e sled in her hand she was borne downward and across the frozen
stream,--the sole being the Lord saw fit to save. To what is she
destined?"

She rode home with the priest, sitting on his lap. He had commended her
to the care of the parish, and took her home with him "for the present,"
in order to set a good example. She nestled up to his fur overcoat, with
her small cold hands inside of his huge mittens, beside his soft, plump
hands. And all the while she kept thinking: "What am I destined to, I
wonder?"

She presumed that her mind would become clear on this point when she got
into the house. But nothing met her eye here she had not seen before
until she entered the inner room, where a piano which some one was just
playing in the highest degree attracted her.

But for that very reason she forgot the thought she had brought in with
her.

In this household there were two daughters, heavy-looking girls, with
small round heads and long, thick braids of light hair. They had
recently been provided with a governess, a pale, though fleshy person,
with her neck more exposed and her sleeves more open than Magnhild had
ever seen in any one before. Her voice sounded as though it needed
clearing, and Magnhild involuntarily coughed several times; but this was
of no avail. The governess asked Magnhild's name and inquired if she
knew how to read, to which Magnhild replied in the affirmative. Her
whole family had been noted for their love of reading. And then the
governess proposed, still with the same husky after-tone in her voice,
that she should be allowed to share the instructions of the little
girls, in order to spur them on. Magnhild was one year older than the
elder.

The mistress of the house was sitting by, engaged with her embroidery.
She now glanced up at Magnhild and said, "With pleasure," then bent over
her work again. She was a person of medium size, neither thin nor stout,
and had a small head with fair hair. The priest, who was heavy and
corpulent, came down-stairs after removing his gown; he was smoking, and
as he crossed the floor, he said, "There comes a man with fish," and
passed out of the room again.

The youngest girl once more attacked her scales. Magnhild did not know
whether she should remain where she was, or go back to the kitchen. She
sat on the wood-box by the stove tormented with the uncertainty, when
dinner was announced in the adjoining room. All work was put aside, and
the little one at the pian