g on; her son-in-law wasn't as he should be, but
poked his nose into everything and thought she ought not to spend
anything more in her housekeeping. Elsie was always quarreling with
Freneli, and Freneli was going to leave on account of it; Uli too;
everything came on her, and she didn't know for the life of her what to
do; many a night she hadn't closed an eye and just cried and cried
because such misfortune had come to her in her old age. Then an idea had
come to her; surely no sensible person could make any objection if they
should lease out their farm, and that would take the load off her. And
then she had thought that they couldn't possibly get a better tenant
than Uli, who'd look after everything for them and was good and honest;
and Uli could make his fortune there, too, for he shouldn't be treated
badly, she would see to that; it would be his profit as well as theirs.

"That's all well and good," said Johannes; "but don't be angry, cousin,
only I must ask whether you think that every one will consent? There's a
lot of folks have to have their say in this, if it's to be done. What
will your folks say? Joggeli's awfully queer sometimes. And your
children will put in their oar too and want to make the farming as
profitable as possible. Uli has a risky undertaking. A single bad year,
with sickness of the stock or the like, can ruin him. On such a farm a
thousand francs more or less in earnings can scarcely be seen, whereas
in a single year four or five thousand can be lost."

"Cousin Johannes," said she, "you mustn't think we're such heartless
creatures as to ruin our tenant on account of a single bad year. If we
had the farm, shouldn't we have the bad year ourselves, and why should
the tenant have to stand the loss if it's too dry or too wet? It's our
farm all the time, and how can he avoid it? It's often seemed cruel to
me when the leaseholder always has to pay the same rent, whether or no.
No, cousin, Joggeli's queer, but he's not the worst, and, if everything
else failed, it isn't as if I didn't have something of my own to help
out with."

"No harm intended," said Johannes; "but to do a thing properly one has
to mention everything. I should be awfully glad of it, for your sake and
for Uli's and for my own too; for I set some store by Uli. It's true
that he's almost as dear to me as my own child, and I won't be stingy if
I can do anything for him. He told me about Elsie, too, and I tried to
talk him out of it.