erywhere about
her," he said once. And another time: "Was she not good? Was she
not beautiful? How could such things come to her?" And again: "She
has made me good too. Could not see her sitting in sorrow all day
long and ruining the account-book with her tears." Then this came:
"A clever child, besides. Won her way with me. Made my home
pleasant. Got me acquaintances among fine people. Understood what
she was after, but could not resist her." He wandered away to the
bow of the boat. When he came back he said: "I cannot bear to have
her die."

He said it all with that helpless voice, which he could not subdue
or control. Petter Nord had a proud feeling that such a man as he
who wore a royal crown on his brow had no right to be angry with
Halfvorson. The latter was separated from men by his infirmity, and
could not win their love. Therefore he had to treat them all as
enemies. He was not to be measured by the same standard as other
people.

Petter Nord sank again into his dreams. _She_ had remembered him
all these years, and now she could not die before she had seen him.
Oh, fancy that a young girl for all these years had been thinking
of him, loving him, missing him!

As soon as they landed and reached the tradesman's house, he was
taken to Edith, who was waiting for him in the arbor.

The happy Petter Nord woke from his dreams when he saw her. She was
a fair vision, this girl, withering away in emulation with the
rootless birches around her. Her big eyes had darkened and grown
clearer. Her hands were so thin and transparent that one feared to
touch them for their fragility.

And it was she who loved him. Of course he had to love her
instantly in return, deeply, dearly, ardently! It was bliss, after
so many years, to feel his heart glow at the sight of a fellow-being.

He had stopped motionless at the entrance of the arbor, while eyes,
heart and brain worked most eagerly. When she saw how he stood and
stared at her, she began to smile with that most despairing smile
in the world, the smile of the very ill, that says: "See, this is
what I have become, but do not count on me! I cannot be beautiful
and charming any longer. I must die soon."

It brought him back to reality. He saw that he had to do not with a
vision, but with a spirit which was about to spread its wings, and
therefore had made the walls of its prison so delicate and
transparent. It now showed so plainly in his face and in the way he
took Edith's