at that and said he was pleased to
hear that Birger's sons were so helpful to him. Placing his heavy
hand on Birger's shoulder, and looking him square in the eyes, he
said: "Since you have had such good aid from your sons in a
material way, I suppose you also let them help you in the things
that pertain to the spirit?" Birger stared stupidly. "I see that
this is a new thought to you," the stranger added. "Ponder it till
we meet again." Then he went on his way smiling, and Birger
Larsson, scratching his head, returned to his work. But the
stranger's query haunted his mind for several days. "I wonder what
made him say that?" he mused. "There must be something back of it
all that I don't understand."

***

The day after the stranger had talked with Birger Larsson an
extraordinary thing took place at Tims Halvor's old shop, which
since his marriage to Karin had been turned over to his
brother-in-law, Bullet Gunner. Gunner was away at the time, and, in
his absence, Brita Ingmarsson tended the shop. Brita was named
after her mother, Big Ingmar's handsome wife, whose good looks she
had inherited. Moreover, she had the distinction of being the
prettiest girl ever born and reared on the Ingmar Farm. Although
she bore no outward resemblance to the old Ingmars, she was,
nevertheless, quite as conscientious and upright as any of them.

When Gunner was absent Brita always ran the business in her own
way. Whenever old Corporal Felt would come stumbling in, tipsy and
shaky, and ask for a bottle of beer, Brita would give him a blunt
"No," and when poor Kolbjoern's Lena came and wanted to buy a fine
brooch, Brita sent her home with several pounds of rye meal. The
peasant woman who dropped in to buy some light flimsy fabric was
told to go home and weave suitable and durable cloth on her own
loom. And no children dared come into the shop to spend their poor
coppers for candy and raisins when Brita was in charge there.

That day Brita had not many customers. So for hours and hours she
sat quite alone, staring into vacancy, despair burning in her eyes.
By and by she got up and took out a rope; then she moved a little
stepladder from the shop into the back room. After that she made a
loop in one end of the rope, and fastened the other end to a hook
in the ceiling. Just as she was about to slip her head into the
noose, she happened to look down.

At that moment the door opened and in walked a tall, dark man. He
had evidently entered t