ned impressed upon his
memory, and which now called up a thousand reminiscences of his early
childhood. To the right, on the sea-shore, and at the mouth of the
broad stream, lay the capital of the poor, depopulated province, the
little town of Umea, to which only its harbor with its clustering
masts, gave any importance. To the left arose the lofty Gyllensten, the
old ancestral castle of the house of Gyllenstierna throned proudly upon
its massive rocks, and bordered by a forest of dark pines. The broad
plain which intervened between the higher elevations and the river,
exhibited evidence of unusual fruitfulness for these northern regions.
The magnificent, clear, blue arch, which, in the west rested upon
Lapland's distant snow-clad mountains, and in the east upon the dark
mirror of the sea, completed the picture which nature, rich even in her
poverty and gorgeous in her simplicity, offered to the eye of the
observer.

'My fatherland is every where beautiful!' exclaimed he with emotion;
'and this solitary nook, how well suited to my feelings! Yes, I feel
that here I can again be happy!'

The ferry-boat came, and Arwed sprang upon the floating bridge. The
groom carefully led up the spirited horses, which were somewhat
frightened, and made a vigorous resistance when they heard the hollow
sound of their footsteps upon the boards. Arwed seized the bridle of
his gallant steed, caressed him into a state of quietude, and leaning
upon the glossy neck of the animal, extended his view over the waves of
the stream upon which the boat was now moving to Gyllensten, whose old,
gothic walls and towers were every moment more and more distinctly seen
between the lofty pines and rocks in the intermediate distance.

'That is the balcony,' said he to Knut, the faithful old boatman, 'from
which I and my little cousin Christine used formerly to watch the ships
as they entered the port. The child will be much pleased to see me
again. She was always very much attached to me.'

'The _child_!' exclaimed Knut laughing. 'She was at that time eight
years old, as well as yourself, major. Eleven years have passed since
then. Do you think that you alone have increased in stature during that
long period? The child must have become a stately young lady.'

'You are right,' said Arwed with a melancholy smile, 'I have
experienced so many vicissitudes lately, that my computation of time is
a little disturbed.'

Leaning his head upon his arm, and restin