aid of which you may love and hate, curse and
bless, be good-humoured or satirical, and even witty. The mighty and
all-sufficing words are, '_Ja so!_' (Yes, indeed!) usually pronounced
_Jassoh_. It is wonderful to hear the infinite variety of modulation
which a Swede gives to these two insignificant syllables. Does he hear
some agreeable intelligence, he exclaims, with sparkling eyes and brisk
intonation, 'Ja so!' If bad news are brought to him, he droops his head,
and, after a pause, murmurs mournfully, 'Ja so!' The communication of an
important affair is received with a thoughtful 'Ja so!' a joke elicits a
humorous one; an attempt to banter or deceive him is met by a sarcastic
repetition of the same mysterious words.

"A romance might be constructed out of these four letters.
Thus:--Lucy is sitting at her window, when a well-known messenger
brings her a bouquet. She joyfully exclaims, 'Ja so!' and presses
the flowers to her lips. A friend comes in; she shows her the
flowers, and the friend utters an envious 'Ja so!' Soon afterwards
Lucy's lover hears that she is faithless; he gnashes his teeth, and
vociferates a furious 'Ja so!' He writes to tell her that he
despises her, and will never see her again; whereupon she weeps,
and says to herself, between two tears, 'Ja so!' She manages,
however, to see him, and convinces him that she has been
calumniated. He clasps her in his arms, and utters a 'Ja so!'
expressive of entire conviction. Suddenly his brow becomes clouded,
and muttering a meditative 'Ja so!' he remembers that a peremptory
engagement compels him to leave her. He seeks out the man who has
sought to rob him of his mistress, and reproaches him with his
perfidy. This rival replies by a cold, scornful 'Ja so!' and a
meeting is agreed upon. The next day they exchange shots, and I
fully believe that the man who is killed sighs out with his last
breath 'Ja so!' His horror-stricken antagonist exclaims 'Ja so!'
and flies the country; and surgeon, relations, friends, judge, all,
in short, who hear of the affair, will inevitably cry out, 'Ja so!'
Grief and joy, doubt and confidence, jest and anger, are all to be
rendered by those two words."

The province of Dalarna, or Dalecarlia, which lies between Nordland and
the Norwegian frontier, and in which Miss Bremer has laid the scene of
one of her most recent