with her. Mary's little poodle at once rushed at him
fearlessly, and to the woman's and Mary's surprise the old dog, after
cautious and minute inspection, made friends with the giddy youngster.
Though he as a rule could not bear puppies, he quite fell in love with
this one. He allowed his ears to be pulled and his legs to be bitten; he
even laid himself down and pretended to be vanquished. This delighted
Mary so much that she accompanied the woman part of the way home, to
watch the game. And she was more than repaid for so doing. She heard
warm praise of her father, and some of the anecdotes of him that were
circulating in the neighbourhood at this time, and were ensuring him an
honoured memory.

She thought as she walked home with her excited dog: "Am I beginning to
resemble Mother? Has there always been in me something of her which
until now has not had room to develop; something of her simple nature?"

This day brought two surprises.

The first was a letter from Uncle Klaus. He addressed her as: "My
honoured and dear god-daughter, Miss Mary Krog." She had had no idea
that she was his god-daughter; her father had never told her, probably
did not know it himself.

Uncle Klaus wrote: "There are feelings which are too strong for words,
especially for written words. I am no letter-writer; but I take the
liberty of intimating to you in this manner, since I was unable to do it
by word of mouth, that on the day when your father, my best friend, and
Mrs. Dawes, your revered foster-mother, died, and you were left alone, I
made you, my dear god-daughter, my heiress.

"My fortune is not nearly so large as is generally supposed; I have had
great losses of late. But there is still enough for us both--that is to
say, if your share is under your own management _and not Joergen's_. I
write on the supposition that you will now marry.

"Mrs. Dawes's will has been in my hands for many years, and I have had
charge of her money. I opened the will yesterday. She has left
everything to you. This means about 60,000 kroner. But the same holds
good of this money as of your father's; it is for the moment yielding
almost no interest.

"Your godfather,
"KLAUS KROG."

Mary answered at once:

"MY DEAR GODFATHER,--Your letter has touched me deeply. I thank you with
all my heart.

"But I dare not accept your generous gift.

"Joergen is your adopted son, and on no account will I stand in his way.

"You must not be angry wit