t from the sun, and
it must have been terribly hot under the glass. The cucumbers lay
there half-dead and gasped for breath; some of the leaves were
burnt, and others were drooping. I was so overcome, I too, that I
never thought what I was doing, and Halfvorson caught sight of my
shadow. 'Look here, take the watering-pot that is standing in the
asparagus bed and run down to the river for water,' he said,
without looking up. I suppose he thought it was the gardener's boy.
And I ran."

"Did you, Petter Nord?"

"Yes; you see, the cucumbers ought not to suffer on account of our
enmity. I thought myself that it showed lack of character and so
on, but I could not help it. I wanted to see if they would come to
life. When I came back, he had lifted the glass off and still stood
and stared despairingly. I thrust the watering-pot into his hand,
and he began to pour over them. Yes, it was almost visible what
good it did in the hotbed. I thought almost that they raised
themselves, and he must have thought so too, for he began to laugh.
Then I ran away."

"You ran away, Petter Nord, you ran away?"

Edith had raised herself in the arm-chair.

"I could not strike him," said Petter Nord.

Edith felt an ever stronger impression of the glory round poor
Petter Nord's head. So it was not necessary to plunge him into the
depths of remorse with the heavy burden of sin around his neck. Was
he such a man? Such a tender-hearted, sensitive man! She sank back,
closed her eyes and thought. She did not need to say it to him. She
was astonished that she felt such a relief not to have to cause him
pain.

"I am so glad that you have given up your plans for revenge, Petter
Nord," she began in friendly tones. "It was about that that I
wished to talk to you. Now I can die in peace."

He drew along breath. She was not unfriendly.

She did not look as if she had been mistaken in him. She must love
him very much when she could excuse such cowardice.--For when she
said that she had sent for him to ask him to give up his thoughts
of revenge, it must have been from bashfulness not to have to
acknowledge the real reason of the summons. She was so right in it.
He who was the man ought to say the first word.

"How can they let you die?" he burst out.

"Halfvorson and all the others, how can they? If I were here, I
would refuse to let you die. I would give you all my strength. I
would take all your suffering."

"I have no pain," she said, smiling