essed this half hour, for I
rested so well and have so great a mind either to take or to
see a trout taken in your fine river that I could no longer
lie a-bed.
"_Piscator._ I am glad to see you so brisk this morning and so
eager of sport, though I must tell you, this day proves so
calm, and the sun rises so bright, as promises no great
success to the angler; but however, we will try, and one way
or the other, we shall sure do something."
--_The Complete Angler._

Kirstin, the elder of Pastor Karl Lindar's women servants, was about
forty-five--a large-framed woman with a hard face. She possessed, in
common with the Jutland lower class, a shrewd sense, yet highly
suspicious, but at the bottom strong good nature. She had been with
Pastor Lindal more than twenty years, and her devotion to him and his
was complete. At all times she gave her advice, whether asked or
unasked, on every topic, and materially assisted in economizing the
pastor's narrow income. Her work was done with the exactitude of a
clock, neat and precise; and if the work in the house was by any cause
increased, she rose earlier and went to bed later, rejoicing in her
capacity for work and usefulness. The influence her steady character
had in the house was great, and on the Pastor's daughter, Froken
Helga's leaving an educational institution at Copenhagen, Kirstin's
strict sense of duty created an impression that Froken Helga never
lost. She awoke to the fact of what her duty was--that it was to her
father and his home. Kirstin's manner was not kindly, and she could
give sharp answers, but the woman's kindly nature often showed itself
in a strong light. Outside the Pastor's house she was respected and
liked, and always went by the name of Praesten's Kirstin.

At half-past five the morning of the day after John Hardy's arrival at
the parsonage, Kirstin knocked at the door of his room, and brought in
the accustomed coffee and its belongings.

John Hardy was dressed, as he was always an early riser, and was
attaching two large Irish lake trout flies to a stronger casting line
than he had selected the night before.

"Morn," said Kirstin. "I tell the gentleman that Karl and Axel have
had coffee. Has the gentleman anything to command?"

"Tell them I am ready to go fishing," said Hardy; "but if we catch any
trout and the trout are in the kitchen by ten o'clock, can we have
them cooked for breakfast?"

"If the gentleman'