he passions she evoked; and Jan to mock at the
niceties that had hitherto snubbed and irritated him. Once he had been
so easy to please; now all her small conciliations sometimes failed.
The day had gone by for them. The more she humbled herself, the less
Jan seemed to care for her complaisance. To be kind too late, to be
kind when the time for kindness is passed by, that is often the
greatest injury of all.

At the end of eighteen months Jan and Skager quarreled. Skager had
become intimate with Peter Fae, and Peter was doubtless to blame. At
any rate, Jan was sure he was, and he spent his days in morose
complaining, and futile threats of vengeance--futile, because the poor
man's wrath always falls upon himself. When Peter heard them he could
afford to say contemptuously--"It is well known that Jan Vedder has a
long tongue and short hands;" or, "Between saying and doing the thing
is a great way."

In a few weeks even Ragon Torr got weary of Jan's ill-temper and
heroics. Besides, he was in his debt, and there seemed no prospect of
speedy work for him. Upon the whole, it was a miserable winter for the
Vedders. Jan made very little. Sometimes he killed a seal, or brought
in a bag of birds, but his earnings were precarious, and Margaret took
care that his table should be in accordance. She had money, of course,
but it was her own money, and a thing with which Jan had no right. She
ate her meager fare of salt fish and barley bread with a face of
perfect resignation; she gave up her servant and made no complaints,
and she did think it a most shameful injustice that, after all, Jan
should be cross with her. It did not strike her, that good meal, even
though she had procured it from her own private hoard, might have
been a better thing than the most saintly patience. There is much said
about the wickedness of doing evil that good may come. Alas! there is
such a thing as doing good that evil may come.

One afternoon in early spring Jan saw a flock of wild swans soaring
majestically on their strong wings toward a lake which was a favorite
resting place with them. He took his gun and followed after. They were
gathered in the very middle of the lake; his dog could not swim so
far, neither could his shot reach them. It seemed as if every promise
mocked him. Sulky and disappointed, he was returning home when he met
the Udaller Tulloch. He was jogging along on his little rough pony,
his feet raking the ground, and his prehistoric h