here he sat! He jumped up and came towards
her, his eyes beaming admiration and delight upon her. He seized her
hand in both of his. She had never beheld such radiant happiness. She
felt herself turn scarlet. Alice laughed, which made things worse. But
Frans Roey's loquacity came to their assistance. It was excessive to-day
even for him. He plunged at once into a description of a gigantic
foundry from which he had just come, and drew them along with him. They
saw the half-naked men standing with their hooks on the edge of the
stream of boiling, bubbling, fiery-red metal; they felt the power of the
machinery, and saw the human beings creeping among it like cautious ants
in a giant forest. He tried, too, to explain this machinery to them in
detail. And he made them understand perfectly; but time wore on, and the
two friends had to go.

Alice was in the best of spirits during their drive. It was so evident
that Frans had made a strong impression to-day.

On the following morning Mary went off on a motor excursion with some
American friends. She was away for several days. And the first thing she
did on her return was to call on Alice. There, sure enough, sat Frans
Roey! Both he and Alice jumped up, delighted. Alice embraced and kissed
her. "Runaway, runaway!" she exclaimed. It is not enough to say that
Frans Roey's eyes sparkled; they fired a royal salute. From the moment
Mary shook hands with him, he talked incessantly. He was so foolishly in
love that Alice began to feel alarmed. Fortunately he had to go soon, to
keep a business appointment. Mary was left in a stormy swell; the sea
would not go down. Alice saw this and tried to calm her by eager,
anxious attempts to explain him. But this only further confused her; she
left.

As she came downstairs to join her father and Mrs. Dawes in the
afternoon--she had felt it necessary to take a rest--she heard
piano-playing. She knew at once that it was Joergen Thiis who was
entertaining the old people. He was a first-rate musician, and he loved
their piano. It was to go with them to Norway. She went straight up to
him, and thanked him for being so attentive to her father and Aunt Eva;
unfortunately they were left much alone. He replied that their
appreciation of his music gratified him exceedingly, and that the piano
was a great attraction, being a particularly fine instrument.

The conversation during and after dinner showed Mary how accustomed
these three were to be together;