s and entreaties to walk in; but it was
the pent-up wrath of three years that was now seeking vent, and there
was no checking it.

"You need not think you can make a fool of me," he began; "I am on a
lawful errand: I am protecting my grandchild's happiness, as I
understand it, and puppy laughter shall not hinder me. One does not
bring up girls to toss them down into the first houseman's place that
opens its doors, and one does not manage an estate for forty years only
to hand the whole over to the first one who makes a fool of the girl.
My daughter made herself ridiculous until she was allowed to marry a
vagabond. He drank them both into the grave, and I had to take the
child and pay for the fun; but, by my troth! it shall not be the same
with my granddaughter, and now you know _that_! I tell you, as sure as
my name is Ole Nordistuen of the Heidegards, the priest shall sooner
publish the bans of the hulder-folks up in the Nordal forest than give
out such names from the pulpit as Marit's and yours, you Christmas
clown! Do you think you are going to drive respectable suitors away
from the gard, forsooth? Well; you just try to come there, and you
shall have such a journey down the hills that your shoes will come
after you like smoke. You snickering fox! I suppose you have a notion
that I do not know what you are thinking of, both you and she. Yes,
you think that old Ole Nordistuen will turn his nose to the skies
yonder, in the churchyard, and then you will trip forward to the altar.
No; I have lived now sixty-six years, and I will prove to you, boy,
that I shall live until you waste away over it, both of you! I can
tell you this, too, that you may cling to the house like new-fallen
snow, yet not so much as see the soles of her feet; for I mean to send
her from the parish. I am going to send her where she will be safe; so
you may flutter about here like a chattering jay all you please, and
marry the rain and the north wind. This is all I have to say to you;
but now you, who are his father, know my sentiments, and if you desire
the welfare of him whom this concerns, you had better advise him to
lead the stream where it can find its course; across my possessions it
is forbidden."

He turned away with short, hasty steps, lifting his right foot rather
higher than the left, and grumbling to himself.

Those left behind were completely sobered; a foreboding of evil had
become blended with their jesting and laughter,