lling in a bed of roses and licking his lips and
remembering things; next day with a thorn in his foot, desperately
trying to get it out. Die of it? Never a bit, he's as well as ever. A
nice look-out it would be if he were to die!

And Inger's trouble passed off too; she got over it, but she keeps
on with her hours of devotion, and finds a merciful refuge there.
Hard-working and patient and good she is now every day, knowing Isak
different from all other men, and wanting none but him. No gay young
spark of a singer, true, in his looks and ways, but good enough, ay,
good enough indeed! And once more it is seen that the fear of the Lord
and contentment therewith are a precious gain.

And now it was that the little chief clerk from Storborg, Andresen,
came up to Sellanraa one Sunday, and Inger was not in the least
affected, far from it; she did not so much as go in herself to give
him a mug of milk, but sent Leopoldine in with it, by reason that
Jensine the maid was out. And Leopoldine could carry a mug of milk as
well as need be, and she gave it him and said, "Here you are," and
blushed, for all she was wearing her Sunday clothes and had nothing to
be ashamed of, anyway.

"Thanks, 'tis overkind of you," says Andresen. "Is your father at
home?" says he.

"Ay; he'll be about the place somewhere."

Andresen drank and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and looked at
the time. "Is it far up to the mines?" he asked.

"No, 'tis an hour's walk, or hardly that."

"I'm going up to look over them, d'you see, for him, Aronsen--I'm his
chief clerk."

"Ho!"

"You'll know me yourself, no doubt; I'm Aronsen's chief clerk. You've
been down buying things at our place before."

"Ay."

"And I remember you well enough," says Andresen. "You've been down
twice buying things."

"'Tis more than could be thought, you'd remember that," says
Leopoldine, and had no more strength after that, but stood holding by
a chair.

But Andresen had strength enough, he went on, and said: "Remember you?
Well, of course I should." And he said more:

"You wouldn't like to walk up to the mine with me?" said he.

And a little after something went wrong with Leopoldine's eyes;
everything turned red and strange about her, and the floor was
slipping away from under, and Chief Clerk Andresen was talking from
somewhere ever so far off. Saying: "Couldn't you spare the time?"

"No," says she.

And Heaven knows how she managed to get out of the kitch