tending his hand without any embarrass- | you think all the world is as cold-blooded ment. "Welcome home, again! So you as yourself? No, no, Nils, I did not saw — ha, ha, ha! Well, I don't mind. I mean that. Forgive me; I don't know am not ashamed to have been seen kissing what I am saying. Oh, Nils, I am very, Dorthe's hand, if that is what you mean.' very wretched!" Nils frowned: it struck him that this was pushing audacity to the verge of impudence. However, as he seldom gave way to anger without convincing cause, and as it seemed possible that some excuse for Gustav's behavior might be found in the fact of his foreign extraction, he answered, gently enough, "In your country, perhaps, you have different customs from ours; but with us it is not thought right to be so familiar with a young girl who is betrothed to another man.' "Betrothed to another man!" cried the artist, starting to his feet. "What are you talking about, Nils? Betrothed to whom?" "Why to me," replied Nils, rather surprised at his vehemence. "Did you not know that?" "Great heavens, no! tell me this before?" Why did you not "I thought you must have heard of it," answered Nils; "it is no secret; everybody in the village knows it. I don't know why I did not tell you, except that there are things of which a man does not speak in ordinary talk-just as one does not laugh in church. And after all,” he added, "what difference can it make to you?" "What difference? He asks me what difference! Why the difference between bliss and misery!-between heaven and hell!" cried Gustav, who was a trifle prone to hyperbole. "Oh, Nils, you ought to have told me of this sooner!" Here was a revelation! "I could not suppose I could not guess" stammered Nils. "And even now, I don't quite understand. You surely could never have thought of of mar rying Dorthe !" "And pray why not?" "We are only peasants, and you rich gentleman," answered Nils. should have thought the difference of sition are a 66 po "Man, man!" interrupted the other impatiently," how often am I to tell you that I am a peasant's son? I have no relations to object to my marying whom I please; and even if I had, that would not stand in my way. And Dorthe is fit for any position." "But you have only known her three weeks," objected Nils, unable to comprehend a passion of such quick growth. "Three weeks! three lifetimes! Do The impetuous Gustav sank down upon his camp-stool, and hid his face in his hands. "I must go away," he moaned out presently; "I must leave this place at once." "Indeed, I think it is the best thing you can do,” said Nils, stroking his chin ruefully. "I am very sorry for what has happened - especially if it has been at all my fault; but I think you had better go. The more so," he added naïvely, 66 as I myself have to go away to-morrow. My brother Frants has been up at the sæter on the mountains, with the cattle, for a month; and it is my turn to relieve him. I don't see anything for it but that you should go." Yes, yes," answered Gustav, lifting up his face from his hands, "I must go. that is clear. I owe my life to you, Nils, and I would rather die than do you an injury. But before I leave this dear place forever, Nils, I think I will just put a few more strokes to my picture. You will not mind that. It will be an affair of three days—or four days, at the outside; and you can trust me for that time." "Trust you?" said Nils, holding_out his hand. "Of course I can. And I can trust Dorthe too," he added, with a little touch of pride. "If you like to remain here a year, it is not I who will interfere to upset your plans; but, to tell you the plain truth, I think you would be better out of the country just now; and maybe you yourself would be happier away. don't wonder at your loving Dorthe who could help it? But you had never seen her a month ago, remember; and perhaps in another month it will be with you as if you had never seen her at all." I At this heartless suggestion Gustav groaned dismally. It was his nature to cry out when he was hurt, just as it was Nils' nature to comfort the afflicted. So that a good hour had elapsed before the two young men parted. When this interview was at an end, Nils, in a somewhat humble and contrite mood, marched down the hill to bid goodbye to Dorthe, whom, by good luck, he found alone in the shop. To her he said nothing of what he had witnessed earlier in the afternoon, being withheld partly by delicacy, and partly by pride; but in his last words he did contrive to insinuate a note of warning. Forget you, Nils? - how could I do that?" asked the girl, raising her clear blue eyes to his, and laughing at the bare idea. "Do I ever forget you? 66 Well; but you will think of me sometimes when I am up there in the lonely mountains, and you are amusing yourself with Gustav and- and the rest?" "I am always thinking of you, Nils," she answered simply. “I think of you every morning and evening when I say my prayers yes, and a hundred times a day besides." "Do you?" said Nils, breaking into a happy laugh. "Then what have I left to wish for?" And so he went his way with a mind at rest. which the care of Lise Aandahl had provided him, he was conscious of a comfortable glow of self-approval, feeling that he was looking at the face of an honest man. But now an unforeseen circumstance occurred, which, through no fault of his own, compelled Gustav to prolong his sojourn in the dangerous neighborhood. He had disposed of his breakfast in solitude, and was preparing to set out for the scene of his daily labors, without having so much as hinted at a wish that Dorthe should accompany him, when the rain set in with a dogged determination which seemed to shut out all hope of out-door occupation for the remainder of that day. And, instead of clearing at sunset, it poured on all through the night, and all through the next day, and again all through the day after that; so that the village Now if there was one thing more than street was converted to a mere wateranother of which Gustav Richardt was course, and the hillside into a morass. convinced, when he awoke (after a sur- Those rainy days were trying ones to prisingly sound sleep) on the morning of poor Gustav; for he spent them perforce Nils' departure, it was of his loyalty to in the same room as Dorthe; and he did his absent friend. It might be - so he not always find it easy to keep a bridle thought, as he brooded sorrowfully over upon his tongue. But he behaved very the wreck of his newly-born hopes - it well, upon the whole, talking a good deal might be that he had been somewhat less than usual, and busying himself over hardly used in this matter. It might be the likeness of a couple of children, whose that those who had kept him in ignorance mother had begged for this specimen of of arrangements which ought to have been his skill. Nevertheless, before the clouds made known to him had only themselves lifted, time had blunted the edge of his to blame for the consequence of their determination. He began to think, that, negligence. It might be that Nils and after all, there was not any necessity for Dorthe were obviously unsuited to one his leaving Bakke in such a desperate another, whereas no impartial mind could hurry. Surely it was no great matter that fail to perceive the affinity which existed he should take a few more days of combetween the fair peasant and himself. parative happiness when others had a And it might be that a casuist would deduce whole lifetime of beatitude to look forward from these considerations the conclusion to. He was almost angry with Nils at that he was not in honor bound to carry the bare idea that so small a favor could out the hasty promise (if promise it had been) which he had made on the previous afternoon. But Gustav resolved at once that he would not allow any specious reasonings of this nature to obscure the clear light of his conscience. His duty was plain. He owed his life to Nils Jensen; and it would now be seen that he was not ungrateful. A few more days he must spend in Bakke, in mere justice to himself and to the future owner of his great picture; but during these days he would be most circumspect in his conduct, and on the expiration of them he would infallibly depart. The insinuating suggestions of the tempter, which would, every now and then, make their way into his mind, he boldly faced with an "Apage retro Satanas!" and as he combed his long hair before the scrap of looking-glass with be grudged to him. Then he remembered that Nils had said carelessly that he might stay a year if he chose, and this settled the point. "A year I would not stay," said Gustav to himself; "I should not think it right. But a week is only seven days — quite a ridiculously short time if you count it by hours, and half of them one is in bed — yes, I think I will stay just one more week." What gave strength to this decision was that the rain was succeeded by a spell of the loveliest weather imaginable weather in which it would have been a sin and a shame to leave the beautiful Hardanger Fjord, which, alas ! is so seldom thus favored. Day after day the sun ran his long course across a clear blue sky, while the snow-patches on the mountainsides shrank under his warm rays, and tiny cloudlets formed and dispersed upon the highest summits, and a hundred rivulets, set agoing by the recent downpour, grew less and less till at last they disappeared altogether; and day after day Gustav worked on in his accustomed meadow, with Dorthe by his side. Ten days slipped away like so many minutes; and during all this time Gustav's loyalty to the absent Nils continued undiminished, save in the one particular of his prolonged presence in Norway. There was no approach to lovemaking in his conversations with Dorthe, and no repetition of the hand-kissing which had aroused the jealousy of her legitimate lover. They talked mostly of the old topics - Italy, the Mediterranean, the charms of foreign travel, and so forth -but, every now and then, Gustav could not refrain from a deep sigh. If Dorthe asked him whether anything were making him unhappy, he would reply, with a most unsuccessful assumption of carelessness, "Oh, no; nothing at all!" Whereupon she would generally sigh too. I am not going to assert that the fine weather lasted for a fortnight (which is a statement that nobody, acquainted with the country, would honor by a moment's credence); but it is a fact that that period of time had elapsed before the rain set in again in anything like an uncompromising spirit. When it did begin, it brought cold with it; and the general opinion was that there would be no more summer that year. "There will be snow on the mountains this time," remarked old Aandahl, one evening, as he was smoking a pipe with his guest over a blazing wood fire. To which his wife replied, "Yes; Nils will be bringing the cattle down; we may expect him any day now." At this innocent observation Gustav started, and shortly afterwards, rose from his chair, and walked out of the room. His conscience assured him that he had done nothing wrong; but at the same time the idea of seeing Nils again made him feel excessively uncomfortable. Dorthe was standing at the house-door, looking out at the weather. She turned round, with a smile, at the sound of Gustav's step. "Look," she said; "the rain has stopped. We shall have a fine day tomorrow.' "To be sure," she answered, with a glance of surprise at his grave face. And so she wrapped a cloak about her, and followed him into the street. The watery clouds were breaking and rising in all directions, the wind had gradually dropped from a strong breeze to almost a dead calm; the sun had set, and the melancholy northern twilight had be gun. Gustav walked on without speaking. He had to bid his companion farewell; and he felt that it was bitterly hard upon him that he must do so without hinting at what it cost him to breathe that sad word. But when they had left the village behind them, and were leaning upon a low wall overlooking the glassy fjord, he broke silence abruptly. "Dorthe," said he, "the time has come when I must leave this dear place, where I have spent so many happy days. I shall start to-morrow morning." He had spoken in a steady, dogged voice, keeping his eyes fixed upon the water beneath him; but now he could not help raising them for an instant, to see the effect of his sudden announcement. The girl seemed startled; he fancied even that her lip quivered. She looked at him for a moment, with an odd, half-piteous gaze, and then turned her head away. tav's heart began to thump against his ribs. Gus "You are not angry with me, Dorthe ?" he said foolishly. But she dragged her hand away, sobbing out in great distress, "Oh, please don't! Oh, please go away! You don't know I have never told you about -- about Nils." "What do I care for Nils!" cried the young man excitedly. "What is his happiness to me in comparison with yours? I know all about it; I heard it long ago; and as for myself, I was ready to give up all for his sake; but that you should be sacrificed too that is more than he could expect. You are mine now not his !" "How can you talk so?" exclaimed Dorthe indignantly. "How can you be so "What do you mean by calling names, you young fool? Sneak' did you say? I will tell you who is a sneak. A sneak is a man who betrays his friend, and tries to bring honest girls to shame." wicked-you who owe your very life to | ing with anger. "What do you mean by him? And I too - oh, what a wretch I sneaking round corners and spying upon am! If you only knew how kind he has me, you old fool?" he cried. been to me, and how good he is! Yes; I will tell you the truth - I love you. But I will never marry you no, I will never, never marry any one but Nils!" Something in the tragic nature of the situation took the young man's romantic fancy, and pleased him a little in the midst of all his distress, which was genuine enough. "You are right, Dorthe," he said gloomily. "The fates are against us: we could never be happy together, knowing that we had done our friend a grievous wrong. Let us say good-bye, now, and have done with it. For me there can be no more happiness in this world; but you will forget me when when you are married. Yes, I will pray always that you may forget me that is the best wish I can have for you." "Oh, how noble you are!" she claimed enthusiastically. 66 66 ex No, Dorthe, I am not noble," he answered, with some honest sense of shame; I have been anything but that. But now I am going to do the right thing; and tomorrow morning I shall go away, and you will never see me again. But before I bid you farewell forever, Dorthe my own Dorthe! - give me one kiss!" And he folded her in his arms. But this was quite too much for the patience of old Hans Lundgren, who had been sitting under the lee of a wall, a stone's-throw off, mending one of his eternal nets, and who had been a spectator of the whole scene, though, being somewhat hard of hearing, he had failed to catch a single word of the dialogue. He hoisted his rheumatic old body up now from the stone on which he had been seated, and tottered up to the unconscious couple, full of just indignation. "Come, come!" said he, in his quavering treble; "your foreign ways, and your mincing talk and your fine-gentleman manners I do not pretend to understand; but some things I do know; and decency, Mr. Painter-decency is much the same thing in all countries, I suppose. And a pretty sort of friend you are for a man to leave in the house with his sweetheart! Fröken Dorthe, run home as fast as you can, and get into your bed, where you ought to have been an hour ago. Ah! in my young days it is a good taste of a stout stick you would have got for your supper," he added, as the girl, waiting for no second bidding, fled like an arrow from a bow. Gustav faced the intruder, his eyes blaz “I swear, Hans Lundgren, that if you were a younger man, I would make you repent of having said that!" "And I swear, Gustav Richardt, that if I were a younger man, I would catch you up by the scruff of your little white neck, and drop you into the fjord. But where is the use of blustering? At my age we are good for nothing except to mend nets, and give good advice to our grandchildren. Here is a piece of good advice for you, if you like to take it. Hire a boat the very first thing to-morrow morning, and get you gone! The snow is deep up there on the sæters, and Nils Jensen will be down before long. Who knows? perhaps he has come down already. Ah, he has a strong arm, Nils, and a strong fist at the end of it! Yes, and his legs they are long and strong too; and he will have his heavy boots on that he wears in the mountains. Believe me, dear young gentleman, you had better be off." And without waiting for a reply, the old man hobbled away, mumbling and chuckling to himself as he went. Gustav walked slowly back to the village, greatly disturbed by this unlucky contretemps. After what had occurred, he felt that it would be difficult for him to carry out his intention of immediate departure, which, under the circumstances, would look unpleasantly like running away. Nor, when the morning dawned, had he arrived at any definite decision as to his movements. The question, however, was settled without any action on his part; for, while he was disconsolately packing his trunk up-stairs, and while Dorthe was sitting alone in the kitchen, mending one of her father's shirts with trembling fingers, Nils himself walked quietly into the latter room, and stood before his betrothed. "I met Hans Lundgren just now," he said. His tone had no inflection of anger or excitement in it, but Dorthe perceived at once that he knew all had perceived it, indeed, even before he spoke, when she had first caught sight of his face, which was worn and lined, as if he had suddenly aged ten years. "Hans Lundgren did not understand," "That is strange," remarked Nils, "since you love another man." "But I love you too, Nils, only "Only not so much as you do him." "Oh, yes more, I think, in some ways; but-oh, I cannot explain! You understand me, Nils; you know we have been like brother and sister all our lives; and how could I desert you for any one else in the world?" "Yes; I suppose all the years I have loved you must count for something," said Nils. "And then, as you say, we are such old friends. It would never have done for you to marry a stranger, would it? You would have been miserable among foreigners, far away from your own people and old Norway, would you not?" over, the prospect of a sound drubbing was especially uncomfortable to a young man who dreaded humiliation more than most things. 66 But Nils, when he appeared, manifested no disposition towards personal violence. He came, up, laid his hand gently upon Gustav's shoulder, and said, Gustav, will you sail over to the Sör Fjord with me to-morrow? You have never seen it, you know." "But, Nils," stammered the young man, utterly taken aback, “I — I — didn't they tell you? I am going away to-morrow." "You will put it off for another day," said Nils composedly. "You cannot refuse me such a little favor. since we are to part so soon; and I hold particularly to showing you the Sör Fjord." 66 But, Nils," said Gustav, in despair, "you do not know what has happened while you have been away. It is dreadful to have to tell it; but I must, lest you should think afterwards that I had been afraid. Dorthe · "I beg your pardon," interrupted Nils, I"but I know all about what you are going to say, and we need not talk of it. Will you go with me to the Sör Fjord?" "Oh, I should not have minded that," said Dorthe unguardedly. "At least, mean," she added, not making matters much better by her explanation, "that when one loves a man enough, it is no hardship to go anywhere, so long as he is with you." "And you love Gustav like that?" "Oh, Nils," said Dorthe entreatingly, "let us not speak any more of Gustav. He is going away at once, and we shall never see him again. Let it be as if he had never come here." “Well, well,” said Nils; "perhaps that will be the best plan. So you are ready to give him up, then?" "Yes, if you wish it," answered Gustav wonderingly. "That is right: And perhaps it will interest you to hear that Dorthe has promised to marry me, and has just assured me that she never really thought of marrying any one else." Wherewith Nils walked away, leaving his friend a good deal mystified. IV. GUSTAV was aroused early the next "Yes, Nils if you will forgive me." morning by Nils' voice at his door, calling "If I have anything to forgive, Dorthe, to him to get ready. He got up, and went I forgive you freely. I don't blame you. to the window, half hoping that the Gustav is a handsome, clever young fel-weather might afford him a pretext for low; and you have had a passing fancy for him, as girls will have that is all. You will have forgotten all about him in a year's time." He looked keenly at her as he spoke these last words; and she dropped her eyelids without replying. Then, saying he must have a few words with Gustav, Nils left the room. declining an expedition from which he anticipated anything but enjoyment; but when he drew the curtain aside, he let in a flood of sunlight, and could see a sweep of blue sky, against which the mountains, with their dazzling mantle of fresh snow, stood out clear and sharp. So, no excuse of a meteorological kind being forthcoming, he dressed himself, and descending the stairs with a heavy heart, joined Nils, who was waiting for him below. Gustav meanwhile had heard the news of Nils' return, and was standing by the door of the shop, awaiting the coming The two young men walked silently interview with some nervousness. He down to the shore, where they found a was not a physical coward; but his posi- boat, ready to be shoved off, and a tall, tion was one which the bravest of men broad-shouldered young fellow leaning might have found disagreeable, and more-over its side. |