sked.
"'I love you.'" "Oh! of course, they know that I should laugh at it,"
she laughed; and offered him the half almond, and from that time they
remained as good friends as ever.

But there were other kinds of sayings of hers which aroused yet more
respect. A discussion was going on one day at the fireside about a
certain gate which was called the "gate of truth"; all who went through
it were _obliged_ to say what they thought, upon which she exclaimed:
"Ah, then I should get to know what I think myself!" One of those
present said that those were exactly the words which the Danish Bishop
Monrad had used when he heard of the gate. "And he was called a
sphinx," added the speaker.

She sat quietly for a little while, became paler and paler, and then
got up. Some time after she was found in an adjoining room weeping.

A learned man said at the dinner-table: "Those who are destined for
something great know it from childhood." "Yes, but they know not for
what!" she rejoined quickly. But then she became embarrassed. She tried
to make a better thing of it, and said: "Some know it, and others
don't," and then she became more abashed, and her embarrassment gave
her an irresistible charm. People like to be conscious of the presence
of lofty yearnings, even though they don't betray themselves.

In a confidential circle one evening people were talking of a young
widow. "She is rejuvenating herself in a new love," said one.

"No, she is rather taking up a mission, a self-sacrificing mission,"
said another, who maintained that he knew her better.

"Well, I don't care which it is, provided she is devoting herself to
something," said the first. "It is in devotion to something outside
oneself that salvation is found--call it rejuvenation or what you
will."

She had been listening to this. At first she was indifferent, then she
pricked up her ears, and finally her attention became riveted. Then she
broke out: "No, the point is _not_ to devote oneself." No one replied;
it made a strange impression. Had anything happened, or was it a
presentiment? Or was she thinking of something special, which no one
present knew anything about? Or of something great for the sake of
which it was worth waiting?

That which seems a little mysterious impresses people's minds. The
better principled, the higher natured among the officers conceived
respect for her. The feeling spread, and bore fruit. With disciplined
wills, nothing takes root more qui