hesitating smile.

At last Peer lifted his hat and asked the way to Rustad saeter. It took
them some time to explain this, and then they asked him the time. He
told them exactly to the minute, and then showed them his watch so that
they might see for themselves. All this took more time. Meanwhile, they
had inspected each other, and found no reason to part company just yet.
One of the girls was tall, slender of figure, with a warm-coloured oval
face and dark brown hair. Her eyebrows were thick and met above the
nose, delightful to look at. She wore a blue serge dress, with the skirt
kilted up a little, leaving her ankles visible. The other was a blonde,
smaller of stature, and with a melancholy face, though she smiled
constantly. "Oh," she said suddenly, "have you a pocket-knife by any
chance?"

"Oh yes!" Peer was just moving off, but gladly seized the opportunity to
stay a while.

"We've a tin of sardines here, and nothing to open it with," said the
dark one.

"Let me try," said Peer. As luck would have it, he managed to cut
himself a little, and the two girls tumbled over each other to tie up
the wound. It ended, of course, with their asking him to join their
coffee-party.

"My name is Merle Uthoug," said the dark one, with a curtsy.

"Oh, then, it's your father who has the place on the island in the
lake?"

"My name's only Mork--Thea Mork. My father is a lawyer, and we have a
little cottage farther up the lake," said the blonde.

Peer was about to introduce himself, when the dark girl interrupted:
"Oh, we know you already," she said. "We've seen you out rowing on the
lake so often. And we had to find out who you were. We have a good pair
of glasses . . ."

"Merle!" broke in her companion warningly.

". . . and then, yesterday, we sent one of the maids over reconnoitring,
to make inquiries and bring us a full report."

"Merle! How can you say such things?"

It was a cheery little feast. Ah! how young they were, these two girls,
and how they laughed at a joke, and what quantities of bread and butter
and coffee they all three disposed of! Merle now and again would give
their companion a sidelong glance, while Thea laughed at all the wild
things her friend said, and scolded her, and looked anxiously at Peer.

And now the sun was nearing the shoulder of a hill far in the west, and
evening was falling. They packed up their things, and Peer was loaded up
with a big bag of cloud-berries on his back, and a ti