FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96  
97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   >>   >|  
ross the farm proper. "You know Strong Ingmar, I suppose?" said Gabriel. "Oh, yes," young Ingmar replied. "We used to be good friends in the old days." "Is it true that he understands magic?" asked Gunhild. "Well--no!" Ingmar answered rather hesitatingly, as if half-believing it himself. "You may as well tell us what you know," persisted Gunhild. "The schoolmaster says we mustn't believe in such things." "The schoolmaster can't prevent a person seeing what he sees and believing what he knows," Gabriel declared. Ingmar wanted to tell them all about his home; memories of his childhood came back to him at sight of the old place. "I can tell you about something that I saw once," he said. "It happened one winter when father and Strong Ingmar were up in the forest working at the kiln. When Christmas came around, Strong Ingmar offered to tend the kiln by himself, so that father could come home for the holidays. The day before Christmas, mother sent me up to the forest with a basket of good fare for Strong Ingmar. I started early, so as to be there before the midday dinner hour. When I came up, father and Strong Ingmar had just finished drawing a kiln, and all the charcoal had been spread on the ground to cool. It was still smoking and, where the coals lay thickest, it was ready to take fire, which is something that must not happen. To prevent that is the most important part of the entire process of charcoal making. Therefore, father said as soon as he saw me: 'I'm afraid you'll have to go home alone, little Ingmar. I can't leave Strong Ingmar with all this work.' Strong Ingmar walked along the side of the heap where the smoke rose thickest. 'You can go, Big Ingmar,' he said. 'I've managed worse things than this.' In a little while the smoke grew less. 'Now let's see what kind of a Christmas treat Brita has sent me,' said Strong Ingmar, taking the basket from me. 'Come, let me show you what a fine house we've got here.' Then he took me into the hut where he and father lived. At the back was a rude stone, and the other walls were made up of branches of spruce and blackthorn. 'Well, my lad, you never guessed that your father had a royal castle like this in the forest, eh?' said Strong Ingmar. 'Here are walls that keep out both storm and frost,' he laughed, thrusting his arm clean through the spruce branches. "Soon father came in laughing. He and the old man were black with soot and reeking with the odour of s
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96  
97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Ingmar
 

Strong

 

father

 
Christmas
 

forest

 

branches

 

charcoal

 

Gabriel

 

basket

 

prevent


Gunhild

 
thickest
 

schoolmaster

 
believing
 
things
 

spruce

 

afraid

 

making

 

process

 

Therefore


walked

 

reeking

 

managed

 

blackthorn

 

laughed

 
thrusting
 

castle

 

guessed

 

laughing

 

taking


entire

 

person

 
persisted
 

childhood

 

memories

 

declared

 

wanted

 

hesitatingly

 

replied

 

suppose


proper
 
friends
 

answered

 

understands

 

happened

 
smoking
 

ground

 
drawing
 
spread
 

happen