he back of his mind, after all.

A meeting had been held in the village to consider the position which
had arisen owing to Geissler's refusal to sell his part of the mining
tract. 'Twas not only the outlying settlers who stood to lose by this,
it would be fatal to the whole district.

Why could not folk go on living as well or as poorly now as before
there had been any mine at all? Well, they could not, and that was
all about it. They had grown accustomed to better food, finer bread,
store-bought clothes and higher wages, general extravagance--ay, folk
had learned to reckon with money more, that was the matter. And now
the money was gone again, had slipped away like a shoal of herring out
to sea--'twas dire distress for them all, and what was to be done?

There was no doubt about it: ex-Lensmand Geissler was taking his
revenge upon the village because they had helped his superior to get
him dismissed; equally clear was it that they had underestimated him
at the time. He had not simply disappeared and left. By the simplest
means, merely by demanding an unreasonable price for a mine, he had
succeeded in checking the entire development of the district. Ay, a
strong man! Axel Stroem from Maaneland could bear them out in this; he
was the one who had last met Geissler. Brede's girl Barbro had had a
lawsuit in the town, and come home acquitted; but Geissler, he had
been there in court all the time. And if any one suggested that
Geissler was dejected, and a broken man, why, he had only to look at
the costly machines that same Geissler had sent up as a present to
Axel Stroem.

This man it was then, who held the fate of the district in his hand;
they would have to come to some agreement with him. What price would
Geissler ultimately be disposed to accept for his mine? They must
ascertain in any case. The Swedes had offered him twenty-five
thousand--Geissler had refused. But suppose the village here, the
commune, were to make up the remainder, simply to get things going
again? If it were not an altogether unheard-of amount, it might be
worth while. Both the trader at the shore station and Aronsen up at
Storborg would be willing to contribute privately and secretly; funds
devoted to such a purpose now would be repaid in the long run.

The end of it was that two men were deputed to call on Geissler and
take up the matter with him. And they were expected back shortly.

So it was, then, that Aronsen cherished a flicker of hope,