e at Rosendal in May, and I hope
my mother will be with me; but you will hear from me many times before
then, and I dare say Karl will write you more frequently than I do."

Helga said simply, "I thank you, Herr Hardy, for your kindness to us."

The steamer left that night, and the next day Pastor Lindal went to
the railway station at Esbjerg to take three tickets to the station
nearest his parsonage. Three tickets were handed to him, and the
Pastor expostulated.

"They are first-class tickets, and----"

"Yes," said the station clerk; "but they are already taken and paid
for."

CHAPTER XX.

"_Piscator,_--But, look you, sir, now you are at the
brink of the hill, how do you like my river, the vale it winds
through like a snake, and the situation of my little
fishing-house?"--_The Complete Angler._

As John Hardy drove up to the front of Hardy Place, the young Danish
lad was struck with the beauty of the lawns and shrubberies.

"This is by far prettier than Rosendal, Herr Hardy," he said.

Mrs. Hardy had evidently been waiting some time for the sound of
wheels on the carriage drive, and as her son alighted, she received
him with warm natural affection.

"John, my own boy, I am so glad to see you again," she said; "you have
been too long away from your mother."

"You will have me all to yourself until next May, mother, and then you
will have me with you at Rosendal," said her son. "But here is Karl
Lindal, son of Pastor Lindal, of Vandstrup Praestegaard, Denmark."

The tall, fair-haired lad, with his honest blue eyes, favourably
impressed Mrs. Hardy, who could see beyond outward appearance and
awkwardness of manner.

"Welcome to Hardy Place, Mr. Karl Lindal," she said, taking the lad's
hand kindly. "You can have no better introduction here than as my own
boy's friend."

Karl bowed. He saw a tall elderly lady, dressed in good taste and
perfect neatness, strikingly like her son. They entered the inner
hall, where Mrs. Hardy had been sitting, and tea was served, and she
and her son talked to each other with that kindly confidence not so
frequent nowadays. Karl looked at the old portraits on the wall, and
observed the quiet taste of the decorations and furniture, with its
appearance of comfort, so conspicuous in an English home.

Mother and son had much to say to each other; but at length John Hardy
observed a tired look on the young Dane's face, and he took him up to
the bedroom Mr