like a history, and seemed to be the outpouring of her very
heart. Yes, certainly she was fond of Knud. The tears coursed down his
cheeks--he could not restrain them, nor could he speak a single word:
he seemed to himself as if he were struck dumb; and yet she pressed
his hand, and said,

"You have a good heart, Knud--remain always as you are now."

That was an evening of matchless delight to Knud; to sleep after it
was impossible, and accordingly Knud did not sleep.

At parting, Joanna's father had said, "Now, you won't forget us
altogether! Don't let the whole winter go by without once coming to
see us again;" and therefore he could very well go again the next
Sunday, and resolved to do so. But every evening when working hours
were over--and they worked by candlelight there--Knud went out through
the town: he went into the street in which Joanna lived, and looked up
at her window; it was almost always lit up, and one evening he could
see the shadow of her face quite plainly on the curtain--and that was
a grand evening for him. His master's wife did not like his
gallivanting abroad every evening, as she expressed it; and she shook
her head; but the master only smiled.

"He is only a young fellow," he said.

But Knud thought to himself: "On Sunday I shall see her, and I shall
tell her how completely she reigns in my heart and soul, and that she
must be my little wife. I know I am only a poor journeyman shoemaker,
but I shall work and strive--yes, I shall tell her so. Nothing comes
of silent love: I have learned that from the cakes."

And Sunday came round, and Knud sallied forth; but, unluckily, they
were all invited out for that evening, and were obliged to tell him
so. Joanna pressed his hand and said,

"Have you ever been to the theatre? You must go once. I shall sing on
Wednesday, and if you have time on that evening, I will send you a
ticket; my father knows where your master lives."

How kind that was of her! And on Wednesday at noon he received a
sealed paper, with no words written in it; but the ticket was there,
and in the evening Knud went to the theatre for the first time in his
life. And what did he see? He saw Joanna, and how charming and how
beautiful she looked! She was certainly married to a stranger, but
that was all in the play--something that was only make-believe, as
Knud knew very well. If it had been real, he thought, she would never
have had the heart to send him a ticket that he might g