nd do you live there, Herr Hardy?"

"Yes," replied Hardy, "except when I take a foreign tour. My mother
resides there. My father died when I was young. But would not Froken
Helga like to see the photographs?"

Helga did not look up from the knitting, which was her constant
employment every spare moment; so Hardy addressed himself to her
father, as if he had not put the question.

"Before I came here," said Hardy, "I read in the _Berlinske Tidende_
an advertisement for the sale of Rosendal, which to-day appears to be
the same place.

"Yes," said Pastor Lindal. "It is the property of a Baron Krag; he
will sell it if he can obtain about double its value. He has the
argument on his side, that it is an exceptional place, and should sell
at an exceptional price; hitherto he has not found a buyer on these
terms. The property is small in extent."

About a week after this conversation, John Hardy received the
following letter from Copenhagen:--

"I was honoured by your letter of the 10th of this month, and, in
pursuance of your wishes, called at the Bank and enquired of you, and
presented your letter, requesting them to give me information about
you. They replied that they had heard from your London bankers that
you had a considerable sum at your disposition in their hands, and
that your yearly income was considerable, and that any services I
rendered you would be promptly paid for. I accordingly send
particulars of Rosendal, which I have already procured for other
clients; and I send sketch of the estate. The price is much in excess
of its value, 300,000 kroner (18 kroner is equal to L1 sterling). The
price that has been bid is 200,000 kroner, and possibly an advance may
be obtained on that. I wish to point out to you that 200,000 kroner is
beyond the value of Rosendal in an economical sense, and the same
money in the Danish funds would yield twice the income.

"The cows, horses, and sheep, agricultural implements, all go to the
purchaser. The land is managed by a bailiff, and the sources of income
are chiefly from the sale of butter, barley, and produce. There is a
small tile works; and a certain quantity of turf can be sold yearly.
The income is therefore uncertain.

"I think it also my duty to lay clearly before you, that if you wish
to introduce any alteration in our Danish system of farming, that it
would not be successful. There would be a passive antagonism with the
people, who, if you let them be steered by a