he would not be dissuaded, for he had made
up his mind to go to church that morning.

In passing the stable he heard Emmerence singing within:--

"No house to live,
No farm to tend,
No gauds to give,
No money to lend,
And such a lassie
As I am
Will never find a friend."

"What makes you so down-hearted?" Ivo could not refrain from asking.
"Didn't you sleep well?"

[Illustration: What makes you so down-hearted?]

"I don't know any thing about sleeping well or ill. I am tired when I
go to bed, and my eyes shut. I just happened to think of the song, and
so I sang it."

"You needn't deny it: you would like to have Constantine for your
sweetheart, wouldn't you?"

"Him! I'd rather take the French simpleton, or Blind Conrad: I've no
mind to make up the balance of his half-dozen. I don't want any
sweetheart: I am going to remain single."

"That's what all the girls say."

"You shall see whether I am in earnest about it or not."

"But if you can get a good husband you oughtn't to be too dainty."

"What could I get? Some old widower who has furnished the gravedigger
with two or three wives already. No! whenever I can't stay in your
house any more, my mind's made up: I promised Mag when she went away to
go to America. But I'm so glad to see you care about what's to become
of me: sure, if you _are_ going to be a clergyman, that's no reason why
you should never look after your old friends."

"I should like nothing better than to do something for your comfort and
happiness in the world."

Emmerence looked at him with beaming eyes. "That's what I always said,"
cried she: "I knew you were good, and I never would believe you were
proud. Ask your mother: we talk of you often and often. Don't your ears
ever tingle?"

Thus they chatted for some time. Emmerence told him that she read his
letters to his mother, and that she almost knew them by heart. Ivo
thought it his duty to say that he too had not forgotten her, and that
he hoped she would always be good and pious. He said this with a great
effort of self-command, for the girl's warm-hearted candor had made a
great impression upon him.

The church-bell rang, and some old women who passed with their
prayer-books under their arms made Ivo aware that he was too late for
matins.

"Where are you going to work to-day?" he asked, before lea