he had escaped Peter's control;
and when Jan, now and then, went to the store after it was shut, and
sat an hour with him, no man in Shetland was as proud and happy as
Michael Snorro. Very often Jan brought him a book, and on one occasion
it was the wondrous old "Pilgrim's Progress," full of wood-cuts. That
book was a lifelong joy to Snorro, and he gave to Jan all the thanks
and the credit of it. "Jan brought him every thing pleasant he had. He
was so handsome, and so clever, and so good, and yet he loved him--the
poor, ignorant Snorro!" So Snorro reasoned, and accordingly he loved
his friend with all his soul.

At Jan's house many changes were taking place. In the main, Margaret
had her house very much to herself. No one soiled its exquisite
cleanliness. The expense of keeping it was small. She was saving
money on every hand. When Jan came home with a rich present in his
hand, it was easy to love so handsome and generous a man, and if Jan
permitted her to love him in her own way, she was very glad to do so.
The tie between man and wife is one hard to break. What tugs it will
bear for years, we have all seen and wondered at; and during this
interval if there were days when they were wretched, there were many
others when they were very happy together. The conditions rested
mainly with Margaret. When she could forget all her small ambitions
and disappointments, and give to her husband the smile and kiss he
still valued above every thing, then Jan was proud and happy and
anxious to please her. But Margaret was moody as the skies above her,
and sometimes Jan's sunniest tempers were in themselves an offense. It
is ill indeed with the man who is bound to misery by the cords of a
woman's peevish and unreasonable temper.

For a year and a half Jan remained with Hol Skager, but during this
time his whole nature deteriorated. Among the Shetland fishermen
mutual forbearance and mutual reliance was the rule. In position the
men were nearly equal, and there was no opportunity for an overbearing
spirit to exercise itself. But it was very different with Skager's
men. They were of various nationalities, and of reckless and unruly
tempers. The strictest discipline was necessary, and Jan easily
learned to be tyrannical and unjust, to use passionate and profane
language, to drink deep, and to forget the Sabbath, a day which had
been so sacred to him.

In his own home the change was equally apparent. Margaret began to
tremble before t