But so as not to be lacking in common civility, he
turned to Mr.
There was some unsounded depth in him or the girl .
More changes: an American moved into the district, having boughtKelms
farm.
Lund, he said, will youlet me help you
out?
Niels was aware that they formed the centre of a
watching group. The stars in theheavens were eyes and smiled at him. Lund said
atlast in the course of a desultory conversation, is beyond myguessing
It was easily seen thathe was out of
sorts.
Niels slipped off his load; his horses knew the
road and needed noguiding. Hello, she replied, her voice strangely steady. Lund, he
stammered, feelingthat he had touched on things beyond the remedy of words. Had
Sigurdsen faithfully looked after cuttingand threshing? Yet he waited wherehe had
crouched down on the bank of the little river . Then breaking and seeding, with
propitious weather towards the endof April. He watched her as she walked across the
yard and opened the doorand disappeared in the house.
Instead of an answer she opened the gate . His
brother left a few years ago, playinghide-and-seek with his creditors, I believe.
Niels went to the stable to feed his horses. That I refused the loan toyour husband
is an entirely different manner . But the difficulty solved itself: the girlstepped
out of the house and came to meet him. The blood sang in his veins as he stepped
briskly along thefamiliar Marsh trail. Theres a lamp on the table inthe kitchen.
Then the post-office-cheque will come in.
Then Niels would set out with a load of wheat, or
perhaps of barleyor hay . Vogel said after a while, that you should bethe first man
I meet.
Do you know, Niels, howoften I have thought of you
during these years in the city? Did she know what histhoughts had been with regard
to her?
Three days after, it was Sunday, the eighteenth.
But it sounded more like asummons to look than like anything else. Why had she
blushed when she saw him, Niels?
And when Lund had gone, he turned to
Niels.
He reached for the lines and turned her horses.