare knife into a rift
+in the wall.
+
+"There let it rest at leisure," said father.
+
+But Pekka said never a word more. A little while after that he began to
+patch up his boots, stretched on tiptoe to reach down a pare from the
+rafters, lit it, stuck it in a slit fagot, and sat him down on his
+little stool by the stove. We children saw this before father, who
+stood with his back to Pekka planing away at his axe-shaft under the
+lamp. We said nothing, however, but laughed and whispered among
+ourselves, "If only father sees that, what will he say, I wonder?" And
+when father did catch sight of him, he planted himself arms akimbo in
+front of Pekka, and asked him, quite spitefully, what sort of fine work
+he had there, since he must needs have a separate light all to himself?
+
+"I am only patching up my shoes," said Pekka to father.
+
+"Oh, indeed! Patching your shoes, eh? Then if you can't see to do that
+by the same light that does for me, you may take yourself off with your
+pare into the bath-house or behind it if you like."
+
+And Pekka went.
+
+He stuck his boots under his arm, took his stool in one hand and his
+pare in the other, and off he went. He crept softly through the door
+into the hall, and out of the hall into the yard. The pare light flamed
+outside in the blast, and played a little while, glaring red, over
+outhouses, stalls, and stables. We children saw the light through the
+window and thought it looked very pretty. But when Pekka bent down to
+get behind the bath-house door, it was all dark again in the yard, and
+instead of the pare we saw only the lamp mirroring itself in the dark
+window-panes.
+
+Henceforth we never burned a pare in the dwelling-room again. The lamp
+shone victoriously from the roof, and on Sunday evenings all the
+townsfolk often used to come to look upon and admire it. It was known
+all over the parish that our house was the first, after the parsonage,
+where the lamp had been used. After we had set the example, the
+magistrate bought a lamp like ours, but as he had never learned to
+light it, he was glad to sell it to the innkeeper, and the innkeeper
+has it still.
+
+The poorer farmfolk, however, have not been able to get themselves
+lamps, but even now they do their long evening's work by the glare of a
+pare.
+
+But when we had had the lamp a short time, father planed the walls of
+the dwelling-room all smooth and white, and they never got black again,
+especially after the old stove, which used to smoke, had to make room
+for another, which discharged its smoke outside and had a cowl.
+
+Pekka made a new fireplace in the bath-house out of the stones of the
+old stove, and the crickets flitted thither with the stones--at least
+their chirping was never heard any more in the dwelling room. Father
+didn't care a bit, but we children felt, now and then, during the long
+winter evenings, a strange sort of yearning after old times, so we very
+often found our way down to the bath-house to listen to the crickets,
+and there was Pekka sitting out the long evenings by the light of his
+pare.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FLYING MAIL
+
+BY
+
+M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+
+From "The Flying Mail." Translated by Carl Larsen.
+
+
+
+
+THE FLYING MAIL
+
+BY
+
+M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+
+I.
+
+Fritz Bagger had just been admitted to the bar. He had come home and
+entered his room, seeking rest. All his mental faculties were now
+relaxed after their recent exertion, and a long-restrained power was
+awakened. He had reached a crisis in life: the future lay before
+him,--the future, the future! What was it to be? He was twenty-four
+years old, and could turn himself whichever way he pleased, let fancy
+run to any line of the compass. Out upon the horizon, he saw little
+rose-colored clouds, and nothing therein but a certain undefined bliss.
+He put his hands over his eyes, and sought to bring this uncertainty
+into clear vision; and after a long time had elapsed, he said: "Yes,
+and so one marries."
+
+"Yes, one marries," he continued, after a pause; "but whom?"
+
+His thoughts now took a more direct course; but the pictures in his
+mind's eye had not become plainer. Again the horizon widely around was
+rose-colored, and between the tinted cloud-layers angel-heads peeped
+out--not Bible angels, which are neither man nor woman; but angelic
+girls, whom he didn't know, and who didn't know him. The truth was, he
+didn't know anybody to whom he could give his heart, but longed, with a
+certain twenty-four-year power, for her to whom he could offer it,--her
+who was worthy to receive his whole self-made being, and in exchange
+give him all that queer imagined bliss, which is or ought to be in the
+world, as every one so firmly believes.
+
+"Oh, I am a fool!" he said, as he suddenly became conscious that he was
+merely dreaming and wishing. He tried to think of something practical,
+thought upon a little picnic that was to be held in the evening; but
+the same dream returned and overpowered him, because the season of
+spring was in him, because life thrilled in him as in trees and plants
+when the spring sun shines.
+
+He leaned upon the window-seat--it was in an attic--and let the wind
+cool his forehead. But while the wind refreshed, the street itself gave
+his mind new nourishment. Down there it moved, to him unknown, and
+veiled and hidden as at a masquerade. What a treasure might not that
+easy virgin foot carry! What a fancy might there not be moving in the
+head under that little bonnet, and what a heart might there not be
+beating under the folds of that shawl! But, too, all this preciousness
+might belong to another.
+
+Alas! yes, there were certainly many amiable ones down there!--and if
+destiny should lead him to one of them, who was free, lovely,
+well-bred, of good family, could any one vouch that for her sake he was
+not giving up HER, the beau-ideal, the expected, whose portrait had
+shown itself between the tinted clouds? or, in any event, who can vouch
+for one's success in not missing the right one?
+
+"Oh! life is a lottery, a cruel lottery; for to everybody there is but
+one drawing, and the whole man is at stake. Woe to the loser!"
+
+After the expiration of some time, Fritz, under the influence of these
+meditations, had become melancholy, and all bright, smiling, and sure
+as life had recently appeared to him, so misty, uncertain, and painful
+it now appeared. For the second time he stroked his forehead, shook
+these thoughts from him, seeking more practical ones, and for the
+second time it terminated in going to the window and gazing out.
+
+A whirlwind filled the street, slamming gates and doors, shaking
+windows and carrying dust with it up to his attic chamber. He was in
+the act of drawing back, when he saw a little piece of paper whirled in
+the dust cloud coming closely near him. He shut his eyes to keep out
+the dust, grasping at random for the paper, which he caught. At the
+same moment the whirlwind ceased, and the sky was again clear. This
+appeared to him ominous; the scrap of paper had certainly a meaning to
+him, a meaning for him; the unknown whom he had not really spoken to,
+yet had been so exceedingly busy with, could not quite accidentally
+have thus conveyed this to his hands, and with throbbing heart he
+retired from the window to read the message.
+
+One side of the paper was blank; in the left-hand corner of the other
+side was written "beloved," and a little below it seemed as if there
+had been a signature, but now there was nothing left excepting the
+letters "geb."
+
+"'Geb,' what does that mean?" asked Fritz Bagger, with dark humor. "If
+it had been gek, I could have understood it, although it were
+incorrectly written. Geb, Gebrer, Algebra, Gebruderbuh,--I am a big
+fool."
+
+"But it is no matter, she shall have an answer," he shouted after a
+while, and seated himself to write a long, glowing love-letter. When it
+was finished and read, he tore it in pieces.
+
+"No," said he, "if destiny has intended the least thing by acting to me
+as mail-carrier through the window, let me act reasonably." He wrote on
+a little piece of paper:
+
+"As the old Norwegians, when they went to Iceland, threw their
+high-seat pillars into the sea with the resolution to settle where they
+should go ashore, so I send this out. My faith follows after; and it is
+my conviction that where this alights, I shall one day come, and salute
+you as my chosen, as my--." "Yes, now what more shall I add?" he asked
+himself. "Ay, as my--'geb'--!" he added, with an outburst of merry
+humor, that just completed the whole sentimental outburst. He went to
+the window and threw the paper out; it alighted with a slow quivering.
+He was already afraid that it would go directly down into the ditch;
+but then a breeze came lifting it almost up to himself again, then a
+new current carried it away, lifting it higher and higher, whirling it,
+till at last it disappeared from his sight in continual ascension, so
+he thought.
+
+"After all, I have become engaged to-day," he said to himself, with a
+certain quiet humor, and yet impressed by a feeling that he had really
+given himself to the unknown.
+
+II.
+
+Six years had passed, and Fritz Bagger had made his mark, although not
+as a lover. He had become Counsellor, and was particularly
+distinguished for the skill and energy with which he brought criminals
+to confession. It is thus that a man of fine and poetic feelings can
+satisfy himself in such a business, for a time at least: with the half
+of his soul he can lead a life which to himself and others seems entire
+only because it is busy, because it keeps him at work, and fills him
+with a consciousness of accomplishing something practical and good.
+There is a youthful working power, which needs not to look sharply out
+into the future for a particular aim of feeling or desire. This power
+itself, by the mere effort to keep in a given place, is for such an
+organization, every day, an aim, a relish; and one can for a number of
+years drive business so energetically, that he, too, slips over that
+difficult time which in every twenty-four hours threatens to meet him,
+the time between work and sleep, twilight, when the other half of the
+soul strives to awaken.
+
+Be it because his professional duties gave him no time or opportunity
+for courtship, or for some other reason, Fritz Bagger remained a
+bachelor; and a bachelor with the income of his profession is looked
+upon as a rich man. Counsellor Bagger would, when business allowed,
+enter into social life, treating it in that elegant, independent,
+almost poetic manner, which in most cases is denied to married men, and
+which is one reason why they press the hand of a bachelor with a sigh,
+a mixture of envy, admiration, and compassion. If we add here that a
+bachelor with such a professional income is the possible stepping-stone
+to an advantageous marriage, it is easily seen that Fritz Bagger was
+much sought for in company. He went, too, into it as often as allowed
+by his legal duties, from which he would hasten in the black
+"swallow-tail" to a dinner or soiree, and often amused himself where
+most others were weary; because conversation about anything whatever
+with the cultivated was to him a refreshment, and because he brought
+with him a good appetite and good humor, resting upon conscientious
+work. He could show interest in divers trifles, because in their
+nothingness (quite contrary to the trifles in which half an hour
+previous, with painful interest, he had ferreted out crime), they
+appeared to him as belonging to an innocent, childish world; and if
+conversation approached more earnest things, he spoke freely, and
+evidently gave himself quite up to the subject, letting the whole
+surface of his soul flow out. And this procured him friendship and
+reputation.
+
+In this way, then, six years had slipped by, when Counsellor Bagger, or
+rather Fritz Bagger as we will call him, in remembrance of his
+examination-day, and his notes by the flying mail, was invited to a
+wedding-party on the shooting-ground. The company was not very
+large,--only thirty couples,--but very elegant. Bagger was a friend in
+the families of both bride and bridegroom, and consequently being well
+known to nearly all present he felt himself as among friends gathered
+by a mutual joy, and was more than usually animated. A superb wine,
+which the bride's father had himself brought, crowned their spirits
+with the last perfect wreath. Although the toast to the bridal pair had
+been officially proposed, Bagger took occasion to offer his
+congratulations in a second encomium of love and matrimony; which gave
+a solid, prosaic man opportunity for the witty remark and hearty wish
+that so distinguished a practical office-holder as Counsellor Bagger
+would carry his fine theories upon matrimony into practice. The toast
+was drunk with enthusiasm, and just at that moment a strong wind shook
+the windows, and burst open one of the doors, blowing so far into the
+hall as to cause the lights to flicker much.
+
+Bagger became, through the influence of the wine, the company, and the
+sight of the happy bridal pair, six years younger. His soul was carried
+away from criminal and police courts, and found itself on high, as in
+the attic chamber, with a vision of the small tinted clouds and the
+angel-heads. The sudden gust of wind carried him quite back to the
+moment when he sent out his note as the Norwegian heroes their
+high-seat pillars: the spirit of his twenty-fourth year came wholly
+over him, queerly mixed with the half-regretful reflection of the
+thirtieth year, with fun, inclination to talk and to breathe; and he
+exclaimed, as he rose to acknowledge the toast:
+
+"I am engaged."
+
+"Ay! ay! Congratulate! congratulate!" sounded from all sides.
+
+"This gust of wind, which nearly extinguished the lights, brought me a
+message from my betrothed!"
+
+"What?" "What is it?" asked the company, their heads at that moment not
+in the least condition for guessing charades.
+
+"Counsellor Bagger, have you, like the Doge of Venice, betrothed
+yourself to the sea or storm?" asked the bridegroom.
+
+"Hear him, the fortunate! sitting upon the golden doorstep to the
+kingdom of love! Let him surmise and guess all that concerns Cupid, for
+he has obtained the inspiration, the genial sympathy," exclaimed
+Bagger. "Yes," he continued, "just like the Doge of Venice, but not as
+aristocratic! From my attic chamber, where I sat on my examination-day,
+guided by Cupid, in a manner which it would take too long to narrate, I
+gave to the whirlwind a love-letter, and at any moment SHE can step
+forward with my letter, my promise, and demand me soul and body."
+
+"Who is it, then?" asked bridegroom and bride, with the most earnest
+interest.
+
+"Yes, how can I tell that? Do I know the whirlwind's roads?"
+
+"Was the letter signed with your name?"
+
+"No; but don't you think I will acknowledge my handwriting?" replied
+Bagger, quite earnestly.
+
+This earnestness with reference to an obligation which no one
+understood became comical; and Bagger felt at the moment that he was on
+the brink of the ridiculous. Trying to collect himself, he said:
+
+"Is it not an obligation we all have? Do not both bride and bridegroom
+acknowledge that long before they knew each other the obligation was
+present?"
+
+"Yes, yes!" exclaimed the bridegroom.
+
+"And the whirlwind, accident, the unknown power, brought them together
+so that the obligation was redeemed?"
+
+"Yes, yes!"
+
+"Let us, then," continued Bagger, "drink a toast to the wind, the
+accident, the moving power, unknown and yet controlling. To those of us
+who, as yet, are unprovided for and under forty, it will at some time
+undoubtedly bring a bride; to those who are already provided for will
+come the expected in another form. So a toast to the wind that came in
+here and flickered the lights; to the unknown, that brings us the
+wished for; and to ourselves, that we may be prepared to receive it
+when announced."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed the bridegroom, looking upon his bride.
+
+"Puh-h-h!" thought Bagger, seating himself with intense relief, "I have
+come out of it somewhat decently after all. The deuce take me before I
+again express a sentimentality."
+
+How Counsellor Bagger that night could have fallen asleep, between
+memory, or longing and discontent, is difficult to tell, had he not on
+his arrival home found a package of papers, an interesting theft case.
+He sat down instantly to read, and day dawned ere they were finished.
+His last thought, before his eyelids closed, was,--Two years in the
+House of Correction.
+
+III.
+
+A month later, toward the close of September, two ladies, twenty or
+twenty-two years of age, were walking in a garden about ten miles from
+Copenhagen. Although the walks were quite wide, impediments in them
+made it difficult for the ladies to go side by side. The autumn showed
+itself uneven and jagged. The currant and gooseberry boughs, that
+earlier hung in soft arches, now projected stiffly forth, catching in
+the ladies' dresses; branches from plum and apple trees hung bare and
+broken, and required attention above also. One of the ladies apparently
+was at home there: this was evident partly from her dress, which,
+although elegant, was domestic, and partly by her taking the lead and
+paying honor, by drawing boughs and branches aside, holding them until
+the other lady, who was more showily dressed, had slipped past. On
+account of the hindrances of the walk there were none of those easy,
+subdued, familiar conversations, which otherwise so naturally arise
+when young ladies, acquaintances, or "friends," visit each other, and
+from the house slip out alone into garden or wood. An attentive
+observer meanwhile, by scrutinizing the physiognomy of both, would,
+perhaps, have come to the conclusion, that even if these two had been
+together on the most unobstructed road, no confidence would have arisen
+between them, and would have suspected the hostess of trying to atone
+for her lack of interest, by being polite and careful. She was not
+strikingly handsome, but possessed of a fine nature, which manifested
+itself in the whole figure, and perhaps, especially, in the uncommonly
+well-formed nose; yet it was by peering into her eyes that one first
+obtained the idea of a womanhood somewhat superior to the generality of
+her sex. Their expression was not to be caught at once: they told of
+both meditation and resolve, and hinted at irony or badinage, which
+works so queerly when it comes from deep ground. The other lady was
+"burgherly-genteel," a handsome, cultivated girl, had certainly also
+some soul, but yet was far less busy with a world in her own heart than
+with the world of fashion. It was about the world, the world of
+Copenhagen, that Miss Brandt at this moment was giving Miss Hjelm an
+account, interrupted by the boughs and branches, and although Miss
+Hjelm was not, nun-like, indifferent either to fashions or incidents in
+high life, the manner in which Miss Brandt unmistakably laid her soul
+therein, caused her to go thus politely before.
+
+"But you have heard about Emmy Ibsen's marriage?" asked Miss Brandt.
+
+"Yes, it was about a month ago, I think."
+
+"Yes, I was bridesmaid."
+
+"Indeed!" said Miss Hjelm, in a voice which atoned for her brevity.
+
+"The party was at the shooting-ground."
+
+"So!" said Miss Hjelm again, with as correct an intonation as if she
+had learned it for "I don't care." "Take care, Miss Brandt," she added,
+stooping to avoid an apple-branch.
+
+"Take care?--oh, for that branch!" said Miss Brandt, and avoided it as
+charmingly and coquettishly as if it had been living.
+
+"It was very gay," she added, "even more so than wedding-parties
+commonly are; but this was caused a good deal by Counsellor Bagger."
+
+"So!"
+
+"Yes, he was very gay ... I was his companion at table.
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Oh, only to think! at the table he stands up declaring that he is
+engaged."
+
+"Was his lady present?"
+
+"No, that she was not, I think. Do you know who it was?"
+
+"No, how should I know that, Miss Brandt?"
+
+"The whirlwind!"
+
+"The whirlwind?"
+
+"Yes. He said that he, as a young man, in a solemn moment had sent his
+love letter or his promise out with the wind, and he was continually
+waiting for an answer: he had given his promise, was betrothed!--Ou!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Miss Hjelm, sympathetically. The truth was, the
+young hostess at this moment had relaxed her polite care, and a limb of
+a gooseberry-bush had struck against Miss Brandt's ankle.
+
+The pain was soon over; and the two ladies, who now had reached the
+termination of the walk, turned toward the house side by side, each
+protecting herself, unconscious that any change had occurred.
+
+"But I hardly believe it," continued Miss Brandt: "he said it perhaps
+only to make himself conspicuous, for certain gentlemen are just as
+coquettish as ... as they accuse us of being."
+
+Miss Hjelm uttered a doubting, "Um!"
+
+"Yes, that they really are! Have you ever seen any lady as coquettish
+as an actor?"
+
+"I don't know any of them, but I should suppose an actress might be."
+
+"No: no actress I have ever met of the better sort was really
+coquettish. I don't know how it is with them, but I believe they have
+overcome coquettishness."
+
+"But you think, then, Counsellor Bang is coquettish?"
+
+"Not Bang--Bagger. Yes; for although he said he had this romantic love
+for a fairy, he often does court to modest earthly ladies. He is
+properly somewhat of a flirt."
+
+"That is unbecoming an old man."
+
+"Yes; but he is not old."
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Hjelm, laughing: "I have only known one war counsellor,
+and he was old; so I thought of all war counsellors as old."
+
+"Yes; but Counsellor Bagger is not war counsellor, but a real Superior
+Court Counsellor."
+
+"Oh, how earnest that is! And so he is in love with a fairy?"
+
+"Yes: it is ridiculous!" said Miss Brandt, laughing. During this
+conversation they had reached the house, and Miss Brandt complained
+that something was yet pricking her ankle. They went into Miss Hjelm's
+room, and here a thorn was discovered and taken out.
+
+"How pretty and cosy this room really is!" said Miss Brandt, looking
+around. "In a situation like this one can surely live in the country
+summer and winter. Out with us at Taarback it blows in through the
+windows, doors, and very walls."
+
+"That must be bad in a whirlwind."
+
+"Yes--yes: still, it might be quite amusing when the whirlwind carried
+such billets: not that one would care for them; yet they might be
+interesting for a while."
+
+"Oh, yes! perhaps."
+
+"Yes: how do you think a young girl would like it, when there came from
+Heaven a billet, in which one pledged himself to her for time and
+eternity?"
+
+"That isn't easy to say; but I don't believe the occurrence quite so
+uncommon. A friend of mine once had such a billet blown to her, and she
+presented me with it."
+
+"Does one give such things away? Have you the billet?"
+
+"I will look for it," answered Miss Hjelm; and surely enough, after
+longer search in the sewing-table, in drawers, and small boxes, than
+was really necessary, she found it. Miss Brandt read it, taking care
+not to remark that it very much appeared to her as if it resembled the
+one the counsellor had mentioned.
+
+"And such a billet one gives away!" she said after a pause.
+
+"Yes: will you have it?" asked Miss Hjelm, as though after a sudden
+resolution.
+
+Miss Brandt's first impulse was an eager acceptance; but she checked
+herself almost as quickly, and answered:
+
+"Oh, yes, thank you, as a curiosity." Then slowly put it between her
+glove and hand.
+
+As Miss Brandt and her company rode away, said Miss Hjelm's cousin, a
+handsome, middle-aged widow, to her:
+
+"How is it, Ingeborg? It appears to me you laugh with one eye and weep
+with the other."
+
+"Yes: a soap-bubble has burst for me, and glitters, maybe, for another."
+
+"You know I seldom understand the sentimental enigmas: can you not
+interpret your words?"
+
+"Yes: to-day an illusion has vanished, that had lasted for six years."
+
+"For six years?" said her cousin, with an inquiring or sympathizing
+look. "So it began when you were hardly sixteen years."
+
+"Now do you believe, that when I was in my sixteenth year I saw an
+ideal of a man, and was enamoured of him, and to-day I hear that he is
+married."
+
+"No, I don't know as I believe just that," answered the cousin,
+dropping her eyes; "but I suppose that then you had a pretty vision,
+and have carried it along with you in silence--and with faith."
+
+"But it was something more than a vision; it was a letter--a
+love-letter."
+
+The cousin looked upon Ingeborg so inquiringly, so anxiously, that
+words were unnecessary. Beside this the cousin knew, that when Ingeborg
+was inclined to talk, she did so without being asked, and if she wished
+to be silent, she was silent.
+
+Ingeborg continued: "One time, I drove to town with sainted father.
+Father was to go no further than to Noerrebro, and I had an errand at
+Vestervold. So I stepped out and went through the Love-path. As I came
+to the corner of the path, and the Ladegaardsway, the wind blew so
+violently against me, that I could hardly breathe; and something blew
+against my veil, fluttering with wings like a humming-bird. I tried to
+drive it away, for it blinded one of my eyes; but it blew back again.
+So I caught it and was going to let it fly away over my head, but that
+moment I saw it was written upon, and read it. It was a love-letter! A
+man wrote that he sent this as in old times the Norwegian emigrants let
+their high-seat pillars be carried by the sea, and where it came he
+would one time come, and bring his faith to his destined--Geb.'"
+
+"'Geb'? What is that?" asked the cousin. "That is Ingeborg," answered
+Miss Hjelm, with a plain simplicity, showing how deeply she had
+believed in the earnestness of the message.
+
+"It was really remarkable!" said the cousin, and added with a smile
+which perhaps was somewhat ironical: "And did you then resolve to
+remain unmarried, until the unknown letter-writer should come and
+redeem his vow?"
+
+"I will not say that," answered Ingeborg, who quickly became more
+guarded; "but the letter perhaps contained some stronger requirements
+than under the circumstances could be fulfilled."
+
+"So! and now?"
+
+"Now I have presented the letter to Miss Brandt."
+
+"You gave it away? Why?"
+
+"Because I learned that the man, who perhaps or probably wrote it in
+his youth, has spoken about it publicly, and is counsellor in one of
+the courts."
+
+"Oh, I understand," said the cousin, half audibly: "when the ideal is
+found out to be a counsellor, then--"
+
+"Then it is not an ideal any longer? No. The whole had been spoiled by
+being fumbled in public. I would get away from the temptation to think
+of him. Do court to him, announce myself to him as the happy finder,--I
+could not."
+
+"That I understand very well," said the cousin, putting her arm
+affectionately around Ingeborg's waist; "but why did you just give Miss
+Brandt the letter?"
+
+"Because she is acquainted with the counsellor, and indeed, as far as I
+could understand, feels somewhat for him. They two can get each other;
+and what a wonderful consecration it will be when she on the
+marriage-day gives him the letter!"
+
+The cousin said musingly: "And such secrets can live in one whole year,
+without another surmising it!" Suddenly she added: "But how will Miss
+Brandt on that occasion interpret the word 'Geb'?"
+
+"Oh! I suppose a single syllable is of no consequence; and, besides,
+Miss Brandt is a judicious girl," answered Ingeborg, with an
+inexpressible flash in the dark eyes.
+
+IV.
+
+Good fortune seldom comes singly. One morning Criminal and Court
+Counsellor Bagger got, at his residence at Noerre Street, official
+intelligence that from the first of next month he was transferred to
+the King's Court, and in grace was promoted to be veritable counsellor
+of justice there; rank, fourth-class, number three. As, gratified by
+this friendly smile from above, he went out to repair to the
+court-house, he met in the porch a postman, who delivered him a letter.
+With thoughts yet busy with new title and court, Counsellor Bagger
+broke the letter, but remained as if fixed to the ground. In it he read:
+
+"The high-seat pillars have come on shore.
+
+"--'GEB.'--"
+
+One says well, that a man's love or season of courtship lasts till his
+thirtieth year, and after that time he is ambitious; but it is not
+always so, and with Counsellor Bagger it was in all respects the
+contrary. His ambition was already, if not fully reached, yet in some
+degree satisfied. The faculty of love had not been at all employed, and
+the letter came like a spark in a powder-cask; it ran glowing through
+every nerve. The youthful half of his soul, which had slept within him,
+wakened with such sudden, revolutionary strength, that the other half
+soul, which until now had borne rule, became completely subject; yes,
+so wholly, that Counsellor Bagger went past the court-house and came
+down in Court-house Street without noticing it. Suddenly he missed the
+big building with the pillars and inscription: "With law shall Lands be
+built;" looked around confused, and turned back.
+
+So much was he still at this moment Criminal Examiner, that among the
+first thoughts or feelings which the mysterious letter excited in him
+was this: It can be a trick, a foolery. But in the next moment it
+occurred to him, that never to any living soul had he mentioned his
+bold figure of the high-seat pillars, and still less revealed the
+mysterious, to him so valued, syllable--geb--. No doubt could exist:
+the fine, perfumed paper, the delicate lady handwriting, and the few
+significant words testified, that the billet which once in youthful,
+sanguine longing he had entrusted to the winds of heaven, had come to a
+lady, and that in one way or another she had found him out. He
+remembered very well, that a single time, five or six weeks before, he
+had in a numerous company mentioned that incident, and he did not doubt
+that the story had extended itself as ripples do, when one throws a
+stone into the water; but where in the whole town, or indeed the land,
+had the ripple hit the exact point? He looked again at the envelope. It
+bore the stamp of the Copenhagen city mail: that was all. But that
+showed with some probability that the writer lived in Copenhagen, and
+maybe at this moment she looked down upon him from one of the many
+windows; for now he stood by the fountain. There was something in the
+paper, the handwriting, or more properly perhaps in the secrecy, that
+made her seem young, spirited, beautiful, piquant. There was something
+fairy-like, exalted, intoxicating, in the feeling that the object of
+the longing and hope of his youth had been under the protection of a
+good spirit, and that the great unknown had taken care of and prepared
+for him a companion, a wife, just at the moment when he had become
+Counsellor of Justice of the Superior Court. But who was she? This was
+the only thing painful in the affair; but this intriguing annoyance was
+not to be avoided, if the lady was to remain within her sphere,
+surrounded by respect and esteem.
+
+"What would I have thought of a lady, a woman, who came straight
+forward and handed out the billet, saying: 'Here I am'?" he asked
+himself, at the moment when at last he had found the court-house stairs
+and was ascending.
+
+How it fared that day with the examinations is recorded in criminal and
+police court documents; but a veil is thrown over it in consideration
+of the fact, that a man only once in his life is made Counsellor of
+Justice in the King's Court. The day following it went better; although
+it is pretty sure that a horse thief went free from further reproof,
+because the counsellor was busy rolling that stone up the mountain:
+Where shall I seek her if she does not write again? Will she write
+again? If she would do that, why did she not write a little more at
+first?
+
+A couple of weeks after the receipt of the letter, one evening about
+seven o'clock, the counsellor sat at home, not as before by his
+writing-table busy with acts, but on a corner of the sofa, with
+drooping arms, deeply absorbed in a mixture of anxious doubts and
+dreaming expectations. Hope built air-castles, and doubt then puffed
+them over like card-houses. One of  his fancies was, that she summoned
+him--he would not even in thought use the expression: gave him an
+interview--at a masquerade. It was consequently no common masquerade,
+but a grand, elegant masked ball, to which a true lady could repair.
+The clock was at eleven, the appointed hour: he waited anxiously the
+pressing five minutes; then she came and extended him the fine hand in
+the finest straw-colored glove--
+
+"Letter to the Counsellor of Justice," said Jens, with strong Funen
+accent, and short, soldierly pronunciation.
+
+It is so uncommon that what one longs for comes just at the moment of
+most earnest desire; but notwithstanding the letter was from her, the
+Counsellor of Justice knew the superscription, would have known it
+among a hundred thousand. The letter read thus:
+
+"I ought to be open towards you; and, as we shall never meet, I can be
+so."
+
+Here the Counsellor of Justice stopped a moment and caught for breath.
+A good many of our twenty-year-old beaux, who have never been admitted
+to the bar, far less have been Court Counsellors, would, under similar
+circumstances, have said to themselves: "She writes that she will be
+open; that is to say, now she will fool me: we will never meet; that is
+to say, now I shall soon see her." But Counsellor Bagger believed every
+word as gospel, and his knees trembled. He read further:
+
+"I am ashamed of the few words I last wrote you; but my apology is,
+that it is only two days since I learned that you are married. I have
+been mistaken, but more in what may be imputed to me than in what I
+have thought. My only comfort is, that I shall never be known by you or
+anybody, and that I shall be forgotten, as I shall forget."
+
+"Never! But who can have spread the infamous slander! What dreadful
+treachery of some wretch or gossiping wench, who knows nothing about
+me! And how can she believe it! How in such a town as Copenhagen can it
+be a matter of doubt for five minutes, if a Superior Court Counsellor
+is married or not! Or maybe there is some other Counsellor Bagger
+married,--a Chamber Counsellor or the like? Or maybe she lives at a
+distance, in a quiet world, so that the truth of it does not easily
+reach her? So there is no sunshine more!
+
+"If she should sometime meet me, and know that I was, am, and have been
+unmarried, that meanwhile we have both become old and gray,--can one
+think of anything more sad? It is enough to make the heart cease
+beating! But suppose, too, that to-morrow she finds out that she has
+been deceived: she has once written, 'I was mistaken,' and cannot, as a
+true woman, write it again, unless she first heard from me, and learned
+how I longed--and so I am cut off from her, as if I lived in the moon.
+More, more! for I can meet her upon the street and touch her arm
+without surmising it. It is insupportable! Our time has mail,
+steamboats, railroads, telegraphs: to me these do not exist; for of
+what use are they altogether, when one knows not where to search."
+
+A thought came suddenly, like a meteor in the dark: advertise. What
+family in Copenhagen did not the Address Paper reach? He would put in
+an advertisement,--but how? "Fritz Bagger is not married."--No: that
+was too plain.--"F. B. is not married."--No: that was not plain enough.
+As he could find no successful use for his own name, it flashed into
+his mind to use hers,--geb--; and although it was painful to him to
+publish this, to him, almost sacred syllable for profane eyes to gaze
+upon, yet it comforted him, that only one, she herself, would
+understand it. Yet he hesitated. But one cannot make an omelet without
+breaking eggs; and although the heart's finest fibres ache at the
+thought of sending a message to a fairy through the Address Paper, yet
+one yields to this rather than lose the fairy.
+
+At last, after numerous efforts he stopped at this: "--geb--! It is a
+mistake: he waits only for--geb--." It appeared to him to contain the
+approach to a happy result, and tired out by emotion he fell asleep on
+his sofa.
+
+Some days after came a new letter with the dear handwriting: its
+contents were:
+
+"Well! appear eight days from to-day at Mrs. Canuteson's, to
+congratulate her upon her birthday."
+
+This was sunshine after thunder; this was hope's rainbow which arched
+itself up to heaven from the earth, yet wet with tears.
+
+"And so she belongs to good society," said the Counsellor of Justice,
+without noticing how by these words he discovered to himself that a
+doubt or suspicion had lain until now behind his ecstasy. "But," he
+added, "consequently, it is my own friends who have spread the rumor of
+my marriage. Friends indeed! A wife is a man's only friend. It is hard,
+suicidal, to remain a bachelor."
+
+On the appointed day he went too early. Mrs. Canuteson was yet alone.
+She was surprised at his congratulatory visit; but, however, as it was
+a courtesy, the surprise was mingled with delight, and Bagger was not
+the man whose visit a lady would not receive with pleasure. With that
+ingenuity of wit one can sometimes have, just when the heart is full
+and taken possession of, he did wonders, and entertained the lady in so
+lively a manner that she did not perceive how long a time he was
+passing with her. As the door at length opened, the lady exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, that is charming! Heartily welcome! Thank you for last time,
+[Footnote: In Sweden and Norway when the guest meets the host or
+hostess for the first time after an entertainment, the first greeting
+on the part of the former is always, "Thank you for the last time."]
+and for all the good in your house! How does your mother do? This
+amiable young lady's acquaintance I made last summer when we were in
+the country, and at last she is so good as to keep her promise and
+visit me. Counsellor Bagger--Miss Hjelm."
+
+The Counsellor wasn't sure that it was She, but he was convinced that
+it ought to be. Not to speak of Ingeborg Hjelm's being really amiable
+and distinguee, his heart was now prepared, as a photographer's glass
+which has received collodium, and took the first girl picture that met
+it. He was quite afraid that there would come more to choose among. Yet
+the fairy brightness of the unknown had at this moment lost itself for
+him; for, however brilliant it may appear to the fancy, it cannot be
+compared with the warm, beautiful reality, particularly so long as this
+itself is new and unknown.
+
+He approached and spoke to Miss Hjelm with painful hidden emotion of
+soul. She was friendly and open, for the name Counsellor Bagger did not
+occur to her; and the idea she had formed of him did not at all compare
+with the young, elegant, handsome man she was now speaking with. True
+enough, his manner was somewhat peculiarly gallant, which a lady cannot
+easily mistake; but this gallantry was united with such an unmistakable
+respect, or more properly awe, that he gave her the impression of a
+poetical, knightly nature.
+
+By and by there came more ladies, both married and unmarried, but
+Bagger had almost forgotten what errand they could have with him. At
+last Miss Brandt came also, accompanied by her sister. As she opened
+the door, and saw Bagger by the side of Miss Hjelm, she gave a little,
+a very little, cry, or, more properly, gasped aloud for breath, and
+made a movement, as if something kept her back.
+
+"Oh! my dress caught," she said, arranged it a little, and then
+approached Mrs. Canuteson, with smiling face, to offer her
+congratulation.
+
+Bagger looked at the watch: he had been there two hours! After yet
+lingering to exchange a few polite words with Miss Brandt, he took
+leave. His visit had in all respects been so unusual, and had given
+occasion for so much comment, that it required more time than could be
+given there; and his name was not at all mentioned after he left.
+
+V.
+
+Now it is certainly true, that whenever Counsellor Bagger was seen for
+quite a time, he was mostly dreaming and suffering; and people who have
+not themselves experienced something similar, or have not a fancy for
+putting themselves in his place, will say, perhaps, that they could
+have managed themselves better. But, at all events, it cannot be said,
+that from this time forward he was unpractical; for within eight days
+from Mrs. Canuteson's birthday he had not only learned where Miss Hjelm
+lived, but had established himself in a tavern close by the farm, and
+obtained admittance to the house, which last was not so difficult,
+since Mrs. Hjelm was a friendly, hospitable lady, and since neither her
+daughter nor niece thought they ought to prejudice her against him.
+
+In this manner four or five days passed away, which, to judge from
+Bagger's appearance, were to him very pleasant. He wrote to his
+colleagues in the Superior Court, that one could only value an autumn
+in Nature's lap after so laborious and health-destroying work as his
+life for many years had been. Then one day he received a letter from
+the unknown, reading thus:
+
+"Be more successful than last time, at Mrs. Emmy Lund's on Tuesday, two
+o'clock. Please notice, two o'clock precisely."
+
+"Does she mean so? Is she really coquettish? Yet I think I have been
+successful so far," said Bagger to himself, and waited for the Tuesday
+with comparative ease; in truth he did not at all understand why he
+should be troubled to go to town.
+
+As early on Tuesday forenoon as proper, he went over to the farm, and
+was somewhat surprised that there was to be seen no preparation for a
+town journey. Ingeborg, in her usual morning dress, was seated at the
+sewing-table. He waited until towards twelve o'clock, calculating that
+two hours was the least she needed in which to dress and drive to town.
+The long hand threatened to touch the short hand at the number twelve,
+without any appearance of Ingeborg's noticing it. She only now and then
+cast a stealthy look at him, for it had not escaped her, nor the
+others, that he was in expectancy and excitement. When the clock struck
+twelve,--he was just alone with her,--he asked suddenly, in a quick,
+trembling voice:
+
+"Miss Hjelm, you know I am Superior Court Counsellor?"
+
+"No: that I did not know," she said almost with dread, and arose. "No:
+that I have never known!"
+
+"But allow me, dear lady, so you know it now," he said, surprised that
+the title or profession produced so strong an effect.
+
+"Yes, now I know it," she said, and held her hand upon her heart. "Why
+do you tell me that? What does that signify?"
+
+"Nothing else, Miss Hjelm, than that you may understand that I don't
+believe in witchcraft."
+
+A speaker's physiognomy is often more intelligible than his words; and
+as Miss Hjelm saw the both hearty and spirited or jovial expression in
+the counsellor's face, she had not that inclination, which she under
+other circumstances would have had, quickly to break off the
+conversation and go away. It is possible, also, that his situation as
+Superior Court Counsellor--as that counsellor mentioned by Miss
+Brandt--did not, after a moment's consideration, appear to her so
+dreadful as at the first moment of surprise. So she answered:
+
+"But, Mr. Counsellor, is there then anybody who has accused you of
+believing in witchcraft?"
+
+"No, dear madam; but for all that I can assure you, that at the moment
+the clock struck twelve I thought that you, by two o'clock, most fly
+away in the form of a bird."
+
+"As the clock struck twelve now, at noon?--not at midnight?"
+
+"No, just a little since."
+
+"That is remarkable. Can you satisfy my curiosity, and tell me why?"
+
+"Because under ordinary circumstances it appears to me impossible for a
+lady to make her toilette and drive ten miles in less than two hours."
+
+"That is quite true, Mr. Counsellor; but neither do I intend to drive
+ten miles to-day."
+
+"It was for that reason that I said, fly."
+
+"Neither fly. And to convince you and quite certainly rid you of the
+idea of witchcraft, you can stay here, if you please, until--what time
+was it?"
+
+"Two o'clock."
+
+"That is two long hours; but the Counsellor can, if he please, lay that
+offering upon the altar of education."
+
+"Oh! I know another altar, upon which I would rather offer the two only
+all too short hours"--.
+
+"Let it now be upon that of education. You promised my cousin and me
+that you would read to us about popular science of nature and
+interesting facts in the life of animals."
+
+"Yes, dear madam; but _I_ cannot fly: my carriage stands waiting at the
+tavern."
+
+"Oh, I beg pardon! an agreeable journey, Mr. Counsellor."
+
+"Yes; but I don't understand why I shall drive the ten miles."
+
+"Every one knows his own concerns best."
+
+"Oh, yes! that is true. But I at least don't know mine."
+
+Miss Hjelm made no answer to this, and there was a little pause.
+
+"I would," continued the counsellor, somewhat puzzled, "take the great
+liberty to propose that you should ride with me."
+
+"I have already told the Counsellor that I did not intend to go to town
+to-day," answered Miss Hjelm, coldly.
+
+"Yes," continued Bagger, following his own ideas, "and so I thought,
+also, that we could as well stay here."
+
+At this moment Bagger was so earnest and impassioned, that Ingeborg, in
+hearing words so very wide of what she regarded as reasonable, began to
+suspect his mind of being a little disordered, and with an inquiring
+anxiousness looked at him.
+
+Meeting the look from these eyes, Bagger could no longer continue the
+inquisition which he had carried on for the sake of involving Miss
+Hjelm in self-contradiction and bringing her to confession. He himself
+came to confession, and exclaimed:
+
+"Miss Ingeborg, I ask you for Heaven's sake have pity on me, and tell
+me if you expect me at two o'clock to-day at Mrs. Lund's!"
+
+"I expect you at Mrs. Lund's!" exclaimed Miss Hjelm.
+
+"Is it not you, then, who have written me that--"
+
+"I have never written to you!" cried Ingeborg, and almost tore away the
+hand which Bagger tried to hold.
+
+"For God's sake, don't go, Miss--! My dear madam, you must forgive me:
+you shall know all!"
+
+And now he began to tell his tale, not according to rules of rhetoric
+and logic, but on the contrary in a way which certainly showed how
+little even our abler lawyers are educated to extemporize.
+
+But, however, there was in his words a certain almost wild eloquence;
+and, beside, Miss Hjelm had some foreknowledge, that helped her to
+understand and fill up what was wanting under the counsellor's restless
+eloquence. At last he came to the point; while his words were of
+whirlwind and letters, his tone and eye spoke, unconsciously to him, a
+true, honest, though fanciful language of passion; and however comical
+a disinterested spectator might have found it, it sounded very earnest
+to her who was the object and sympathetic listener.
+
+"Yes; but what then?" at last asked Ingeborg, with a soft smile and not
+withdrawing the hand that Bagger had seized. "The proper meaning of
+what you have told me is that your troth is plighted to another,
+unknown lady."
+
+"No: that isn't the proper meaning--"
+
+"But yet it is a fact. At the moment when you stand at the altar with
+one, another can step forward and claim you."
+
+"Oh, that kind of a claim! A piece of paper without signature, sent
+away in the air! In law it has no validity at all, and morally it has
+no power, when I love another as I love you, Ingeborg!"
+
+"That I am not sure of. It appears to me there is something painful in
+not being faithful to one's youth and its promises, and in the
+consciousness of having deceived another."
+
+"You say this so earnestly, Ingeborg, that you make me desperate. I
+confess that there is something ... something I would wish otherwise
+... but for Heaven's sake, make it not so earnest!"
+
+As Ingeborg knew so well about it, she could not regard the matter as
+earnestly as her words denoted; but for another reason she had suddenly
+conceived or felt an earnestness. It would not do to have a husband
+with so much fancy as Bagger, always having something unknown,
+fairy-like, lying out upon the horizon, holding claim upon him from his
+youth; and on the other hand it was against her principles,
+notwithstanding her confidence in his silence, to convey to him the
+knowledge that it was Miss Brandt who played fairy.
+
+She said to him, "You must have your letter, your obligation, your
+marriage promise back."
+
+"Yes," he answered with a sigh of discouragement: "it is true enough I
+ought; but where shall I turn? That is just the immeasurable
+difficulty."
+
+"Write by the same mail as before."
+
+"Which?"
+
+"Let the whirlwind, that brought the first letter to its destination,
+also take care of this, in which you demand your word back."
+
+"Oh, that you do not mean! Or, if you mean it, then I may honestly
+confess that I am not young any more or have not received another
+youth. I have not courage to write anything, for fear it should come to
+others than to you."
+
+"So I see that, after all, I may act as witch to-day. Write, and I will
+take care of the letter: do you hesitate?"
+
+"No: only it took me a moment to comprehend the promise involved in
+this that you will take care of my letter. I obey you blindly; but what
+shall I write?"
+
+"Write: 'Dear fairy,--Since I woo Miss Hjelm's hand and heart,'--"
+
+"Oh, you acknowledge it! O Ingeborg, the Lord's blessing upon you!"
+said Bagger, and would rise.
+
+"'I ask you to send me my billet back.'--Have you that?"
+
+"Yes, Ingeborg, my Ingeborg, my unspeakably loved Ingeborg! How poor
+language is, when the heart is so full!"
+
+"Now, name, date, and address. Have you that? 'Postscriptum. I give you
+my word of honor, that I neither know who you are, or how this letter
+shall reach you.'--Have you that?"
+
+"That I can truly give. I am as blind as"...
+
+"Let me add the witch-formulae."
+
+"O Ingeborg, you will write upon the same paper with me, in a letter
+where I have written your name!"
+
+"Hand me the pen. We must have the letter sent to the mail before two
+o'clock."
+
+"Two o'clock. How queer! The last letter reads: 'Take notice of the
+striking two.'"
+
+"That we will," said Ingeborg.
+
+She wrote: "Dear Miss Brandt, I, too, ask you to send the Counsellor
+his billet, and I pray you to write upon it: 'Given me by Miss Hjelm.'
+It is best for all parties that the fun does not come out in gossip.
+You shall, by return of mail, receive back your letters."
+
+VI.
+
+It is allowed to charitable minds to remain in doubt about what had
+really been Miss Brandt's design. Perhaps she only wished to make
+roguish psychological experiments, to convince herself to how many
+forenoon congratulatory visits a Counsellor of Justice of the Superior
+Court could be brought to appear. The emotion she almost exposed, when
+at Mrs. Canuteson's she saw Bagger by Miss Hjelm's side, may have been
+pure surprise at the working of the affair. Every one of the rest of us
+who have been conversant with the whirlwind, the letter, and Ingeborg's
+relinquishment of the same, would also have been surprised at seeing
+her and the letter-writer brought together notwithstanding, and would
+not, perhaps, have been able with as much ease and success to hide our
+surprise. The letter to Bagger, in which Miss Brandt, contrary to her
+better knowledge, spoke of him as married, may have been a sincere
+attempt to end the whole in a way which repentance and anxiety quickly
+seized upon to put an insurmountable hindrance before herself; but it
+may surely enough have had also the aim to see how far Bagger had gone
+and how much spirit and fancy he had to carry the intrigue out. The
+more one thinks upon it, the less one feels able to give either of the
+two interpretations absolute preference. Yet one will have remarked,
+that Ingeborg herself in her little note mentioned the matter as "fun."
+On the other side, if it was earnestness, if she had felt "somewhat"
+for Counsellor Bagger, then let us take comfort in the fact that Miss
+Brandt was a well-cultivated girl, and that her intellect held dominion
+over her heart. She could with one eye see that the campaign had ended,
+and further, that she, by receiving peace pure and simple, had
+certainly not gained any conquest, but obtained the status quo ante
+bellum, which often between antagonists has been considered so
+respectable, that both parties officially have sung Te Deum, although
+surely only one could sing it from the heart. Now it is and may remain
+undecided what the real state of the case was: from either point of
+view there was a plain and even line drawn for her, and she followed
+it. Next day the letter came in an envelope directed to the counsellor.
+
+As Bagger in the presence of Ingeborg opened the letter and again saw
+the long-lost epistle of his early days, he trembled like a man before
+whom the spirit-world apparently passes. But as he perceived the added
+words, he exclaimed in utter perplexity: "Am I awake? Do I dream? How
+is this possible?"
+
+"Why should it not be possible?" asked Ingeborg. "To whom else should
+the letter originally have come, than to--geb--?"
+
+"--Geb--?--geb--? Yes, who is--geb--?" asked Bagger with bewildered
+look.
+
+"Who other than Ingeborg? is it not the third fourth, and fifth letters
+of my name?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Bagger, pressing his hand upon his forehead, and, as he
+at the next moment seized Ingeborg's hand, added with an eye which had
+become dim with joy, "Truly, I have had more fortune than sense."
+
+Ingeborg answered, smiling:
+
+"That ought he to expect who entrusts his fate to the wind's flying
+mail."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCHYARD
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+From "The Flying Mail" Translated by Carl Larsen.
+
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCH-YARD
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+I.
+
+Canute Aakre belonged to an ancient family of the parish, where it had
+always been distinguished for its intelligence and care for the public
+good. His father through self-exertion had attained to the ministry,
+but had died early, and his widow being by birth a peasant, the
+children were brought up as farmers. Consequently, Canute's education
+was only of the kind afforded by the public school; but his father's
+library had early inspired him with a desire for knowledge, which was
+increased by association with his friend Henrik Wergeland, who often
+visited him or sent him books, seeds for his farm, and much good
+counsel. Agreeably to his advice, Canute early got up a club for
+practice in debating and study of the constitution, but which finally
+became a practical agricultural society, for this and the surrounding
+parishes. He also established a parish library, giving his father's
+books as its first endowment, and organized in his own house a
+Sunday-school for persons wishing to learn penmanship, arithmetic, and
+history. In this way the attention of the public was fixed upon him,
+and he was chosen a member of the board of parish-commissioners, of
+which he soon became chairman. Here he continued his endeavors to
+advance the school interests, which he succeeded in placing in an
+admirable condition.
+
+Canute Aakre was a short-built, active man, with small sharp eyes and
+disorderly hair. He had large lips which seemed constantly working, and
+a row of excellent teeth which had the same appearance, for they shone
+when he spoke his clear sharp words, which came out with a snap, as
+when the sparks are emitted from a great fire.
+
+Among the many he had helped to an education, his neighbor Lars Hogstad
+stood foremost. Lars was not much younger than Canute, but had
+developed more slowly. Being in the habit of talking much of what he
+read and thought, Canute found in Lars--who bore a quiet, earnest
+manner--a good listener, and step by step a sensible judge. The result
+was, that he went reluctantly to the meetings of the board, unless
+first furnished with Lars Hogstad's advice, concerning whatever matter
+of importance was before it, which matter was thus most likely to
+result in practical improvement. Canute's influence, therefore, brought
+his neighbor in as a member of the board, and finally into everything
+with which he himself was connected. They always rode together to the
+meetings, where Lars never spoke, and only on the road to and from,
+could Canute learn his opinion. They were looked upon as inseparable.
+
+One fine autumn day, the parish-commissioners were convened, for the
+purpose of considering, among other matters, a proposal made by the
+Foged, to sell the public grain-magazine, and with the proceeds
+establish a savings-bank. Canute Aakre, the chairman, would certainly
+have approved this, had he been guided by his better judgment; but, in
+the first place, the motion was made by the Foged, whom Wergeland did
+not like, consequently, neither did Canute; secondly, the
+grain-magazine had been erected by his powerful paternal grandfather,
+by whom it was presented to the parish. To him the proposal was not
+free from an appearance of personal offence; therefore, he had not
+spoken of it to any one, not even to Lars, who never himself introduced
+a subject.
+
+As chairman, Canute read the proposal without comment, but, according
+to his habit, looked over to Lars, who sat as usual a little to one
+side, holding a straw between his teeth; this he always did when
+entering upon a subject, using it as he would a toothpick, letting it
+hang loosely in one corner of his mouth, or turning it more quickly or
+slowly, according to the humor he was in. Canute now saw with surprise,
+that the straw moved very fast. He asked quickly, "Do you think we
+ought to agree to this?"
+
+Lars answered dryly, "Yes, I do."
+
+The whole assembly, feeling that Canute was of quite a different
+opinion, seemed struck, and looked at Lars, who said nothing further,
+nor was further questioned. Canute turned to another subject, as if
+nothing had happened, and did not again resume the question till toward
+the close of the meeting, when he asked with an air of indifference if
+they should send it back to the Foged for closer consideration, as it
+certainly was contrary to the mind of the people of the parish, by whom
+the grain-magazine was highly valued; also, if he should put upon the
+record, "Proposal deemed inexpedient."
+
+"Against one vote," said Lars.
+
+"Against two," said another instantly.
+
+"Against three," said a third, and before the chairman had recovered
+from his surprise, a majority had declared in favor of the proposal.
+
+He wrote; then read in a low tone, "Referred for acceptance, and the
+meeting adjourned." Canute, rising and closing the "Records," blushed
+deeply, but resolved to have this vote defeated in the parish meeting.
+In the yard he hitched his horse to the wagon, and Lars came and seated
+himself by his side. On the way home they spoke upon various subjects,
+but not upon this.
+
+On the following day Canute's wife started for Lars' house, to inquire
+of his wife if anything had happened between their husbands; Canute had
+appeared so queerly when he returned home the evening previous. A
+little beyond the house she met Lars' wife, who came to make the same
+inquiry on account of a similar peculiar behavior in her husband. Lars'
+wife was a quiet, timid thing, easily frightened, not by hard words,
+but by silence; for Lars never spoke to her unless she had done wrong,
+or he feared she would do so. On the contrary, Canute Aakre's wife
+spoke much with her husband, and particularly about the commissioners'
+meetings, for lately they had taken his thoughts, work, and love from
+her and the children. She was jealous of it as of a woman, she wept at
+night about it, and quarrelled with her husband concerning it in the
+day. But now she could say nothing; for once he had returned home
+unhappy; she immediately became much more so than he, and for the life
+of her she must know what was the matter. So as Lars' wife could tell
+her nothing, she had to go for information out in the parish, where she
+obtained it, and of course was instantly of her husband's opinion,
+thinking Lars incomprehensible, not to say bad. But when she let her
+husband perceive this, she felt that, notwithstanding what had
+occurred, no friendship was broken between them; on the contrary, that
+he liked Lars very much.
+
+The day for the parish meeting came. In the morning, Lars Hogstad drove
+over for Canute Aakre, who came out and took a seat beside him. They
+saluted each other as usual, spoke a little less than they were wont on
+the way, but not at all of the proposal. The meeting was full; some,
+too, had come in as spectators, which Canute did not like, for he
+perceived by this a little excitement in the parish. Lars had his
+straw, and stood by the stove, warming himself, for the autumn had
+begun to be cold. The chairman read the proposal in a subdued and
+careful manner, adding, that it came from the Foged, who was not
+habitually fortunate. The building was a gift, and such things it was
+not customary to part with, least of all when there was no necessity
+for it.
+
+Lars, who never before had spoken in the meetings, to the surprise of
+all, took the floor. His voice trembled; whether this was caused by
+regard for Canute, or anxiety for the success of the bill, we cannot
+say; but his arguments were clear, good, and of such a comprehensive
+and compact character as had hardly before been heard in these
+meetings. In concluding, he said:
+
+"Of what importance is it that the proposal is from the
+Foged?--none,--or who it was that erected the house, or in what way it
+became the public property?"
+
+Canute, who blushed easily, turned very red, and moved nervously as
+usual when he was impatient; but notwithstanding, he answered in a low,
+careful tone, that there were savings banks enough in the country, he
+thought, quite near, and almost too near. But if one was to be
+instituted, there were other ways of attaining this end, than by
+trampling upon the gifts of the dead, and the love of the living. His
+voice was a little unsteady when he said this, but recovered its
+composure, when he began to speak of the grain magazine as such, and
+reason concerning its utility.
+
+Lars answered him ably on this last, adding: "Besides, for many reasons
+I would be led to doubt whether the affairs of this parish are to be
+conducted for the best interests of the living, or for the memory of
+the dead; or further, whether it is the love and hate of a single
+family which rules, rather than the welfare of the whole."
+
+Canute answered quickly: "I don't know whether the last speaker has
+been the one least benefited not only by the dead of this family, but
+also by its still living representative."
+
+In this remark he aimed first at the fact that his powerful grandfather
+had, in his day, managed the farm for Lars' grandfather, when the
+latter, on his own account, was on a little visit to the penitentiary.
+
+The straw, which had been moving quickly for a long time, was now still:
+
+"I am not in the habit of speaking everywhere of myself and family,"
+said he, treating the matter with calm superiority; then he reviewed
+the whole matter in question, aiming throughout at a particular point.
+Canute was forced to acknowledge to himself, that he had never looked
+upon it from that standpoint, or heard such reasoning; involuntarily he
+had to turn his eye upon Lars. There he stood tall and portly, with
+clearness marked upon the strongly-built forehead and in the deep eyes.
+His mouth was compressed, the straw still hung playing in its corner,
+but great strength lay around. He kept his hands behind him, standing
+erect, while his low deep intonations seemed as if from the ground in
+which he was rooted. Canute saw him for the first time in his life, and
+from his inmost soul felt a dread of him; for unmistakably this man had
+always been his superior! He had taken all Canute himself knew or could
+impart, but retained only what had nourished this strong hidden growth.
+
+He had loved and cherished Lars, but now that he had become a giant, he
+hated him deeply, fearfully; he could not explain to himself why he
+thought so, but he felt it instinctively, while gazing upon him; and in
+this forgetting all else, he exclaimed:
+
+"But Lars! Lars! what in the Lord's name ails you?"
+
+He lost all self-control,--"you, whom I have"--"you, who have"--he
+couldn't get out another word, and seated himself, only to struggle
+against the excitement which he was unwilling to have Lars see; he drew
+himself up, struck the table with his fist, and his eyes snapped from
+below the stiff disorderly hair which always shaded them. Lars appeared
+as if he had not been interrupted, only turning his head to the
+assembly, asking if this should be considered the decisive blow in the
+matter, for in such a case nothing more need be said.
+
+Canute could not endure this calmness.
+
+"What is it that has come among us?" he cried. "Us, who to this day
+have never debated but in love and upright zeal? We are infuriated at
+each other as if incited by an evil spirit;" and he looked with fiery
+eyes upon Lars, who answered:
+
+"You yourself surely bring in this spirit, Canute, for I have spoken
+only of the case. But you will look upon it only through your own
+self-will; now we shall see if your love and upright zeal will endure,
+when once it is decided agreeably to our wish."
+
+"Have I not, then, taken good care of the interests of the parish?"
+
+No reply. This grieved Canute, and he continued:
+
+"Really, I did not think otherwise than that I had accomplished
+something;--something for the good of the parish;--but may be I have
+deceived myself."
+
+He became excited again, for it was a fiery spirit within him, which
+was broken in many ways, and the parting with Lars grieved him, so he
+could hardly control himself. Lars answered:
+
+"Yes, I know you give yourself the credit for all that is done here,
+and should one judge by much speaking in the meetings, then surely you
+have accomplished the most."
+
+"Oh, is it this!" shouted Canute, looking sharply upon Lars: "it is you
+who have the honor of it!"
+
+"Since we necessarily talk of ourselves," replied Lars, "I will say
+that all matters have been carefully considered by us before they were
+introduced here."
+
+Here little Canute Aakre resumed his quick way of speaking:
+
+"In God's name take the honor, I am content to live without it; there
+are other things harder to lose!"
+
+Involuntarily Lars turned his eye from Canute, but said, the straw
+moving very quickly: "If I were to speak my mind, I should say there is
+not much to take honor for;--of course ministers and teachers may be
+satisfied with what has been done; but, certainly, the common men say
+only that up to this time the taxes have become heavier and heavier."
+
+A murmur arose in the assembly, which now became restless. Lars
+continued:
+
+"Finally, to-day, a proposition is made which, if carried, would
+recompense the parish for all it has laid out; perhaps, for this
+reason, it meets such opposition. It is the affair of the parish, for
+the benefit of all its inhabitants, and ought to be rescued from being
+a family matter." The audience exchanged glances, and spoke half
+audibly, when one threw out a remark as he rose to go to his
+dinner-pail, that these were "the truest words he had heard in the
+meetings for many years." Now all arose, and the conversation became
+general. Canute Aakre felt as he sat there that the case was lost,
+fearfully lost; and tried no more to save it. He had somewhat of the
+character attributed to Frenchmen, in that he was good for first,
+second, and third attacks, but poor for self-defence--his sensibilities
+overpowering his thoughts.
+
+He could not comprehend it, nor could he sit quietly any longer; so,
+yielding his place to the vice-chairman, he left,--and the audience
+smiled.
+
+He had come to the meeting accompanied by Lars, but returned home
+alone, though the road was long. It was a cold autumn day; the way
+looked jagged and bare, the meadow gray and yellow; while frost had
+begun to appear here and there on the roadside. Disappointment is a
+dreadful companion. He felt himself so small and desolate, walking
+there; but Lars was everywhere before him, like a giant, his head
+towering, in the dusk of evening, to the sky. It was his own fault that
+this had been the decisive battle, and the thought grieved him sorely:
+he had staked too much upon a single little affair. But surprise, pain,
+anger, had mastered him; his heart still burned, shrieked, and moaned
+within him. He heard the rattling of a wagon behind; it was Lars, who
+came driving his superb horse past him at a brisk trot, so that the
+hard road gave a sound of thunder. Canute gazed after him, as he sat
+there so broad-shouldered in the wagon, while the horse, impatient for
+home, hurried on unurged by Lars, who only gave loose rein. It was a
+picture of his power; this man drove toward the mark! He, Canute, felt
+as if thrown out of his wagon to stagger along there in the autumn cold.
+
+Canute's wife was waiting for him at home. She knew there would be a
+battle; she had never in her life believed in Lars, and lately had felt
+a dread of him. It had been no comfort to her that they had ridden away
+together, nor would it have comforted her if they had returned in the
+same way. But darkness had fallen, and they had not yet come. She stood
+in the doorway, went down the road and home again; but no wagon
+appeared. At last she hears a rattling on the road, her heart beats as
+violently as the wheels revolve; she clings to the doorpost, looking
+out; the wagon is coming; only one sits there; she recognizes Lars, who
+sees and recognizes her, but is driving past without stopping. Now she
+is thoroughly alarmed! Her limbs fail her; she staggers in, sinking on
+the bench by the window. The children, alarmed, gather around, the
+youngest asking for papa, for the mother never spoke with them but of
+him. She loved him because he had such a good heart, and now this good
+heart was not with them; but, on the contrary, away on all kinds of
+business, which brought him only unhappiness; consequently, they were
+unhappy too.
+
+"Oh, that no harm had come to him to-day! Canute was so excitable! Why
+did Lars come home alone? why didn't he stop?"
+
+Should she run after him, or, in the opposite direction, toward her
+husband? She felt faint, and the children pressed around her, asking
+what was the matter; but this could not be told to them, so she said
+they must take supper alone, and, rising, arranged it and helped them.
+She was constantly glancing out upon the road. He did not come. She
+undressed and put them to bed, and the youngest repeated the evening
+prayer, while she bowed over him, praying so fervently in the words
+which the tiny mouth first uttered, that she did not perceive the steps
+outside.
+
+Canute stood in the doorway, gazing upon his little congregation at
+prayer. She rose; all the children shouted "Papa!" but he seated
+himself, and said gently:
+
+"Oh! let him repeat it."
+
+The mother turned again to the bedside, that meantime he might not see
+her face; otherwise, it would have been like intermeddling with his
+grief before he felt a necessity of revealing it. The child folded its
+hands,--the rest followed the example,--and it said:
+
+"I am now a little lad, But soon shall grow up tall, And make papa and
+mamma glad, I'll be so good to all! When in Thy true and holy ways,
+Thou dear, dear God wilt help me keep;--Remember now Thy name to praise
+And so we'll try to go to sleep!"
+
+What a peace now fell! Not a minute more had passed ere the children
+all slept in it as in the lap of God; but the mother went quietly to
+work arranging supper for the father, who as yet could not eat. But
+after he had gone to bed, he said:
+
+"Now, after this, I shall be at home."
+
+The mother lay there, trembling with joy, not daring to speak, lest she
+should reveal it; and she thanked God for all that had happened, for,
+whatever it was, it had resulted in good.
+
+II.
+
+In the course of a year, Lars was chosen head Justice of the Peace,
+chairman of the board of commissioners, president of the savings-bank,
+and, in short, was placed in every office of parish trust to which his
+election was possible. In the county legislature, during the first
+year, he remained silent, but afterward made himself as conspicuous as
+in the parish council; for here, too, stepping up to the contest with
+him who had always borne sway, he was victorious over the whole line,
+and afterward himself manager. From this he was elected to the
+Congress, where his fame had preceded him, and he found no lack of
+challenge. But here, although steady and independent, he was always
+retiring, never venturing beyond his depth, lest his post as leader at
+home should be endangered by a possible defeat abroad.
+
+It was pleasant to him now in his own town. When he stood by the
+church-wall on Sundays, and the community glided past, saluting and
+glancing sideways at him,--now and then one stepping up for the honor
+of exchanging a couple of words with him,--it could almost be said
+that, standing there, he controlled the whole parish with a straw,
+which, of course, hung in the corner of his mouth.
+
+He deserved his popularity; for he had opened a new road which led to
+the church; all this and much more resulted from the savings-bank,
+which he had instituted and now managed; and the parish, in its
+self-management and good order, was held up as an example to all others.
+
+Canute, of his own accord, quite withdrew,--not entirely at first, for
+he had promised himself not thus to yield to pride. In the first
+proposal he made before the parish board, he became entangled by Lars,
+who would have it represented in all its details; and, somewhat hurt,
+he replied: "When Columbus discovered America he did not have it
+divided into counties and towns,--this came by degrees afterward;" upon
+which, Lars compared Canute's proposition (relating to stable
+improvements) to the discovery of America, and afterward by the
+commissioners he was called by no other name than "Discovery of
+America." Canute thought since his influence had ceased there, so,
+also, had his duty to work; and afterwards declined re-election.
+
+But he was industrious, and, in order still to do something for the
+public good, he enlarged his Sunday-school, and put it, by means of
+small contributions from the pupils, in connection with the mission
+cause, of which he soon became the centre and leader in his own and
+surrounding counties. At this, Lars remarked that, if Canute ever
+wished to collect money for any purpose, he must first know that its
+benefit was only to be realized some thousands of miles away.
+
+There was no strife between them now. True, they associated with each
+other no longer, but saluted and exchanged a few words whenever they
+met. Canute always felt a little pain in remembering Lars, but
+struggled to overcome it, by saying to himself that it must have been
+so. Many years afterward at a large wedding-party, where both were
+present and a little gay, Canute stepped upon a chair and proposed a
+toast to the chairman of the parish council, and the county's first
+congressman. He spoke until he manifested emotion, and, as usual, in an
+exceedingly handsome way. It was honorably done, and Lars came to him,
+saying, with an unsteady eye, that for much of what he knew and was, he
+had to thank him.
+
+At the next election, Canute was again elected chairman.
+
+But if Lars Hogstad had foreseen what was to follow, he would not have
+influenced this. It is a saying that "all events happen in their time,"
+and just as Canute appeared again in the council, the ablest men in the
+parish were threatened with bankruptcy, the result of a speculative
+fever which had been raging long, but now first began to react. They
+said that Lars Hogstad had caused this great epidemic, for it was he
+who had brought the spirit of speculation into the parish. This penny
+malady had originated in the parish board; for this body itself had
+acted as leading speculator. Down to the youth of twenty years, all
+were endeavoring by sharp bargains to make the one dollar, ten; extreme
+parsimony, in order to lay up in the beginning, was followed by an
+exceeding lavishness in the end: and as the thoughts of all were
+directed to money only, a disposition to selfishness, suspicion, and
+disunion had developed itself, which at last turned to prosecutions and
+hatred. It was said that the parish board had set the example in this
+also; for one of the first acts, performed by Lars as chairman, was a
+prosecution against the minister, concerning doubtful prerogatives. The
+venerable pastor had lost, but had also immediately resigned. At the
+time some had praised, others denounced, this act of Lars; but it had
+proved a bad example. Now came the effects of his management in the
+form of loss to all the leading men of the parish; and consequently,
+the public opinion quickly changed. The opposite party immediately
+found a champion; for Canute Aakre had come into the parish
+board,--introduced there by Lars himself.
+
+The struggle at once began. All those youths, who, in their time, had
+been under Canute Aakre's instruction, were now grown-up men, the best
+educated, conversant with all the business and public transactions in
+the parish; Lars had now to contend against these and others like them,
+who had disliked him from their childhood. One evening after a stormy
+debate, as he stood on the platform outside his door, looking over the
+parish, a sound of distant threatening thunder came toward him from the
+large farms, lying in the storm. He knew that that day their owners had
+become insolvent, that he himself and the savings-bank were going the
+same way: and his whole long work would culminate in condemnation
+against him.
+
+In these days of struggle and despair, a company of surveyors came one
+evening to Hogstad, which was the first farm at the entrance of the
+parish to mark out the line of a new railroad. In the course of
+conversation, Lars perceived it was still a question with them whether
+the road should run through this valley, or another parallel one.
+
+Like a flash of lightning it darted through his mind, that, if he could
+manage to get it through here, all real estate would rise in value, and
+not only he himself be saved, but his popularity handed down to future
+generations. He could not sleep that night, for his eyes were dazzled
+with visions; sometimes he seemed to hear the noise of an engine. The
+next day he accompanied the surveyors in their examination of the
+locality; his horses carried them, and to his farm they returned. The
+following day they drove through the other valley, he still with them,
+and again carrying them back home. The whole house was illuminated, the
+first men of the parish having been invited to a party made for the
+surveyors, which terminated in a carouse that lasted until morning. But
+to no avail; for the nearer they came to the decision, the clearer it
+was to be seen that the road could not be built through here without
+great extra expense. The entrance to the valley was narrow, through a
+rocky chasm, and the moment it swung into the parish the river made a
+curve in its way, so that the road would either have to make the
+same--crossing the river twice--or go straight forward through the old,
+now unused, churchyard. But it was not long since the last burials
+there, for the church had been but recently moved.
+
+Did it only depend upon a strip of an old churchyard, thought Lars,
+whether the parish should have this great blessing or not?--then he
+would use his name and energy for the removal of the obstacle. So
+immediately he made a visit to minister and bishop, from them to county
+legislature and Department of the Interior; he reasoned and negotiated;
+for he had possessed himself of all possible information concerning the
+vast profits that would accrue on the one side, and the feelings of the
+parish on the other, and had really succeeded in gaining over all
+parties. It was promised him that by the reinterment of some bodies in
+the new churchyard, the only objection to this line might be considered
+as removed, and the king's approbation guaranteed. It was told him that
+he need only make the motion in the county meeting.
+
+The parish had become as excited on the question as himself. The spirit
+of speculation, which had been prevalent so many years, now became
+jubilant. No one spoke or thought of anything but Lars' journey and its
+probable result. Consequently, when he returned with the most splendid
+promises, they made much ado about him; songs were sung to his
+praise,--yes, if at that time one after another of the largest farms
+had toppled over, not a soul would have given it any attention; the
+former speculation fever had been succeeded by the new one of the
+railroad.
+
+The county board met; an humble petition that the old churchyard might
+be used for the railroad was drawn up to be presented to the king. This
+was unanimously voted; yes, there was even talk of voting thanks to
+Lars, and a gift of a coffee-pot, in the model of a locomotive. But
+finally, it was thought best to wait until everything was accomplished.
+The petition from the parish to the county board was sent back, with a
+requirement of a list of the names of all bodies which must necessarily
+be removed. The minister made out this, but instead of sending it
+directly to the county board, had his reasons for communicating it
+first to the parish. One of the members brought it to the next meeting.
+Here, Lars opened the envelope, and as chairman read the names.
+
+Now it happened that the first body to be removed was that of Lars' own
+grandfather. A Hide shudder passed through the assembly; Lars himself
+was taken by surprise; but continued. Secondly, came the name of Canute
+Aakre's grandfather; for the two had died at nearly the same time.
+Canute Aakre sprang from his seat; Lars stopped; all looked up with
+dread; for the name of the elder Canute Aakre had been the one most
+beloved in the parish for generations. There was a pause of some
+minutes. At last Lars hemmed, and continued. But the matter became
+worse, for the further he proceeded, the nearer it approached their own
+day, and the dearer the dead became. When he ceased, Canute Aakre asked
+quietly if others did not think as he, that spirits were around them.
+It had begun to grow dusk in the room, and although they were mature
+men sitting in company, they almost felt themselves frightened. Lars
+took a bundle of matches from his pocket and lit a candle, somewhat
+dryly remarking that this was no more than they had known beforehand.
+
+"No," replied Canute, pacing the floor, "this is more than I knew
+beforehand. Now I begin to think that even railroads can be bought too
+dearly."
+
+This electrified the audience, and Canute continued that the whole
+affair must be reconsidered, and made a motion to that effect. In the
+excitement which had prevailed, he said it was also true that the
+benefit to be derived from the road had been considerably overrated;
+for if it did not pass through the parish, there would have to be a
+depot at each extremity; true, it would be a little more trouble to
+drive there, than to a station within; yet not so great as that for
+this reason they should dishonor the rest of the dead. Canute was one
+of those who, when his thoughts were excited, could extemporize and
+present most sound reasons; he had not a moment previously thought of
+what he now said; but the truth of it struck all. Lars, seeing the
+danger of his position, thought best to be careful, and so apparently
+acquiesced in Canute's proposition to reconsider; for such emotions,
+thought he, are always strongest in the beginning; one must temporize
+with them.
+
+But here he had miscalculated. In constantly increasing the dread of
+touching their dead overswept the parish; what no one had thought of as
+long as the matter existed only in talk became a serious question when
+it came to touch themselves. The women particularly were excited, and
+at the parish house, on the day of the next meeting, the road was black
+with the gathered multitude. It was a warm summer day, the windows were
+taken out, and as many stood without as within. All felt that that day
+would witness a great battle.
+
+Lars came, driving his handsome horse, saluted by all; he looked
+quietly and confidently around, not seeming surprised at the throng. He
+seated himself, straw in mouth, near the window, and not without a
+smile saw Canute rise to speak, as he thought, for all the dead lying
+over there in the old churchyard.
+
+But Canute Aakre did not begin with the churchyard. He made a stricter
+investigation into the profits likely to accrue from carrying the road
+through the parish, showing that in all this excitement they had been
+over-estimated. He had calculated the distance of each farm from the
+nearest station, should the road be taken through the neighboring
+valley, and finally asked:
+
+"Why has such a hurrah been made about this railroad, when it would not
+be for the good of the parish after all?"
+
+This he could explain; there were those who had brought about such a
+previous disturbance, that a greater was necessary in order that the
+first might be forgotten. Then, too, there were those who, while the
+thing was new, could sell their farms and lands to strangers, foolish
+enough to buy; it was a shameful speculation, which not the living only
+but the dead also must be made to promote!
+
+The effect produced by his address was very considerable. But Lars had
+firmly resolved, come what would, to keep cool, and smilingly replied
+that he supposed Canute Aakre himself had been anxious for the
+railroad, and surely no one would accuse him of understanding
+speculation. (A little laugh ensued.) Canute had had no objection to
+the removal of bodies of common people for the sake of the railroad,
+but when it came to that of his own grandfather, the question became
+suddenly of vital importance to the whole parish. He said no more, but
+looked smilingly at Canute, as did also several others. Meanwhile,
+Canute Aakre surprised both him and them by replying:
+
+"I confess it; I did not realize what was at stake until it touched my
+own dead; possibly this is a shame, but really it would have been a
+greater one not even then to have realized it, as is the case with
+Lars! Never, I think, could Lars' raillery have been more out of place;
+for folks with common feelings the thing is really revolting."
+
+"This feeling has come up quite recently," answered Lars, "and so we
+will hope for its speedy disappearance also. It may be well to think
+upon what minister, bishop, county officers, engineers, and Department
+will say, if we first unanimously set the ball in motion and then come
+asking to have it stopped; if we first are jubilant and sing songs,
+then weep and chant requiems. If they do not say that we have run mad
+here in the parish, at least they may say that we have grown a little
+queer lately."
+
+"Yes, God knows, they can say so," answered Canute; "we have been
+acting strangely enough during the last few days,--it is time for us to
+retract. It has really gone far when we can dig up, each his own
+grandfather, to make way for a railroad; when in order that our loads
+may be carried more easily forward, we can violate the resting-place of
+the dead. For is not overhauling our churchyard the same as making it
+yield us food? What has been buried there in Jesus' name, shall we take
+up in the name of Mammon? It is but little better than eating our
+progenitors' bones."
+
+"That is according to the order of nature," said Lars dryly.
+
+"Yes, the nature of plants and animals," replied Canute.
+
+"Are we not then animals?" asked Lars.
+
+"Yes, but also the children of the living God, who have buried our dead
+in faith upon Him; it is He who shall raise them, and not we."
+
+"Oh, you prate! Are not the graves dug over at certain fixed periods
+anyway? What evil is there in that it happens some years earlier?"
+asked Lars.
+
+"I will tell you! What was born of them yet lives; what they built yet
+remains; what they loved, taught, and suffered for is all around us and
+within us; and shall we not, then, let their bodies rest in peace?"
+
+"I see by your warmth that you are thinking of your grandfather again,"
+replied Lars; "and will say it is high time you ceased to bother the
+parish about him, for he monopolized space enough in his lifetime; it
+isn't worth while to have him lie in the way now he is dead. Should his
+corpse prevent a blessing to the parish that would reach to a hundred
+generations, we surely would have reason to say, that of all born here
+he has done us most harm."
+
+Canute Aakre tossed back his disorderly hair, his eyes darted fire, his
+whole frame appeared like a drawn bow.
+
+"What sort of a blessing this is that you speak of, I have already
+proved. It is of the same character as all the others which you have
+brought to the parish, namely, a doubtful one. True enough you have
+provided us with a new church; but, too, you have filled it with a new
+spirit,--and not that of love. True, you have made us new roads,--but
+also new roads to destruction, as is now plainly evident in the
+misfortunes of many. True, you have lessened our taxes to the public;
+but, too, you have increased those to ourselves;--prosecutions,
+protests, and failures are no blessing to a community. And you dare
+scoff at the man in his grave whom the whole parish blesses! You dare
+say he lies in our way,--yes, very likely he lies in your way. This is
+plainly to be seen; but over this grave you shall fall! The spirit
+which has reigned over you, and at the same time until now over us, was
+not born to rule, only to serve. The churchyard shall surely remain
+undisturbed; but to-day it numbers one more grave, namely, that of your
+popularity, which shall now be interred in it."
+
+Lars Hogstad rose, white as a sheet; he opened his mouth, but was
+unable to speak a word, and the straw fell. After three or four vain
+attempts to recover it and to find utterance, he belched forth like a
+volcano:
+
+"Are these the thanks I get for all my toils and struggles? Shall such
+a woman-preacher be able to direct? Ah, then, the devil be your
+chairman if ever more I set my foot here! I have kept your petty
+business in order until to-day; and after me it will fall into a
+thousand pieces; but let it go now. Here are the 'Records!' (and he
+flung them across the table). Out on such a company of wenches and
+brats! (striking the table with his fist). Out on the whole parish,
+that it can see a man recompensed as I now am!"
+
+He brought down his fist once more with such force, that the leaf of
+the great table sprang upward, and the inkstand with all its contents
+downward upon the floor, marking for coming generations the spot where
+Lars Hogstad, in spite of all his prudence, lost his patience and his
+rule.
+
+He sprang for the door, and soon after was away from the house. The
+whole audience stood fixed,--for the power of his voice and his wrath
+had frightened them,--until Canute Aakre, remembering the taunt he had
+received at the time of his fall, with beaming countenance, and
+assuming Lars' voice, exclaimed:
+
+"Is this the decisive blow in the matter?"
+
+The assembly burst into uproarious merriment. The grave meeting closed
+amid laughter, talk, and high glee; only few left the place, those
+remaining called for drink, and made a night of thunder succeed a day
+of lightning. They felt happy and independent as in old days, before
+the time in which the commanding spirit of Lars had cowed their souls
+into silent obedience. They drank toasts to their liberty, they sang,
+yes, finally they danced, Canute Aakre with the vice-chairman taking
+lead, and all the members of the council following, and boys and girls
+too, while the young ones outside shouted, "hurrah!" for such a
+spectacle they had never before witnessed.
+
+III.
+
+Lars moved around in the large rooms at Hogstad without uttering a
+word. His wife who loved him, but always with fear and trembling, dared
+not so much as show herself in his presence. The management of the farm
+and house had to go on as it would, while a multitude of letters were
+passing to and fro between Hogstad and the parish, Hogstad and the
+capital; for he had charges against the county board which were not
+acknowledged, and a prosecution ensued; against the savings-bank, which
+were also unacknowledged, and so came another prosecution. He took
+offence at articles in the Christiania Correspondence, and prosecuted
+again, first the chairman of the county board, and then the directors
+of the savings-bank. At the same time there were bitter articles in the
+papers, which according to report were by him, and were the cause of
+great strife in the parish, setting neighbor against neighbor.
+Sometimes he was absent whole weeks at once, nobody knowing where, and
+after returning lived secluded as before. At church he was not seen
+after the grand scene in the representatives' meeting.
+
+Then, one Saturday night, the mail brought news that the railroad was
+to go through the parish after all, and through the old churchyard. It
+struck like lightning into every home. The unanimous veto of the county
+board had been in vain; Lars Hogstad's influence had proved stronger.
+This was what his absence meant, this was his work! It was involuntary
+on the part of the people that admiration of the man and his dogged
+persistency should lessen dissatisfaction at their own defeat; and the
+more they talked of the matter the more reconciled they seemed to
+become: for whatever has once been settled beyond all change develops
+in itself, little by little, reasons why it is so, which we are
+accordingly brought to acknowledge.
+
+In going to church next day, as they encountered each other they could
+not help laughing; and before the service, just as nearly all were
+convened outside,--young and old, men and women, yes, even
+children,--talking about Lars Hogstad, his talents, his strong will,
+and his great influence, he himself with his household came driving up
+in four carriages. Two years had passed since he was last there. He
+alighted and walked through the crowd, when involuntarily all lifted
+their hats to him like one man; but he looked neither to the right nor
+the left, nor returned a single salutation. His little wife, pale as
+death, walked behind him. In the house, the surprise became so great
+that, one after another, noticing him, stopped singing and stared.
+Canute Aakre, who sat in his pew in front of Lars', perceiving the
+unusual appearance and no cause for it in front, turned around and saw
+Lars sitting bowed over his hymn-book, looking for the place.
+
+He had not seen him until now since the day of the representatives'
+meeting, and such a change in a man he never could have imagined. This
+was no victor. His head was becoming bald, his face was lean and
+contracted, his eyes hollow and bloodshot, and the giant neck presented
+wrinkles and cords. At a glance he perceived what this man had endured,
+and was as suddenly seized with a feeling of strong pity, yes, even
+with a touch of the old love. In his heart he prayed for him, and
+promised himself surely to seek him after service; but, ere he had
+opportunity, Lars had gone. Canute resolved he would call upon him at
+his home that night, but his wife kept him back.
+
+"Lars is one of the kind," said she, "who cannot endure a debt of
+gratitude: keep away from him until possibly he can in some way do you
+a favor, and then perhaps he will come to you."
+
+However, he did not come. He appeared now and then at church, but
+nowhere else, and associated with no one. On the contrary, he devoted
+himself to his farm and other business with an earnestness which showed
+a determination to make up in one year for the neglect of many; and,
+too, there were those who said it was necessary.
+
+Railroad operations in the valley began very soon. As the line was to
+go directly past his house, Lars remodelled the side facing the road,
+connecting with it an elegant verandah, for of course his residence
+must attract attention. They were just engaged in this work when the
+rails were laid for the conveyance of gravel and timber, and a small
+locomotive was brought up. It was a fine autumn evening when the first
+gravel train was to come down. Lars stood on the platform of his house
+to hear the first signal, and see the first column of smoke; all the
+hands on the farm were gathered around him. He looked out over the
+parish, lying in the setting sun, and felt that he was to be remembered
+so long as a train should roar through the fruitful valley. A feeling
+of forgiveness crept into his soul. He looked toward the churchyard, of
+which a part remained, with crosses bowing toward the earth, but a part
+had become railroad. He was just trying to define his feelings, when,
+whistle went the first signal, and a while after the train came slowly
+along, puffing out smoke mingled with sparks, for wood was used instead
+of coal; the wind blew toward the house, and standing there they soon
+found themselves enveloped in a dense smoke; but by and by, as it
+cleared away, Lars saw the train working through the valley like a
+strong will.
+
+He was satisfied, and entered the house as after a long day's work. The
+image of his grandfather stood before him at this moment. This
+grandfather had raised the family from poverty to forehanded
+circumstances; true, a part of his citizen-honor had been lost, but
+forward he had pushed, nevertheless. His faults were those of his time;
+they were to be found on the uncertain borders of the moral conceptions
+of that period, and are of no consideration now. Honor to him in his
+grave, for he suffered and worked; peace to his ashes. It is good to
+rest at last. But he could get no rest because of his grandson's great
+ambition. He was thrown up with stone and gravel. Pshaw! very likely he
+would only smile that his grandson's work passed above his head.
+
+With such thoughts he had undressed and gone to bed. Again his
+grandfather's image glided forth. What did he wish. Surely he ought to
+be satisfied now, with the family's honor sounding forth above his
+grave; who else had such a monument? But yet, what mean these two great
+eyes of fire? This hissing, roaring, is no longer the locomotive, for
+see! it comes from the churchyard directly toward the house: an immense
+procession! The eyes of fire are his grandfather's, and the train
+behind are all the dead. It advances continually toward the house,
+roaring, crackling, flashing. The windows burn in the reflection of
+dead men's eyes ... he made a mighty effort to collect himself, "For it
+was a dream, of course, only a dream; but let me waken! ... See: now I
+am awake; come, ghosts!"
+
+And behold: they really come from the churchyard, overthrowing road,
+rails, locomotive and train with such violence that they sink in the
+ground; and then all is still there, covered with sod and crosses as
+before. But like giants the spirits advanced, and the hymn, "Let the
+dead have rest!" goes before them. He knows it: for daily in all these
+years it has sounded through his soul, and now it becomes his own
+requiem; for this was death and its visions. The perspiration started
+out over his whole body, for nearer and nearer,--and see there, on the
+window-pane there, there they are now; and he heard his name.
+Overpowered with dread he struggled to shout, for he was strangling; a
+dead, cold hand already clenched his throat, when he regained his voice
+in a shrieking "Help me!" and awoke. At that moment the window was
+burst in with such force that the pieces flew on to his bed. He sprang
+up; a man stood in the opening, around him smoke and tongues of fire.
+
+"The house is burning, Lars, we'll help you out!"
+
+It was Canute Aakre.
+
+When again he recovered consciousness, he was lying out in a piercing
+wind that chilled his limbs. No one was by him; on the left he saw his
+burning house; around him grazed, bellowed, bleated, and neighed his
+stock; the sheep huddled together in a terrified flock; the furniture
+recklessly scattered: but, on looking around more carefully, he
+discovered somebody sitting on a knoll near him, weeping. It was his
+wife. He called her name. She started.
+
+"The Lord Jesus be thanked that you live," she exclaimed, coming
+forward and seating herself, or rather falling down before him: "O God!
+O God! now we have enough of that railroad!"
+
+"The railroad?" he asked: but ere he spoke, it had flashed through his
+mind how it was; for, of course, the cause of the fire was the falling
+of sparks from the locomotive among the shavings by the new side-wall.
+He remained sitting, silent and thoughtful; his wife dared say no more,
+but was trying to find clothes for him: the things with which she had
+covered him, as he lay unconscious, having fallen off. He received her
+attentions in silence, but as she crouched down to cover his feet, he
+laid a hand upon her head. She hid her face in his lap, and wept aloud.
+At last he had noticed her. Lars understood, and said:
+
+"You are the only friend I have."
+
+Although to hear these words had cost the house, no matter, they made
+her happy; she gathered courage and said, rising and looking
+submissively at him:
+
+"That is because no one else understands you."
+
+Now again they talked of all that had transpired, or rather he remained
+silent, while she told about it. Canute Aakre had been first to
+perceive the fire, had awakened his people, sent the girls out through
+the parish, while he himself hastened with men and horses to the spot
+where all were sleeping. He had taken charge of extinguishing the fire
+and saving the property; Lars himself he had dragged from the burning
+room and brought him here on the left, to the windward,--here, out on
+the churchyard.
+
+While they were talking of all this, some one came driving rapidly up
+the road and turned off toward them; soon he alighted. It was Canute,
+who had been home after his church-wagon; the one in which so many
+times they had ridden together to and from the parish meetings. Now
+Lars must get in and ride home with him. They took each other by the
+hand, one sitting, the other standing.
+
+"You must come with me now," said Canute, Without reply Lars rose: they
+walked side by side to the wagon. Lars was helped in: Canute seated
+himself by his side. What they talked about as they rode, or afterward
+in the little chamber at Aakre, in which they remained until morning,
+has never been known; but from that day they were again inseparable.
+
+As soon as disaster befalls a man, all seem to understand his worth. So
+the parish took upon themselves to rebuild Lars Hogstad's houses,
+larger and handsomer than any others in the valley. Again he became
+chairman, but with Canute Aakre at his side, and from that day all went
+well.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO FRIENDS
+
+BY
+
+ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+
+From "Tales of Two Countries." Translated by H. H. Boyesen.
+
+
+TWO FRIENDS
+
+BY
+
+ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+
+No one could understand where he got his money from. But the person who
+marvelled most at the dashing and luxurious life led by Alphonse was
+his quondam friend and partner.
+
+After they dissolved partnership, most of the custom and the best
+connection passed by degrees into Charles's hands. This was not because
+he in any way sought to run counter to his former partner; on the
+contrary, it arose simply from the fact that Charles was the more
+capable man of the two. And as Alphonse had now to work on his own
+account, it was soon clear to any one who observed him closely, that in
+spite of his promptitude, his amiability, and his prepossessing
+appearance, he was not fitted to be at the head of an independent
+business.
+
+And there was one person who DID observe him closely. Charles followed
+him step by step with his sharp eyes; every blunder, every
+extravagance, every loss--he knew all to a nicety, and he wondered that
+Alphonse could keep going so long.
+
+They had as good as grown up together. Their mothers were cousins; the
+families had lived near each other in the same street; and in a city
+like Paris proximity is as important as relationship in promoting close
+intercourse. Moreover, the boys went to the same school.
+
+Thenceforth, as they grew up to manhood, they were inseparable. Mutual
+adaptation overcame the great differences which originally marked their
+characters, until at last their idiosyncrasies fitted into each other
+like the artfully-carved pieces of wood which compose the
+picture-puzzles of our childhood.
+
+The relation between them was really a beautiful one, such as does not
+often arise between two young men; for they did not understand
+friendship as binding the one to bear everything at the hands of the
+other, but seemed rather to vie with each other in mutual
+considerateness.
+
+If, however, Alphonse in his relation to Charles showed any high degree
+of considerateness, he himself was ignorant of it; and if any one had
+told him of it he would doubtless have laughed loudly at such a
+mistaken compliment.
+
+For as life on the whole appeared to him very simple and
+straightforward, the idea that his friendship should in any way fetter
+him was the last thing that could enter his head. That Charles was his
+best friend seemed to him as entirely natural as that he himself danced
+best, rode best, was the best shot, and that the whole world was
+ordered entirely to his mind.
+
+Alphonse was in the highest degree a spoilt child of fortune; he
+acquired everything without effort; existence fitted him like an
+elegant dress, and he wore it with such unconstrained amiability that
+people forgot to envy him.
+
+And then he was so handsome. He was tall and slim, with brown hair and
+big open eyes; his complexion was clear and smooth, and his teeth shone
+when he laughed. He was quite conscious of his beauty, but, as
+everybody had petted him from his earliest days, his vanity was of a
+cheerful, good-natured sort, which, after all, was not so offensive. He
+was exceedingly fond of his friend. He amused himself and sometimes
+others by teasing him and making fun of him; but he knew Charles's face
+so thoroughly that he saw at once when the jest was going too far. Then
+he would resume his natural, kindly tone, until he made the serious and
+somewhat melancholy Charles laugh till he was ill.
+
+From his boyhood Charles had admired Alphonse beyond measure. He
+himself was small and insignificant, quiet and shy. His friend's
+brilliant qualities cast a lustre over him as well, and gave a certain
+impetus to his life.
+
+His mother often said: "This friendship between the boys is a real
+blessing for my poor Charles, for without it he would certainly have
+been a melancholy creature."
+
+When Alphonse was on all occasions preferred to him, Charles rejoiced;
+he was proud of his friend. He wrote his exercises, prompted him at
+examination, pleaded his cause with the masters, and fought for him
+with the boys.
+
+At the commercial academy it was the same story. Charles worked for
+Alphonse, and Alphonse rewarded him with his inexhaustible amiability
+and unfailing good-humor.
+
+When subsequently, as quite young men, they were placed in the same
+banker's office, it happened one day that the principal said to
+Charles: "From the first of May I will raise your salary."
+
+"I thank you," answered Charles, "both on my own and on my friend's
+behalf."
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse's salary remains unaltered," replied the chief, and
+went on writing.
+
+Charles never forgot that morning. It was the first time he had been
+preferred or distinguished before his friend. And it was his commercial
+capacity, the quality which, as a young man of business, he valued
+most, that had procured him this preference; and it was the head of the
+firm, the great financier, who had himself accorded him such
+recognition.
+
+The experience was so strange to him that it seemed like an injustice
+to his friend. He told Alphonse nothing of the occurrence; on the
+contrary, he proposed that they should apply for two vacant places in
+the Credit Lyonnais.
+
+Alphonse was quite willing, for he loved change, and the splendid new
+banking establishment on the Boulevard seemed to him far more
+attractive than the dark offices in the Rue Bergere. So they removed to
+the Credit Lyonnais on the first of May. But as they were in the
+chief's office taking their leave, the old banker said to Charles, when
+Alphonse had gone out (Alphonse always took precedence of Charles),
+"Sentiment won't do for a business man."
+
+From that day forward a change went on in Charles. He not only worked
+as industriously and conscientiously as before, but developed such
+energy and such an amazing faculty for labor as soon attracted to him
+the attention of his superiors. That he was far ahead of his friend in
+business capacity was soon manifest; but every time he received a new
+mark of recognition he had a struggle with himself. For a long time,
+every advancement brought with it a certain qualm of conscience; and
+yet he worked on with restless ardor.
+
+One day Alphonse said, in his light, frank way: "You are really a smart
+fellow, Charlie! You're getting ahead of everybody, young and old--not
+to mention me. I'm quite proud of you."
+
+Charles felt ashamed. He had been thinking that Alphonse must feel
+wounded at being left on one side, and now he learned that his friend
+not only did not grudge him his advancement, but was even proud of him.
+By degrees his conscience was lulled to rest, and his solid worth was
+more and more appreciated.
+
+But if he was in reality the more capable, how came it that he was so
+entirely ignored in society, while Alphonse remained everybody's
+darling? The very promotions and marks of appreciation which he had won
+for himself by hard work were accorded him in a dry, business manner;
+while every one, from the directors to the messengers, had a friendly
+word or a merry greeting for Alphonse.
+
+In the different offices and departments of the bank they intrigued to
+obtain possession of Monsieur Alphonse; for a breath of life and
+freshness followed ever in the wake of his handsome person and joyous
+nature. Charles, on the other hand, had often remarked that his
+colleagues regarded him as a dry person, who thought only of business
+and of himself.
+
+The truth was that he had a heart of rare sensitiveness, with no
+faculty for giving it expression.
+
+Charles was one of those small, black Frenchmen whose beard begins
+right under the eyes; his complexion was yellowish and his hair stiff
+and splintery. His eyes did not dilate when he was pleased and
+animated, but they flashed around and glittered. When he laughed the
+corners of his mouth turned upward, and many a time, when his heart was
+full of joy and good-will, he had seen people draw back,
+half-frightened by his forbidding exterior. Alphonse alone knew him so
+well that he never seemed to see his ugliness; every one else
+misunderstood him. He became suspicious, and retired more and more
+within himself.
+
+In an insensible crescendo the thought grew in him: Why should he never
+attain anything of that which he most longed for--intimate and cordial
+intercourse and friendliness which should answer to the warmth pent up
+within him? Why should every one smile to Alphonse with out-stretched
+hands, while he must content himself with stiff bows and cold glances?
+
+Alphonse knew nothing of all this. He was joyous and healthy, charmed
+with life and content with his daily work. He had been placed in the
+easiest and most interesting branch of the business, and, with his
+quick brain and his knack of making himself agreeable, he filled his
+place satisfactorily.
+
+His social circle was very large--every one set store by his
+acquaintance, and he was at least as popular among women as among men.
+
+For a time Charles accompanied Alphonse into society, until he was
+seized by a misgiving that he was invited for his friend's sake alone,
+when he at once drew back.
+
+When Charles proposed that they should set up in business together,
+Alphonse had answered: "It is too good of you to choose me. You could
+easily find a much better partner."
+
+Charles had imagined that their altered relations and closer
+association in work would draw Alphonse out of the circles which
+Charles could not now endure, and unite them more closely. For he had
+conceived a vague dread of losing his friend.
+
+He did not himself know, nor would it have been easy to decide, whether
+he was jealous of all the people who flocked around Alphonse and drew
+him to them, or whether he envied his friend's popularity.
+
+They began their business prudently and energetically, and got on well.
+
+It was generally held that each formed an admirable complement to the
+other. Charles represented the solid, confidence-inspiring element,
+while the handsome and elegant Alphonse imparted to the firm a certain
+lustre which was far from being without value.
+
+Every one who came into the counting-house at once remarked his
+handsome figure, and thus it seemed quite natural that all should
+address themselves to him.
+
+Charles meanwhile bent over his work and let Alphonse be spokesman.
+When Alphonse asked him about anything, he answered shortly and quietly
+without looking up.
+
+Thus most people thought that Charles was a confidential clerk, while
+Alphonse was the real head of the house.
+
+As Frenchmen, they thought little about marrying, but as young
+Parisians they led a life into which erotics entered largely.
+
+Alphonse was never really in his element except when in female society.
+Then all his exhilarating amiability came into play, and when he leaned
+back at supper and held out his shallow champagne-glass to be refilled,
+he was as beautiful as a happy god.
+
+He had a neck of the kind which women long to caress, and his soft,
+half-curling hair looked as if it were negligently arranged, or
+carefully disarranged, by a woman's coquettish hand.
+
+Indeed, many slim white fingers had passed through those locks; for
+Alphonse had not only the gift of being loved by women, but also the
+yet rarer gift of being forgiven by them.
+
+When the friends were together at gay supper-parties, Alphonse paid no
+particular heed to Charles. He kept no account of his own love-affairs,
+far less of those of his friend. So it might easily happen that a
+beauty on whom Charles had cast a longing eye fell into the hands of
+Alphonse.
+
+Charles was used to seeing his friend preferred in life; but there are
+certain things to which men can scarcely accustom themselves. He seldom
+went with Alphonse to his suppers, and it was always long before the
+wine and the general exhilaration could bring him into a convivial
+humor.
+
+But then, when the champagne and the bright eyes had gone to his head,
+he would often be the wildest of all; he would sing loudly with his
+harsh voice, laugh and gesticulate so that his stiff black hair fell
+over his forehead; and then the merry ladies shrank from him, and
+called him the "chimney-sweep."
+
+--As the sentry paces up and down in the beleaguered fortress, he
+sometimes hears a strange sound in the silent night, as if something
+were rustling under his feet. It is the enemy, who has undermined the
+outworks, and to-night or to-morrow night there will be a hollow
+explosion, and armed men will storm in through the breach.
+
+If Charles had kept close watch over himself he would have heard
+strange thoughts rustling within him. But he would not hear--he had
+only a dim foreboding that sometime there must come an explosion.
+
+--And one day it came.
+
+It was already after business hours; the clerks had all left the outer
+office, and only the principals remained behind.
+
+Charles was busily writing a letter which he wished to finish before he
+left.
+
+Alphonse had drawn on both his gloves and buttoned them. Then he had
+brushed his hat until it shone, and now he was walking up and down and
+peeping into Charles's letter every time he passed the desk.
+
+They used to spend an hour every day before dinner in a cafe on the
+great Boulevard, and Alphonse was getting impatient for his newspapers.
+
+"Will you never have finished that letter?" he said, rather irritably.
+
+Charles was silent a second or two, then he sprang up so that his chair
+fell over: "Perhaps Alphonse imagined that he could do it better? Did
+he not know which of them was really the man of business?" And now the
+words streamed out with that incredible rapidity of which the French
+language is capable when it is used in fiery passion.
+
+But it was a turbid stream, carrying with it many ugly expressions,
+upbraidings, and recriminations; and through the whole there sounded
+something like a suppressed sob.
+
+As he strode up and down the room, with clenched hands and dishevelled
+hair, Charles looked like a little wiry-haired terrier barking at an
+elegant Italian grayhound. At last he seized his hat and rushed out.
+
+Alphonse had stood looking at him with great wondering eyes. When he
+was gone, and there was once more silence in the room, it seemed as
+though the air was still quivering with the hot words. Alphonse
+recalled them one by one, as he stood motionless beside the desk.
+
+"Did he not know which was the abler of the two?" Yes, assuredly! he
+had never denied that Charles was by far his superior.
+
+"He must not think that he would succeed in winning everything to
+himself with his smooth face." Alphonse was not conscious of ever
+having deprived his friend of anything.
+
+"I don't care for your cocottes" Charles had said.
+
+Could he really have been interested in the little Spanish dancer? If
+Alphonse had only had the faintest suspicion of such a thing he would
+never have looked at her. But that was nothing to get so wild about;
+there were plenty of women in Paris.
+
+And at last: "As sure as to-morrow comes, I will dissolve partnership!"
+
+Alphonse did not understand it at all. He left the counting-house and
+walked moodily through the streets until he met an acquaintance. That
+put other thoughts into his head; but all day he had a feeling as if
+something gloomy and uncomfortable lay in wait, ready to seize him so
+soon as he was alone.
+
+When he reached home, late at night, he found a letter from Charles. He
+opened it hastily; but it contained, instead of the apology he had
+expected, only a coldly-worded request to M. Alphonse to attend at the
+counting-house early the next morning "in order that the contemplated
+dissolution of partnership might be effected as quickly as possible."
+
+Now, for the first time, did Alphonse begin to understand that the
+scene in the counting-house had been more than a passing outburst of
+passion; but this only made the affair more inexplicable.
+
+And the longer he thought it over, the more clearly did he feel that
+Charles had been unjust to him. He had never been angry with his
+friend, nor was he precisely angry even now. But as he repeated to
+himself all the insults Charles had heaped upon him, his good-natured
+heart hardened; and the next morning he took his place in silence,
+after a cold "Good morning."
+
+Although he arrived a whole hour earlier than usual, he could see that
+Charles had been working long and industriously. There they sat, each
+on his side of the desk; they spoke only the most indispensable words;
+now and then a paper passed from hand to hand, but they never looked
+each other in the face.
+
+In this way they both worked--each more busily than the other--until
+twelve o'clock, their usual luncheon-time.
+
+This hour of dejeuner was the favorite time of both. Their custom was
+to have it served in their office, and when the old housekeeper
+announced that lunch was ready, they would both rise at once, even if
+they were in the midst of a sentence or of an account.
+
+They used to eat standing by the fireplace, or walking up and down in
+the warm, comfortable office. Alphonse had always some piquant stories
+to tell, and Charles laughed at them. These were his pleasantest hours.
+
+But that day, when madame said her friendly "Messieurs, on a servi"
+they both remained sitting. She opened her eyes wide, and repeated the
+words as she went out, but neither moved.
+
+At last Alphonse felt hungry, went to the table, poured out a glass of
+wine and began to eat his cutlet. But as he stood there eating, with
+his glass in his hand, and looked round the dear old office where they
+had spent so many pleasant hours, and then thought that they were to
+lose all this and imbitter their lives for a whim, a sudden burst of
+passion, the whole situation appeared to him so preposterous that he
+almost burst out laughing.
+
+"Look here, Charles," he said, in the half-earnest, half-joking tone
+which always used to make Charles laugh, "it will really be too absurd
+to advertise: 'According to an amicable agreement, from such and such a
+date the firm of--'"
+
+"I have been thinking," interrupted Charles, quietly, "that we will
+put: 'According to MUTUAL agreement.'"
+
+Alphonse laughed no more; he put down his glass, and the cutlet tasted
+bitter in his mouth.
+
+He understood that friendship was dead between them, why or wherefore
+he could not tell; but he thought that Charles was hard and unjust to
+him. He was now stiffer and colder than the other.
+
+They worked together until the business of dissolution was finished;
+then they parted.
+
+A considerable time passed, and the two quondam friends worked each in
+his own quarter in the great Paris. They met at the Bourse, but never
+did business with each other. Charles never worked against Alphonse; he
+did not wish to ruin him; he wished Alphonse to ruin himself.
+
+And Alphonse seemed likely enough to meet his friend's wishes in this
+respect. It is true that now and then he did a good stroke of business,
+but the steady industry he had learned from Charles he soon forgot. He
+began to neglect his office, and lost many good connections.
+
+He had always had a taste for dainty and luxurious living, but his
+association with the frugal Charles had hitherto held his extravagances
+in check. Now, on the contrary, his life became more and more
+dissipated. He made fresh acquaintances on every hand, and was more
+than ever the brilliant and popular Monsieur Alphonse; but Charles kept
+an eye on his growing debts.
+
+He had Alphonse watched as closely as possible, and, as their business
+was of the same kind, could form a pretty good estimate of the other's
+earnings. His expenses were even easier to ascertain, and he soon
+assured himself of the fact that Alphonse was beginning to run into
+debt in several quarters.
+
+He cultivated some acquaintances about whom he otherwise cared nothing,
+merely because through them he got an insight into Alphonse's expensive
+mode of life and rash prodigality. He sought the same cafes and
+restaurants as Alphonse, but at different times; he even had his
+clothes made by the same tailor, because the talkative little man
+entertained him with complaints that Monsieur Alphonse never paid his
+bills.
+
+Charles often thought how easy it would be to buy up a part of
+Alphonse's liabilities and let them fall into the hands of a grasping
+usurer. But it would be a great injustice to suppose that Charles for a
+moment contemplated doing such a thing himself. It was only an idea he
+was fond of dwelling upon; he was, as it were, in love with Alphonse's
+debts.
+
+But things went slowly, and Charles became pale and sallow while he
+watched and waited.
+
+He was longing for the time when the people who had always looked down
+upon him should have their eyes opened, and see how little the
+brilliant and idolized Alphonse was really fit for. He wanted to see
+him humbled, abandoned by his friends, lonely and poor; and then--!
+
+Beyond that he really did not like to speculate; for at this point
+feelings stirred within him which he would not acknowledge.
+
+He WOULD hate his former friend; he WOULD have revenge for all the
+coldness and neglect which had been his own lot in life; and every time
+the least thought in defence of Alphonse arose in his mind he pushed it
+aside, and said, like the old banker, "Sentiment won't do for a
+business man."
+
+One day he went to his tailor's; he bought more clothes in these days
+than he absolutely needed.
+
+The nimble little man at once ran to meet turn with a roll of cloth:
+"See, here is the very stuff for you. Monsieur Alphonse has had a whole
+suit made of it, and Monsieur Alphonse is a gentleman who knows how to
+dress."
+
+"I did not think that Monsieur Alphonse was one of your favorite
+customers," said Charles, rather taken by surprise.
+
+"Oh, mon Dieu!" exclaimed the little tailor, "you mean because I have
+once or twice mentioned that Monsieur Alphonse owed me a few thousand
+francs. It was very stupid of me to speak so. Monsieur Alphonse has not
+only paid me the trifle he was owing, but I know that he has also
+satisfied a number of other creditors. I have done ce cher beau
+monsieur great injustice, and I beg you never to give him a hint of my
+stupidity."
+
+Charles was no longer listening to the chatter of the garrulous tailor.
+He soon left the shop, and went up the street, quite absorbed in the
+one thought that Alphonse had paid.
+
+He thought how foolish it really was of him to wait and wait for the
+other's ruin. How easily might not the adroit and lucky Alphonse come
+across many a brilliant business opening, and make plenty of money
+without a word of it reaching Charles's ears. Perhaps, after all, he
+was getting on well. Perhaps it would end in people saying, "See, at
+last Monsieur Alphonse shows what he is fit for, now that he is quit of
+his dull and crabbed partner!"
+
+Charles went slowly up the street with his head bent. Many people
+jostled him, but he heeded not. His life seemed to him so meaningless,
+as if he had lost all that he had ever possessed--or had he himself
+cast it from him? Just then some one ran against him with more than
+usual violence. He looked up. It was an acquaintance from the time when
+he and Alphonse had been in the Credit Lyonnais.
+
+"Ah, good-day, Monsieur Charles!" cried he, "It is long since we met.
+Odd, too, that I should meet you to-day. I was just thinking of you
+this morning."
+
+"Why, may I ask?" said Charles, half absently.
+
+"Well, you see, only to-day I saw up at the bank a paper--a bill for
+thirty or forty thousand francs--bearing both your name and that of
+Monsieur Alphonse. It astonished me, for I thought that you
+two--hm!--had done with each other."
+
+"No, we have not quite done with each other yet," said Charles slowly.
+
+He struggled with all his might to keep his face calm, and asked, in as
+natural a tone as he could command, "When does the bill fall due? I
+don't quite recollect."
+
+"To-morrow or the day after, I think," answered the other, who was a
+hard-worked business man, and was already in a hurry to be off. "It was
+accepted by Monsieur Alphonse."
+
+"I know that," said Charles; "but could you not manage to let ME redeem
+the bill to-morrow? It is a courtesy--a favor I am anxious to do."
+
+"With pleasure. Tell your messenger to ask for me personally at the
+bank to-morrow afternoon. I will arrange it; nothing easier. Excuse me;
+I'm in a hurry. Good-bye!" and with that he ran on.
+
+Next day Charles sat in his counting-house waiting for the messenger
+who had gone up to the bank to redeem Alphonse's bill.
+
+At last a clerk entered, laid a folded blue paper by his principal's
+side, and went out again.
+
+Not until the door was closed did Charles seize the draft, look swiftly
+round the room, and open it. He stared for a second or two at his name,
+then lay back in his chair and drew a deep breath. It was as he had
+expected--the signature was a forgery.
+
+He bent over it again. For long he sat, gazing at his own name, and
+observing how badly it was counterfeited.
+
+While his sharp eyes followed every line in the letters of his name, he
+scarcely thought. His mind was so disturbed, and his feelings so
+strangely conflicting, that it was some time before he became conscious
+how much they betrayed--these bungling strokes on the blue paper.
+
+He felt a strange lump in his throat, his nose began to tickle a
+little, and, before he was aware of it, a big tear fell on the paper.
+
+He looked hastily around, took out his pocket-handkerchief, and
+carefully wiped the wet place on the bill. He thought again of the old
+banker in the Rue Bergere.
+
+What did it matter to him that Alphonse's weak character had at last
+led him to crime, and what had he lost? Nothing, for did he not hate
+his former friend? No one could say it was his fault that Alphonse was
+ruined--he had shared with him honestly, and never harmed him.
+
+Then his thoughts tamed to Alphonse. He knew him well enough to be sure
+that when the refined, delicate Alphonse had sunk so low, he must have
+come to a jutting headland in life, and he prepared to leap out of it
+rather than let disgrace reach him.
+
+At this thought Charles sprang up. That must not be. Alphonse should
+not have time to send a bullet through his bead and hide his shame in
+the mixture of compassion and mysterious horror which follows the
+suicide. Thus Charles would lose his revenge, and it would be all to no
+purpose that he had gone and nursed his hatred until he himself had
+become evil through it. Since he had forever lost his friend, he would
+at least expose his enemy, so that all should see what a miserable,
+despicable being was this charming Alphonse.
+
+He looked at his watch; it was half-past four. Charles knew the cafe in
+which he would find Alphonse at this hour; he pocketed the bill and
+buttoned his coat.
+
+But on the way he would call at a police-station, and hand over the
+bill to a detective, who at a sign from Charles should suddenly advance
+into the middle of the cafe where Alphonse was always surrounded by his
+friends and admirers, and say loudly and distinctly so that all should
+hear it:
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse, you are charged with forgery."
+
+It was raining in Paris. The day had been foggy, raw, and cold; and
+well on in the afternoon it had begun to rain. It was not a
+downpour--the water did not fall from the clouds in regular drops--but
+the clouds themselves had, as it were, laid themselves down in the
+streets of Paris and there slowly condensed into water.
+
+No matter how people might seek to shelter themselves, they got wet on
+all sides. The moisture slid down the back of your neck, laid itself
+like a wet towel about your knees, penetrated into your boots and far
+up your trousers.
+
+A few sanguine ladies were standing in the portes cocheres, with their
+skirts tucked up, expecting it to clear; others waited by the hour in
+the omnibus stations. But most of the stronger sex hurried along under
+their umbrellas; only a few had been sensible enough to give up the
+battle, and had turned up their collars, stuck their umbrellas under
+their arms, and their hands in their pockets.
+
+Although it was early in the autumn it was already dusk at five
+o'clock. A few gas-jets lighted in the narrowest streets, and in a shop
+here and there strove to shine out in the thick wet air.
+
+People swarmed as usual in the streets, jostled one another off the
+pavement, and ruined one another's umbrellas. All the cabs were taken
+up; they splashed along and bespattered the foot passengers to the best
+of their ability, while the asphalt glistened in the dim light with a
+dense coating of mud.
+
+The cafes were crowded to excess; regular customers went round and
+scolded, and the waiters ran against each other in their hurry. Ever
+and anon, amid the confusion, could be heard the sharp little ting of
+the bell on the buffet; it was la dame du comptoir summoning a waiter,
+while her calm eyes kept a watch upon the whole cafe.
+
+A lady sat at the buffet of a large restaurant on the Boulevard
+Sebastopol. She was widely known for her cleverness and her amiable
+manners.
+
+She had glossy black hair, which, in spite of the fashion, she wore
+parted in the middle of her forehead in natural curls. Her eyes were
+almost black and her mouth full, with a little shadow of a moustache.
+
+Her figure was still very pretty, although, if the truth were known,
+she had probably passed her thirtieth year; and she had a soft little
+hand, with which she wrote elegant figures in her cashbook, and now and
+then a little note. Madame Virginie could converse with the young
+dandies who were always hanging about the buffet, and parry their
+witticisms, while she kept account with the waiters and had her eye
+upon every corner of the great room.
+
+She was really pretty only from five till seven in the afternoon--that
+being the time at which Alphonse invariably visited the cafe. Then her
+eyes never left him; she got a fresher color, her mouth was always
+trembling into a smile, and her movements became somewhat nervous. That
+was the only time of the day when she was ever known to give a random
+answer or to make a mistake in the accounts; and the waiters tittered
+and nudged each other.
+
+For it was generally thought that she had formerly had relations with
+Alphonse, and some would even have it that she was still his mistress.
+
+She herself best knew how matters stood; but it was impossible to be
+angry with Monsieur Alphonse. She was well aware that he cared no more
+for her than for twenty others; that she had lost him--nay, that he had
+never really been hers. And yet her eyes besought a friendly look, and
+when he left the cafe without sending her a confidential greeting, it
+seemed as though she suddenly faded, and the waiters said to each
+other: "Look at madame; she is gray tonight."
+
+Over at the windows it was still light enough to read the papers; a
+couple of young men were amusing themselves with watching the crowds
+which streamed past. Seen through the great plate-glass windows, the
+busy forms gliding past one another in the dense, wet, rainy air looked
+like fish in an aquarium. Further back in the cafe, and over the
+billiard-tables, the gas was lighted. Alphonse was playing with a
+couple of friends.
+
+He had been to the buffet and greeted Madame Virginie, and she, who had
+long noticed how Alphonse was growing paler day by day, had--half in
+jest, half in anxiety--reproached him with his thoughtless life.
+
+Alphonse answered with a poor joke and asked for absinthe.
+
+How she hated those light ladies of the ballet and the opera who
+enticed Monsieur Alphonse to revel night after night at the
+gaming-table, or at interminable suppers! How ill he had been looking
+these last few weeks! He had grown quite thin, and the great gentle
+eyes had acquired a piercing, restless look. What would she not give to
+be able to rescue him out of that life that was dragging him down! She
+glanced in the opposite mirror and thought she had beauty enough left.
+
+Now and then the door opened and a new guest came in, stamped his feet,
+and shut his wet umbrella. All bowed to Madame Virginie, and almost all
+said, "What horrible weather!"
+
+When Charles entered, he saluted shortly and took a seat in the corner
+beside the fireplace.
+
+Alphonse's eyes had indeed become restless. He looked towards the door
+every time any one came in; and when Charles appeared, a spasm passed
+over his face and he missed his stroke.
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse is not in the vein to-day," said an onlooker.
+
+Soon after a strange gentleman came in. Charles looked up from his
+paper and nodded slightly; the stranger raised his eyebrows a little
+and looked at Alphonse.
+
+He dropped his cue on the floor.
+
+"Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm not in the mood for billiards to-day," said
+he, "permit me to leave off. Waiter, bring me a bottle of seltzer-water
+and a spoon--I must take my dose of Vichy salts."
+
+"You should not take so much Vichy salts, Monsieur Alphonse, but rather
+keep to a sensible diet," said the doctor, who sat a little way off
+playing chess.
+
+Alphonse laughed, and seated himself at the newspaper-table. He seized
+the JOURNAL AMUSANT, and began to make merry remarks upon the
+illustrations. A little circle quickly gathered round him, and he was
+inexhaustible in racy stories and whimsicalities.
+
+While he rattled on under cover of the others' laughter, he poured out
+a glass of seltzer-water and took from his pocket a little box on which
+was written, in large letters, "Vichy Salts."
+
+He shook the powder out into the glass and stirred it round with a
+spoon. There was a little cigar-ash on the floor in front of his chair;
+he whipped it off with his pocket-handkerchief, and then stretched out
+his hand for the glass.
+
+At that moment he felt a hand on his arm. Charles had risen and hurried
+across the room he now bent down over Alphonse.
+
+Alphonse turned his head towards him so that none but Charles could see
+his face. At first he let his eyes travel furtively over his old
+friend's figure; then he looked up, and, gazing straight at Charles, he
+said, half aloud, "Charlie!"
+
+It was long since Charles had heard that old pet name. He gazed into
+the well-known face and now for the first time saw how it had altered
+of late. It seemed to him as though he were reading a tragic story
+about himself.
+
+They remained thus far a second or two and there glided over Alphonse's
+features that expression of imploring helplessness which Charles knew
+so well from the old school-days, when Alphonse came bounding in at the
+last moment and wanted his composition written.
+
+"Have you done with the JOURNAL AMUSANT?" asked Charles, with a thick
+utterance.
+
+"Yes; pray take it," answered Alphonse, hurriedly. He reached him the
+paper, and at the same time got hold of Charles's thumb. He pressed it
+and whispered, "Thanks," then--drained the glass.
+
+Charles went over to the stranger who sat by the door: "Give me the
+bill."
+
+"You don't need our assistance, then?"
+
+"No, thanks."
+
+"So much the better," said the stranger, handing Charles a folded blue
+paper. Then he paid for his coffee and went.
+
+Madame Virginie rose with a little shriek: "Alphonse! Oh, my God!
+Monsieur Alphonse is ill."
+
+He slipped off his chair; his shoulders went up and his head fell on
+one side. He remained sitting on the floor, with his back against the
+chair.
+
+There was a movement among those nearest; the doctor sprang over and
+knelt beside him. When he looked in Alphonse's face he started a
+little. He took his hand as if to feel his pulse, and at the same time
+bent down over the glass which stood on the edge of the table.
+
+With a movement of the arm he gave it a slight push, so that it fell on
+the floor and was smashed. Then he laid down the dead man's hand and
+bound a handkerchief round his chin.
+
+Not till then did the others understand what had happened. "Dead? Is he
+dead, doctor? Monsieur Alphonse dead?"
+
+"Heart disease," answered the doctor.
+
+One came running with water, another with vinegar. Amid laughter and
+noise, the balls could be heard cannoning on the inner billiard-table.
+
+"Hush!" some one whispered. "Hush!" was repeated; and the silence
+spread in wider and wider circles round the corpse, until all was quite
+still.
+
+"Come and lend a hand," said the doctor.
+
+The dead man was lifted up; they laid him on a sofa in a corner of the
+room, and the nearest gas-jets were put out.
+
+Madame Virginie was still standing up; her face was chalk-white, and
+she held her little soft hand pressed against her breast. They carried
+him right past the buffet. The doctor had seized him under the back, so
+that his waistcoat slipped up and a piece of his fine white shirt
+appeared.
+
+She followed with her eyes the slender, supple limbs she knew so well,
+and continued to stare towards the dark corner.
+
+Most of the guests went away in silence. A couple of young men entered
+noisily from the street; a waiter ran towards them and said a few
+words. They glanced towards the corner, buttoned their coats, and
+plunged out again into the fog.
+
+The half-darkened cafe was soon empty; only some of Alphonse's nearest
+friends stood in a group and whispered. The doctor was talking with the
+proprietor, who had now appeared on the scene.
+
+The waiters stole to and fro, making great circuits to avoid the dark
+corner. One of them knelt and gathered up the fragments of the glass on
+a tray. He did his work as quietly as he could; but for all that it
+made too much noise.
+
+"Let that alone until by and by," said the host, softly.
+
+Leaning against the chimney-piece, Charles looked at the dead man. He
+slowly tore the folded paper to pieces, while he thought of his friend.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HOPES
+
+BY
+
+FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+The Translation by Mary Howitt.
+
+
+HOPES
+
+BY
+
+FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+I had a peculiar method of wandering without very much pain along the
+stormy path of life. Although, in a physical as well as in a moral
+sense, I wandered almost barefoot,-I HOPED, hoped from day to day; in
+the morning my hopes rested on evening, in the evening on the morning;
+in the autumn; upon the spring, in spring upon the autumn; from this
+year to the next, and this amid mere hopes, I had passed through nearly
+thirty years of my life, without, of all my privations, painfully
+perceiving the want of anything but whole boots. Nevertheless, I
+consoled myself easily for this out of doors in the open air but in a
+drawing-room it always gave me an uneasy manner to have to turn the
+heels, as being the part least torn, to the front. Much more oppressive
+was it to me, truly, that I could in the abodes of misery only console
+with kind words.
+
+I comforted myself, like a thousand others, by a hopeful glance upon
+the rolling wheel of fortune, and with the philosophical remark, "When
+the time comes, comes the counsel."
+
+As a poor assistant to a country clergyman with a narrow income and
+meagre table, morally becoming mouldy in the company of the scolding
+housekeeper, of the willingly fuddled clergyman, of a foolish young
+gentleman and the daughters of the house, who, with high shoulders and
+turned-in toes, went from morning to night paying visits, I felt a
+peculiarly strange emotion of tenderness and joy as one of my
+acquaintance informed me by writing, that my uncle, the Merchant P---in
+Stockholm, to me personally unknown, now lay dying, and in a paroxysm
+of kindred affection had inquired after his good-for-nothing nephew.
+
+With a flat, meagre little bundle, and a million of rich hopes, the
+grateful nephew now allowed himself to be shaken up hill and down hill,
+upon an uncommonly uncomfortable and stiff-necked peasant cart, and
+arrived, head-over-heels, in the capital.
+
+In the inn where I alighted, I ordered for myself a little--only a very
+little breakfast,--a trifle--a bit of bread-and-butter--a few eggs.
+
+The landlord and a fat gentleman walked up and down the saloon and
+chatted. "Nay, that I must say," said the fat gentleman, "this Merchant
+P--, who died the day before yesterday, he was a fine fellow."
+
+"Yes, yes," thought I; "aha, aha, a fellow, who had heaps of money!
+Hear you, my friend" (to the waiter), "could not you get me a bit of
+venison, or some other solid dish? Hear you, a cup of bouillon would
+not be amiss. Look after it, but quick!"
+
+"Yes," said mine host now, "it is strong! Thirty thousand dollars, and
+they banko! Nobody in the whole world could have dreamed of it--thirty
+thousand!"
+
+"Thirty thousand!" repeated I, in my exultant soul, "thirty thousand!
+Hear you, waiter! Make haste, give me here thirty then--; and give me
+here banko--no give me here a glass of wine, I mean;" and from head to
+heart there sang in me, amid the trumpet-beat of every pulse in
+alternating echoes, "Thirty thousand! Thirty thousand!"
+
+"Yes," continued the fat gentlemen, "and would you believe that in the
+mass of debts there are nine hundred dollars for credit and five
+thousand dollars for champagne.  And now all his creditors stand there
+prettily and open their mouths; all the thing in the house are hardly
+worth two farthings; and out of the house they find, as the only
+indemnification--a calash!"
+
+"Aha, that is something quite different! Hear you, youth, waiter! Eh,
+come you here! take that meat, and the bouillon, and the wine away
+again; and hear you, observe well, that I have not eaten a morsel of
+all this. How could I, indeed; I, that ever since I opened my eyes this
+morning have done nothing else but eat (a horrible untruth!), and it
+just now occurs to me that it would therefore be unnecessary to pay
+money for such a superfluous feast."
+
+"But you have actually ordered it," replied the waiter, in a state of
+excitement.
+
+"My friend," I replied, and seized myself behind the ear, a place
+whence people, who are in embarrassment, are accustomed in some sort of
+way to obtain the necessary help--"my friend, it was a mistake for
+which I must not be punished; for it was not my fault that a rich heir,
+for whom I ordered the breakfast, is all at once become poor,--yes,
+poorer than many a poor devil, because he has lost more than the half
+of his present means upon the future. If he, under these circumstances,
+as you may well imagine, cannot pay for a dear breakfast, yet it does
+not prevent my paying for the eggs which I have devoured, and giving
+you over and above something handsome for your trouble, as business
+compels me to move off from here immediately."
+
+By my excellent logic, and the "something handsome," I removed from my
+throat, with a bleeding heart and a watering mouth, that dear
+breakfast, and wandered forth into the city, with my little bundle
+under my arm, to seek for a cheap room, while I considered where I w as
+to get the money for it.
+
+In consequence of the violent coming in contact of hope and reality I
+had a little headache. But when I saw upon my ramble a gentleman,
+ornamented with ribbons and stars, alight from a magnificent carriage,
+who had a pale yellow complexion, a deeply-wrinkled brow, and above his
+eyebrows an intelligible trace of ill-humour; when I saw a young count,
+with whom I had become acquainted in the University of Upsala, walking
+along as if he were about to fall on his nose from age and weariness of
+life, I held up my head, inhaled the air, which accidentally
+(unfortunately) at this place was filled with the smell of smoked
+sausage, and extolled poverty, and a pure heart.
+
+I found at length, in a remote street, a little room, which was more
+suited to my gloomy prospects than to the bright hopes which I
+cherished two hours before.
+
+I had obtained permission to spend the winter in Stockholm, and had
+thought of spending it in quite a different way to what now was to be
+expected. But what was to be done? To let the courage sink was the
+worst of all; to lay the hands in the lap and look up to heaven, not
+much better. "The sun breaks forth when one least expects it," thought
+I, as heavy autumn clouds descended upon the city. I determined to use
+all the means I could to obtain for myself a decent substance with a
+somewhat pleasanter prospect for the future, than was opened to me
+under the miserable protection of Pastor G., and, in the meantime, to
+earn my daily bread by copying,--a sorrowful expedient in a sorrowful
+condition.
+
+Thus I passed my days amid fruitless endeavors to find ears which might
+not be deaf, amid the heart-wearing occupation of writing out fairly
+the empty productions of empty heads, with my dinners becoming more and
+more scanty, and with ascending hopes, until that evening against whose
+date I afterwards made a cross in my calendar.
+
+My host had just left me with the friendly admonition to pay the first
+quarter's rent on the following day, if I did not prefer (the
+politeness is French) to march forth again with bag and baggage on a
+voyage of discovery through the streets of the city.
+
+It was just eight o'clock, on an indescribably cold November evening,
+when I was revived with this affectionate salutation on my return from
+a visit to a sick person, for whom I, perhaps--really somewhat
+inconsiderately, had emptied my purse.
+
+I snuffed my sleepy, thin candle with my fingers, and glanced around
+the little dark chamber, for the further use of which I must soon see
+myself compelled to gold-making.
+
+"Diogenes dwelt worse," sighed I, with a submissive mind, as I drew a
+lame table from the window where the wind and rain were not contented
+to stop outside. At that moment my eye fell upon a brilliantly blazing
+fire in a kitchen, which lay, Tantalus-like, directly opposite to my
+modest room, where the fireplace was as dark as possible.
+
+"Cooks, men and women, have the happiest lot of all serving mortals!"
+thought I, as, with a secret desire to play that fire-tending game, I
+contemplated the well-fed dame, amid iron pots and stewpans, standing
+there like an empress in the glory of the firelight, and with the
+fire-tongs sceptre rummaging about majestically in the glowing realm.
+
+A story higher, I had, through a window, which was concealed by no
+envious curtain, the view into a brightly lighted room, where a
+numerous family were assembled round a tea-table covered with cups and
+bread baskets.
+
+I was stiff in my whole body, from cold and damp. How empty it was in
+that part which may be called the magazine, I do not say; but, ah, good
+Heavens! thought I, if, however, that pretty girl, who over there takes
+a cop of tea-nectar and rich splendid rusks to that fat gentleman who,
+from satiety, can hardly raise himself from the sofa, would but reach
+out her lovely hand a little further, and could--she would with a
+thousand kisses--in vain!--ah, the satiated gentleman takes his cup; he
+steeps and steeps his rusk with such eternal slowness--it might be
+wine. Now the charming girl caresses him. I am curious whether it is
+the dear papa himself or the uncle, or, perhaps--Ah, the enviable
+mortal! But no, it is quite impossible; he is at least forty years
+older than she. See, that indeed must be his wife--an elderly lady, who
+sits near him on the sofa, and who offers rusks to the young lady. The
+old lady seems very dignified; but to whom does she go now? I cannot
+see the person. An ear and a piece of a shoulder are all that peep
+forth near the window. I cannot exactly take it amiss that the
+respectable person turns his back to me; but that he keeps the young
+lady a quarter of an hour standing before him, lets her courtesy and
+offer her good things, does thoroughly provoke me. It must be a lady--a
+man could not be so unpolite towards this angelic being. But--or--now
+she takes the cup; and now, oh, woe! a great man's hand grasps into the
+rusk-basket--the savage! and how he helps himself--the churl! I should
+like to know whether it is her brother,--he was perhaps hungry, poor
+fellow! Now come in, one after the other, two lovely children, who are
+like the sister. I wonder now, whether the good man with one ear has
+left anything remaining. That most charming of girls, how she caresses
+the little ones, and kisses them, and gives to them all the rusks and
+the cakes that have escaped the fingers of Monsieur Gobble. Now she has
+had herself, the sweet child! of the whole entertainment, no more than
+me--the smell.
+
+What a movement suddenly takes place in the room! The old gentleman
+heaves himself up from the sofa--the person with one ear starts
+forward, and in so doing, gives the young lady a blow (the dromedary!)
+which makes her knock against the tea-table, whereby the poor lady, who
+was just about springing up from the sofa, is pushed down again--the
+children hop about and clap their hands--the door flies open--a young
+officer enters--the young girl throws herself into his arms. So,
+indeed! Aha, now we have it! I put to my shutters so violently that
+they cracked, and seated myself on a chair, quite wet through with
+rain, and with my knees trembling.
+
+What had I to do at the window? That is what one gets when one is
+inquisitive.
+
+Eight days ago, this family had removed from the country into the
+handsome house opposite to me; and it had never yet occurred to me to
+ask who they were, or whence they came. What need was there for me
+to-night to make myself acquainted with their domestic concerns in an
+illicit manner? How could it interest me? I was in an ill-humor;
+perhaps, too, I felt some little heartache. But for all that, true to
+my resolution, not to give myself up to anxious thoughts when they
+could do no good, I seized the pen with stiff fingers, and, in order to
+dissipate my vexation, wished to attempt a description of domestic
+happiness, of a happiness which I had never enjoyed. For the rest, I
+philosophized whilst I blew upon my stiffened hands. "Am I the first
+who, in the hot hour of fancy, has sought for a warmth which the stern
+world of reality has denied him? Six dollars for a measure of fir-wood.
+Yes, prosit, thou art not likely to get it before December! I write!
+
+"Happy, threefold happy, the family, in whose narrow, contracted circle
+no heart bleeds solitarily, or solitarily rejoices! No look, no smile,
+remains unanswered; and where the friends say daily, not with words but
+with deeds, to each other, 'Thy cares, thy joys, thy happiness, are
+mine also!'"
+
+"Lovely is the peaceful, the quiet home, which closes itself
+protectingly around the weary pilgrim through life--which, around its
+friendly blazing hearth, assembles for repose the old man leaning on
+his staff, the strong man, the affectionate wife, and happy children,
+who, shouting and exulting, hop about in their earthly heaven, and
+closing a day spent in the pastimes of innocence, repeat a thanksgiving
+prayer with smiling lips, and drop asleep on the bosom of their
+parents, whilst the gentle voice of the mother tells them, in whispered
+cradle-tones, how around their couch--
+
+     "The little angels in a ring,
+      Stand round about to keep
+      A watchful guard upon the bed
+      Where little children sleep."
+
+Here I was obliged to leave off, because I felt something resembling a
+drop of rain come forth from my eye, and therefore could not any longer
+see clearly.
+
+"How many," thought I, as my reflections, against my will, took a
+melancholy turn--"how many are there who must, to their sorrow, do
+without this highest happiness of earthly life--domestic happiness!"
+
+For one moment I contemplated myself in the only whole glass which I
+had in my room--that OF TRUTH,--and then wrote again with gloomy
+feeling:--"Unhappy, indeed, may the forlorn one be called, who, in the
+anxious and cool moments of life (which, indeed, come so often), is
+pressed to no faithful heart, whose sigh nobody returns, whose quiet
+grief nobody alleviates with a 'I understand thee, I suffer with thee!'
+
+"He is cast down, nobody raises him up; he weeps, nobody sees it,
+nobody will see it; he goes, nobody follows him; he comes, nobody goes
+to meet him; he rests, nobody watches over him. He is lonely. Oh, how
+unfortunate he is! Why dies he not? Ah, who would weep for him? How
+cold is a grave which no warm tears of love moisten!
+
+"He is lonesome in the winter night; for him the earth has no flowers,
+and dark burn the lights of heaven. Why wanders he, the lonesome one;
+why waits he; why flies he not, the shadow, to the land of shades? Ah,
+he still hopes, he is a mendicant who begs for joy, who yet waits in
+the eleventh hour, that a merciful hand may give him an alms.
+
+"One only little blossom of earth will he gather, bear it upon his
+heart, in order henceforth not so lonesomely, not so entirely lonesome,
+to wander down to rest."
+
+It was my own condition which I described. I deplored myself.
+
+Early deprived of my parents, without brothers and sisters, friends,
+and relations, I stood in the world yet so solitary and forlorn, that
+but for an inward confidence in heaven, and a naturally happy temper, I
+should often enough have wished to leave this contemptuous world; till
+now, however, I had almost constantly hoped from the future, and this
+more from an instinctive feeling that this might be the best, than to
+subdue by philosophy every too vivid wish for an agreeable present
+time, because it was altogether so opposed to possibility. For some
+time, however, alas! it had been otherwise with me; I felt, and
+especially this evening, more than ever an inexpressible desire to have
+somebody to love,--to have some one about me who would cleave to
+me--who would be a friend to me;--in short, to have (for me the highest
+felicity on earth) a wife--a beloved, devoted wife! Oh, she would
+comfort me, she would cheer me! her affection, even in the poorest hut,
+would make of me a king. That the love-fire of my heart would not
+insure the faithful being at my side from being frozen was soon made
+clearly sensible to me by an involuntary shudder. More dejected than
+ever, I rose up and walked a few times about my room (that is to say,
+two steps right forward, and then turn back again). The sense of my
+condition followed me like the shadow on the wall, and for the first
+time in my life I felt myself cast down, and threw a gloomy look on my
+dark future. I had no patron, therefore could not reckon upon promotion
+for a long time; consequently, also, not upon my own bread--on a
+friend--a wife, I mean.
+
+"But what in all the world," said I yet once more seriously to myself,
+"what helps beating one's brains?" Yet once more I tried to get rid of
+all anxious thoughts. "If, however, a Christian soul could only come to
+me this evening! Let it be whoever it would--friend or foe--it would be
+better than this solitude. Yes, even if an inhabitant of the world of
+spirits opened the door, he would be welcome to me! What was that?
+Three blows on the door! I will not, however, believe it--again three!"
+I went and opened; there was nobody there; only the wind went howling
+up and down the stairs. I hastily shut the door again, thrust my hands
+into my pockets, and went up and down for a while, humming aloud. Some
+moments afterwards I fancied I heard a sigh--I was silent, and
+listened,--again there was very evidently a sigh--and yet once again,
+so deep and so mournful, that I exclaimed with secret terror, "Who is
+there?" No answer.
+
+For a moment I stood still, and considered what this really could mean,
+when a horrible noise, as if cats were sent with yells lumbering down
+the whole flight of stairs, and ended with a mighty blow against my
+door, put an end to my indecision. I took up the candle, and a stick,
+and went out. At the moment when I opened the door my light was blown
+out. A gigantic white figure glimmered opposite to me, and I felt
+myself suddenly embraced by two strong arms. I cried for help, and
+struggled so actively to get loose that both myself and my adversary
+fell to the ground, but so that I lay uppermost. Like an arrow I sprang
+again upright, and was about to fetch a light, when I stumbled over
+something--Heaven knows what it was (I firmly believe that somebody
+held me fast by the feet), by which I fell a second time, struck my
+head on the corner of the table, and lost my consciousness, whilst a
+suspicions noise, which had great resemblance to laughter, rang in my
+ears.
+
+When I again opened my eyes, they met a dazzling blaze of light. I
+closed them again, and listened to a confused noise around me--opened
+them again a very little, and endeavoured to distinguish the objects
+which surrounded me, which appeared to me so enigmatical and strange
+that I almost feared my mind had vanished. I lay upon a sofa, and--no,
+I really did not deceive myself,--that charming girl, who on this
+evening had so incessantly floated before my thoughts, stood actually
+beside me, and with a heavenly expression of sympathy bathed my head
+with vinegar. A young man whose countenance seemed known to me held my
+hand between his. I perceived also the fat gentleman, another thin one,
+the lady, the children, and in distant twilight I saw the shimmer of
+the paradise of the tea-table; in short, I found myself by an
+incomprehensible whim of fate amidst the family which an hour before I
+had contemplated with such lively sympathy.
+
+When I again had returned to full consciousness, the young man embraced
+me several times with military vehemence.
+
+"Do you then no longer know me?" cried he indignantly, as he saw me
+petrified body and soul. "Have you then forgotten August D--, whose
+life a short time since you saved at the peril of your own? whom you so
+handsomely fished up, with danger to yourself, from having for ever to
+remain in the uninteresting company of fishes? See here, my father, my
+mother, my sister, Wilhelmina!"
+
+I pressed his hand; and now the parents embraced me. With a stout blow
+of the fist upon the table, August's father exclaimed, "And because you
+have saved my son's life, and because you are such a downright honest
+and good fellow, and have suffered hunger yourself--that you might give
+others to eat--you shall really have the parsonage at H--. Yes, you
+shall become clergyman, I say!--I have jus patronatum, you understand!"
+
+For a good while I was not at all in a condition to comprehend, to
+think, or to speak; and before all had been cleared up by a thousand
+explanations, I could understand nothing clearly excepting that
+Wilhelmina was not--that Wilhelmina was August's sister.
+
+He had returned this evening from a journey of service, during which,
+in the preceding summer, chance had given to me the good fortune to
+rescue him from a danger, into which youthful heat and excess of spirit
+had thrown him. I had not seen him again since this occurrence;
+earlier, I had made a passing acquaintance with him, had drunk
+brotherhood with him at the university, and after that had forgotten my
+dear brother.
+
+He had now related this occurrence to his family, with the easily
+kindled-up enthusiasm of youth, together with what he knew of me
+beside, and what he did not know. The father, who had a living in his
+gift, and who (as I afterwards found) had made from his window some
+compassionate remarks upon my meagre dinner-table, determined, assailed
+by the prayers of his son, to raise me from the lap of poverty to the
+summit of good fortune. August would in his rapture announce to me my
+good luck instantly, and in order, at the same time, to gratify his
+passion for merry jokes, made himself known upon my stairs in a way
+which occasioned me a severe, although not dangerous, contusion on the
+temples, and the unexpected removal across the street, out of the
+deepest darkness into the brightest light. The good youth besought a
+thousand times forgiveness for his thoughtlessness; a thousand times I
+assured him that it was not worth the trouble to speak of such a
+trifling blow. And, in fact, the living was a balsam which would have
+made a greater wound than this imperceptible also.
+
+Astonished, and somewhat embarrassed, I now perceived that the ear and
+the shoulder, whose possessor had seized so horribly upon the contents
+of the rusk basket, and over whom I had poured out my gall belonged to
+nobody else than to August's father, and my patron. The fat gentleman
+who sat upon the sofa was Wilhelmina's uncle.
+
+The kindness and gayety of my new friends made me soon feel at home and
+happy. The old people treated me like a child of the house, the young
+ones as a brother, and the two little ones seemed to anticipate a
+gingerbread-friend in me.
+
+After I had received two cups of tea from Wilhelmina's pretty hand, to
+which I almost feared taking, in my abstraction of mind, more rusks
+than my excellent patron, I rose up to take my leave. They insisted
+absolutely upon my passing the night there; but I abode by my
+determination of spending the first happy night in my old habitation,
+amid thanksgiving to the lofty Ruler of my fate.
+
+They all embraced me afresh; and I now also embraced all rightly, from
+the bottom of my heart, Wilhelmina also, although not without having
+gracious permission first. "I might as well have left that alone,"
+thought I afterwards, "if it is to be the first and last time!" August
+accompanied me back.
+
+My host stood in my room amid the overturned chairs and tables, with a
+countenance which alternated between rain and sunshine; on one side his
+mouth drew itself with a reluctant smile up to his ear, on the other it
+crept for vexation down to his double chin; the eyes followed the same
+direction, and the whole had a look of a combat, till the tone in which
+August indicated to him that he should leave us alone, changed all into
+the most friendly, grinning mien, and the proprietor of the same
+vanished from the door with the most submissive bows.
+
+August was in despair about my table, my chair, my bed, and so on. It
+was with difficulty that I withheld him from cudgelling the host who
+would take money for such a hole. I was obliged to satisfy him with the
+most holy assurances, that on the following day I would remove without
+delay. "But tell him," prayed August, "before you pay him, that he is a
+villain, a usurer, a cheat, a--or if you like, I will--"
+
+"No, no; heaven defend us!" interrupted I, "be quiet, and let me only
+manage."
+
+After my young friend had left me, I passed several happy hours in
+thinking on the change in my fate, and inwardly thanking God for it. My
+thoughts then rambled to the parsonage; and heaven knows what fat oxen
+and cows, what pleasure grounds, with flowers, fruits, and vegetables,
+I saw in spirit surrounding my new paradise, where my Eve walked by my
+side, and supported on my arm; and especially what an innumerable crowd
+of happy and edified people I saw streaming from the church when I had
+preached. I baptized, I confirmed, I comforted my beloved community in
+the zeal and warmth of my heart--and forgot only the funerals.
+
+Every poor clergyman who has received a living, every mortal,
+especially to whom unexpectedly a long-cherished wish has been
+accomplished, will easily picture to himself my state.
+
+Later in the night it sunk at last like a veil before my eyes, and my
+thoughts fell by degrees into a bewilderment which exhibited on every
+hand strange images. I preached with a loud voice in my church, and the
+congregation slept. After the service, the people came out of the
+church like oxen and cows, and bellowed against me when I would have
+admonished them. I wished to embrace my wife, but could not separate
+her from a great turnip, which increased every moment, and at last grew
+over both our heads. I endeavored to climb up a ladder to heaven, whose
+stars beckoned kindly and brightly to me; but potatoes, grass, vetches,
+and peas, entangled my feet unmercifully, and hindered every step. At
+last I saw myself in the midst of my possessions walking upon my head,
+and whilst in my sleepy soul I greatly wondered how this was possible,
+I slept soundly in the remembrance of my dream. Yet then, however, I
+must unconsciously have continued the chain of my pastoral thoughts,
+for I woke in the morning with the sound of my own voice loudly
+exclaiming, "Amen."
+
+That the occurrences of the former evening were actual truth, and no
+dream, I could only convince myself with difficulty, till August paid
+me a visit, and invited me to dine with his parents.
+
+The living, Wilhelmina, the dinner, the new chain of hopes for the
+future which beamed from the bright sun of the present, all surprised
+me anew with a joy, which one can feel very well, but never can
+describe.
+
+Out of the depths of a thankful heart, I saluted the new life which
+opened to me, with the firm determination that, let happen what might,
+yet always TO DO THE RIGHT, AND TO HOPE FOR THE BEST.
+
+Two years after this, I sat on an autumn evening in my beloved
+parsonage by the fire. Near to me sat my dear little wife, my sweet,
+Wilhelmina, and spun. I was just about to read to her a sermon which I
+intended to preach on the next Sunday, and from which I promised myself
+much edification, as well for her as for the assembled congregation.
+Whilst I was turning over the leaves, a loose paper fell out. It was
+the paper upon which, on that evening two years before, in a very
+different situation, I had written down my cheerful and my sad
+thoughts. I showed it to my wife. She read, smiled with a tear in her
+eye, and with a roguish countenance which, as I fancy, is particular to
+her, took the pen and wrote on the other side of the paper:
+
+"The author can now, thank God, strike out a description which would
+stand in perfect contrast to that which he once, in a dark hour,
+sketched of an unfortunate person, as he himself was then.
+
+"Now he is no more lonesome, no more deserted. His quiet sighs are
+answered, his secret griefs shared, by a wife tenderly devoted to him.
+He goes, her heart follows him; he comes back, she meets him with
+smiles; his tears flow not unobserved, they are dried by her hand, and
+his smiles beam again in hers; for him she gathers flowers, to wreathe
+around his brow, to strew in his path. He has his own fireside, friends
+devoted to him, and, counts as his relations all those who have none of
+their own. He loves, he is beloved; he can make people feel happy, he
+is himself happy."
+
+Truly had my Wilhelmina described the present; and, animated by
+feelings which are gay and delicious as the beams of the spring sun, I
+will now, as hitherto, let my little troop of light hopes bound out
+into the future.
+
+I hope, too, that my sermon for the next Sunday may not be without
+benefit to my hearers; and even if the obdurate should sleep, I hope
+that neither this nor any other of the greater or the less
+unpleasantnesses which can happen to me may go to my heart and disturb
+my rest. I know my Wilhelmina, and believe also that I know myself
+sufficiently, to hope with certainty that I may always make her happy.
+The sweet angel has given me hope that we may soon be able to add a
+little creature to our little happy family, I hope, in the future, to
+be yet multiplied. For my children I have all kinds of hopes _in
+petto_. If I have a son, I hope that he will be my successor; if I have
+a daughter, then--if August would wait--but I fancy that he is just
+about to be married.
+
+I hope in time to find a publisher for my sermons. I hope to live yet a
+hundred years with my wife.
+
+We--that is to say, my Wilhelmina and I--hope, during this time, to be
+able to dry a great many tears, and to shed as few ourselves as our
+lot, as children of the earth, may permit.
+
+We hope not to survive each other.
+
+Lastly, we hope always to be able to hope; and when the hour comes that
+the hopes of the green earth vanish before the clear light of eternal
+certainty, then we hope that the All-good Father may pass a mild
+sentence upon His greatful and, in humility, hoping children.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories by Foreign Authors, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS ***
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories by Foreign Authors, by  Various
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
+
+This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
+Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
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+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
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+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: Stories by Foreign Authors
+
+Author:  Various
+
+Release Date: March, 2004  [EBook #5336]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 2, 2002]
+[Date last updated: August 14, 2005]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS ***
+
+
+
+
+Nicole Apostola, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS
+
+SCANDINAVIAN
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHER . . . . BY BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP . . . . BY JUHANI AHO
+
+THE FLYING MAIL . . . . BY M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCHYARD . . . . BY BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+TWO FRIENDS . . . . BY ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+HOPES . . . . BY FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHER
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+
+
+From "The Bridal March." Translated by Prof. R. B. Anderson.
+
+
+THE FATHER
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+The man whose story is here to be told was the wealthiest and most
+influential person in his parish; his name was Thord Overaas. He
+appeared in the priest's study one day, tall and earnest.
+
+"I have gotten a son," said he, "and I wish to present him for
+baptism."
+
+"What shall his name be?"
+
+"Finn,--after my father."
+
+"And the sponsors?"
+
+They were mentioned, and proved to be the best men and women of
+Thord's relations in the parish.
+
+"Is there anything else?" inquired the priest, and looked up.
+
+The peasant hesitated a little.
+
+"I should like very much to have him baptized by himself," said
+he, finally.
+
+"That is to say on a week-day?"
+
+"Next Saturday, at twelve o'clock noon."
+
+"Is there anything else?" inquired the priest.
+
+"There is nothing else;" and the peasant twirled his cap, as
+though he were about to go.
+
+Then the priest rose. "There is yet this, however," said he, and
+walking toward Thord, he took him by the hand and looked gravely
+into his eyes: "God grant that the child may become a blessing to
+you!"
+
+One day sixteen years later, Thord stood once more in the priest's
+study.
+
+"Really, you carry your age astonishingly well, Thord," said the
+priest; for he saw no change whatever in the man.
+
+"That is because I have no troubles," replied Thord.
+
+To this the priest said nothing, but after a while he asked: "What
+is your pleasure this evening?"
+
+"I have come this evening about that son of mine who is to be
+confirmed to-morrow."
+
+"He is a bright boy."
+
+"I did not wish to pay the priest until I heard what number the
+boy would have when he takes his place in church to-morrow."
+
+"He will stand number one."
+
+"So I have heard; and here are ten dollars for the priest."
+
+"Is there anything else I can do for you?" inquired the priest,
+fixing his eyes on Thord.
+
+"There is nothing else."
+
+Thord went out.
+
+Eight years more rolled by, and then one day a noise was heard
+outside of the priest's study, for many men were approaching, and
+at their head was Thord, who entered first.
+
+The priest looked up and recognized him.
+
+"You come well attended this evening, Thord," said he.
+
+"I am here to request that the banns may be published for my son;
+he is about to marry Karen Storliden, daughter of Gudmund, who
+stands here beside me."
+
+"Why, that is the richest girl in the parish."
+
+"So they say," replied the peasant, stroking back his hair with
+one hand.
+
+The priest sat a while as if in deep thought, then entered the
+names in his book, without making any comments, and the men wrote
+their signatures underneath. Thord laid three dollars on the
+table.
+
+"One is all I am to have," said the priest.
+
+"I know that very well; but he is my only child, I want to do it
+handsomely."
+
+The priest took the money.
+
+"This is now the third time, Thord, that you have come here on
+your son's account."
+
+"But now I am through with him," said Thord, and folding up his
+pocket-book he said farewell and walked away.
+
+The men slowly followed him.
+
+A fortnight later, the father and son were rowing across the lake,
+one calm, still day, to Storliden to make arrangements for the
+wedding.
+
+"This thwart is not secure," said the son, and stood up to
+straighten the seat on which he was sitting.
+
+At the same moment the board he was standing on slipped from under
+him; he threw out his arms, uttered a shriek, and fell overboard.
+
+"Take hold of the oar!" shouted the father, springing to his feet
+and holding out the oar.
+
+But when the son had made a couple of efforts he grew stiff.
+
+"Wait a moment!" cried the father, and began to row toward his
+son. Then the son rolled over on his back, gave his father one
+long look, and sank.
+
+Thord could scarcely believe it; he held the boat still, and
+stared at the spot where his son had gone down, as though he must
+surely come to the surface again. There rose some bubbles, then
+some more, and finally one large one that burst; and the lake lay
+there as smooth and bright as a mirror again.
+
+For three days and three nights people saw the father rowing round
+and round the spot, without taking either food or sleep; he was
+dragging the lake for the body of his son. And toward morning of
+the third day he found it, and carried it in his arms up over the
+hills to his gard.
+
+It might have been about a year from that day, when the priest,
+late one autumn evening, heard some one in the passage outside of
+the door, carefully trying to find the latch. The priest opened
+the door, and in walked a tall, thin man, with bowed form and
+white hair. The priest looked long at him before he recognized
+him. It was Thord.
+
+"Are you out walking so late?" said the priest, and stood still in
+front of him.
+
+"Ah, yes! it is late," said Thord, and took a seat.
+
+The priest sat down also, as though waiting. A long, long silence
+followed. At last Thord said:
+
+"I have something with me that I should like to give to the poor;
+I want it to be invested as a legacy in my son's name."
+
+He rose, laid some money on the table, and sat down again. The
+priest counted it.
+
+"It is a great deal of money," said he.
+
+"It is half the price of my gard. I sold it today."
+
+The priest sat long in silence. At last he asked, but gently:
+
+"What do you propose to do now, Thord?"
+
+"Something better."
+
+They sat there for a while, Thord with downcast eyes, the priest
+with his eyes fixed on Thord. Presently the priest said, slowly
+and softly:
+
+"I think your son has at last brought you a true blessing."
+
+"Yes, I think so myself," said Thord, looking up, while two big
+tears coursed slowly down his cheeks.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP
+
+BY
+
+JUHANI AHO
+
+
+In spite of ethnological and philological distinctions,
+geographical association makes it more natural to include a
+Finnish tale in the volume with Scandinavian stories than in any
+other volume of this collection.
+
+
+From "Squire Hellman." Translated by R. Nisbet Bain. Published by
+the Cassell Publishing Co.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP
+
+BY
+
+JUHANI AHO
+
+
+When father bought the lamp, or a little before that, he said to
+mother:
+
+"Hark ye, mother--oughtn't we to buy us a lamp?"
+
+"A lamp? What sort of a lamp?"
+
+"What! Don't you know that the storekeeper who lives in the market
+town has brought from St. Petersburg lamps that actually burn
+better than ten PAREA? [Footnote: A pare (pr. payray; Swed.,
+perta; Ger., pergei) is a resinous pine chip, or splinter, used
+instead of torch or candle to light the poorer houses in Finland.] They've
+already got a lamp of the sort at the parsonage."
+
+"Oh, yes! Isn't it one of those things which shines in the middle
+of the room so that we can see to read in every corner, just as if
+it was broad daylight?"
+
+"That's just it. There's oil that burns in it, and you only have
+to light it of an evening, and it burns on without going out till
+the next morning."
+
+"But how can the wet oil burn?"
+
+"You might as well ask--how can brandy burn?"
+
+"But it might set the whole place on fire. When brandy begins to
+burn you can't put it out, even with water."
+
+"How can the place be set on fire when the oil is shut up in a
+glass, and the fire as well?"
+
+"In a glass? How can fire burn in a glass--won't it burst?"
+
+"Won't what burst?"
+
+"The glass."
+
+"Burst! No, it never bursts. It might burst, I grant you, if you
+screwed the fire up too high, but you're not obliged to do that."
+
+"Screw up the fire? Nay, dear, you're joking--how CAN you screw up
+fire?"
+
+"Listen, now! When you turn the screw to the right, the wick
+mounts--the lamp, you know, has a wick, like any common candle,
+and a flame too--but if you turn the screw to the left, the flame
+gets smaller, and then, when you blow it, it goes out."
+
+"It goes out! Of course! I But I don't understand it a bit yet,
+however much you may explain--some sort of new-fangled gentlefolk
+arrangement, I suppose."
+
+"You'll understand it right enough when I've bought one."
+
+"How much does it cost?"
+
+"Seven and a half marks, and the oil separate at one mark the
+can."
+
+"Seven and a half marks and the oil as well! Why, for that you
+might buy parea for many a long day--that is, of course, if you
+were inclined to waste money on such things at all, but when Pekka
+splits them not a penny is lost."
+
+"And you'll lose nothing by the lamp, either! Pare wood costs
+money too, and you can't find it everywhere on our land now as you
+used to. You have to get leave to look for such wood, and drag it
+hither to the bog from the most out-of-the-way places--and it's
+soon used up, too."
+
+Mother knew well enough that pare wood is not so quickly used up
+as all that, as nothing had been said about it up to now, and that
+it was only an excuse to go away and buy this lamp. But she wisely
+held her tongue so as not to vex father, for then the lamp and all
+would have been unbought and unseen. Or else some one else might
+manage to get a lamp first for his farm, and then the whole parish
+would begin talking about the farm that had been the FIRST, after
+the parsonage, to use a lighted lamp. So mother thought the matter
+over, and then she said to father:
+
+"Buy it, if you like; it is all the same to me if it is a pare
+that burns, or any other sort of oil, if only I can see to spin.
+When, pray, do you think of buying it?"
+
+"I thought of setting off to-morrow--I have some other little
+business with the storekeeper as well."
+
+It was now the middle of the week, and mother knew very well that
+the other business could very well wait till Saturday, but she did
+not say anything now either, but, "the sooner the better," thought
+she.
+
+And that same evening father brought in from the storehouse the
+big travelling chest in which grandfather, in his time, had stowed
+his provisions when he came from Uleaborg, and bade mother fill it
+with hay and lay a little cotton-wool in the middle of it. We
+children asked why they put nothing in the box but hay and a
+little wool in the middle, but she bade us hold our tongues, the
+whole lot of us. Father was in a better humor, and explained that
+he was going to bring a lamp from the storekeeper, and that it was
+of glass, and might be broken to bits if he stumbled or if the
+sledge bumped too much.
+
+That evening we children lay awake a long time and thought of the
+new lamp; but old scullery-Pekka, the man who used to split up all
+the parea, began to snore as soon as ever the evening pare was put
+out. And he didn't once ask what sort of a thing the lamp was,
+although we talked about it ever so much.
+
+The journey took father all day, and a very long time it seemed to
+us all. We didn't even relish our food that day, although we had
+milk soup for dinner. But scullery-Pekka gobbled and guzzled as
+much as all of us put together, and spent the day in splitting
+parea till he had filled the outhouse full. Mother, too, didn't
+spin much flax that day either, for she kept on going to the
+window and peeping out, over the ice, after father. She said to
+Pekka, now and then, that perhaps we shouldn't want all those
+parea any more, but Pekka couldn't have laid it very much to
+heart, for he didn't so much as ask the reason why.
+
+It was not till supper time that we heard the horses' bells in the
+courtyard.
+
+With the bread crumbs in our mouths, we children rushed out, but
+father drove us in again and bade scullery-Pekka come and help
+with the chest. Pekka, who had already been dozing away on the
+bench by the stove, was so awkward as to knock the chest against
+the threshold as he was helping father to carry it into the room,
+and he would most certainly have got a sound drubbing for it from
+father if only he had been younger, but he was an old fellow now,
+and father had never in his life struck a man older than himself.
+Nevertheless, Pekka would have heard a thing or two from father if
+the lamp HAD gone to pieces, but fortunately no damage had been
+done.
+
+"Get up on the stove, you lout!" roared father at Pekka, and up on
+the stove Pekka crept.
+
+But father had already taken the lamp out of the chest, and now
+let it hang down from one hand.
+
+"Look! there it is now! How do you think it looks? You pour the
+oil into this glass, and that stump of ribbon inside is the wick--
+hold that pare a little further off, will you!"
+
+"Shall we light it?" said mother, as she drew back.
+
+"Are you mad? How can it be lighted when there's no oil in it?"
+
+"Well, but can't you pour some in, then?"
+
+"Pour in oil? A likely tale! Yes, that's just the way when people
+don't understand these things; but the storekeeper warned me again
+and again never to pour the oil in by firelight, as it might catch
+fire and burn the whole house down."
+
+"Then when will you pour the oil into it!"
+
+"In the daytime--daytime, d'ye hear? Can't you wait till day? It
+isn't such a great marvel as all that." "Have you SEEN it burn,
+then?"
+
+"Of course I have. What a question! I've seen it burn many a time,
+both at the parsonage and when we tried this one here at the
+storekeeper's."
+
+"And it burned, did it?"
+
+"Burned? Of course it did, and when we put up the shutters of the
+shop, you could have seen a needle on the floor. Look here, now!
+Here's a sort of capsule, and when the fire is burning in this
+fixed glass here, the light cannot creep up to the top, where it
+isn't wanted either, but spreads out downward, so that you could
+find a needle an the floor."
+
+Now we should have all very much liked to try if we could find a
+needle on the floor, but father rang up the lamp to the roof and
+began to eat his supper.
+
+"This evening we must be content, once more, with a pare," said
+father, as he ate; "but to-morrow the lamp shall burn in this very
+house."
+
+"Look, father! Pekka has been splitting parea all day, and filled
+the outhouse with them."
+
+"That's all right. We've fuel now, at any rate, to last us all the
+winter, for we sha'n't want them for anything else."
+
+"But how about the bathroom and the stable?" said mother.
+
+"In the bathroom we'll burn the lamp," said father.
+
+That night I slept still less than the night before, and when I
+woke in the morning I could almost have wept, if I hadn't been
+ashamed, when I called to mind that the lamp was not to be lit
+till the evening. I had dreamed that father had poured oil into
+the lamp at night and that it had burned the whole day long.
+
+Immediately when it began to dawn, father dug up out of that great
+travelling chest of his a big bottle, and poured something out of
+it into a smaller bottle. We should have very much liked to ask
+what was in this bottle, but we daren't, for father looked so
+solemn about it that it quite frightened us.
+
+But when he drew the lamp a little lower down from the ceiling and
+began to bustle about it and unscrew it, mother could contain
+herself no longer, and asked him what he was doing.
+
+"I am pouring oil into the lamp."
+
+"Well, but you're taking it to pieces! How will you ever get
+everything you have unscrewed into its proper place again?"
+
+Neither mother nor we knew what to call the thing which father
+took out from the glass holder.
+
+Father said nothing, but he bade us keep further off. Then he
+filled the glass holder nearly full from the smaller bottle, and
+we now guessed that there was oil in the larger bottle also.
+
+"Well, won't you light it now?" asked mother again, when all the
+unscrewed things had been put back into their places and father
+hoisted the lamp up to the ceiling again.
+
+"What! in the daytime?"
+
+"Yes--surely we might try it, to see how it will burn."
+
+"It'll burn right enough. Just wait till the evening, and don't
+bother."
+
+After dinner, scullery-Pekka brought in a large frozen block of
+wood to split up into parea, and cast it from his shoulders on to
+the floor with a thud which shook the whole room and set in motion
+the oil in the lamp.
+
+"Steady!" cries father; "what are you making that row for?"
+
+"I brought in this pare-block to melt it a bit--nothing else will
+do it--it is regularly frozen."
+
+"You may save yourself the trouble then," said father, and he
+winked at us.
+
+"Well, but you can't get a blaze out of it at all, otherwise."
+
+"You may save yourself the trouble, I say."
+
+"Are no more parea to be split up, then?"
+
+"Well, suppose I DID say that no more parea were to be split up?"
+
+"Oh! 't is all the same to me if master can get on without 'em."
+
+"Don't you see, Pekka, what is hanging down from the rafters
+there?" When father put this question he looked proudly up at the
+lamp, and then he looked pityingly down upon Pekka.
+
+Pekka put his clod in the corner, and then, but not till then,
+looked up at the lamp.
+
+"It's a lamp," says father, "and when it burns you don't want any
+more pare light."
+
+"Oh!" said Pekka, and, without a single word more, he went off to
+his chopping-block behind the stable, and all day long, just as on
+other days, he chopped a branch of his own height into little
+fagots; but all the rest of us were scarce able to get on with
+anything. Mother made believe to spin, but her supply of flax had
+not diminished by one-half when she shoved aside the spindle and
+went out. Father chipped away at first at the handle of his axe,
+but the work must have been a little against the grain, for he
+left it half done. After mother went away, father went out also,
+but whether he went to town or not I don't know. At any rate he
+forbade us to go out too, and promised us a whipping if we so much
+as touched the lamp with the tips of our fingers. Why, we should
+as soon have thought of fingering the priest's gold-embroidered
+chasuble. We were only afraid that the cord which held up all this
+splendor might break and we should get the blame of it.
+
+But time hung heavily in the sitting-room, and as we couldn't hit
+upon anything else, we resolved to go in a body to the sleighing
+hill. The town had a right of way to the river for fetching water
+therefrom, and this road ended at the foot of a good hill down
+which the sleigh could run, and then up the other side along the
+ice rift.
+
+"Here come the Lamphill children," cried the children of the town,
+as soon as they saw us.
+
+We understood well enough what they meant, but for all that we did
+not ask what Lamphill children they alluded to, for our farm was,
+of course, never called Lamphill.
+
+"Ah, ah! We know! You've gone and bought one of them lamps for
+your place. We know all about it!"
+
+"But how came you to know about it already?"
+
+"Your mother mentioned it to my mother when she went through our
+place. She said that your father had bought from the storeman one
+of that sort of lamps that burn so brightly that one can find a
+needle on the floor--so at least said the justice's maid."
+
+It is just like the lamp in the parsonage drawing-room, your
+father told us just now. I heard him say so with my own ears,"
+said the innkeeper's lad.
+
+"Then you really have got a lamp like that, eh?" inquired all the
+children of the town.
+
+"Yes, we have; but it is nothing to look at in the daytime, but in
+the evening we'll all go there together."
+
+And we went on sleighing down hill and up hill till dusk, and every
+time we drew our sleighs up to the hilltop, we talked about the lamp
+with the children of the town.
+
+In this way the time passed quicker than we thought, and when we
+had sped down the hill for the last time, the whole lot of us
+sprang off homeward.
+
+Pekka was standing at the chopping block and didn't even turn his
+head, although we all called to him with one voice to come and see
+how the lamp was lit. We children plunged headlong into the room
+in a body.
+
+But at the door we stood stock-still. The lamp was already burning
+there beneath the rafters so brightly that we couldn't look at it
+without blinking.
+
+"Shut the door; it's rare cold," cried father, from behind the
+table.
+
+"They scurry about like fowls in windy weather," grumbled mother
+from her place by the fireside.
+
+"No wonder the children are dazed by it, when I, old woman as I
+am, cannot help looking up at it," said the innkeeper's old
+mother.
+
+"Our maid also will never get over it," said the magistrate's
+step-daughter.
+
+It was only when our eyes had got a little used to the light that
+we saw that the room was half full of neighbors.
+
+"Come nearer, children, that you may see it properly," said
+father, in a much milder voice than just before.
+
+"Knock that snow off your feet, and come hither to the stove; it
+looks quite splendid from here," said mother, in her turn.
+
+Skipping and jumping, we went toward mother, and sat us all down
+in a row on the bench beside her. It was only when we were under
+her wing that we dared to examine the lamp more critically. We had
+never once thought that it would burn as it was burning now, but
+when we came to sift the matter out we arrived at the conclusion
+that, after all, it was burning just as it ought to burn. And when
+we had peeped at it a good bit longer, it seemed to us as if we
+had fancied all along that it would be exactly as it was.
+
+But what we could not make out at all was how the fire was put
+into that sort of glass. We asked mother, but she said we should
+see how it was done afterward.
+
+The townsfolk vied with each other in praising the lamp, and one
+said one thing, and another said another. The innkeeper's old
+mother maintained that it shone just as calmly and brightly as the
+stars of heaven. The magistrate, who had sad eyes, thought it
+excellent because it didn't smoke, and you could burn it right in
+the middle of the hall without blackening the walls in the least,
+to which father replied that it was, in fact, meant for the hall,
+but did capitally for the dwelling room as well, and one had no
+need now to dash hither and thither with parea, for all could now
+see by a single light, let them be never so many.
+
+When mother observed that the lesser chandelier in church scarcely
+gave a better light, father bade me take my ABC book, and go to
+the door to see if I could read it there. I went and began to
+read: "Our Father." But then they all said: "The lad knows that by
+heart." Mother then stuck a hymn-book in my hand, and I set off
+with "By the Waters of Babylon."
+
+"Yes; it is perfectly marvellous!" was the testimony of the
+townsfolk.
+
+Then said father: "Now if any one had a needle, you might throw it
+on the floor and you would see that it would be found at once."
+
+The magistrate's step-daughter had a needle in her bosom, but when
+she threw it on the floor, it fell into a crack, and we couldn't
+find it at all--it was so small.
+
+It was only after the townsfolk had gone that Pekka came in.
+
+He blinked a bit at first at the unusual lamplight, but then
+calmly proceeded to take off his jacket and rag boots.
+
+"What's that twinkling in the roof there enough to put your eyes
+out?" he asked at last, when he had hung his stockings up on the
+rafters.
+
+"Come now, guess what it is," said father, and he winked at mother
+and us.
+
+"I can't guess," said Pekka, and he came nearer to the lamp.
+
+"Perhaps it's the church chandelier, eh?" said father jokingly.
+
+"Perhaps," admitted Pekka; but he had become really curious, and
+passed his thumb along the lamp.
+
+"There's no need to finger it," says father; "look at it, but
+don't touch it."
+
+"All right, all right! I don't want to meddle with it!" said
+Pekka, a little put out, and he drew back to the bench alongside
+the wall by the door.
+
+Mother must have thought that it was a sin to treat poor Pekka so,
+for she began to explain to him that it was not a church
+chandelier at all, but what people called a lamp, and that it was
+lit with oil, and that was why people didn't want parea any more.
+
+But Pekka was so little enlightened by the whole explanation that
+he immediately began to split up the pare-wood log which he had
+dragged into the room the day before. Then father said to him that
+he had already told him there was no need to split parea any more.
+
+"Oh! I quite forgot," said Pekka; "but there it may bide if it
+isn't wanted any more," and with that Pekka drove his pare knife
+into a rift in the wall.
+
+"There let it rest at leisure," said father.
+
+But Pekka said never a word more. A little while after that he
+began to patch up his boots, stretched on tiptoe to reach down a
+pare from the rafters, lit it, stuck it in a slit fagot, and sat
+him down on his little stool by the stove. We children saw this
+before father, who stood with his back to Pekka planing away at
+his axe-shaft under the lamp. We said nothing, however, but
+laughed and whispered among ourselves, "If only father sees that,
+what will he say, I wonder?" And when father did catch sight of
+him, he planted himself arms akimbo in front of Pekka, and asked
+him, quite spitefully, what sort of fine work he had there, since
+he must needs have a separate light all to himself?
+
+"I am only patching up my shoes," said Pekka to father.
+
+"Oh, indeed! Patching your shoes, eh? Then if you can't see to do
+that by the same light that does for me, you may take yourself off
+with your pare into the bath-house or behind it if you like."
+
+And Pekka went.
+
+He stuck his boots under his arm, took his stool in one hand and
+his pare in the other, and off he went. He crept softly through
+the door into the hall, and out of the hall into the yard. The
+pare light flamed outside in the blast, and played a little while,
+glaring red, over outhouses, stalls, and stables. We children saw
+the light through the window and thought it looked very pretty.
+But when Pekka bent down to get behind the bath-house door, it was
+all dark again in the yard, and instead of the pare we saw only
+the lamp mirroring itself in the dark window-panes.
+
+Henceforth we never burned a pare in the dwelling-room again. The
+lamp shone victoriously from the roof, and on Sunday evenings all
+the townsfolk often used to come to look upon and admire it. It
+was known all over the parish that our house was the first, after
+the parsonage, where the lamp had been used. After we had set the
+example, the magistrate bought a lamp like ours, but as he had
+never learned to light it, he was glad to sell it to the
+innkeeper, and the innkeeper has it still.
+
+The poorer farmfolk, however, have not been able to get themselves
+lamps, but even now they do their long evening's work by the glare
+of a pare.
+
+But when we had had the lamp a short time, father planed the walls
+of the dwelling-room all smooth and white, and they never got
+black again, especially after the old stove, which used to smoke,
+had to make room for another, which discharged its smoke outside
+and had a cowl.
+
+Pekka made a new fireplace in the bath-house out of the stones of
+the old stove, and the crickets flitted thither with the stones--
+at least their chirping was never heard any more in the dwelling
+room. Father didn't care a bit, but we children felt, now and
+then, during the long winter evenings, a strange sort of yearning
+after old times, so we very often found our way down to the bath-
+house to listen to the crickets, and there was Pekka sitting out
+the long evenings by the light of his pare.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FLYING MAIL
+
+BY
+
+M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+
+From "The Flying Mail." Translated by Carl Larsen.
+
+
+
+
+THE FLYING MAIL
+
+BY
+
+M. GOLDSCHMIDT
+
+
+I.
+
+Fritz Bagger had just been admitted to the bar. He had come home
+and entered his room, seeking rest. All his mental faculties were
+now relaxed after their recent exertion, and a long-restrained
+power was awakened. He had reached a crisis in life: the future
+lay before him,--the future, the future! What was it to be? He was
+twenty-four years old, and could turn himself whichever way he
+pleased, let fancy run to any line of the compass. Out upon the
+horizon, he saw little rose-colored clouds, and nothing therein
+but a certain undefined bliss. He put his hands over his eyes, and
+sought to bring this uncertainty into clear vision; and after a
+long time had elapsed, he said: "Yes, and so one marries."
+
+"Yes, one marries," he continued, after a pause; "but whom?"
+
+His thoughts now took a more direct course; but the pictures in
+his mind's eye had not become plainer. Again the horizon widely
+around was rose-colored, and between the tinted cloud-layers
+angel-heads peeped out--not Bible angels, which are neither man
+nor woman; but angelic girls, whom he didn't know, and who didn't
+know him. The truth was, he didn't know anybody to whom he could
+give his heart, but longed, with a certain twenty-four-year power,
+for her to whom he could offer it,--her who was worthy to receive
+his whole self-made being, and in exchange give him all that queer
+imagined bliss, which is or ought to be in the world, as every one
+so firmly believes.
+
+"Oh, I am a fool!" he said, as he suddenly became conscious that
+he was merely dreaming and wishing. He tried to think of something
+practical, thought upon a little picnic that was to be held in the
+evening; but the same dream returned and overpowered him, because
+the season of spring was in him, because life thrilled in him as
+in trees and plants when the spring sun shines.
+
+He leaned upon the window-seat--it was in an attic--and let the
+wind cool his forehead. But while the wind refreshed, the street
+itself gave his mind new nourishment. Down there it moved, to him
+unknown, and veiled and hidden as at a masquerade. What a treasure
+might not that easy virgin foot carry! What a fancy might there
+not be moving in the head under that little bonnet, and what a
+heart might there not be beating under the folds of that shawl!
+But, too, all this preciousness might belong to another.
+
+Alas! yes, there were certainly many amiable ones down there!--and
+if destiny should lead him to one of them, who was free, lovely,
+well-bred, of good family, could any one vouch that for her sake
+he was not giving up HER, the beau-ideal, the expected, whose
+portrait had shown itself between the tinted clouds? or, in any
+event, who can vouch for one's success in not missing the right
+one?
+
+"Oh! life is a lottery, a cruel lottery; for to everybody there is
+but one drawing, and the whole man is at stake. Woe to the loser!"
+
+After the expiration of some time, Fritz, under the influence of
+these meditations, had become melancholy, and all bright, smiling,
+and sure as life had recently appeared to him, so misty,
+uncertain, and painful it now appeared. For the second time he
+stroked his forehead, shook these thoughts from him, seeking more
+practical ones, and for the second time it terminated in going to
+the window and gazing out.
+
+A whirlwind filled the street, slamming gates and doors, shaking
+windows and carrying dust with it up to his attic chamber. He was
+in the act of drawing back, when he saw a little piece of paper
+whirled in the dust cloud coming closely near him. He shut his
+eyes to keep out the dust, grasping at random for the paper, which
+he caught. At the same moment the whirlwind ceased, and the sky
+was again clear. This appeared to him ominous; the scrap of paper
+had certainly a meaning to him, a meaning for him; the unknown
+whom he had not really spoken to, yet had been so exceedingly busy
+with, could not quite accidentally have thus conveyed this to his
+hands, and with throbbing heart he retired from the window to read
+the message.
+
+One side of the paper was blank; in the left-hand corner of the
+other side was written "beloved," and a little below it seemed as
+if there had been a signature, but now there was nothing left
+excepting the letters "geb."
+
+"'Geb,' what does that mean?" asked Fritz Bagger, with dark humor.
+"If it had been gek, I could have understood it, although it were
+incorrectly written. Geb, Gebrer, Algebra, Gebruderbuh,--I am a
+big fool."
+
+"But it is no matter, she shall have an answer," he shouted after
+a while, and seated himself to write a long, glowing love-letter.
+When it was finished and read, he tore it in pieces.
+
+"No," said he, "if destiny has intended the least thing by acting
+to me as mail-carrier through the window, let me act reasonably."
+He wrote on a little piece of paper:
+
+"As the old Norwegians, when they went to Iceland, threw their
+high-seat pillars into the sea with the resolution to settle where
+they should go ashore, so I send this out. My faith follows after;
+and it is my conviction that where this alights, I shall one day
+come, and salute you as my chosen, as my--." "Yes, now what more
+shall I add?" he asked himself. "Ay, as my--'geb'--!" he added,
+with an outburst of merry humor, that just completed the whole
+sentimental outburst. He went to the window and threw the paper
+out; it alighted with a slow quivering. He was already afraid that
+it would go directly down into the ditch; but then a breeze came
+lifting it almost up to himself again, then a new current carried
+it away, lifting it higher and higher, whirling it, till at last
+it disappeared from his sight in continual ascension, so he
+thought.
+
+"After all, I have become engaged to-day," he said to himself,
+with a certain quiet humor, and yet impressed by a feeling that he
+had really given himself to the unknown.
+
+II.
+
+Six years had passed, and Fritz Bagger had made his mark, although
+not as a lover. He had become Counsellor, and was particularly
+distinguished for the skill and energy with which he brought
+criminals to confession. It is thus that a man of fine and poetic
+feelings can satisfy himself in such a business, for a time at
+least: with the half of his soul he can lead a life which to
+himself and others seems entire only because it is busy, because
+it keeps him at work, and fills him with a consciousness of
+accomplishing something practical and good. There is a youthful
+working power, which needs not to look sharply out into the future
+for a particular aim of feeling or desire. This power itself, by
+the mere effort to keep in a given place, is for such an
+organization, every day, an aim, a relish; and one can for a
+number of years drive business so energetically, that he, too,
+slips over that difficult time which in every twenty-four hours
+threatens to meet him, the time between work and sleep, twilight,
+when the other half of the soul strives to awaken.
+
+Be it because his professional duties gave him no time or
+opportunity for courtship, or for some other reason, Fritz Bagger
+remained a bachelor; and a bachelor with the income of his
+profession is looked upon as a rich man. Counsellor Bagger would,
+when business allowed, enter into social life, treating it in that
+elegant, independent, almost poetic manner, which in most cases is
+denied to married men, and which is one reason why they press the
+hand of a bachelor with a sigh, a mixture of envy, admiration, and
+compassion. If we add here that a bachelor with such a
+professional income is the possible stepping-stone to an
+advantageous marriage, it is easily seen that Fritz Bagger was
+much sought for in company. He went, too, into it as often as
+allowed by his legal duties, from which he would hasten in the
+black "swallow-tail" to a dinner or soiree, and often amused
+himself where most others were weary; because conversation about
+anything whatever with the cultivated was to him a refreshment,
+and because he brought with him a good appetite and good humor,
+resting upon conscientious work. He could show interest in divers
+trifles, because in their nothingness (quite contrary to the
+trifles in which half an hour previous, with painful interest, he
+had ferreted out crime), they appeared to him as belonging to an
+innocent, childish world; and if conversation approached more
+earnest things, he spoke freely, and evidently gave himself quite
+up to the subject, letting the whole surface of his soul flow out.
+And this procured him friendship and reputation.
+
+In this way, then, six years had slipped by, when Counsellor
+Bagger, or rather Fritz Bagger as we will call him, in remembrance
+of his examination-day, and his notes by the flying mail, was
+invited to a wedding-party on the shooting-ground. The company was
+not very large,--only thirty couples,--but very elegant. Bagger
+was a friend in the families of both bride and bridegroom, and
+consequently being well known to nearly all present he felt
+himself as among friends gathered by a mutual joy, and was more
+than usually animated. A superb wine, which the bride's father had
+himself brought, crowned their spirits with the last perfect
+wreath. Although the toast to the bridal pair had been officially
+proposed, Bagger took occasion to offer his congratulations in a
+second encomium of love and matrimony; which gave a solid, prosaic
+man opportunity for the witty remark and hearty wish that so
+distinguished a practical office-holder as Counsellor Bagger would
+carry his fine theories upon matrimony into practice. The toast
+was drunk with enthusiasm, and just at that moment a strong wind
+shook the windows, and burst open one of the doors, blowing so far
+into the hall as to cause the lights to flicker much.
+
+Bagger became, through the influence of the wine, the company, and
+the sight of the happy bridal pair, six years younger. His soul
+was carried away from criminal and police courts, and found itself
+on high, as in the attic chamber, with a vision of the small
+tinted clouds and the angel-heads. The sudden gust of wind carried
+him quite back to the moment when he sent out his note as the
+Norwegian heroes their high-seat pillars: the spirit of his
+twenty-fourth year came wholly over him, queerly mixed with the
+half-regretful reflection of the thirtieth year, with fun,
+inclination to talk and to breathe; and he exclaimed, as he rose
+to acknowledge the toast:
+
+"I am engaged."
+
+"Ay! ay! Congratulate! congratulate!" sounded from all sides.
+
+"This gust of wind, which nearly extinguished the lights, brought
+me a message from my betrothed!"
+
+"What?" "What is it?" asked the company, their heads at that
+moment not in the least condition for guessing charades.
+
+"Counsellor Bagger, have you, like the Doge of Venice, betrothed
+yourself to the sea or storm?" asked the bridegroom.
+
+"Hear him, the fortunate! sitting upon the golden doorstep to the
+kingdom of love! Let him surmise and guess all that concerns
+Cupid, for he has obtained the inspiration, the genial sympathy,"
+exclaimed Bagger. "Yes," he continued, "just like the Doge of
+Venice, but not as aristocratic! From my attic chamber, where I
+sat on my examination-day, guided by Cupid, in a manner which it
+would take too long to narrate, I gave to the whirlwind a love-
+letter, and at any moment SHE can step forward with my letter, my
+promise, and demand me soul and body."
+
+"Who is it, then?" asked bridegroom and bride, with the most
+earnest interest.
+
+"Yes, how can I tell that? Do I know the whirlwind's roads?"
+
+"Was the letter signed with your name?"
+
+"No; but don't you think I will acknowledge my handwriting?"
+replied Bagger, quite earnestly.
+
+This earnestness with reference to an obligation which no one
+understood became comical; and Bagger felt at the moment that he
+was on the brink of the ridiculous. Trying to collect himself, he
+said:
+
+"Is it not an obligation we all have? Do not both bride and
+bridegroom acknowledge that long before they knew each other the
+obligation was present?"
+
+"Yes, yes!" exclaimed the bridegroom.
+
+"And the whirlwind, accident, the unknown power, brought them
+together so that the obligation was redeemed?"
+
+"Yes, yes!"
+
+"Let us, then," continued Bagger, "drink a toast to the wind, the
+accident, the moving power, unknown and yet controlling. To those
+of us who, as yet, are unprovided for and under forty, it will at
+some time undoubtedly bring a bride; to those who are already
+provided for will come the expected in another form. So a toast to
+the wind that came in here and flickered the lights; to the
+unknown, that brings us the wished for; and to ourselves, that we
+may be prepared to receive it when announced."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed the bridegroom, looking upon his bride.
+
+"Puh-h-h!" thought Bagger, seating himself with intense relief, "I
+have come out of it somewhat decently after all. The deuce take me
+before I again express a sentimentality."
+
+How Counsellor Bagger that night could have fallen asleep, between
+memory, or longing and discontent, is difficult to tell, had he
+not on his arrival home found a package of papers, an interesting
+theft case. He sat down instantly to read, and day dawned ere they
+were finished. His last thought, before his eyelids closed, was,--
+Two years in the House of Correction.
+
+III.
+
+A month later, toward the close of September, two ladies, twenty
+or twenty-two years of age, were walking in a garden about ten
+miles from Copenhagen. Although the walks were quite wide,
+impediments in them made it difficult for the ladies to go side by
+side. The autumn showed itself uneven and jagged. The currant and
+gooseberry boughs, that earlier hung in soft arches, now projected
+stiffly forth, catching in the ladies' dresses; branches from plum
+and apple trees hung bare and broken, and required attention above
+also. One of the ladies apparently was at home there: this was
+evident partly from her dress, which, although elegant, was
+domestic, and partly by her taking the lead and paying honor, by
+drawing boughs and branches aside, holding them until the other
+lady, who was more showily dressed, had slipped past. On account
+of the hindrances of the walk there were none of those easy,
+subdued, familiar conversations, which otherwise so naturally
+arise when young ladies, acquaintances, or "friends," visit each
+other, and from the house slip out alone into garden or wood. An
+attentive observer meanwhile, by scrutinizing the physiognomy of
+both, would, perhaps, have come to the conclusion, that even if
+these two had been together on the most unobstructed road, no
+confidence would have arisen between them, and would have
+suspected the hostess of trying to atone for her lack of interest,
+by being polite and careful. She was not strikingly handsome, but
+possessed of a fine nature, which manifested itself in the whole
+figure, and perhaps, especially, in the uncommonly well-formed
+nose; yet it was by peering into her eyes that one first obtained
+the idea of a womanhood somewhat superior to the generality of her
+sex. Their expression was not to be caught at once: they told of
+both meditation and resolve, and hinted at irony or badinage,
+which works so queerly when it comes from deep ground. The other
+lady was "burgherly-genteel," a handsome, cultivated girl, had
+certainly also some soul, but yet was far less busy with a world
+in her own heart than with the world of fashion. It was about the
+world, the world of Copenhagen, that Miss Brandt at this moment
+was giving Miss Hjelm an account, interrupted by the boughs and
+branches, and although Miss Hjelm was not, nun-like, indifferent
+either to fashions or incidents in high life, the manner in which
+Miss Brandt unmistakably laid her soul therein, caused her to go
+thus politely before.
+
+"But you have heard about Emmy Ibsen's marriage?" asked Miss
+Brandt.
+
+"Yes, it was about a month ago, I think."
+
+"Yes, I was bridesmaid."
+
+"Indeed!" said Miss Hjelm, in a voice which atoned for her
+brevity.
+
+"The party was at the shooting-ground."
+
+"So!" said Miss Hjelm again, with as correct an intonation as if
+she had learned it for "I don't care." "Take care, Miss Brandt,"
+she added, stooping to avoid an apple-branch.
+
+"Take care?--oh, for that branch!" said Miss Brandt, and avoided
+it as charmingly and coquettishly as if it had been living.
+
+"It was very gay," she added, "even more so than wedding-parties
+commonly are; but this was caused a good deal by Counsellor
+Bagger."
+
+"So!"
+
+"Yes, he was very gay ... I was his companion at table.
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Oh, only to think! at the table he stands up declaring that he is
+engaged."
+
+"Was his lady present?"
+
+"No, that she was not, I think. Do you know who it was?"
+
+"No, how should I know that, Miss Brandt?"
+
+"The whirlwind!"
+
+"The whirlwind?"
+
+"Yes. He said that he, as a young man, in a solemn moment had sent
+his love letter or his promise out with the wind, and he was
+continually waiting for an answer: he had given his promise, was
+betrothed!--Ou!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Miss Hjelm, sympathetically. The truth was,
+the young hostess at this moment had relaxed her polite care, and
+a limb of a gooseberry-bush had struck against Miss Brandt's
+ankle.
+
+The pain was soon over; and the two ladies, who now had reached
+the termination of the walk, turned toward the house side by side,
+each protecting herself, unconscious that any change had occurred.
+
+"But I hardly believe it," continued Miss Brandt: "he said it
+perhaps only to make himself conspicuous, for certain gentlemen
+are just as coquettish as ... as they accuse us of being."
+
+Miss Hjelm uttered a doubting, "Um!"
+
+"Yes, that they really are! Have you ever seen any lady as
+coquettish as an actor?"
+
+"I don't know any of them, but I should suppose an actress might
+be."
+
+"No: no actress I have ever met of the better sort was really
+coquettish. I don't know how it is with them, but I believe they
+have overcome coquettishness."
+
+"But you think, then, Counsellor Bang is coquettish?"
+
+"Not Bang--Bagger. Yes; for although he said he had this romantic
+love for a fairy, he often does court to modest earthly ladies. He
+is properly somewhat of a flirt."
+
+"That is unbecoming an old man."
+
+"Yes; but he is not old."
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Hjelm, laughing: "I have only known one war
+counsellor, and he was old; so I thought of all war counsellors as
+old."
+
+"Yes; but Counsellor Bagger is not war counsellor, but a real
+Superior Court Counsellor."
+
+"Oh, how earnest that is! And so he is in love with a fairy?"
+
+"Yes: it is ridiculous!" said Miss Brandt, laughing. During this
+conversation they had reached the house, and Miss Brandt
+complained that something was yet pricking her ankle. They went
+into Miss Hjelm's room, and here a thorn was discovered and taken
+out.
+
+"How pretty and cosy this room really is!" said Miss Brandt,
+looking around. "In a situation like this one can surely live in
+the country summer and winter. Out with us at Taarback it blows in
+through the windows, doors, and very walls."
+
+"That must be bad in a whirlwind."
+
+"Yes--yes: still, it might be quite amusing when the whirlwind
+carried such billets: not that one would care for them; yet they
+might be interesting for a while."
+
+"Oh, yes! perhaps."
+
+"Yes: how do you think a young girl would like it, when there came
+from Heaven a billet, in which one pledged himself to her for time
+and eternity?"
+
+"That isn't easy to say; but I don't believe the occurrence quite
+so uncommon. A friend of mine once had such a billet blown to her,
+and she presented me with it."
+
+"Does one give such things away? Have you the billet?"
+
+"I will look for it," answered Miss Hjelm; and surely enough,
+after longer search in the sewing-table, in drawers, and small
+boxes, than was really necessary, she found it. Miss Brandt read
+it, taking care not to remark that it very much appeared to her as
+if it resembled the one the counsellor had mentioned.
+
+"And such a billet one gives away!" she said after a pause.
+
+"Yes: will you have it?" asked Miss Hjelm, as though after a
+sudden resolution.
+
+Miss Brandt's first impulse was an eager acceptance; but she
+checked herself almost as quickly, and answered:
+
+"Oh, yes, thank you, as a curiosity." Then slowly put it between
+her glove and hand.
+
+As Miss Brandt and her company rode away, said Miss Hjelm's
+cousin, a handsome, middle-aged widow, to her:
+
+"How is it, Ingeborg? It appears to me you laugh with one eye and
+weep with the other."
+
+"Yes: a soap-bubble has burst for me, and glitters, maybe, for
+another."
+
+"You know I seldom understand the sentimental enigmas: can you not
+interpret your words?"
+
+"Yes: to-day an illusion has vanished, that had lasted for six
+years."
+
+"For six years?" said her cousin, with an inquiring or
+sympathizing look. "So it began when you were hardly sixteen
+years."
+
+"Now do you believe, that when I was in my sixteenth year I saw an
+ideal of a man, and was enamoured of him, and to-day I hear that
+he is married."
+
+"No, I don't know as I believe just that," answered the cousin,
+dropping her eyes; "but I suppose that then you had a pretty
+vision, and have carried it along with you in silence--and with
+faith."
+
+"But it was something more than a vision; it was a letter--a love-
+letter."
+
+The cousin looked upon Ingeborg so inquiringly, so anxiously, that
+words were unnecessary. Beside this the cousin knew, that when
+Ingeborg was inclined to talk, she did so without being asked, and
+if she wished to be silent, she was silent.
+
+Ingeborg continued: "One time, I drove to town with sainted
+father. Father was to go no further than to Noerrebro, and I had
+an errand at Vestervold. So I stepped out and went through the
+Love-path. As I came to the corner of the path, and the
+Ladegaardsway, the wind blew so violently against me, that I could
+hardly breathe; and something blew against my veil, fluttering
+with wings like a humming-bird. I tried to drive it away, for it
+blinded one of my eyes; but it blew back again. So I caught it and
+was going to let it fly away over my head, but that moment I saw
+it was written upon, and read it. It was a love-letter! A man
+wrote that he sent this as in old times the Norwegian emigrants
+let their high-seat pillars be carried by the sea, and where it
+came he would one time come, and bring his faith to his destined--
+Geb.'"
+
+"'Geb'? What is that?" asked the cousin. "That is Ingeborg,"
+answered Miss Hjelm, with a plain simplicity, showing how deeply
+she had believed in the earnestness of the message.
+
+"It was really remarkable!" said the cousin, and added with a
+smile which perhaps was somewhat ironical: "And did you then
+resolve to remain unmarried, until the unknown letter-writer
+should come and redeem his vow?"
+
+"I will not say that," answered Ingeborg, who quickly became more
+guarded; "but the letter perhaps contained some stronger
+requirements than under the circumstances could be fulfilled."
+
+"So! and now?"
+
+"Now I have presented the letter to Miss Brandt."
+
+"You gave it away? Why?"
+
+"Because I learned that the man, who perhaps or probably wrote it
+in his youth, has spoken about it publicly, and is counsellor in
+one of the courts."
+
+"Oh, I understand," said the cousin, half audibly: "when the ideal
+is found out to be a counsellor, then--"
+
+"Then it is not an ideal any longer? No. The whole had been
+spoiled by being fumbled in public. I would get away from the
+temptation to think of him. Do court to him, announce myself to
+him as the happy finder,--I could not."
+
+"That I understand very well," said the cousin, putting her arm
+affectionately around Ingeborg's waist; "but why did you just give
+Miss Brandt the letter?"
+
+"Because she is acquainted with the counsellor, and indeed, as far
+as I could understand, feels somewhat for him. They two can get
+each other; and what a wonderful consecration it will be when she
+on the marriage-day gives him the letter!"
+
+The cousin said musingly: "And such secrets can live in one whole
+year, without another surmising it!" Suddenly she added: "But how
+will Miss Brandt on that occasion interpret the word 'Geb'?"
+
+"Oh! I suppose a single syllable is of no consequence; and,
+besides, Miss Brandt is a judicious girl," answered Ingeborg, with
+an inexpressible flash in the dark eyes.
+
+IV.
+
+Good fortune seldom comes singly. One morning Criminal and Court
+Counsellor Bagger got, at his residence at Noerre Street, official
+intelligence that from the first of next month he was transferred
+to the King's Court, and in grace was promoted to be veritable
+counsellor of justice there; rank, fourth-class, number three. As,
+gratified by this friendly smile from above, he went out to repair
+to the court-house, he met in the porch a postman, who delivered
+him a letter. With thoughts yet busy with new title and court,
+Counsellor Bagger broke the letter, but remained as if fixed to
+the ground. In it he read:
+
+"The high-seat pillars have come on shore.
+
+"--'GEB.'--"
+
+One says well, that a man's love or season of courtship lasts till
+his thirtieth year, and after that time he is ambitious; but it is
+not always so, and with Counsellor Bagger it was in all respects
+the contrary. His ambition was already, if not fully reached, yet
+in some degree satisfied. The faculty of love had not been at all
+employed, and the letter came like a spark in a powder-cask; it
+ran glowing through every nerve. The youthful half of his soul,
+which had slept within him, wakened with such sudden,
+revolutionary strength, that the other half soul, which until now
+had borne rule, became completely subject; yes, so wholly, that
+Counsellor Bagger went past the court-house and came down in
+Court-house Street without noticing it. Suddenly he missed the big
+building with the pillars and inscription: "With law shall Lands
+be built;" looked around confused, and turned back.
+
+So much was he still at this moment Criminal Examiner, that among
+the first thoughts or feelings which the mysterious letter excited
+in him was this: It can be a trick, a foolery. But in the next
+moment it occurred to him, that never to any living soul had he
+mentioned his bold figure of the high-seat pillars, and still less
+revealed the mysterious, to him so valued, syllable--geb--. No
+doubt could exist: the fine, perfumed paper, the delicate lady
+handwriting, and the few significant words testified, that the
+billet which once in youthful, sanguine longing he had entrusted
+to the winds of heaven, had come to a lady, and that in one way or
+another she had found him out. He remembered very well, that a
+single time, five or six weeks before, he had in a numerous
+company mentioned that incident, and he did not doubt that the
+story had extended itself as ripples do, when one throws a stone
+into the water; but where in the whole town, or indeed the land,
+had the ripple hit the exact point? He looked again at the
+envelope. It bore the stamp of the Copenhagen city mail: that was
+all. But that showed with some probability that the writer lived
+in Copenhagen, and maybe at this moment she looked down upon him
+from one of the many windows; for now he stood by the fountain.
+There was something in the paper, the handwriting, or more
+properly perhaps in the secrecy, that made her seem young,
+spirited, beautiful, piquant. There was something fairy-like,
+exalted, intoxicating, in the feeling that the object of the
+longing and hope of his youth had been under the protection of a
+good spirit, and that the great unknown had taken care of and
+prepared for him a companion, a wife, just at the moment when he
+had become Counsellor of Justice of the Superior Court. But who
+was she? This was the only thing painful in the affair; but this
+intriguing annoyance was not to be avoided, if the lady was to
+remain within her sphere, surrounded by respect and esteem.
+
+"What would I have thought of a lady, a woman, who came straight
+forward and handed out the billet, saying: 'Here I am'?" he asked
+himself, at the moment when at last he had found the court-house
+stairs and was ascending.
+
+How it fared that day with the examinations is recorded in
+criminal and police court documents; but a veil is thrown over it
+in consideration of the fact, that a man only once in his life is
+made Counsellor of Justice in the King's Court. The day following
+it went better; although it is pretty sure that a horse thief went
+free from further reproof, because the counsellor was busy rolling
+that stone up the mountain: Where shall I seek her if she does not
+write again? Will she write again? If she would do that, why did
+she not write a little more at first?
+
+A couple of weeks after the receipt of the letter, one evening
+about seven o'clock, the counsellor sat at home, not as before by
+his writing-table busy with acts, but on a corner of the sofa, with
+drooping arms, deeply absorbed in a mixture of anxious doubts
+and dreaming expectations. Hope built air-castles, and doubt
+then puffed them over like card-houses. One of  his fancies was,
+that she summoned him--he would not even in thought use the expression:
+gave him an interview--at a masquerade. It was consequently no
+common masquerade, but a grand, elegant masked ball, to which
+a true lady could repair. The clock was at eleven, the appointed
+hour: he waited anxiously the pressing five minutes; then she came
+and extended him the fine hand in the finest straw-colored glove--
+
+"Letter to the Counsellor of Justice," said Jens, with strong
+Funen accent, and short, soldierly pronunciation.
+
+It is so uncommon that what one longs for comes just at the moment
+of most earnest desire; but notwithstanding the letter was from
+her, the Counsellor of Justice knew the superscription, would have
+known it among a hundred thousand. The letter read thus:
+
+"I ought to be open towards you; and, as we shall never meet, I
+can be so."
+
+Here the Counsellor of Justice stopped a moment and caught for
+breath. A good many of our twenty-year-old beaux, who have never
+been admitted to the bar, far less have been Court Counsellors,
+would, under similar circumstances, have said to themselves: "She
+writes that she will be open; that is to say, now she will fool
+me: we will never meet; that is to say, now I shall soon see her."
+But Counsellor Bagger believed every word as gospel, and his knees
+trembled. He read further:
+
+"I am ashamed of the few words I last wrote you; but my apology
+is, that it is only two days since I learned that you are married.
+I have been mistaken, but more in what may be imputed to me than
+in what I have thought. My only comfort is, that I shall never be
+known by you or anybody, and that I shall be forgotten, as I shall
+forget."
+
+"Never! But who can have spread the infamous slander! What
+dreadful treachery of some wretch or gossiping wench, who knows
+nothing about me! And how can she believe it! How in such a town
+as Copenhagen can it be a matter of doubt for five minutes, if a
+Superior Court Counsellor is married or not! Or maybe there is
+some other Counsellor Bagger married,--a Chamber Counsellor or the
+like? Or maybe she lives at a distance, in a quiet world, so that
+the truth of it does not easily reach her? So there is no sunshine
+more!
+
+"If she should sometime meet me, and know that I was, am, and have
+been unmarried, that meanwhile we have both become old and gray,--
+can one think of anything more sad? It is enough to make the heart
+cease beating! But suppose, too, that to-morrow she finds out that
+she has been deceived: she has once written, 'I was mistaken,' and
+cannot, as a true woman, write it again, unless she first heard
+from me, and learned how I longed--and so I am cut off from her,
+as if I lived in the moon. More, more! for I can meet her upon the
+street and touch her arm without surmising it. It is
+insupportable! Our time has mail, steamboats, railroads,
+telegraphs: to me these do not exist; for of what use are they
+altogether, when one knows not where to search."
+
+A thought came suddenly, like a meteor in the dark: advertise.
+What family in Copenhagen did not the Address Paper reach? He
+would put in an advertisement,--but how? "Fritz Bagger is not
+married."--No: that was too plain.--"F. B. is not married."--No:
+that was not plain enough. As he could find no successful use for
+his own name, it flashed into his mind to use hers,--geb--; and
+although it was painful to him to publish this, to him, almost
+sacred syllable for profane eyes to gaze upon, yet it comforted
+him, that only one, she herself, would understand it. Yet he
+hesitated. But one cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs;
+and although the heart's finest fibres ache at the thought of
+sending a message to a fairy through the Address Paper, yet one
+yields to this rather than lose the fairy.
+
+At last, after numerous efforts he stopped at this: "--geb--! It
+is a mistake: he waits only for--geb--." It appeared to him to
+contain the approach to a happy result, and tired out by emotion
+he fell asleep on his sofa.
+
+Some days after came a new letter with the dear handwriting: its
+contents were:
+
+"Well! appear eight days from to-day at Mrs. Canuteson's, to
+congratulate her upon her birthday."
+
+This was sunshine after thunder; this was hope's rainbow which
+arched itself up to heaven from the earth, yet wet with tears.
+
+"And so she belongs to good society," said the Counsellor of
+Justice, without noticing how by these words he discovered to
+himself that a doubt or suspicion had lain until now behind his
+ecstasy. "But," he added, "consequently, it is my own friends who
+have spread the rumor of my marriage. Friends indeed! A wife is a
+man's only friend. It is hard, suicidal, to remain a bachelor."
+
+On the appointed day he went too early. Mrs. Canuteson was yet
+alone. She was surprised at his congratulatory visit; but,
+however, as it was a courtesy, the surprise was mingled with
+delight, and Bagger was not the man whose visit a lady would not
+receive with pleasure. With that ingenuity of wit one can
+sometimes have, just when the heart is full and taken possession
+of, he did wonders, and entertained the lady in so lively a manner
+that she did not perceive how long a time he was passing with her.
+As the door at length opened, the lady exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, that is charming! Heartily welcome! Thank you for last time,
+[Footnote: In Sweden and Norway when the guest meets the host or
+hostess for the first time after an entertainment, the first
+greeting on the part of the former is always, "Thank you for the
+last time."] and for all the good in your house! How does your
+mother do? This amiable young lady's acquaintance I made last
+summer when we were in the country, and at last she is so good as
+to keep her promise and visit me. Counsellor Bagger--Miss Hjelm."
+
+The Counsellor wasn't sure that it was She, but he was convinced
+that it ought to be. Not to speak of Ingeborg Hjelm's being really
+amiable and distinguee, his heart was now prepared, as a
+photographer's glass which has received collodium, and took the
+first girl picture that met it. He was quite afraid that there
+would come more to choose among. Yet the fairy brightness of the
+unknown had at this moment lost itself for him; for, however
+brilliant it may appear to the fancy, it cannot be compared with
+the warm, beautiful reality, particularly so long as this itself
+is new and unknown.
+
+He approached and spoke to Miss Hjelm with painful hidden emotion
+of soul. She was friendly and open, for the name Counsellor Bagger
+did not occur to her; and the idea she had formed of him did not
+at all compare with the young, elegant, handsome man she was now
+speaking with. True enough, his manner was somewhat peculiarly
+gallant, which a lady cannot easily mistake; but this gallantry
+was united with such an unmistakable respect, or more properly
+awe, that he gave her the impression of a poetical, knightly
+nature.
+
+By and by there came more ladies, both married and unmarried, but
+Bagger had almost forgotten what errand they could have with him.
+At last Miss Brandt came also, accompanied by her sister. As she
+opened the door, and saw Bagger by the side of Miss Hjelm, she
+gave a little, a very little, cry, or, more properly, gasped aloud
+for breath, and made a movement, as if something kept her back.
+
+"Oh! my dress caught," she said, arranged it a little, and then
+approached Mrs. Canuteson, with smiling face, to offer her
+congratulation.
+
+Bagger looked at the watch: he had been there two hours! After yet
+lingering to exchange a few polite words with Miss Brandt, he took
+leave. His visit had in all respects been so unusual, and had
+given occasion for so much comment, that it required more time
+than could be given there; and his name was not at all mentioned
+after he left.
+
+V.
+
+Now it is certainly true, that whenever Counsellor Bagger was seen
+for quite a time, he was mostly dreaming and suffering; and people
+who have not themselves experienced something similar, or have not
+a fancy for putting themselves in his place, will say, perhaps,
+that they could have managed themselves better. But, at all
+events, it cannot be said, that from this time forward he was
+unpractical; for within eight days from Mrs. Canuteson's birthday
+he had not only learned where Miss Hjelm lived, but had
+established himself in a tavern close by the farm, and obtained
+admittance to the house, which last was not so difficult, since
+Mrs. Hjelm was a friendly, hospitable lady, and since neither her
+daughter nor niece thought they ought to prejudice her against
+him.
+
+In this manner four or five days passed away, which, to judge from
+Bagger's appearance, were to him very pleasant. He wrote to his
+colleagues in the Superior Court, that one could only value an
+autumn in Nature's lap after so laborious and health-destroying
+work as his life for many years had been. Then one day he received
+a letter from the unknown, reading thus:
+
+"Be more successful than last time, at Mrs. Emmy Lund's on
+Tuesday, two o'clock. Please notice, two o'clock precisely."
+
+"Does she mean so? Is she really coquettish? Yet I think I have
+been successful so far," said Bagger to himself, and waited for
+the Tuesday with comparative ease; in truth he did not at all
+understand why he should be troubled to go to town.
+
+As early on Tuesday forenoon as proper, he went over to the farm,
+and was somewhat surprised that there was to be seen no
+preparation for a town journey. Ingeborg, in her usual morning
+dress, was seated at the sewing-table. He waited until towards
+twelve o'clock, calculating that two hours was the least she
+needed in which to dress and drive to town. The long hand
+threatened to touch the short hand at the number twelve, without
+any appearance of Ingeborg's noticing it. She only now and then
+cast a stealthy look at him, for it had not escaped her, nor the
+others, that he was in expectancy and excitement. When the clock
+struck twelve,--he was just alone with her,--he asked suddenly, in
+a quick, trembling voice:
+
+"Miss Hjelm, you know I am Superior Court Counsellor?"
+
+"No: that I did not know," she said almost with dread, and arose.
+"No: that I have never known!"
+
+"But allow me, dear lady, so you know it now," he said, surprised
+that the title or profession produced so strong an effect.
+
+"Yes, now I know it," she said, and held her hand upon her heart.
+"Why do you tell me that? What does that signify?"
+
+"Nothing else, Miss Hjelm, than that you may understand that I
+don't believe in witchcraft."
+
+A speaker's physiognomy is often more intelligible than his words;
+and as Miss Hjelm saw the both hearty and spirited or jovial
+expression in the counsellor's face, she had not that inclination,
+which she under other circumstances would have had, quickly to
+break off the conversation and go away. It is possible, also, that
+his situation as Superior Court Counsellor--as that counsellor
+mentioned by Miss Brandt--did not, after a moment's consideration,
+appear to her so dreadful as at the first moment of surprise. So
+she answered:
+
+"But, Mr. Counsellor, is there then anybody who has accused you of
+believing in witchcraft?"
+
+"No, dear madam; but for all that I can assure you, that at the
+moment the clock struck twelve I thought that you, by two o'clock,
+most fly away in the form of a bird."
+
+"As the clock struck twelve now, at noon?--not at midnight?"
+
+"No, just a little since."
+
+"That is remarkable. Can you satisfy my curiosity, and tell me
+why?"
+
+"Because under ordinary circumstances it appears to me impossible
+for a lady to make her toilette and drive ten miles in less than
+two hours."
+
+"That is quite true, Mr. Counsellor; but neither do I intend to
+drive ten miles to-day."
+
+"It was for that reason that I said, fly."
+
+"Neither fly. And to convince you and quite certainly rid you of
+the idea of witchcraft, you can stay here, if you please, until--
+what time was it?"
+
+"Two o'clock."
+
+"That is two long hours; but the Counsellor can, if he please, lay
+that offering upon the altar of education."
+
+"Oh! I know another altar, upon which I would rather offer the two
+only all too short hours"--.
+
+"Let it now be upon that of education. You promised my cousin and
+me that you would read to us about popular science of nature and
+interesting facts in the life of animals."
+
+"Yes, dear madam; but _I_ cannot fly: my carriage stands waiting
+at the tavern."
+
+"Oh, I beg pardon! an agreeable journey, Mr. Counsellor."
+
+"Yes; but I don't understand why I shall drive the ten miles."
+
+"Every one knows his own concerns best."
+
+"Oh, yes! that is true. But I at least don't know mine."
+
+Miss Hjelm made no answer to this, and there was a little pause.
+
+"I would," continued the counsellor, somewhat puzzled, "take the
+great liberty to propose that you should ride with me."
+
+"I have already told the Counsellor that I did not intend to go to
+town to-day," answered Miss Hjelm, coldly.
+
+"Yes," continued Bagger, following his own ideas, "and so I
+thought, also, that we could as well stay here."
+
+At this moment Bagger was so earnest and impassioned, that
+Ingeborg, in hearing words so very wide of what she regarded as
+reasonable, began to suspect his mind of being a little
+disordered, and with an inquiring anxiousness looked at him.
+
+Meeting the look from these eyes, Bagger could no longer continue
+the inquisition which he had carried on for the sake of involving
+Miss Hjelm in self-contradiction and bringing her to confession.
+He himself came to confession, and exclaimed:
+
+"Miss Ingeborg, I ask you for Heaven's sake have pity on me, and
+tell me if you expect me at two o'clock to-day at Mrs. Lund's!"
+
+"I expect you at Mrs. Lund's!" exclaimed Miss Hjelm.
+
+"Is it not you, then, who have written me that--"
+
+"I have never written to you!" cried Ingeborg, and almost tore
+away the hand which Bagger tried to hold.
+
+"For God's sake, don't go, Miss--! My dear madam, you must forgive
+me: you shall know all!"
+
+And now he began to tell his tale, not according to rules of
+rhetoric and logic, but on the contrary in a way which certainly
+showed how little even our abler lawyers are educated to
+extemporize.
+
+But, however, there was in his words a certain almost wild
+eloquence; and, beside, Miss Hjelm had some foreknowledge, that
+helped her to understand and fill up what was wanting under the
+counsellor's restless eloquence. At last he came to the point;
+while his words were of whirlwind and letters, his tone and eye
+spoke, unconsciously to him, a true, honest, though fanciful
+language of passion; and however comical a disinterested spectator
+might have found it, it sounded very earnest to her who was the
+object and sympathetic listener.
+
+"Yes; but what then?" at last asked Ingeborg, with a soft smile
+and not withdrawing the hand that Bagger had seized. "The proper
+meaning of what you have told me is that your troth is plighted to
+another, unknown lady."
+
+"No: that isn't the proper meaning--"
+
+"But yet it is a fact. At the moment when you stand at the altar
+with one, another can step forward and claim you."
+
+"Oh, that kind of a claim! A piece of paper without signature,
+sent away in the air! In law it has no validity at all, and
+morally it has no power, when I love another as I love you,
+Ingeborg!"
+
+"That I am not sure of. It appears to me there is something
+painful in not being faithful to one's youth and its promises, and
+in the consciousness of having deceived another."
+
+"You say this so earnestly, Ingeborg, that you make me desperate.
+I confess that there is something ... something I would wish
+otherwise ... but for Heaven's sake, make it not so earnest!"
+
+As Ingeborg knew so well about it, she could not regard the matter
+as earnestly as her words denoted; but for another reason she had
+suddenly conceived or felt an earnestness. It would not do to have
+a husband with so much fancy as Bagger, always having something
+unknown, fairy-like, lying out upon the horizon, holding claim
+upon him from his youth; and on the other hand it was against her
+principles, notwithstanding her confidence in his silence, to
+convey to him the knowledge that it was Miss Brandt who played
+fairy.
+
+She said to him, "You must have your letter, your obligation, your
+marriage promise back."
+
+"Yes," he answered with a sigh of discouragement: "it is true
+enough I ought; but where shall I turn? That is just the
+immeasurable difficulty."
+
+"Write by the same mail as before."
+
+"Which?"
+
+"Let the whirlwind, that brought the first letter to its
+destination, also take care of this, in which you demand your word
+back."
+
+"Oh, that you do not mean! Or, if you mean it, then I may honestly
+confess that I am not young any more or have not received another
+youth. I have not courage to write anything, for fear it should
+come to others than to you."
+
+"So I see that, after all, I may act as witch to-day. Write, and I
+will take care of the letter: do you hesitate?"
+
+"No: only it took me a moment to comprehend the promise involved
+in this that you will take care of my letter. I obey you blindly;
+but what shall I write?"
+
+"Write: 'Dear fairy,--Since I woo Miss Hjelm's hand and heart,'--"
+
+"Oh, you acknowledge it! O Ingeborg, the Lord's blessing upon
+you!" said Bagger, and would rise.
+
+"'I ask you to send me my billet back.'--Have you that?"
+
+"Yes, Ingeborg, my Ingeborg, my unspeakably loved Ingeborg! How
+poor language is, when the heart is so full!"
+
+"Now, name, date, and address. Have you that? 'Postscriptum. I
+give you my word of honor, that I neither know who you are, or how
+this letter shall reach you.'--Have you that?"
+
+"That I can truly give. I am as blind as"...
+
+"Let me add the witch-formulae."
+
+"O Ingeborg, you will write upon the same paper with me, in a
+letter where I have written your name!"
+
+"Hand me the pen. We must have the letter sent to the mail before
+two o'clock."
+
+"Two o'clock. How queer! The last letter reads: 'Take notice of
+the striking two.'"
+
+"That we will," said Ingeborg.
+
+She wrote: "Dear Miss Brandt, I, too, ask you to send the
+Counsellor his billet, and I pray you to write upon it: 'Given me
+by Miss Hjelm.' It is best for all parties that the fun does not
+come out in gossip. You shall, by return of mail, receive back
+your letters."
+
+VI.
+
+It is allowed to charitable minds to remain in doubt about what
+had really been Miss Brandt's design. Perhaps she only wished to
+make roguish psychological experiments, to convince herself to how
+many forenoon congratulatory visits a Counsellor of Justice of the
+Superior Court could be brought to appear. The emotion she almost
+exposed, when at Mrs. Canuteson's she saw Bagger by Miss Hjelm's
+side, may have been pure surprise at the working of the affair.
+Every one of the rest of us who have been conversant with the
+whirlwind, the letter, and Ingeborg's relinquishment of the same,
+would also have been surprised at seeing her and the letter-writer
+brought together notwithstanding, and would not, perhaps, have
+been able with as much ease and success to hide our surprise. The
+letter to Bagger, in which Miss Brandt, contrary to her better
+knowledge, spoke of him as married, may have been a sincere
+attempt to end the whole in a way which repentance and anxiety
+quickly seized upon to put an insurmountable hindrance before
+herself; but it may surely enough have had also the aim to see how
+far Bagger had gone and how much spirit and fancy he had to carry
+the intrigue out. The more one thinks upon it, the less one feels
+able to give either of the two interpretations absolute
+preference. Yet one will have remarked, that Ingeborg herself in
+her little note mentioned the matter as "fun." On the other side,
+if it was earnestness, if she had felt "somewhat" for Counsellor
+Bagger, then let us take comfort in the fact that Miss Brandt was
+a well-cultivated girl, and that her intellect held dominion over
+her heart. She could with one eye see that the campaign had ended,
+and further, that she, by receiving peace pure and simple, had
+certainly not gained any conquest, but obtained the status quo
+ante bellum, which often between antagonists has been considered
+so respectable, that both parties officially have sung Te Deum,
+although surely only one could sing it from the heart. Now it is
+and may remain undecided what the real state of the case was: from
+either point of view there was a plain and even line drawn for
+her, and she followed it. Next day the letter came in an envelope
+directed to the counsellor.
+
+As Bagger in the presence of Ingeborg opened the letter and again
+saw the long-lost epistle of his early days, he trembled like a
+man before whom the spirit-world apparently passes. But as he
+perceived the added words, he exclaimed in utter perplexity: "Am I
+awake? Do I dream? How is this possible?"
+
+"Why should it not be possible?" asked Ingeborg. "To whom else
+should the letter originally have come, than to--geb--?"
+
+"--Geb--?--geb--? Yes, who is--geb--?" asked Bagger with
+bewildered look.
+
+"Who other than Ingeborg? is it not the third fourth, and fifth
+letters of my name?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Bagger, pressing his hand upon his forehead, and,
+as he at the next moment seized Ingeborg's hand, added with an eye
+which had become dim with joy, "Truly, I have had more fortune
+than sense."
+
+Ingeborg answered, smiling:
+
+"That ought he to expect who entrusts his fate to the wind's
+flying mail."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCHYARD
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+From "The Flying Mail" Translated by Carl Larsen.
+
+
+THE RAILROAD AND THE CHURCH-YARD
+
+BY
+
+BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON
+
+
+I.
+
+Canute Aakre belonged to an ancient family of the parish, where it
+had always been distinguished for its intelligence and care for
+the public good. His father through self-exertion had attained to
+the ministry, but had died early, and his widow being by birth a
+peasant, the children were brought up as farmers. Consequently,
+Canute's education was only of the kind afforded by the public
+school; but his father's library had early inspired him with a
+desire for knowledge, which was increased by association with his
+friend Henrik Wergeland, who often visited him or sent him books,
+seeds for his farm, and much good counsel. Agreeably to his
+advice, Canute early got up a club for practice in debating and
+study of the constitution, but which finally became a practical
+agricultural society, for this and the surrounding parishes. He
+also established a parish library, giving his father's books as
+its first endowment, and organized in his own house a Sunday-
+school for persons wishing to learn penmanship, arithmetic, and
+history. In this way the attention of the public was fixed upon
+him, and he was chosen a member of the board of parish-
+commissioners, of which he soon became chairman. Here he continued
+his endeavors to advance the school interests, which he succeeded
+in placing in an admirable condition.
+
+Canute Aakre was a short-built, active man, with small sharp eyes
+and disorderly hair. He had large lips which seemed constantly
+working, and a row of excellent teeth which had the same
+appearance, for they shone when he spoke his clear sharp words,
+which came out with a snap, as when the sparks are emitted from a
+great fire.
+
+Among the many he had helped to an education, his neighbor Lars
+Hogstad stood foremost. Lars was not much younger than Canute, but
+had developed more slowly. Being in the habit of talking much of
+what he read and thought, Canute found in Lars--who bore a quiet,
+earnest manner--a good listener, and step by step a sensible
+judge. The result was, that he went reluctantly to the meetings of
+the board, unless first furnished with Lars Hogstad's advice,
+concerning whatever matter of importance was before it, which
+matter was thus most likely to result in practical improvement.
+Canute's influence, therefore, brought his neighbor in as a member
+of the board, and finally into everything with which he himself
+was connected. They always rode together to the meetings, where
+Lars never spoke, and only on the road to and from, could Canute
+learn his opinion. They were looked upon as inseparable.
+
+One fine autumn day, the parish-commissioners were convened, for
+the purpose of considering, among other matters, a proposal made
+by the Foged, to sell the public grain-magazine, and with the
+proceeds establish a savings-bank. Canute Aakre, the chairman,
+would certainly have approved this, had he been guided by his
+better judgment; but, in the first place, the motion was made by
+the Foged, whom Wergeland did not like, consequently, neither did
+Canute; secondly, the grain-magazine had been erected by his
+powerful paternal grandfather, by whom it was presented to the
+parish. To him the proposal was not free from an appearance of
+personal offence; therefore, he had not spoken of it to any one,
+not even to Lars, who never himself introduced a subject.
+
+As chairman, Canute read the proposal without comment, but,
+according to his habit, looked over to Lars, who sat as usual a
+little to one side, holding a straw between his teeth; this he
+always did when entering upon a subject, using it as he would a
+toothpick, letting it hang loosely in one corner of his mouth, or
+turning it more quickly or slowly, according to the humor he was
+in. Canute now saw with surprise, that the straw moved very fast.
+He asked quickly, "Do you think we ought to agree to this?"
+
+Lars answered dryly, "Yes, I do."
+
+The whole assembly, feeling that Canute was of quite a different
+opinion, seemed struck, and looked at Lars, who said nothing
+further, nor was further questioned. Canute turned to another
+subject, as if nothing had happened, and did not again resume the
+question till toward the close of the meeting, when he asked with
+an air of indifference if they should send it back to the Foged
+for closer consideration, as it certainly was contrary to the mind
+of the people of the parish, by whom the grain-magazine was highly
+valued; also, if he should put upon the record, "Proposal deemed
+inexpedient."
+
+"Against one vote," said Lars.
+
+"Against two," said another instantly.
+
+"Against three," said a third, and before the chairman had
+recovered from his surprise, a majority had declared in favor of
+the proposal.
+
+He wrote; then read in a low tone, "Referred for acceptance, and
+the meeting adjourned." Canute, rising and closing the "Records,"
+blushed deeply, but resolved to have this vote defeated in the
+parish meeting. In the yard he hitched his horse to the wagon, and
+Lars came and seated himself by his side. On the way home they
+spoke upon various subjects, but not upon this.
+
+On the following day Canute's wife started for Lars' house, to
+inquire of his wife if anything had happened between their
+husbands; Canute had appeared so queerly when he returned home the
+evening previous. A little beyond the house she met Lars' wife,
+who came to make the same inquiry on account of a similar peculiar
+behavior in her husband. Lars' wife was a quiet, timid thing,
+easily frightened, not by hard words, but by silence; for Lars
+never spoke to her unless she had done wrong, or he feared she
+would do so. On the contrary, Canute Aakre's wife spoke much with
+her husband, and particularly about the commissioners' meetings,
+for lately they had taken his thoughts, work, and love from her
+and the children. She was jealous of it as of a woman, she wept at
+night about it, and quarrelled with her husband concerning it in
+the day. But now she could say nothing; for once he had returned
+home unhappy; she immediately became much more so than he, and for
+the life of her she must know what was the matter. So as Lars'
+wife could tell her nothing, she had to go for information out in
+the parish, where she obtained it, and of course was instantly of
+her husband's opinion, thinking Lars incomprehensible, not to say
+bad. But when she let her husband perceive this, she felt that,
+notwithstanding what had occurred, no friendship was broken
+between them; on the contrary, that he liked Lars very much.
+
+The day for the parish meeting came. In the morning, Lars Hogstad
+drove over for Canute Aakre, who came out and took a seat beside
+him. They saluted each other as usual, spoke a little less than
+they were wont on the way, but not at all of the proposal. The
+meeting was full; some, too, had come in as spectators, which
+Canute did not like, for he perceived by this a little excitement
+in the parish. Lars had his straw, and stood by the stove, warming
+himself, for the autumn had begun to be cold. The chairman read
+the proposal in a subdued and careful manner, adding, that it came
+from the Foged, who was not habitually fortunate. The building was
+a gift, and such things it was not customary to part with, least
+of all when there was no necessity for it.
+
+Lars, who never before had spoken in the meetings, to the surprise
+of all, took the floor. His voice trembled; whether this was
+caused by regard for Canute, or anxiety for the success of the
+bill, we cannot say; but his arguments were clear, good, and of
+such a comprehensive and compact character as had hardly before
+been heard in these meetings. In concluding, he said:
+
+"Of what importance is it that the proposal is from the Foged?--
+none,--or who it was that erected the house, or in what way it
+became the public property?"
+
+Canute, who blushed easily, turned very red, and moved nervously
+as usual when he was impatient; but notwithstanding, he answered
+in a low, careful tone, that there were savings banks enough in
+the country, he thought, quite near, and almost too near. But if
+one was to be instituted, there were other ways of attaining this
+end, than by trampling upon the gifts of the dead, and the love of
+the living. His voice was a little unsteady when he said this, but
+recovered its composure, when he began to speak of the grain
+magazine as such, and reason concerning its utility.
+
+Lars answered him ably on this last, adding: "Besides, for many
+reasons I would be led to doubt whether the affairs of this parish
+are to be conducted for the best interests of the living, or for
+the memory of the dead; or further, whether it is the love and
+hate of a single family which rules, rather than the welfare of
+the whole."
+
+Canute answered quickly: "I don't know whether the last speaker
+has been the one least benefited not only by the dead of this
+family, but also by its still living representative."
+
+In this remark he aimed first at the fact that his powerful
+grandfather had, in his day, managed the farm for Lars'
+grandfather, when the latter, on his own account, was on a little
+visit to the penitentiary.
+
+The straw, which had been moving quickly for a long time, was now
+still:
+
+"I am not in the habit of speaking everywhere of myself and
+family," said he, treating the matter with calm superiority; then
+he reviewed the whole matter in question, aiming throughout at a
+particular point. Canute was forced to acknowledge to himself,
+that he had never looked upon it from that standpoint, or heard
+such reasoning; involuntarily he had to turn his eye upon Lars.
+There he stood tall and portly, with clearness marked upon the
+strongly-built forehead and in the deep eyes. His mouth was
+compressed, the straw still hung playing in its corner, but great
+strength lay around. He kept his hands behind him, standing erect,
+while his low deep intonations seemed as if from the ground in
+which he was rooted. Canute saw him for the first time in his
+life, and from his inmost soul felt a dread of him; for
+unmistakably this man had always been his superior! He had taken
+all Canute himself knew or could impart, but retained only what
+had nourished this strong hidden growth.
+
+He had loved and cherished Lars, but now that he had become a
+giant, he hated him deeply, fearfully; he could not explain to
+himself why he thought so, but he felt it instinctively, while
+gazing upon him; and in this forgetting all else, he exclaimed:
+
+"But Lars! Lars! what in the Lord's name ails you?"
+
+He lost all self-control,--"you, whom I have"--"you, who have"--he
+couldn't get out another word, and seated himself, only to
+struggle against the excitement which he was unwilling to have
+Lars see; he drew himself up, struck the table with his fist, and
+his eyes snapped from below the stiff disorderly hair which always
+shaded them. Lars appeared as if he had not been interrupted, only
+turning his head to the assembly, asking if this should be
+considered the decisive blow in the matter, for in such a case
+nothing more need be said.
+
+Canute could not endure this calmness.
+
+"What is it that has come among us?" he cried. "Us, who to this
+day have never debated but in love and upright zeal? We are
+infuriated at each other as if incited by an evil spirit;" and he
+looked with fiery eyes upon Lars, who answered:
+
+"You yourself surely bring in this spirit, Canute, for I have
+spoken only of the case. But you will look upon it only through
+your own self-will; now we shall see if your love and upright zeal
+will endure, when once it is decided agreeably to our wish."
+
+"Have I not, then, taken good care of the interests of the
+parish?"
+
+No reply. This grieved Canute, and he continued:
+
+"Really, I did not think otherwise than that I had accomplished
+something;--something for the good of the parish;--but may be I
+have deceived myself."
+
+He became excited again, for it was a fiery spirit within him,
+which was broken in many ways, and the parting with Lars grieved
+him, so he could hardly control himself. Lars answered:
+
+"Yes, I know you give yourself the credit for all that is done
+here, and should one judge by much speaking in the meetings, then
+surely you have accomplished the most."
+
+"Oh, is it this!" shouted Canute, looking sharply upon Lars: "it
+is you who have the honor of it!"
+
+"Since we necessarily talk of ourselves," replied Lars, "I will
+say that all matters have been carefully considered by us before
+they were introduced here."
+
+Here little Canute Aakre resumed his quick way of speaking:
+
+"In God's name take the honor, I am content to live without it;
+there are other things harder to lose!"
+
+Involuntarily Lars turned his eye from Canute, but said, the straw
+moving very quickly: "If I were to speak my mind, I should say
+there is not much to take honor for;--of course ministers and
+teachers may be satisfied with what has been done; but, certainly,
+the common men say only that up to this time the taxes have become
+heavier and heavier."
+
+A murmur arose in the assembly, which now became restless. Lars
+continued:
+
+"Finally, to-day, a proposition is made which, if carried, would
+recompense the parish for all it has laid out; perhaps, for this
+reason, it meets such opposition. It is the affair of the parish,
+for the benefit of all its inhabitants, and ought to be rescued
+from being a family matter." The audience exchanged glances, and
+spoke half audibly, when one threw out a remark as he rose to go
+to his dinner-pail, that these were "the truest words he had heard
+in the meetings for many years." Now all arose, and the
+conversation became general. Canute Aakre felt as he sat there
+that the case was lost, fearfully lost; and tried no more to save
+it. He had somewhat of the character attributed to Frenchmen, in
+that he was good for first, second, and third attacks, but poor
+for self-defence--his sensibilities overpowering his thoughts.
+
+He could not comprehend it, nor could he sit quietly any longer;
+so, yielding his place to the vice-chairman, he left,--and the
+audience smiled.
+
+He had come to the meeting accompanied by Lars, but returned home
+alone, though the road was long. It was a cold autumn day; the way
+looked jagged and bare, the meadow gray and yellow; while frost
+had begun to appear here and there on the roadside. Disappointment
+is a dreadful companion. He felt himself so small and desolate,
+walking there; but Lars was everywhere before him, like a giant,
+his head towering, in the dusk of evening, to the sky. It was his
+own fault that this had been the decisive battle, and the thought
+grieved him sorely: he had staked too much upon a single little
+affair. But surprise, pain, anger, had mastered him; his heart
+still burned, shrieked, and moaned within him. He heard the
+rattling of a wagon behind; it was Lars, who came driving his
+superb horse past him at a brisk trot, so that the hard road gave
+a sound of thunder. Canute gazed after him, as he sat there so
+broad-shouldered in the wagon, while the horse, impatient for
+home, hurried on unurged by Lars, who only gave loose rein. It was
+a picture of his power; this man drove toward the mark! He,
+Canute, felt as if thrown out of his wagon to stagger along there
+in the autumn cold.
+
+Canute's wife was waiting for him at home. She knew there would be
+a battle; she had never in her life believed in Lars, and lately
+had felt a dread of him. It had been no comfort to her that they
+had ridden away together, nor would it have comforted her if they
+had returned in the same way. But darkness had fallen, and they
+had not yet come. She stood in the doorway, went down the road and
+home again; but no wagon appeared. At last she hears a rattling on
+the road, her heart beats as violently as the wheels revolve; she
+clings to the doorpost, looking out; the wagon is coming; only one
+sits there; she recognizes Lars, who sees and recognizes her, but
+is driving past without stopping. Now she is thoroughly alarmed!
+Her limbs fail her; she staggers in, sinking on the bench by the
+window. The children, alarmed, gather around, the youngest asking
+for papa, for the mother never spoke with them but of him. She
+loved him because he had such a good heart, and now this good
+heart was not with them; but, on the contrary, away on all kinds
+of business, which brought him only unhappiness; consequently,
+they were unhappy too.
+
+"Oh, that no harm had come to him to-day! Canute was so excitable!
+Why did Lars come home alone? why didn't he stop?"
+
+Should she run after him, or, in the opposite direction, toward
+her husband? She felt faint, and the children pressed around her,
+asking what was the matter; but this could not be told to them, so
+she said they must take supper alone, and, rising, arranged it and
+helped them. She was constantly glancing out upon the road. He did
+not come. She undressed and put them to bed, and the youngest
+repeated the evening prayer, while she bowed over him, praying so
+fervently in the words which the tiny mouth first uttered, that
+she did not perceive the steps outside.
+
+Canute stood in the doorway, gazing upon his little congregation
+at prayer. She rose; all the children shouted "Papa!" but he
+seated himself, and said gently:
+
+"Oh! let him repeat it."
+
+The mother turned again to the bedside, that meantime he might not
+see her face; otherwise, it would have been like intermeddling
+with his grief before he felt a necessity of revealing it. The
+child folded its hands,--the rest followed the example,--and it
+said:
+
+"I am now a little lad, But soon shall grow up tall, And make papa
+and mamma glad, I'll be so good to all! When in Thy true and holy
+ways, Thou dear, dear God wilt help me keep;--Remember now Thy
+name to praise And so we'll try to go to sleep!"
+
+What a peace now fell! Not a minute more had passed ere the
+children all slept in it as in the lap of God; but the mother went
+quietly to work arranging supper for the father, who as yet could
+not eat. But after he had gone to bed, he said:
+
+"Now, after this, I shall be at home."
+
+The mother lay there, trembling with joy, not daring to speak,
+lest she should reveal it; and she thanked God for all that had
+happened, for, whatever it was, it had resulted in good.
+
+II.
+
+In the course of a year, Lars was chosen head Justice of the
+Peace, chairman of the board of commissioners, president of the
+savings-bank, and, in short, was placed in every office of parish
+trust to which his election was possible. In the county
+legislature, during the first year, he remained silent, but
+afterward made himself as conspicuous as in the parish council;
+for here, too, stepping up to the contest with him who had always
+borne sway, he was victorious over the whole line, and afterward
+himself manager. From this he was elected to the Congress, where
+his fame had preceded him, and he found no lack of challenge. But
+here, although steady and independent, he was always retiring,
+never venturing beyond his depth, lest his post as leader at home
+should be endangered by a possible defeat abroad.
+
+It was pleasant to him now in his own town. When he stood by the
+church-wall on Sundays, and the community glided past, saluting
+and glancing sideways at him,--now and then one stepping up for
+the honor of exchanging a couple of words with him,--it could
+almost be said that, standing there, he controlled the whole
+parish with a straw, which, of course, hung in the corner of his
+mouth.
+
+He deserved his popularity; for he had opened a new road which led
+to the church; all this and much more resulted from the savings-
+bank, which he had instituted and now managed; and the parish, in
+its self-management and good order, was held up as an example to
+all others.
+
+Canute, of his own accord, quite withdrew,--not entirely at first,
+for he had promised himself not thus to yield to pride. In the
+first proposal he made before the parish board, he became
+entangled by Lars, who would have it represented in all its
+details; and, somewhat hurt, he replied: "When Columbus discovered
+America he did not have it divided into counties and towns,--this
+came by degrees afterward;" upon which, Lars compared Canute's
+proposition (relating to stable improvements) to the discovery of
+America, and afterward by the commissioners he was called by no
+other name than "Discovery of America." Canute thought since his
+influence had ceased there, so, also, had his duty to work; and
+afterwards declined re-election.
+
+But he was industrious, and, in order still to do something for
+the public good, he enlarged his Sunday-school, and put it, by
+means of small contributions from the pupils, in connection with
+the mission cause, of which he soon became the centre and leader
+in his own and surrounding counties. At this, Lars remarked that,
+if Canute ever wished to collect money for any purpose, he must
+first know that its benefit was only to be realized some thousands
+of miles away.
+
+There was no strife between them now. True, they associated with
+each other no longer, but saluted and exchanged a few words
+whenever they met. Canute always felt a little pain in remembering
+Lars, but struggled to overcome it, by saying to himself that it
+must have been so. Many years afterward at a large wedding-party,
+where both were present and a little gay, Canute stepped upon a
+chair and proposed a toast to the chairman of the parish council,
+and the county's first congressman. He spoke until he manifested
+emotion, and, as usual, in an exceedingly handsome way. It was
+honorably done, and Lars came to him, saying, with an unsteady
+eye, that for much of what he knew and was, he had to thank him.
+
+At the next election, Canute was again elected chairman.
+
+But if Lars Hogstad had foreseen what was to follow, he would not
+have influenced this. It is a saying that "all events happen in
+their time," and just as Canute appeared again in the council, the
+ablest men in the parish were threatened with bankruptcy, the
+result of a speculative fever which had been raging long, but now
+first began to react. They said that Lars Hogstad had caused this
+great epidemic, for it was he who had brought the spirit of
+speculation into the parish. This penny malady had originated in
+the parish board; for this body itself had acted as leading
+speculator. Down to the youth of twenty years, all were
+endeavoring by sharp bargains to make the one dollar, ten; extreme
+parsimony, in order to lay up in the beginning, was followed by an
+exceeding lavishness in the end: and as the thoughts of all were
+directed to money only, a disposition to selfishness, suspicion,
+and disunion had developed itself, which at last turned to
+prosecutions and hatred. It was said that the parish board had set
+the example in this also; for one of the first acts, performed by
+Lars as chairman, was a prosecution against the minister,
+concerning doubtful prerogatives. The venerable pastor had lost,
+but had also immediately resigned. At the time some had praised,
+others denounced, this act of Lars; but it had proved a bad
+example. Now came the effects of his management in the form of
+loss to all the leading men of the parish; and consequently, the
+public opinion quickly changed. The opposite party immediately
+found a champion; for Canute Aakre had come into the parish
+board,--introduced there by Lars himself.
+
+The struggle at once began. All those youths, who, in their time,
+had been under Canute Aakre's instruction, were now grown-up men,
+the best educated, conversant with all the business and public
+transactions in the parish; Lars had now to contend against these
+and others like them, who had disliked him from their childhood.
+One evening after a stormy debate, as he stood on the platform
+outside his door, looking over the parish, a sound of distant
+threatening thunder came toward him from the large farms, lying in
+the storm. He knew that that day their owners had become
+insolvent, that he himself and the savings-bank were going the
+same way: and his whole long work would culminate in condemnation
+against him.
+
+In these days of struggle and despair, a company of surveyors came
+one evening to Hogstad, which was the first farm at the entrance
+of the parish to mark out the line of a new railroad. In the
+course of conversation, Lars perceived it was still a question
+with them whether the road should run through this valley, or
+another parallel one.
+
+Like a flash of lightning it darted through his mind, that, if he
+could manage to get it through here, all real estate would rise in
+value, and not only he himself be saved, but his popularity handed
+down to future generations. He could not sleep that night, for his
+eyes were dazzled with visions; sometimes he seemed to hear the
+noise of an engine. The next day he accompanied the surveyors in
+their examination of the locality; his horses carried them, and to
+his farm they returned. The following day they drove through the
+other valley, he still with them, and again carrying them back
+home. The whole house was illuminated, the first men of the parish
+having been invited to a party made for the surveyors, which
+terminated in a carouse that lasted until morning. But to no
+avail; for the nearer they came to the decision, the clearer it
+was to be seen that the road could not be built through here
+without great extra expense. The entrance to the valley was
+narrow, through a rocky chasm, and the moment it swung into the
+parish the river made a curve in its way, so that the road would
+either have to make the same--crossing the river twice--or go
+straight forward through the old, now unused, churchyard. But it
+was not long since the last burials there, for the church had been
+but recently moved.
+
+Did it only depend upon a strip of an old churchyard, thought
+Lars, whether the parish should have this great blessing or not?--
+then he would use his name and energy for the removal of the
+obstacle. So immediately he made a visit to minister and bishop,
+from them to county legislature and Department of the
+Interior; he reasoned and negotiated; for he had possessed
+himself of all possible information concerning the vast profits
+that would accrue on the one side, and the feelings of the parish
+on the other, and had really succeeded in gaining over all
+parties. It was promised him that by the reinterment of some
+bodies in the new churchyard, the only objection to this line
+might be considered as removed, and the king's approbation
+guaranteed. It was told him that he need only make the motion in
+the county meeting.
+
+The parish had become as excited on the question as himself. The
+spirit of speculation, which had been prevalent so many years, now
+became jubilant. No one spoke or thought of anything but Lars'
+journey and its probable result. Consequently, when he returned
+with the most splendid promises, they made much ado about him;
+songs were sung to his praise,--yes, if at that time one after
+another of the largest farms had toppled over, not a soul would
+have given it any attention; the former speculation fever had been
+succeeded by the new one of the railroad.
+
+The county board met; an humble petition that the old churchyard
+might be used for the railroad was drawn up to be presented to the
+king. This was unanimously voted; yes, there was even talk of
+voting thanks to Lars, and a gift of a coffee-pot, in the model of
+a locomotive. But finally, it was thought best to wait until
+everything was accomplished. The petition from the parish to the
+county board was sent back, with a requirement of a list of the
+names of all bodies which must necessarily be removed. The
+minister made out this, but instead of sending it directly to the
+county board, had his reasons for communicating it first to the
+parish. One of the members brought it to the next meeting. Here,
+Lars opened the envelope, and as chairman read the names.
+
+Now it happened that the first body to be removed was that of
+Lars' own grandfather. A Hide shudder passed through the assembly;
+Lars himself was taken by surprise; but continued. Secondly, came
+the name of Canute Aakre's grandfather; for the two had died at
+nearly the same time. Canute Aakre sprang from his seat; Lars
+stopped; all looked up with dread; for the name of the elder
+Canute Aakre had been the one most beloved in the parish for
+generations. There was a pause of some minutes. At last Lars
+hemmed, and continued. But the matter became worse, for the
+further he proceeded, the nearer it approached their own day, and
+the dearer the dead became. When he ceased, Canute Aakre asked
+quietly if others did not think as he, that spirits were around
+them. It had begun to grow dusk in the room, and although they
+were mature men sitting in company, they almost felt themselves
+frightened. Lars took a bundle of matches from his pocket and lit
+a candle, somewhat dryly remarking that this was no more than they
+had known beforehand.
+
+"No," replied Canute, pacing the floor, "this is more than I knew
+beforehand. Now I begin to think that even railroads can be bought
+too dearly."
+
+This electrified the audience, and Canute continued that the whole
+affair must be reconsidered, and made a motion to that effect. In
+the excitement which had prevailed, he said it was also true that
+the benefit to be derived from the road had been considerably
+overrated; for if it did not pass through the parish, there would
+have to be a depot at each extremity; true, it would be a little
+more trouble to drive there, than to a station within; yet not so
+great as that for this reason they should dishonor the rest of the
+dead. Canute was one of those who, when his thoughts were excited,
+could extemporize and present most sound reasons; he had not a
+moment previously thought of what he now said; but the truth of it
+struck all. Lars, seeing the danger of his position, thought best
+to be careful, and so apparently acquiesced in Canute's
+proposition to reconsider; for such emotions, thought he, are
+always strongest in the beginning; one must temporize with them.
+
+But here he had miscalculated. In constantly increasing the dread
+of touching their dead overswept the parish; what no one had
+thought of as long as the matter existed only in talk became a
+serious question when it came to touch themselves. The
+women particularly were excited, and at the parish house, on the day
+of the next meeting, the road was black with the gathered
+multitude. It was a warm summer day, the windows were taken out,
+and as many stood without as within. All felt that that day would
+witness a great battle.
+
+Lars came, driving his handsome horse, saluted by all; he looked
+quietly and confidently around, not seeming surprised at the
+throng. He seated himself, straw in mouth, near the window, and
+not without a smile saw Canute rise to speak, as he thought, for
+all the dead lying over there in the old churchyard.
+
+But Canute Aakre did not begin with the churchyard. He made a
+stricter investigation into the profits likely to accrue from
+carrying the road through the parish, showing that in all this
+excitement they had been over-estimated. He had calculated the
+distance of each farm from the nearest station, should the road be
+taken through the neighboring valley, and finally asked:
+
+"Why has such a hurrah been made about this railroad, when it
+would not be for the good of the parish after all?"
+
+This he could explain; there were those who had brought about such
+a previous disturbance, that a greater was necessary in order that
+the first might be forgotten. Then, too, there were those who,
+while the thing was new, could sell their farms and lands to
+strangers, foolish enough to buy; it was a shameful speculation,
+which not the living only but the dead also must be made to
+promote!
+
+The effect produced by his address was very considerable. But Lars
+had firmly resolved, come what would, to keep cool, and smilingly
+replied that he supposed Canute Aakre himself had been anxious for
+the railroad, and surely no one would accuse him of understanding
+speculation. (A little laugh ensued.) Canute had had no objection
+to the removal of bodies of common people for the sake of the
+railroad, but when it came to that of his own grandfather, the
+question became suddenly of vital importance to the whole parish.
+He said no more, but looked smilingly at Canute, as did also
+several others. Meanwhile, Canute Aakre surprised both him and
+them by replying:
+
+"I confess it; I did not realize what was at stake until it
+touched my own dead; possibly this is a shame, but really it would
+have been a greater one not even then to have realized it, as is
+the case with Lars! Never, I think, could Lars' raillery have been
+more out of place; for folks with common feelings the thing is
+really revolting."
+
+"This feeling has come up quite recently," answered Lars, "and so
+we will hope for its speedy disappearance also. It may be well to
+think upon what minister, bishop, county officers, engineers, and
+Department will say, if we first unanimously set the ball in
+motion and then come asking to have it stopped; if we first are
+jubilant and sing songs, then weep and chant requiems. If they do
+not say that we have run mad here in the parish, at least they may
+say that we have grown a little queer lately."
+
+"Yes, God knows, they can say so," answered Canute; "we have been
+acting strangely enough during the last few days,--it is time for
+us to retract. It has really gone far when we can dig up, each his
+own grandfather, to make way for a railroad; when in order that
+our loads may be carried more easily forward, we can violate the
+resting-place of the dead. For is not overhauling our churchyard
+the same as making it yield us food? What has been buried there in
+Jesus' name, shall we take up in the name of Mammon? It is but
+little better than eating our progenitors' bones."
+
+"That is according to the order of nature," said Lars dryly.
+
+"Yes, the nature of plants and animals," replied Canute.
+
+"Are we not then animals?" asked Lars.
+
+"Yes, but also the children of the living God, who have buried our
+dead in faith upon Him; it is He who shall raise them, and not
+we."
+
+"Oh, you prate! Are not the graves dug over at certain fixed
+periods anyway? What evil is there in that it happens some years
+earlier?" asked Lars.
+
+"I will tell you! What was born of them yet lives; what they built
+yet remains; what they loved, taught, and suffered for is all
+around us and within us; and shall we not, then, let their bodies
+rest in peace?"
+
+"I see by your warmth that you are thinking of your grandfather
+again," replied Lars; "and will say it is high time you ceased to
+bother the parish about him, for he monopolized space enough in
+his lifetime; it isn't worth while to have him lie in the way now
+he is dead. Should his corpse prevent a blessing to the parish
+that would reach to a hundred generations, we surely would have
+reason to say, that of all born here he has done us most harm."
+
+Canute Aakre tossed back his disorderly hair, his eyes darted
+fire, his whole frame appeared like a drawn bow.
+
+"What sort of a blessing this is that you speak of, I have already
+proved. It is of the same character as all the others which you
+have brought to the parish, namely, a doubtful one. True enough
+you have provided us with a new church; but, too, you have filled
+it with a new spirit,--and not that of love. True, you have made
+us new roads,--but also new roads to destruction, as is now
+plainly evident in the misfortunes of many. True, you have
+lessened our taxes to the public; but, too, you have increased
+those to ourselves;--prosecutions, protests, and failures are no
+blessing to a community. And you dare scoff at the man in his
+grave whom the whole parish blesses! You dare say he lies in our
+way,--yes, very likely he lies in your way. This is plainly to be
+seen; but over this grave you shall fall! The spirit which has
+reigned over you, and at the same time until now over us, was not
+born to rule, only to serve. The churchyard shall surely remain
+undisturbed; but to-day it numbers one more grave, namely, that of
+your popularity, which shall now be interred in it."
+
+Lars Hogstad rose, white as a sheet; he opened his mouth, but was
+unable to speak a word, and the straw fell. After three or four
+vain attempts to recover it and to find utterance, he belched
+forth like a volcano:
+
+"Are these the thanks I get for all my toils and struggles? Shall
+such a woman-preacher be able to direct? Ah, then, the devil be
+your chairman if ever more I set my foot here! I have
+kept your petty business in order until to-day; and after me
+it will fall into a thousand pieces; but let it go now. Here are
+the 'Records!' (and he flung them across the table). Out on such a
+company of wenches and brats! (striking the table with his fist).
+Out on the whole parish, that it can see a man recompensed as I
+now am!"
+
+He brought down his fist once more with such force, that the leaf
+of the great table sprang upward, and the inkstand with all its
+contents downward upon the floor, marking for coming generations
+the spot where Lars Hogstad, in spite of all his prudence, lost
+his patience and his rule.
+
+He sprang for the door, and soon after was away from the house.
+The whole audience stood fixed,--for the power of his voice and
+his wrath had frightened them,--until Canute Aakre, remembering
+the taunt he had received at the time of his fall, with beaming
+countenance, and assuming Lars' voice, exclaimed:
+
+"Is this the decisive blow in the matter?"
+
+The assembly burst into uproarious merriment. The grave meeting
+closed amid laughter, talk, and high glee; only few left the
+place, those remaining called for drink, and made a night of
+thunder succeed a day of lightning. They felt happy and
+independent as in old days, before the time in which the
+commanding spirit of Lars had cowed their souls into silent
+obedience. They drank toasts to their liberty, they sang, yes,
+finally they danced, Canute Aakre with the vice-chairman taking
+lead, and all the members of the council following, and boys and
+girls too, while the young ones outside shouted, "hurrah!" for
+such a spectacle they had never before witnessed.
+
+III.
+
+Lars moved around in the large rooms at Hogstad without uttering a
+word. His wife who loved him, but always with fear and trembling,
+dared not so much as show herself in his presence. The management
+of the farm and house had to go on as it would, while a multitude
+of letters were passing to and fro between Hogstad and the parish,
+Hogstad and the capital; for he had charges against the county
+board which were not acknowledged, and a prosecution ensued;
+against the savings-bank, which were also unacknowledged, and so
+came another prosecution. He took offence at articles in the
+Christiania Correspondence, and prosecuted again, first the
+chairman of the county board, and then the directors of the
+savings-bank. At the same time there were bitter articles in the
+papers, which according to report were by him, and were the cause
+of great strife in the parish, setting neighbor against neighbor.
+Sometimes he was absent whole weeks at once, nobody knowing where,
+and after returning lived secluded as before. At church he was not
+seen after the grand scene in the representatives' meeting.
+
+Then, one Saturday night, the mail brought news that the railroad
+was to go through the parish after all, and through the old
+churchyard. It struck like lightning into every home. The
+unanimous veto of the county board had been in vain; Lars
+Hogstad's influence had proved stronger. This was what his absence
+meant, this was his work! It was involuntary on the part of the
+people that admiration of the man and his dogged persistency
+should lessen dissatisfaction at their own defeat; and the more
+they talked of the matter the more reconciled they seemed to
+become: for whatever has once been settled beyond all change
+develops in itself, little by little, reasons why it is so, which
+we are accordingly brought to acknowledge.
+
+In going to church next day, as they encountered each other they
+could not help laughing; and before the service, just as nearly
+all were convened outside,--young and old, men and women, yes,
+even children,--talking about Lars Hogstad, his talents, his
+strong will, and his great influence, he himself with his
+household came driving up in four carriages. Two years had passed
+since he was last there. He alighted and walked through the crowd,
+when involuntarily all lifted their hats to him like one man; but
+he looked neither to the right nor the left, nor returned a single
+salutation. His little wife, pale as death, walked behind him. In
+the house, the surprise became so great that, one after another,
+noticing him, stopped singing and stared. Canute Aakre, who sat in
+his pew in front of Lars', perceiving the unusual appearance and
+no cause for it in front, turned around and saw Lars sitting bowed
+over his hymn-book, looking for the place.
+
+He had not seen him until now since the day of the
+representatives' meeting, and such a change in a man he never
+could have imagined. This was no victor. His head was becoming
+bald, his face was lean and contracted, his eyes hollow and
+bloodshot, and the giant neck presented wrinkles and cords. At a
+glance he perceived what this man had endured, and was as suddenly
+seized with a feeling of strong pity, yes, even with a touch of
+the old love. In his heart he prayed for him, and promised himself
+surely to seek him after service; but, ere he had opportunity,
+Lars had gone. Canute resolved he would call upon him at his home
+that night, but his wife kept him back.
+
+"Lars is one of the kind," said she, "who cannot endure a debt of
+gratitude: keep away from him until possibly he can in some way do
+you a favor, and then perhaps he will come to you."
+
+However, he did not come. He appeared now and then at church, but
+nowhere else, and associated with no one. On the contrary, he
+devoted himself to his farm and other business with an earnestness
+which showed a determination to make up in one year for the
+neglect of many; and, too, there were those who said it was
+necessary.
+
+Railroad operations in the valley began very soon. As the line was
+to go directly past his house, Lars remodelled the side facing the
+road, connecting with it an elegant verandah, for of course his
+residence must attract attention. They were just engaged in this
+work when the rails were laid for the conveyance of gravel and
+timber, and a small locomotive was brought up. It was a fine
+autumn evening when the first gravel train was to come down. Lars
+stood on the platform of his house to hear the first signal, and
+see the first column of smoke; all the hands on the farm were
+gathered around him. He looked out over the parish, lying in the
+setting sun, and felt that he was to be remembered so long as a
+train should roar through the fruitful valley. A feeling of
+forgiveness crept into his soul. He looked toward the churchyard,
+of which a part remained, with crosses bowing toward the earth,
+but a part had become railroad. He was just trying to define his
+feelings, when, whistle went the first signal, and a while after
+the train came slowly along, puffing out smoke mingled with
+sparks, for wood was used instead of coal; the wind blew toward
+the house, and standing there they soon found themselves enveloped
+in a dense smoke; but by and by, as it cleared away, Lars saw the
+train working through the valley like a strong will.
+
+He was satisfied, and entered the house as after a long day's
+work. The image of his grandfather stood before him at this
+moment. This grandfather had raised the family from poverty to
+forehanded circumstances; true, a part of his citizen-honor had
+been lost, but forward he had pushed, nevertheless. His faults
+were those of his time; they were to be found on the uncertain
+borders of the moral conceptions of that period, and are of no
+consideration now. Honor to him in his grave, for he suffered and
+worked; peace to his ashes. It is good to rest at last. But he
+could get no rest because of his grandson's great ambition. He was
+thrown up with stone and gravel. Pshaw! very likely he would only
+smile that his grandson's work passed above his head.
+
+With such thoughts he had undressed and gone to bed. Again his
+grandfather's image glided forth. What did he wish. Surely he
+ought to be satisfied now, with the family's honor sounding forth
+above his grave; who else had such a monument? But yet, what mean
+these two great eyes of fire? This hissing, roaring, is no longer
+the locomotive, for see! it comes from the churchyard directly
+toward the house: an immense procession! The eyes of fire are his
+grandfather's, and the train behind are all the dead. It advances
+continually toward the house, roaring, crackling, flashing. The
+windows burn in the reflection of dead men's eyes ... he made a
+mighty effort to collect himself, "For it was a dream, of course,
+only a dream; but let me waken! ... See: now I am awake; come,
+ghosts!"
+
+And behold: they really come from the churchyard, overthrowing
+road, rails, locomotive and train with such violence that they
+sink in the ground; and then all is still there, covered with sod
+and crosses as before. But like giants the spirits advanced, and
+the hymn, "Let the dead have rest!" goes before them. He knows it:
+for daily in all these years it has sounded through his soul, and
+now it becomes his own requiem; for this was death and its
+visions. The perspiration started out over his whole body, for
+nearer and nearer,--and see there, on the window-pane there, there
+they are now; and he heard his name. Overpowered with dread he
+struggled to shout, for he was strangling; a dead, cold hand
+already clenched his throat, when he regained his voice in a
+shrieking "Help me!" and awoke. At that moment the window was
+burst in with such force that the pieces flew on to his bed. He
+sprang up; a man stood in the opening, around him smoke and
+tongues of fire.
+
+"The house is burning, Lars, we'll help you out!"
+
+It was Canute Aakre.
+
+When again he recovered consciousness, he was lying out in a
+piercing wind that chilled his limbs. No one was by him; on the
+left he saw his burning house; around him grazed, bellowed,
+bleated, and neighed his stock; the sheep huddled together in a
+terrified flock; the furniture recklessly scattered: but, on
+looking around more carefully, he discovered somebody sitting on a
+knoll near him, weeping. It was his wife. He called her name. She
+started.
+
+"The Lord Jesus be thanked that you live," she exclaimed, coming
+forward and seating herself, or rather falling down before him: "O
+God! O God! now we have enough of that railroad!"
+
+"The railroad?" he asked: but ere he spoke, it had flashed through
+his mind how it was; for, of course, the cause of the fire was the
+falling of sparks from the locomotive among the shavings by the
+new side-wall. He remained sitting, silent and thoughtful; his
+wife dared say no more, but was trying to find clothes for him:
+the things with which she had covered him, as he lay unconscious,
+having fallen off. He received her attentions in silence, but as
+she crouched down to cover his feet, he laid a hand upon her head.
+She hid her face in his lap, and wept aloud. At last he had
+noticed her. Lars understood, and said:
+
+"You are the only friend I have."
+
+Although to hear these words had cost the house, no matter, they
+made her happy; she gathered courage and said, rising and looking
+submissively at him:
+
+"That is because no one else understands you."
+
+Now again they talked of all that had transpired, or rather he
+remained silent, while she told about it. Canute Aakre had been
+first to perceive the fire, had awakened his people, sent the
+girls out through the parish, while he himself hastened with men
+and horses to the spot where all were sleeping. He had taken
+charge of extinguishing the fire and saving the property; Lars
+himself he had dragged from the burning room and brought him here
+on the left, to the windward,--here, out on the churchyard.
+
+While they were talking of all this, some one came driving rapidly
+up the road and turned off toward them; soon he alighted. It was
+Canute, who had been home after his church-wagon; the one in which
+so many times they had ridden together to and from the parish
+meetings. Now Lars must get in and ride home with him. They took
+each other by the hand, one sitting, the other standing.
+
+"You must come with me now," said Canute, Without reply Lars rose:
+they walked side by side to the wagon. Lars was helped in: Canute
+seated himself by his side. What they talked about as they rode,
+or afterward in the little chamber at Aakre, in which they
+remained until morning, has never been known; but from that day
+they were again inseparable.
+
+As soon as disaster befalls a man, all seem to understand his
+worth. So the parish took upon themselves to rebuild Lars
+Hogstad's houses, larger and handsomer than any others in the
+valley. Again he became chairman, but with Canute Aakre at his
+side, and from that day all went well.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO FRIENDS
+
+BY
+
+ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+
+From "Tales of Two Countries." Translated by H. H. Boyesen.
+
+
+TWO FRIENDS
+
+BY
+
+ALEXANDER KIELLAND
+
+
+No one could understand where he got his money from. But the
+person who marvelled most at the dashing and luxurious life led by
+Alphonse was his quondam friend and partner.
+
+After they dissolved partnership, most of the custom and the best
+connection passed by degrees into Charles's hands. This was not
+because he in any way sought to run counter to his former partner;
+on the contrary, it arose simply from the fact that Charles was
+the more capable man of the two. And as Alphonse had now to work
+on his own account, it was soon clear to any one who observed him
+closely, that in spite of his promptitude, his amiability, and his
+prepossessing appearance, he was not fitted to be at the head of
+an independent business.
+
+And there was one person who DID observe him closely. Charles
+followed him step by step with his sharp eyes; every blunder,
+every extravagance, every loss--he knew all to a nicety, and he
+wondered that Alphonse could keep going so long.
+
+They had as good as grown up together. Their mothers were cousins;
+the families had lived near each other in the same street; and in
+a city like Paris proximity is as important as relationship in
+promoting close intercourse. Moreover, the boys went to the same
+school.
+
+Thenceforth, as they grew up to manhood, they were inseparable.
+Mutual adaptation overcame the great differences which originally
+marked their characters, until at last their idiosyncrasies fitted
+into each other like the artfully-carved pieces of wood which
+compose the picture-puzzles of our childhood.
+
+The relation between them was really a beautiful one, such as does
+not often arise between two young men; for they did not understand
+friendship as binding the one to bear everything at the hands of
+the other, but seemed rather to vie with each other in mutual
+considerateness.
+
+If, however, Alphonse in his relation to Charles showed any high
+degree of considerateness, he himself was ignorant of it; and if
+any one had told him of it he would doubtless have laughed loudly
+at such a mistaken compliment.
+
+For as life on the whole appeared to him very simple and
+straightforward, the idea that his friendship should in any way
+fetter him was the last thing that could enter his head. That
+Charles was his best friend seemed to him as entirely natural as
+that he himself danced best, rode best, was the best shot, and
+that the whole world was ordered entirely to his mind.
+
+Alphonse was in the highest degree a spoilt child of fortune; he
+acquired everything without effort; existence fitted him like an
+elegant dress, and he wore it with such unconstrained amiability
+that people forgot to envy him.
+
+And then he was so handsome. He was tall and slim, with brown hair
+and big open eyes; his complexion was clear and smooth, and his
+teeth shone when he laughed. He was quite conscious of his beauty,
+but, as everybody had petted him from his earliest days, his
+vanity was of a cheerful, good-natured sort, which, after all, was
+not so offensive. He was exceedingly fond of his friend. He amused
+himself and sometimes others by teasing him and making fun of him;
+but he knew Charles's face so thoroughly that he saw at once when
+the jest was going too far. Then he would resume his natural,
+kindly tone, until he made the serious and somewhat melancholy
+Charles laugh till he was ill.
+
+From his boyhood Charles had admired Alphonse beyond measure. He
+himself was small and insignificant, quiet and shy. His friend's
+brilliant qualities cast a lustre over him as well, and gave a
+certain impetus to his life.
+
+His mother often said: "This friendship between the boys is a real
+blessing for my poor Charles, for without it he would certainly
+have been a melancholy creature."
+
+When Alphonse was on all occasions preferred to him, Charles
+rejoiced; he was proud of his friend. He wrote his exercises,
+prompted him at examination, pleaded his cause with the masters,
+and fought for him with the boys.
+
+At the commercial academy it was the same story. Charles worked
+for Alphonse, and Alphonse rewarded him with his inexhaustible
+amiability and unfailing good-humor.
+
+When subsequently, as quite young men, they were placed in the
+same banker's office, it happened one day that the principal said
+to Charles: "From the first of May I will raise your salary."
+
+"I thank you," answered Charles, "both on my own and on my
+friend's behalf."
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse's salary remains unaltered," replied the chief,
+and went on writing.
+
+Charles never forgot that morning. It was the first time he had
+been preferred or distinguished before his friend. And it was his
+commercial capacity, the quality which, as a young man of
+business, he valued most, that had procured him this preference;
+and it was the head of the firm, the great financier, who had
+himself accorded him such recognition.
+
+The experience was so strange to him that it seemed like an
+injustice to his friend. He told Alphonse nothing of the
+occurrence; on the contrary, he proposed that they should apply
+for two vacant places in the Credit Lyonnais.
+
+Alphonse was quite willing, for he loved change, and the splendid
+new banking establishment on the Boulevard seemed to him far more
+attractive than the dark offices in the Rue Bergere. So they
+removed to the Credit Lyonnais on the first of May. But as they
+were in the chief's office taking their leave, the old banker said
+to Charles, when Alphonse had gone out (Alphonse always took
+precedence of Charles), "Sentiment won't do for a business man."
+
+From that day forward a change went on in Charles. He not only
+worked as industriously and conscientiously as before, but
+developed such energy and such an amazing faculty for labor as
+soon attracted to him the attention of his superiors. That he was
+far ahead of his friend in business capacity was soon manifest;
+but every time he received a new mark of recognition he had a
+struggle with himself. For a long time, every advancement brought
+with it a certain qualm of conscience; and yet he worked on with
+restless ardor.
+
+One day Alphonse said, in his light, frank way: "You are really a
+smart fellow, Charlie! You're getting ahead of everybody, young
+and old--not to mention me. I'm quite proud of you."
+
+Charles felt ashamed. He had been thinking that Alphonse must feel
+wounded at being left on one side, and now he learned that his
+friend not only did not grudge him his advancement, but was even
+proud of him. By degrees his conscience was lulled to rest, and
+his solid worth was more and more appreciated.
+
+But if he was in reality the more capable, how came it that he was
+so entirely ignored in society, while Alphonse remained
+everybody's darling? The very promotions and marks of appreciation
+which he had won for himself by hard work were accorded him in a
+dry, business manner; while every one, from the directors to the
+messengers, had a friendly word or a merry greeting for Alphonse.
+
+In the different offices and departments of the bank they
+intrigued to obtain possession of Monsieur Alphonse; for a breath
+of life and freshness followed ever in the wake of his handsome
+person and joyous nature. Charles, on the other hand, had often
+remarked that his colleagues regarded him as a dry person, who
+thought only of business and of himself.
+
+The truth was that he had a heart of rare sensitiveness, with no
+faculty for giving it expression.
+
+Charles was one of those small, black Frenchmen whose beard begins
+right under the eyes; his complexion was yellowish and his hair
+stiff and splintery. His eyes did not dilate when he was pleased
+and animated, but they flashed around and glittered.
+When he laughed the corners of his mouth turned upward, and many a
+time, when his heart was full of joy and good-will, he had seen
+people draw back, half-frightened by his forbidding exterior.
+Alphonse alone knew him so well that he never seemed to see his
+ugliness; every one else misunderstood him. He became suspicious,
+and retired more and more within himself.
+
+In an insensible crescendo the thought grew in him: Why should he
+never attain anything of that which he most longed for--intimate
+and cordial intercourse and friendliness which should answer to
+the warmth pent up within him? Why should every one smile to
+Alphonse with out-stretched hands, while he must content himself
+with stiff bows and cold glances?
+
+Alphonse knew nothing of all this. He was joyous and healthy,
+charmed with life and content with his daily work. He had been
+placed in the easiest and most interesting branch of the business,
+and, with his quick brain and his knack of making himself
+agreeable, he filled his place satisfactorily.
+
+His social circle was very large--every one set store by his
+acquaintance, and he was at least as popular among women as among
+men.
+
+For a time Charles accompanied Alphonse into society, until he was
+seized by a misgiving that he was invited for his friend's sake
+alone, when he at once drew back.
+
+When Charles proposed that they should set up in business
+together, Alphonse had answered: "It is too good of you to choose
+me. You could easily find a much better partner."
+
+Charles had imagined that their altered relations and closer
+association in work would draw Alphonse out of the circles which
+Charles could not now endure, and unite them more closely. For he
+had conceived a vague dread of losing his friend.
+
+He did not himself know, nor would it have been easy to decide,
+whether he was jealous of all the people who flocked around
+Alphonse and drew him to them, or whether he envied his friend's
+popularity.
+
+They began their business prudently and energetically, and got on
+well.
+
+It was generally held that each formed an admirable complement to
+the other. Charles represented the solid, confidence-inspiring
+element, while the handsome and elegant Alphonse imparted to the
+firm a certain lustre which was far from being without value.
+
+Every one who came into the counting-house at once remarked his
+handsome figure, and thus it seemed quite natural that all should
+address themselves to him.
+
+Charles meanwhile bent over his work and let Alphonse be
+spokesman. When Alphonse asked him about anything, he
+answered shortly and quietly without looking up.
+
+Thus most people thought that Charles was a confidential clerk,
+while Alphonse was the real head of the house.
+
+As Frenchmen, they thought little about marrying, but as young
+Parisians they led a life into which erotics entered largely.
+
+Alphonse was never really in his element except when in female
+society. Then all his exhilarating amiability came into play, and
+when he leaned back at supper and held out his shallow champagne-
+glass to be refilled, he was as beautiful as a happy god.
+
+He had a neck of the kind which women long to caress, and his
+soft, half-curling hair looked as if it were negligently arranged,
+or carefully disarranged, by a woman's coquettish hand.
+
+Indeed, many slim white fingers had passed through those locks;
+for Alphonse had not only the gift of being loved by women, but
+also the yet rarer gift of being forgiven by them.
+
+When the friends were together at gay supper-parties, Alphonse
+paid no particular heed to Charles. He kept no account of his own
+love-affairs, far less of those of his friend. So it might easily
+happen that a beauty on whom Charles had cast a longing eye fell
+into the hands of Alphonse.
+
+Charles was used to seeing his friend preferred in life; but there
+are certain things to which men can scarcely accustom themselves.
+He seldom went with Alphonse to his suppers, and it was always
+long before the wine and the general exhilaration could bring him
+into a convivial humor.
+
+But then, when the champagne and the bright eyes had gone to his
+head, he would often be the wildest of all; he would sing loudly
+with his harsh voice, laugh and gesticulate so that his stiff
+black hair fell over his forehead; and then the merry ladies
+shrank from him, and called him the "chimney-sweep."
+
+--As the sentry paces up and down in the beleaguered fortress, he
+sometimes hears a strange sound in the silent night, as if
+something were rustling under his feet. It is the enemy, who has
+undermined the outworks, and to-night or to-morrow night there
+will be a hollow explosion, and armed men will storm in through
+the breach.
+
+If Charles had kept close watch over himself he would have heard
+strange thoughts rustling within him. But he would not hear--he
+had only a dim foreboding that sometime there must come an
+explosion.
+
+--And one day it came.
+
+It was already after business hours; the clerks had all left the
+outer office, and only the principals remained behind.
+
+Charles was busily writing a letter which he wished to
+finish before he left.
+
+Alphonse had drawn on both his gloves and buttoned them. Then he
+had brushed his hat until it shone, and now he was walking up and
+down and peeping into Charles's letter every time he passed the
+desk.
+
+They used to spend an hour every day before dinner in a cafe on
+the great Boulevard, and Alphonse was getting impatient for his
+newspapers.
+
+"Will you never have finished that letter?" he said, rather
+irritably.
+
+Charles was silent a second or two, then he sprang up so that his
+chair fell over: "Perhaps Alphonse imagined that he could do it
+better? Did he not know which of them was really the man of
+business?" And now the words streamed out with that incredible
+rapidity of which the French language is capable when it is used
+in fiery passion.
+
+But it was a turbid stream, carrying with it many ugly
+expressions, upbraidings, and recriminations; and through the
+whole there sounded something like a suppressed sob.
+
+As he strode up and down the room, with clenched hands and
+dishevelled hair, Charles looked like a little wiry-haired terrier
+barking at an elegant Italian grayhound. At last he seized his hat
+and rushed out.
+
+Alphonse had stood looking at him with great wondering eyes. When
+he was gone, and there was once more silence in the room, it
+seemed as though the air was still quivering with the hot words.
+Alphonse recalled them one by one, as he stood motionless beside
+the desk.
+
+"Did he not know which was the abler of the two?" Yes, assuredly!
+he had never denied that Charles was by far his superior.
+
+"He must not think that he would succeed in winning everything to
+himself with his smooth face." Alphonse was not conscious of ever
+having deprived his friend of anything.
+
+"I don't care for your cocottes" Charles had said.
+
+Could he really have been interested in the little Spanish dancer?
+If Alphonse had only had the faintest suspicion of such a thing he
+would never have looked at her. But that was nothing to get so
+wild about; there were plenty of women in Paris.
+
+And at last: "As sure as to-morrow comes, I will dissolve
+partnership!"
+
+Alphonse did not understand it at all. He left the counting-house
+and walked moodily through the streets until he met an
+acquaintance. That put other thoughts into his head; but all day
+he had a feeling as if something gloomy and uncomfortable lay in
+wait, ready to seize him so soon as he was alone.
+
+When he reached home, late at night, he found a letter from
+Charles. He opened it hastily; but it contained, instead of the
+apology he had expected, only a coldly-worded request to M.
+Alphonse to attend at the counting-house early the next morning
+"in order that the contemplated dissolution of partnership might
+be effected as quickly as possible."
+
+Now, for the first time, did Alphonse begin to understand that the
+scene in the counting-house had been more than a passing outburst
+of passion; but this only made the affair more inexplicable.
+
+And the longer he thought it over, the more clearly did he feel
+that Charles had been unjust to him. He had never been angry with
+his friend, nor was he precisely angry even now. But as he
+repeated to himself all the insults Charles had heaped upon him,
+his good-natured heart hardened; and the next morning he took his
+place in silence, after a cold "Good morning."
+
+Although he arrived a whole hour earlier than usual, he could see
+that Charles had been working long and industriously. There they
+sat, each on his side of the desk; they spoke only the most
+indispensable words; now and then a paper passed from hand to
+hand, but they never looked each other in the face.
+
+In this way they both worked--each more busily than the other--
+until twelve o'clock, their usual luncheon-time.
+
+This hour of dejeuner was the favorite time of both. Their custom
+was to have it served in their office, and when the old
+housekeeper announced that lunch was ready, they would both rise
+at once, even if they were in the midst of a sentence or of an
+account.
+
+They used to eat standing by the fireplace, or walking up and down
+in the warm, comfortable office. Alphonse had always some piquant
+stories to tell, and Charles laughed at them. These were his
+pleasantest hours.
+
+But that day, when madame said her friendly "Messieurs, on a
+servi" they both remained sitting. She opened her eyes wide, and
+repeated the words as she went out, but neither moved.
+
+At last Alphonse felt hungry, went to the table, poured out a
+glass of wine and began to eat his cutlet. But as he stood there
+eating, with his glass in his hand, and looked round the dear old
+office where they had spent so many pleasant hours, and then
+thought that they were to lose all this and imbitter their lives
+for a whim, a sudden burst of passion, the whole situation
+appeared to him so preposterous that he almost burst out laughing.
+
+"Look here, Charles," he said, in the half-earnest, half-joking
+tone which always used to make Charles laugh, "it will really be
+too absurd to advertise: 'According to an amicable agreement, from
+such and such a date the firm of--'"
+
+"I have been thinking," interrupted Charles, quietly, "that we
+will put: 'According to MUTUAL agreement.'"
+
+Alphonse laughed no more; he put down his glass, and the cutlet
+tasted bitter in his mouth.
+
+He understood that friendship was dead between them, why or
+wherefore he could not tell; but he thought that Charles was hard
+and unjust to him. He was now stiffer and colder than the other.
+
+They worked together until the business of dissolution was
+finished; then they parted.
+
+A considerable time passed, and the two quondam friends worked
+each in his own quarter in the great Paris. They met at the
+Bourse, but never did business with each other. Charles never
+worked against Alphonse; he did not wish to ruin him; he wished
+Alphonse to ruin himself.
+
+And Alphonse seemed likely enough to meet his friend's wishes in
+this respect. It is true that now and then he did a good stroke of
+business, but the steady industry he had learned from Charles he
+soon forgot. He began to neglect his office, and lost many good
+connections.
+
+He had always had a taste for dainty and luxurious living, but his
+association with the frugal Charles had hitherto held his
+extravagances in check. Now, on the contrary, his life became more
+and more dissipated. He made fresh acquaintances on every hand,
+and was more than ever the brilliant and popular Monsieur
+Alphonse; but Charles kept an eye on his growing debts.
+
+He had Alphonse watched as closely as possible, and, as their
+business was of the same kind, could form a pretty good estimate
+of the other's earnings. His expenses were even easier to
+ascertain, and he soon assured himself of the fact that Alphonse
+was beginning to run into debt in several quarters.
+
+He cultivated some acquaintances about whom he otherwise cared
+nothing, merely because through them he got an insight into
+Alphonse's expensive mode of life and rash prodigality. He sought
+the same cafes and restaurants as Alphonse, but at different
+times; he even had his clothes made by the same tailor, because
+the talkative little man entertained him with complaints that
+Monsieur Alphonse never paid his bills.
+
+Charles often thought how easy it would be to buy up a part of
+Alphonse's liabilities and let them fall into the hands of a
+grasping usurer. But it would be a great injustice to suppose that
+Charles for a moment contemplated doing such a thing himself. It
+was only an idea he was fond of dwelling upon; he was, as it were,
+in love with Alphonse's debts.
+
+But things went slowly, and Charles became pale and sallow while
+he watched and waited.
+
+He was longing for the time when the people who had always looked
+down upon him should have their eyes opened, and see how little
+the brilliant and idolized Alphonse was really fit for. He wanted
+to see him humbled, abandoned by his friends, lonely and poor; and
+then--!
+
+Beyond that he really did not like to speculate; for at this point
+feelings stirred within him which he would not acknowledge.
+
+He WOULD hate his former friend; he WOULD have revenge for all the
+coldness and neglect which had been his own lot in life; and every
+time the least thought in defence of Alphonse arose in his mind he
+pushed it aside, and said, like the old banker, "Sentiment won't
+do for a business man."
+
+One day he went to his tailor's; he bought more clothes in these
+days than he absolutely needed.
+
+The nimble little man at once ran to meet turn with a roll of
+cloth: "See, here is the very stuff for you. Monsieur Alphonse has
+had a whole suit made of it, and Monsieur Alphonse is a gentleman
+who knows how to dress."
+
+"I did not think that Monsieur Alphonse was one of your favorite
+customers," said Charles, rather taken by surprise.
+
+"Oh, mon Dieu!" exclaimed the little tailor, "you mean because I
+have once or twice mentioned that Monsieur Alphonse owed me a few
+thousand francs. It was very stupid of me to speak so. Monsieur
+Alphonse has not only paid me the trifle he was owing, but I know
+that he has also satisfied a number of other creditors. I have
+done ce cher beau monsieur great injustice, and I beg you never to
+give him a hint of my stupidity."
+
+Charles was no longer listening to the chatter of the garrulous
+tailor. He soon left the shop, and went up the street, quite
+absorbed in the one thought that Alphonse had paid.
+
+He thought how foolish it really was of him to wait and wait for
+the other's ruin. How easily might not the adroit and lucky
+Alphonse come across many a brilliant business opening, and make
+plenty of money without a word of it reaching Charles's ears.
+Perhaps, after all, he was getting on well. Perhaps it would end
+in people saying, "See, at last Monsieur Alphonse shows what he is
+fit for, now that he is quit of his dull and crabbed partner!"
+
+Charles went slowly up the street with his head bent. Many people
+jostled him, but he heeded not. His life seemed to him so
+meaningless, as if he had lost all that he had ever possessed--or
+had he himself cast it from him? Just then some one ran against
+him with more than usual violence. He looked up. It was an
+acquaintance from the time when he and Alphonse had been in the
+Credit Lyonnais.
+
+"Ah, good-day, Monsieur Charles!" cried he, "It is long since we
+met. Odd, too, that I should meet you to-day. I was just thinking
+of you this morning."
+
+"Why, may I ask?" said Charles, half absently.
+
+"Well, you see, only to-day I saw up at the bank a paper--a bill
+for thirty or forty thousand francs--bearing both your name and
+that of Monsieur Alphonse. It astonished me, for I thought that
+you two--hm!--had done with each other."
+
+"No, we have not quite done with each other yet," said Charles
+slowly.
+
+He struggled with all his might to keep his face calm, and asked,
+in as natural a tone as he could command, "When does the bill fall
+due? I don't quite recollect."
+
+"To-morrow or the day after, I think," answered the other, who was
+a hard-worked business man, and was already in a hurry to be off.
+"It was accepted by Monsieur Alphonse."
+
+"I know that," said Charles; "but could you not manage to let ME
+redeem the bill to-morrow? It is a courtesy--a favor I am anxious
+to do."
+
+"With pleasure. Tell your messenger to ask for me personally at
+the bank to-morrow afternoon. I will arrange it; nothing easier.
+Excuse me; I'm in a hurry. Good-bye!" and with that he ran on.
+
+Next day Charles sat in his counting-house waiting for the
+messenger who had gone up to the bank to redeem Alphonse's bill.
+
+At last a clerk entered, laid a folded blue paper by his
+principal's side, and went out again.
+
+Not until the door was closed did Charles seize the draft, look
+swiftly round the room, and open it. He stared for a second or two
+at his name, then lay back in his chair and drew a deep breath. It
+was as he had expected--the signature was a forgery.
+
+He bent over it again. For long he sat, gazing at his own name,
+and observing how badly it was counterfeited.
+
+While his sharp eyes followed every line in the letters of his
+name, he scarcely thought. His mind was so disturbed, and his
+feelings so strangely conflicting, that it was some time before he
+became conscious how much they betrayed--these bungling strokes on
+the blue paper.
+
+He felt a strange lump in his throat, his nose began to tickle a
+little, and, before he was aware of it, a big tear fell on the
+paper.
+
+He looked hastily around, took out his pocket-handkerchief, and
+carefully wiped the wet place on the bill. He thought again of the
+old banker in the Rue Bergere.
+
+What did it matter to him that Alphonse's weak character had at
+last led him to crime, and what had he lost? Nothing, for did he
+not hate his former friend? No one could say it was his fault that
+Alphonse was ruined--he had shared with him honestly, and never
+harmed him.
+
+Then his thoughts tamed to Alphonse. He knew him well enough to be
+sure that when the refined, delicate Alphonse had sunk so low, he
+must have come to a jutting headland in life, and he prepared to
+leap out of it rather than let disgrace reach him.
+
+At this thought Charles sprang up. That must not be. Alphonse
+should not have time to send a bullet through his bead and hide
+his shame in the mixture of compassion and mysterious horror
+which follows the suicide. Thus Charles would lose
+his revenge, and it would be all to no purpose that he had gone
+and nursed his hatred until he himself had become evil through
+it. Since he had forever lost his friend, he would at least expose
+his enemy, so that all should see what a miserable, despicable
+being was this charming Alphonse.
+
+He looked at his watch; it was half-past four. Charles knew the
+cafe in which he would find Alphonse at this hour; he pocketed the
+bill and buttoned his coat.
+
+But on the way he would call at a police-station, and hand over
+the bill to a detective, who at a sign from Charles should
+suddenly advance into the middle of the cafe where Alphonse was
+always surrounded by his friends and admirers, and say loudly and
+distinctly so that all should hear it:
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse, you are charged with forgery."
+
+It was raining in Paris. The day had been foggy, raw, and cold;
+and well on in the afternoon it had begun to rain. It was not a
+downpour--the water did not fall from the clouds in regular
+drops--but the clouds themselves had, as it were, laid themselves
+down in the streets of Paris and there slowly condensed into water.
+
+No matter how people might seek to shelter themselves, they got
+wet on all sides. The moisture slid down the back of your neck,
+laid itself like a wet towel about your knees, penetrated into
+your boots and far up your trousers.
+
+A few sanguine ladies were standing in the portes cocheres, with
+their skirts tucked up, expecting it to clear; others waited by
+the hour in the omnibus stations. But most of the stronger sex
+hurried along under their umbrellas; only a few had been sensible
+enough to give up the battle, and had turned up their collars,
+stuck their umbrellas under their arms, and their hands in their
+pockets.
+
+Although it was early in the autumn it was already dusk at five
+o'clock. A few gas-jets lighted in the narrowest streets, and in a
+shop here and there strove to shine out in the thick wet air.
+
+People swarmed as usual in the streets, jostled one another off
+the pavement, and ruined one another's umbrellas. All the cabs
+were taken up; they splashed along and bespattered the foot
+passengers to the best of their ability, while the asphalt
+glistened in the dim light with a dense coating of mud.
+
+The cafes were crowded to excess; regular customers went round and
+scolded, and the waiters ran against each other in their hurry.
+Ever and anon, amid the confusion, could be heard the sharp little
+ting of the bell on the buffet; it was la dame du comptoir
+summoning a waiter, while her calm eyes kept a watch upon the
+whole cafe.
+
+A lady sat at the buffet of a large restaurant on the Boulevard
+Sebastopol. She was widely known for her cleverness and her
+amiable manners.
+
+She had glossy black hair, which, in spite of the fashion, she
+wore parted in the middle of her forehead in natural curls. Her
+eyes were almost black and her mouth full, with a little shadow of
+a moustache.
+
+Her figure was still very pretty, although, if the truth were
+known, she had probably passed her thirtieth year; and she had a
+soft little hand, with which she wrote elegant figures in her
+cashbook, and now and then a little note. Madame Virginie could
+converse with the young dandies who were always hanging about the
+buffet, and parry their witticisms, while she kept account with
+the waiters and had her eye upon every corner of the great room.
+
+She was really pretty only from five till seven in the afternoon--
+that being the time at which Alphonse invariably visited the cafe.
+Then her eyes never left him; she got a fresher color, her mouth
+was always trembling into a smile, and her movements became
+somewhat nervous. That was the only time of the day when she was
+ever known to give a random answer or to make a mistake in the
+accounts; and the waiters tittered and nudged each other.
+
+For it was generally thought that she had formerly had relations
+with Alphonse, and some would even have it that she was still his
+mistress.
+
+She herself best knew how matters stood; but it was impossible to
+be angry with Monsieur Alphonse. She was well aware that he cared
+no more for her than for twenty others; that she had lost him--
+nay, that he had never really been hers. And yet her eyes besought
+a friendly look, and when he left the cafe without sending her a
+confidential greeting, it seemed as though she suddenly faded, and
+the waiters said to each other: "Look at madame; she is gray
+tonight."
+
+Over at the windows it was still light enough to read the papers;
+a couple of young men were amusing themselves with watching the
+crowds which streamed past. Seen through the great plate-glass
+windows, the busy forms gliding past one another in the dense,
+wet, rainy air looked like fish in an aquarium. Further back in
+the cafe, and over the billiard-tables, the gas was lighted.
+Alphonse was playing with a couple of friends.
+
+He had been to the buffet and greeted Madame Virginie, and she,
+who had long noticed how Alphonse was growing paler day by day,
+had--half in jest, half in anxiety--reproached him with his
+thoughtless life.
+
+Alphonse answered with a poor joke and asked for absinthe.
+
+How she hated those light ladies of the ballet and the opera who
+enticed Monsieur Alphonse to revel night after night at the
+gaming-table, or at interminable suppers! How ill he had been
+looking these last few weeks! He had grown quite thin, and the
+great gentle eyes had acquired a piercing, restless look. What
+would she not give to be able to rescue him out of that life that
+was dragging him down! She glanced in the opposite mirror and
+thought she had beauty enough left.
+
+Now and then the door opened and a new guest came in, stamped his
+feet, and shut his wet umbrella. All bowed to Madame Virginie, and
+almost all said, "What horrible weather!"
+
+When Charles entered, he saluted shortly and took a seat in the
+corner beside the fireplace.
+
+Alphonse's eyes had indeed become restless. He looked towards the
+door every time any one came in; and when Charles appeared, a
+spasm passed over his face and he missed his stroke.
+
+"Monsieur Alphonse is not in the vein to-day," said an onlooker.
+
+Soon after a strange gentleman came in. Charles looked up from his
+paper and nodded slightly; the stranger raised his eyebrows a
+little and looked at Alphonse.
+
+He dropped his cue on the floor.
+
+"Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm not in the mood for billiards to-day,"
+said he, "permit me to leave off. Waiter, bring me a bottle of
+seltzer-water and a spoon--I must take my dose of Vichy salts."
+
+"You should not take so much Vichy salts, Monsieur Alphonse, but
+rather keep to a sensible diet," said the doctor, who sat a little
+way off playing chess.
+
+Alphonse laughed, and seated himself at the newspaper-table. He
+seized the JOURNAL AMUSANT, and began to make merry remarks
+upon the illustrations. A little circle quickly gathered
+round him, and he was inexhaustible in racy stories and
+whimsicalities.
+
+While he rattled on under cover of the others' laughter, he poured
+out a glass of seltzer-water and took from his pocket a little box
+on which was written, in large letters, "Vichy Salts."
+
+He shook the powder out into the glass and stirred it round with a
+spoon. There was a little cigar-ash on the floor in front of his
+chair; he whipped it off with his pocket-handkerchief, and then
+stretched out his hand for the glass.
+
+At that moment he felt a hand on his arm. Charles had risen and
+hurried across the room he now bent down over Alphonse.
+
+Alphonse turned his head towards him so that none but Charles
+could see his face. At first he let his eyes travel furtively over
+his old friend's figure; then he looked up, and, gazing straight
+at Charles, he said, half aloud, "Charlie!"
+
+It was long since Charles had heard that old pet name. He gazed
+into the well-known face and now for the first time saw how it had
+altered of late. It seemed to him as though he were
+reading a tragic story about himself.
+
+They remained thus far a second or two and there glided over
+Alphonse's features that expression of imploring helplessness which
+Charles knew so well from the old school-days, when Alphonse came
+bounding in at the last moment and wanted his composition written.
+
+"Have you done with the JOURNAL AMUSANT?" asked Charles, with a
+thick utterance.
+
+"Yes; pray take it," answered Alphonse, hurriedly. He reached him
+the paper, and at the same time got hold of Charles's thumb. He
+pressed it and whispered, "Thanks," then--drained the glass.
+
+Charles went over to the stranger who sat by the door: "Give me
+the bill."
+
+"You don't need our assistance, then?"
+
+"No, thanks."
+
+"So much the better," said the stranger, handing Charles a folded
+blue paper. Then he paid for his coffee and went.
+
+Madame Virginie rose with a little shriek: "Alphonse! Oh, my God!
+Monsieur Alphonse is ill."
+
+He slipped off his chair; his shoulders went up and his head fell
+on one side. He remained sitting on the floor, with his back
+against the chair.
+
+There was a movement among those nearest; the doctor sprang over
+and knelt beside him. When he looked in Alphonse's face he started
+a little. He took his hand as if to feel his pulse, and at the
+same time bent down over the glass which stood on the edge of the
+table.
+
+With a movement of the arm he gave it a slight push, so that it
+fell on the floor and was smashed. Then he laid down the dead
+man's hand and bound a handkerchief round his chin.
+
+Not till then did the others understand what had happened. "Dead?
+Is he dead, doctor? Monsieur Alphonse dead?"
+
+"Heart disease," answered the doctor.
+
+One came running with water, another with vinegar. Amid laughter
+and noise, the balls could be heard cannoning on the inner
+billiard-table.
+
+"Hush!" some one whispered. "Hush!" was repeated; and the silence
+spread in wider and wider circles round the corpse, until all was
+quite still.
+
+"Come and lend a hand," said the doctor.
+
+The dead man was lifted up; they laid him on a sofa in a corner of
+the room, and the nearest gas-jets were put out.
+
+Madame Virginie was still standing up; her face was chalk-white,
+and she held her little soft hand pressed against her breast. They
+carried him right past the buffet. The doctor had seized him under
+the back, so that his waistcoat slipped up and a piece of his fine
+white shirt appeared.
+
+She followed with her eyes the slender, supple limbs she knew so
+well, and continued to stare towards the dark corner.
+
+Most of the guests went away in silence. A couple of young men
+entered noisily from the street; a waiter ran towards them and
+said a few words. They glanced towards the corner, buttoned their
+coats, and plunged out again into the fog.
+
+The half-darkened cafe was soon empty; only some of Alphonse's
+nearest friends stood in a group and whispered. The doctor was
+talking with the proprietor, who had now appeared on the scene.
+
+The waiters stole to and fro, making great circuits to avoid the
+dark corner. One of them knelt and gathered up the fragments of
+the glass on a tray. He did his work as quietly as he could; but
+for all that it made too much noise.
+
+"Let that alone until by and by," said the host, softly.
+
+Leaning against the chimney-piece, Charles looked at the dead man.
+He slowly tore the folded paper to pieces, while he thought of his
+friend.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HOPES
+
+BY
+
+FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+The Translation by Mary Howitt.
+
+
+HOPES
+
+BY
+
+FREDERIKA BREMER
+
+
+I had a peculiar method of wandering without very much pain along
+the stormy path of life. Although, in a physical as well as in a
+moral sense, I wandered almost barefoot,-I HOPED, hoped from day
+to day; in the morning my hopes rested on evening, in the evening
+on the morning; in the autumn; upon the spring, in spring upon the
+autumn; from this year to the next, and this amid mere hopes, I
+had passed through nearly thirty years of my life, without, of all
+my privations, painfully perceiving the want of anything but whole
+boots. Nevertheless, I consoled myself easily for this out of
+doors in the open air but in a drawing-room it always gave me an
+uneasy manner to have to turn the heels, as being the part least
+torn, to the front. Much more oppressive was it to me, truly, that
+I could in the abodes of misery only console with kind words.
+
+I comforted myself, like a thousand others, by a hopeful glance
+upon the rolling wheel of fortune, and with the philosophical
+remark, "When the time comes, comes the counsel."
+
+As a poor assistant to a country clergyman with a narrow income
+and meagre table, morally becoming mouldy in the company of the
+scolding housekeeper, of the willingly fuddled clergyman, of a
+foolish young gentleman and the daughters of the house, who, with
+high shoulders and turned-in toes, went from morning to night
+paying visits, I felt a peculiarly strange emotion of tenderness
+and joy as one of my acquaintance informed me by writing, that my
+uncle, the Merchant P---in Stockholm, to me personally unknown,
+now lay dying, and in a paroxysm of kindred affection had inquired
+after his good-for-nothing nephew.
+
+With a flat, meagre little bundle, and a million of rich hopes,
+the grateful nephew now allowed himself to be shaken up hill and
+down hill, upon an uncommonly uncomfortable and stiff-necked
+peasant cart, and arrived, head-over-heels, in the capital.
+
+In the inn where I alighted, I ordered for myself a little--only a
+very little breakfast,--a trifle--a bit of bread-and-butter--a few
+eggs.
+
+The landlord and a fat gentleman walked up and down the saloon and
+chatted. "Nay, that I must say," said the fat gentleman, "this
+Merchant P--, who died the day before yesterday, he was a fine
+fellow."
+
+"Yes, yes," thought I; "aha, aha, a fellow, who had heaps of
+money! Hear you, my friend" (to the waiter), "could not you get me
+a bit of venison, or some other solid dish? Hear you, a cup of
+bouillon would not be amiss. Look after it, but quick!"
+
+"Yes," said mine host now, "it is strong! Thirty thousand dollars,
+and they banko! Nobody in the whole world could have dreamed of
+it--thirty thousand!"
+
+"Thirty thousand!" repeated I, in my exultant soul,
+"thirty thousand! Hear you, waiter! Make haste, give me here
+thirty then--; and give me here banko--no give me here a glass of
+wine, I mean;" and from head to heart there sang in me, amid the
+trumpet-beat of every pulse in alternating echoes, "Thirty thousand!
+Thirty thousand!"
+
+"Yes," continued the fat gentlemen, "and would you believe that in
+the mass of debts there are nine hundred dollars for credit
+and five thousand dollars for champagne.  And now all his
+creditors stand there prettily and open their mouths; all the thing
+in the house are hardly worth two farthings; and out of the house
+they find, as the only indemnification--a calash!"
+
+"Aha, that is something quite different! Hear you, youth, waiter!
+Eh, come you here! take that meat, and the bouillon, and the wine
+away again; and hear you, observe well, that I have not eaten a
+morsel of all this. How could I, indeed; I, that ever since I
+opened my eyes this morning have done nothing else but eat (a
+horrible untruth!), and it just now occurs to me that it would
+therefore be unnecessary to pay money for such a superfluous
+feast."
+
+"But you have actually ordered it," replied the waiter, in a state
+of excitement.
+
+"My friend," I replied, and seized myself behind the ear, a place
+whence people, who are in embarrassment, are accustomed in some
+sort of way to obtain the necessary help--"my friend, it was a
+mistake for which I must not be punished; for it was not my fault
+that a rich heir, for whom I ordered the breakfast, is all at once
+become poor,--yes, poorer than many a poor devil, because he has
+lost more than the half of his present means upon the future. If
+he, under these circumstances, as you may well imagine, cannot pay
+for a dear breakfast, yet it does not prevent my paying for the
+eggs which I have devoured, and giving you over and above
+something handsome for your trouble, as business compels me to
+move off from here immediately."
+
+By my excellent logic, and the "something handsome," I removed
+from my throat, with a bleeding heart and a watering mouth, that
+dear breakfast, and wandered forth into the city, with my little
+bundle under my arm, to seek for a cheap room, while I considered
+where I w as to get the money for it.
+
+In consequence of the violent coming in contact of hope and
+reality I had a little headache. But when I saw upon my ramble a
+gentleman, ornamented with ribbons and stars, alight from a
+magnificent carriage, who had a pale yellow complexion, a deeply-
+wrinkled brow, and above his eyebrows an intelligible trace of ill-
+humour; when I saw a young count, with whom I had become
+acquainted in the University of Upsala, walking along as if he
+were about to fall on his nose from age and weariness of life,
+I held up my head, inhaled the air, which accidentally
+(unfortunately) at this place was filled with the smell of smoked
+sausage, and extolled poverty, and a pure heart.
+
+I found at length, in a remote street, a little room, which was
+more suited to my gloomy prospects than to the bright hopes which
+I cherished two hours before.
+
+I had obtained permission to spend the winter in Stockholm, and
+had thought of spending it in quite a different way to what now
+was to be expected. But what was to be done? To let the courage
+sink was the worst of all; to lay the hands in the lap and look up
+to heaven, not much better. "The sun breaks forth when one least
+expects it," thought I, as heavy autumn clouds descended upon the
+city. I determined to use all the means I could to obtain for myself a
+decent substance with a somewhat pleasanter prospect for the future,
+than was opened to me under the miserable protection of Pastor G., and,
+in the meantime, to earn my daily bread by copying,--a sorrowful
+expedient in a sorrowful condition.
+
+Thus I passed my days amid fruitless endeavors to find ears which
+might not be deaf, amid the heart-wearing occupation of writing
+out fairly the empty productions of empty heads, with my dinners
+becoming more and more scanty, and with ascending hopes, until
+that evening against whose date I afterwards made a cross in my
+calendar.
+
+My host had just left me with the friendly admonition to pay the
+first quarter's rent on the following day, if I did not prefer
+(the politeness is French) to march forth again with bag and
+baggage on a voyage of discovery through the streets of the city.
+
+It was just eight o'clock, on an indescribably cold November
+evening, when I was revived with this affectionate salutation on
+my return from a visit to a sick person, for whom I, perhaps--
+really somewhat inconsiderately, had emptied my purse.
+
+I snuffed my sleepy, thin candle with my fingers, and glanced
+around the little dark chamber, for the further use of which I
+must soon see myself compelled to gold-making.
+
+"Diogenes dwelt worse," sighed I, with a submissive mind, as I
+drew a lame table from the window where the wind and rain were not
+contented to stop outside. At that moment my eye fell upon a
+brilliantly blazing fire in a kitchen, which lay, Tantalus-like,
+directly opposite to my modest room, where the fireplace was as
+dark as possible.
+
+"Cooks, men and women, have the happiest lot of all serving
+mortals!" thought I, as, with a secret desire to play that fire-
+tending game, I contemplated the well-fed dame, amid iron pots and
+stewpans, standing there like an empress in the glory of the
+firelight, and with the fire-tongs sceptre rummaging about
+majestically in the glowing realm.
+
+A story higher, I had, through a window, which was concealed by no
+envious curtain, the view into a brightly lighted room, where a
+numerous family were assembled round a tea-table covered with cups
+and bread baskets.
+
+I was stiff in my whole body, from cold and damp. How empty it was
+in that part which may be called the magazine, I do not say; but,
+ah, good Heavens! thought I, if, however, that pretty girl, who
+over there takes a cop of tea-nectar and rich splendid rusks to
+that fat gentleman who, from satiety, can hardly raise himself
+from the sofa, would but reach out her lovely hand a little
+further, and could--she would with a thousand kisses--in vain!--
+ah, the satiated gentleman takes his cup; he steeps and steeps his
+rusk with such eternal slowness--it might be wine. Now the
+charming girl caresses him. I am curious whether it is the dear
+papa himself or the uncle, or, perhaps--Ah, the enviable mortal!
+But no, it is quite impossible; he is at least forty years older
+than she. See, that indeed must be his wife--an elderly lady, who
+sits near him on the sofa, and who offers rusks to the young lady.
+The old lady seems very dignified; but to whom does she go now? I
+cannot see the person. An ear and a piece of a shoulder are all
+that peep forth near the window. I cannot exactly take it amiss
+that the respectable person turns his back to me; but that he
+keeps the young lady a quarter of an hour standing before him,
+lets her courtesy and offer her good things, does thoroughly
+provoke me. It must be a lady--a man could not be so unpolite
+towards this angelic being. But--or--now she takes the cup; and
+now, oh, woe! a great man's hand grasps into the rusk-basket--the
+savage! and how he helps himself--the churl! I should like to know
+whether it is her brother,--he was perhaps hungry, poor fellow!
+Now come in, one after the other, two lovely children, who are
+like the sister. I wonder now, whether the good man with one ear
+has left anything remaining. That most charming of girls, how she
+caresses the little ones, and kisses them, and gives to them all
+the rusks and the cakes that have escaped the fingers of Monsieur
+Gobble. Now she has had herself, the sweet child! of the whole
+entertainment, no more than me--the smell.
+
+What a movement suddenly takes place in the room! The old
+gentleman heaves himself up from the sofa--the person with one ear
+starts forward, and in so doing, gives the young lady a blow (the
+dromedary!) which makes her knock against the tea-table, whereby
+the poor lady, who was just about springing up from the sofa, is
+pushed down again--the children hop about and clap their hands--
+the door flies open--a young officer enters--the young girl throws
+herself into his arms. So, indeed! Aha, now we have it! I put to
+my shutters so violently that they cracked, and seated myself on a
+chair, quite wet through with rain, and with my knees trembling.
+
+What had I to do at the window? That is what one gets when one is
+inquisitive.
+
+Eight days ago, this family had removed from the country into the
+handsome house opposite to me; and it had never yet occurred to me
+to ask who they were, or whence they came. What need was there for
+me to-night to make myself acquainted with their domestic concerns
+in an illicit manner? How could it interest me? I was in an ill-humor;
+perhaps, too, I felt some little heartache. But for all that, true
+to my resolution, not to give myself up to anxious thoughts when they
+could do no good, I seized the pen with stiff fingers, and, in order
+to dissipate my vexation, wished to attempt a description of domestic
+happiness, of a happiness which I had never enjoyed. For the rest, I
+philosophized whilst I blew upon my stiffened hands. "Am I the first
+who, in the hot hour of fancy, has sought for a warmth which the stern
+world of reality has denied him? Six dollars for a measure of fir-wood.
+Yes, prosit, thou art not likely to get it before December! I write!
+
+"Happy, threefold happy, the family, in whose narrow, contracted
+circle no heart bleeds solitarily, or solitarily rejoices! No
+look, no smile, remains unanswered; and where the friends say
+daily, not with words but with deeds, to each other, 'Thy cares,
+thy joys, thy happiness, are mine also!'"
+
+"Lovely is the peaceful, the quiet home, which closes itself
+protectingly around the weary pilgrim through life--which, around
+its friendly blazing hearth, assembles for repose the old man
+leaning on his staff, the strong man, the affectionate wife, and
+happy children, who, shouting and exulting, hop about in their
+earthly heaven, and closing a day spent in the pastimes of
+innocence, repeat a thanksgiving prayer with smiling lips, and
+drop asleep on the bosom of their parents, whilst the gentle voice
+of the mother tells them, in whispered cradle-tones, how around
+their couch--
+
+     "The little angels in a ring,
+      Stand round about to keep
+      A watchful guard upon the bed
+      Where little children sleep."
+
+Here I was obliged to leave off, because I felt something
+resembling a drop of rain come forth from my eye, and therefore
+could not any longer see clearly.
+
+"How many," thought I, as my reflections, against my will, took a
+melancholy turn--"how many are there who must, to their sorrow, do
+without this highest happiness of earthly life--domestic
+happiness!"
+
+For one moment I contemplated myself in the only whole glass which
+I had in my room--that OF TRUTH,--and then wrote again with gloomy
+feeling:--"Unhappy, indeed, may the forlorn one be called, who, in
+the anxious and cool moments of life (which, indeed, come so
+often), is pressed to no faithful heart, whose sigh nobody
+returns, whose quiet grief nobody alleviates with a 'I understand
+thee, I suffer with thee!'
+
+"He is cast down, nobody raises him up; he weeps, nobody sees it,
+nobody will see it; he goes, nobody follows him; he comes, nobody
+goes to meet him; he rests, nobody watches over him. He is lonely.
+Oh, how unfortunate he is! Why dies he not? Ah, who would weep for
+him? How cold is a grave which no warm tears of love moisten!
+
+"He is lonesome in the winter night; for him the earth has no
+flowers, and dark burn the lights of heaven. Why wanders he, the
+lonesome one; why waits he; why flies he not, the shadow, to the
+land of shades? Ah, he still hopes, he is a mendicant who begs for
+joy, who yet waits in the eleventh hour, that a merciful hand may
+give him an alms.
+
+"One only little blossom of earth will he gather, bear it upon his
+heart, in order henceforth not so lonesomely, not so entirely
+lonesome, to wander down to rest."
+
+It was my own condition which I described. I deplored myself.
+
+Early deprived of my parents, without brothers and sisters,
+friends, and relations, I stood in the world yet so solitary and
+forlorn, that but for an inward confidence in heaven, and a
+naturally happy temper, I should often enough have wished to leave
+this contemptuous world; till now, however, I had almost
+constantly hoped from the future, and this more from an
+instinctive feeling that this might be the best, than to subdue by
+philosophy every too vivid wish for an agreeable present time,
+because it was altogether so opposed to possibility. For some
+time, however, alas! it had been otherwise with me; I felt, and
+especially this evening, more than ever an inexpressible desire to
+have somebody to love,--to have some one about me who would cleave
+to me--who would be a friend to me;--in short, to have (for me the
+highest felicity on earth) a wife--a beloved, devoted wife! Oh,
+she would comfort me, she would cheer me! her affection, even in
+the poorest hut, would make of me a king. That the love-fire of my
+heart would not insure the faithful being at my side from being
+frozen was soon made clearly sensible to me by an involuntary
+shudder. More dejected than ever, I rose up and walked a few times
+about my room (that is to say, two steps right forward, and then
+turn back again). The sense of my condition followed me like the
+shadow on the wall, and for the first time in my life I felt
+myself cast down, and threw a gloomy look on my dark future. I had
+no patron, therefore could not reckon upon promotion for a long
+time; consequently, also, not upon my own bread--on a friend--a
+wife, I mean.
+
+"But what in all the world," said I yet once more seriously to
+myself, "what helps beating one's brains?" Yet once more I tried
+to get rid of all anxious thoughts. "If, however, a Christian soul
+could only come to me this evening! Let it be whoever it would--
+friend or foe--it would be better than this solitude. Yes, even if
+an inhabitant of the world of spirits opened the door, he would be
+welcome to me! What was that? Three blows on the door! I will not,
+however, believe it--again three!" I went and opened; there was
+nobody there; only the wind went howling up and down the stairs. I
+hastily shut the door again, thrust my hands into my pockets, and
+went up and down for a while, humming aloud. Some moments
+afterwards I fancied I heard a sigh--I was silent, and listened,--
+again there was very evidently a sigh--and yet once again, so deep
+and so mournful, that I exclaimed with secret terror, "Who is
+there?" No answer.
+
+For a moment I stood still, and considered what this really could
+mean, when a horrible noise, as if cats were sent with yells
+lumbering down the whole flight of stairs, and ended with a mighty
+blow against my door, put an end to my indecision. I took up the
+candle, and a stick, and went out. At the moment when I opened the
+door my light was blown out. A gigantic white figure glimmered
+opposite to me, and I felt myself suddenly embraced by two strong
+arms. I cried for help, and struggled so actively to get loose
+that both myself and my adversary fell to the ground, but so that
+I lay uppermost. Like an arrow I sprang again upright, and was
+about to fetch a light, when I stumbled over something--Heaven
+knows what it was (I firmly believe that somebody held me fast by
+the feet), by which I fell a second time, struck my head on the
+corner of the table, and lost my consciousness, whilst a
+suspicions noise, which had great resemblance to laughter,
+rang in my ears.
+
+When I again opened my eyes, they met a dazzling blaze of light. I
+closed them again, and listened to a confused noise around me--
+opened them again a very little, and endeavoured to distinguish
+the objects which surrounded me, which appeared to me so
+enigmatical and strange that I almost feared my mind had vanished.
+I lay upon a sofa, and--no, I really did not deceive myself,--that
+charming girl, who on this evening had so incessantly floated
+before my thoughts, stood actually beside me, and with a heavenly
+expression of sympathy bathed my head with vinegar. A young man
+whose countenance seemed known to me held my hand between his. I
+perceived also the fat gentleman, another thin one, the lady, the
+children, and in distant twilight I saw the shimmer of the
+paradise of the tea-table; in short, I found myself by an
+incomprehensible whim of fate amidst the family which an hour
+before I had contemplated with such lively sympathy.
+
+When I again had returned to full consciousness, the young man
+embraced me several times with military vehemence.
+
+"Do you then no longer know me?" cried he indignantly, as he saw
+me petrified body and soul. "Have you then forgotten August D--,
+whose life a short time since you saved at the peril of your own?
+whom you so handsomely fished up, with danger to yourself, from
+having for ever to remain in the uninteresting company of fishes?
+See here, my father, my mother, my sister, Wilhelmina!"
+
+I pressed his hand; and now the parents embraced me. With a stout
+blow of the fist upon the table, August's father exclaimed, "And
+because you have saved my son's life, and because you are such a
+downright honest and good fellow, and have suffered hunger
+yourself--that you might give others to eat--you shall really have
+the parsonage at H--. Yes, you shall become clergyman, I say!--I
+have jus patronatum, you understand!"
+
+For a good while I was not at all in a condition to comprehend, to
+think, or to speak; and before all had been cleared up by a
+thousand explanations, I could understand nothing clearly
+excepting that Wilhelmina was not--that Wilhelmina was August's
+sister.
+
+He had returned this evening from a journey of service, during
+which, in the preceding summer, chance had given to me the good
+fortune to rescue him from a danger, into which youthful heat and
+excess of spirit had thrown him. I had not seen him again since
+this occurrence; earlier, I had made a passing acquaintance with
+him, had drunk brotherhood with him at the university, and after
+that had forgotten my dear brother.
+
+He had now related this occurrence to his family,
+with the easily kindled-up enthusiasm of youth, together with
+what he knew of me beside, and what he did not know. The father,
+who had a living in his gift, and who (as I afterwards found) had
+made from his window some compassionate remarks upon my meagre
+dinner-table, determined, assailed by the prayers of his son, to
+raise me from the lap of poverty to the summit of good fortune.
+August would in his rapture announce to me my good luck instantly,
+and in order, at the same time, to gratify his passion for merry
+jokes, made himself known upon my stairs in a way which occasioned
+me a severe, although not dangerous, contusion on the temples, and
+the unexpected removal across the street, out of the deepest
+darkness into the brightest light. The good youth besought a
+thousand times forgiveness for his thoughtlessness; a thousand
+times I assured him that it was not worth the trouble to speak of
+such a trifling blow. And, in fact, the living was a balsam which
+would have made a greater wound than this imperceptible also.
+
+Astonished, and somewhat embarrassed, I now perceived that the ear
+and the shoulder, whose possessor had seized so horribly upon the
+contents of the rusk basket, and over whom I had poured out my
+gall belonged to nobody else than to August's father, and my
+patron. The fat gentleman who sat upon the sofa was Wilhelmina's
+uncle.
+
+The kindness and gayety of my new friends made me soon feel at
+home and happy. The old people treated me like a child of the
+house, the young ones as a brother, and the two little ones seemed
+to anticipate a gingerbread-friend in me.
+
+After I had received two cups of tea from Wilhelmina's pretty
+hand, to which I almost feared taking, in my abstraction of mind,
+more rusks than my excellent patron, I rose up to take my leave.
+They insisted absolutely upon my passing the night there; but I
+abode by my determination of spending the first happy night in my
+old habitation, amid thanksgiving to the lofty Ruler of my fate.
+
+They all embraced me afresh; and I now also embraced all rightly,
+from the bottom of my heart, Wilhelmina also, although not without
+having gracious permission first. "I might as well have left that
+alone," thought I afterwards, "if it is to be the first and last
+time!" August accompanied me back.
+
+My host stood in my room amid the overturned chairs and tables,
+with a countenance which alternated between rain and sunshine; on
+one side his mouth drew itself with a reluctant smile up to his
+ear, on the other it crept for vexation down to his double chin;
+the eyes followed the same direction, and the whole had a look of
+a combat, till the tone in which August indicated to him
+that he should leave us alone, changed all into the most friendly,
+grinning mien, and the proprietor of the same vanished from the
+door with the most submissive bows.
+
+August was in despair about my table, my chair, my bed, and so on.
+It was with difficulty that I withheld him from cudgelling the
+host who would take money for such a hole. I was obliged to
+satisfy him with the most holy assurances, that on the following
+day I would remove without delay. "But tell him," prayed August,
+"before you pay him, that he is a villain, a usurer, a cheat, a--
+or if you like, I will--"
+
+"No, no; heaven defend us!" interrupted I, "be quiet, and let me
+only manage."
+
+After my young friend had left me, I passed several happy hours in
+thinking on the change in my fate, and inwardly thanking God for
+it. My thoughts then rambled to the parsonage; and heaven knows
+what fat oxen and cows, what pleasure grounds, with flowers,
+fruits, and vegetables, I saw in spirit surrounding my new
+paradise, where my Eve walked by my side, and supported on my arm;
+and especially what an innumerable crowd of happy and edified
+people I saw streaming from the church when I had preached. I
+baptized, I confirmed, I comforted my beloved community in the
+zeal and warmth of my heart--and forgot only the funerals.
+
+Every poor clergyman who has received a living, every mortal,
+especially to whom unexpectedly a long-cherished wish has been
+accomplished, will easily picture to himself my state.
+
+Later in the night it sunk at last like a veil before my eyes, and
+my thoughts fell by degrees into a bewilderment which exhibited on
+every hand strange images. I preached with a loud voice in my
+church, and the congregation slept. After the service, the people
+came out of the church like oxen and cows, and bellowed against me
+when I would have admonished them. I wished to embrace my wife,
+but could not separate her from a great turnip, which increased
+every moment, and at last grew over both our heads. I endeavored
+to climb up a ladder to heaven, whose stars beckoned kindly and
+brightly to me; but potatoes, grass, vetches, and peas, entangled
+my feet unmercifully, and hindered every step. At last I saw
+myself in the midst of my possessions walking upon my head, and
+whilst in my sleepy soul I greatly wondered how this was possible,
+I slept soundly in the remembrance of my dream. Yet then, however,
+I must unconsciously have continued the chain of my pastoral
+thoughts, for I woke in the morning with the sound of my own voice
+loudly exclaiming, "Amen."
+
+That the occurrences of the former evening were actual truth, and
+no dream, I could only convince myself with difficulty, till August
+paid me a visit, and invited me to dine with his parents.
+
+The living, Wilhelmina, the dinner, the new chain of hopes for the
+future which beamed from the bright sun of the present, all
+surprised me anew with a joy, which one can feel very well, but
+never can describe.
+
+Out of the depths of a thankful heart, I saluted the new life
+which opened to me, with the firm determination that, let happen
+what might, yet always TO DO THE RIGHT, AND TO HOPE FOR THE BEST.
+
+Two years after this, I sat on an autumn evening in my beloved
+parsonage by the fire. Near to me sat my dear little wife, my
+sweet, Wilhelmina, and spun. I was just about to read to her a
+sermon which I intended to preach on the next Sunday, and from
+which I promised myself much edification, as well for her as for
+the assembled congregation. Whilst I was turning over the leaves,
+a loose paper fell out. It was the paper upon which, on that evening
+two years before, in a very different situation, I had written down
+my cheerful and my sad thoughts. I showed it to my wife. She read,
+smiled with a tear in her eye, and with a roguish countenance which,
+as I fancy, is particular to her, took the pen and wrote on the other
+side of the paper:
+
+"The author can now, thank God, strike out a description which
+would stand in perfect contrast to that which he once, in a dark
+hour, sketched of an unfortunate person, as he himself was then.
+
+"Now he is no more lonesome, no more deserted. His quiet sighs are
+answered, his secret griefs shared, by a wife tenderly devoted to
+him. He goes, her heart follows him; he comes back, she meets him
+with smiles; his tears flow not unobserved, they are dried by her
+hand, and his smiles beam again in hers; for him she gathers
+flowers, to wreathe around his brow, to strew in his path. He has
+his own fireside, friends devoted to him, and, counts as his
+relations all those who have none of their own. He loves, he is
+beloved; he can make people feel happy, he is himself happy."
+
+Truly had my Wilhelmina described the present; and, animated by
+feelings which are gay and delicious as the beams of the spring
+sun, I will now, as hitherto, let my little troop of light hopes
+bound out into the future.
+
+I hope, too, that my sermon for the next Sunday may not be without
+benefit to my hearers; and even if the obdurate should sleep, I
+hope that neither this nor any other of the greater or the less
+unpleasantnesses which can happen to me may go to my heart and
+disturb my rest. I know my Wilhelmina, and believe also that I
+know myself sufficiently, to hope with certainty that I may always
+make her happy. The sweet angel has given me hope that we may soon
+be able to add a little creature to our little happy family, I
+hope, in the future, to be yet multiplied. For my children I have
+all kinds of hopes _in petto_. If I have a son, I hope that he will be
+my successor; if I have a daughter, then--if August would wait--
+but I fancy that he is just about to be married.
+
+I hope in time to find a publisher for my sermons. I hope to live
+yet a hundred years with my wife.
+
+We--that is to say, my Wilhelmina and I--hope, during this time,
+to be able to dry a great many tears, and to shed as few ourselves
+as our lot, as children of the earth, may permit.
+
+We hope not to survive each other.
+
+Lastly, we hope always to be able to hope; and when the hour comes
+that the hopes of the green earth vanish before the clear light of
+eternal certainty, then we hope that the All-good Father may pass
+a mild sentence upon His greatful and, in humility, hoping
+children.
+
+
+
+
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