s no longer amusing. Only a few still laughingly exclaimed:
'He does not mean a word of what he says; it is only his way. Good
health, Hansen!'

But the host took the matter more seriously. He thought of himself, and
he thought of Trofast. With ominous politeness, he began:

'May I venture to ask what you understand by a reasonable relation
between a crime and its punishment?'

'For example,' replied Dr. Viggo Hansen, who was now thoroughly roused,
'if I heard that a merchant possessing two or three hundred thousand
sacks of coal had refused to allow a poor creature to fill his bag, and
that this same merchant, as a punishment, had been torn to pieces by
wild beasts, then that would be something that I could very easily
understand, for between such heartlessness and so horrible a punishment
there is a reasonable relation.'

'Ladies and gentlemen, my wife and I beg you to make yourselves at home,
and welcome.'

There was a secret whispering and muttering, and a depressed feeling
among the guests, as they dispersed themselves through the salons.

The host walked about with a forced smile on his lips, and, as soon as
he had welcomed every one individually, he went in search of Hansen, in
order to definitely show him the door once for all.

But this was not necessary. Dr. Viggo Hansen had already found it.

III.

There had really been some snow, as the merchant had stated. Although it
was so early in the winter, a little wet snow fell towards morning for
several days in succession, but it turned into fine rain when the sun
rose.

This was almost the only sign that the sun had risen, for it did not get
much lighter or warmer all day. The air was thick with fog--not the
whitish-gray sea mist, but brown-gray, close, dead Russian fog, which
had not become lighter in passing over Sweden; and the east wind came
with it and packed it well and securely down among the houses of
Copenhagen.

Under the trees along Kastelgraven and in Groenningen the ground was
quite black after the dripping from the branches. But along the middle
of the streets and on the roofs there was a thin white layer of snow.

All was yet quite still over at Burmeister and Wain's; the black morning
smoke curled up from the chimneys, and the east wind dashed it down upon
the white roofs. Then it became still blacker, and spread over the
harbour among the rigging of the ships, which lay sad and dark in the
gray morning light, with white strea