into the yard. He was flushed and out of breath,
and Bucephalus was going at a hand gallop. Right before the door he
reined in his horse with a sudden jerk, so that he made a deep gash in
the sand; and swinging his sword, he shouted, "They're coming, they're
coming!"

"Who are coming?" asked Rebecca.

"Snorting black chargers and three war chariots full of men-at-arms."

"Rubbish, my boy!" said his father, sternly.

"Three phaetons are coming with townspeople in them," said Ansgarius,
and dismounted with an abashed air.

"Let us go in, Rebecca," said the Pastor, turning.

But at the same moment the foremost horses came at a quick pace over the
brow of the hill. They were not exactly snorting chargers; yet it was a
pretty sight as carriage after carriage came into view in the sunshine,
full of merry faces and lively colors. Rebecca could not help stopping.

On the back seat of the foremost carriage sat an elderly gentleman and
a buxom lady. On the front seat she saw a young lady; and just as they
entered the yard, a gentleman who sat at her side stood up, and, with a
word of apology to the lady on the back seat, turned and looked forward
past the driver. Rebecca gazed at him without knowing what she was
doing.

"How lovely it is here!" cried the young man.

For the Parsonage lay on the outermost slope towards the sea, so that
the vast blue horizon suddenly burst upon you as you entered the yard.

The gentleman on the back seat leaned a little forward. "Yes, it's
very pretty here," he said; "I'm glad that you appreciate our peculiar
scenery, Mr. Lintzow."

At the same moment the young man's glance met Rebecca's, and she
instantly lowered her eyes. But he stopped the driver, and cried, "Let
us remain here!"

"Hush!" said the older lady, with a low laugh. "This won't do, Mr.
Lintzow; this is the Parsonage."

"It doesn't matter," cried the young man, merrily, as he jumped out of
the carriage. "I say," he shouted backward towards the other carriages,
"sha'n't we rest here?"

"Yes, yes," came the answer in chorus; and the merry party began at once
to alight.

But now the gentleman on the back seat rose, and said, seriously: "No,
no, my friends! this really won't do! It's out of the question for us
to descend upon the clergyman, whom we don't know at all. It's only ten
minutes' drive to the district judge's, and there they are in the habit
of receiving strangers."

He was on the point of giving orders to dr