im into another room,
and shut the door.

"Now, Hans," said he earnestly, "I am going to pay you off. Nay, man,
be not cast down, I did not take you into yonder room to mock you, but
to show you how pretty Raneilda looked in her bridal dress."

Fred paused for a moment, and the Norseman sighed and shook his head.

"You must know," resumed Fred, "that I wish to dance at your wedding,
Hans, and in order that I may do so, I mean to have you married at once.
(Hans stared.) You told me in Bergen that you wanted some sort of work
that would bring you good pay. (Hans nodded his head.) Well, I will
give you a hundred dollars for the time you have been with me."

Hans' face brightened, and he shook hands with Fred, according to
Norwegian custom when a gift is presented, or a generous payment made.

"Now," continued Fred, "did you not tell me that two hundred dollars
would enable you to take your father's farm off his hands? (Hans nodded
again.) And is Raneilda willing to marry you when you can afford to ask
her? (Hans nodded this time, very decidedly.) Well, Hans, I have been
very much pleased with the way in which you have conducted yourself
while in my service; you have done your duty well. (Hans smiled and
looked happy.) But you have done more than that. (Hans looked
surprised.) You have been the means of enabling me to see the sun all
night at a time when I should otherwise have missed it. I owe you
something for that. Moreover, you pulled me out of that rapid by the
neck when I caught the twenty-eight pound salmon, and so, perhaps, were
the means of saving my life; and certainly you saved me that salmon.
For all this, and for many other good deeds, I owe you a debt of
gratitude. Now, Hans, you must know that it is impossible to pay a debt
of gratitude _in full_, for, however much you may pay, there is always
something more owing. (Hans looked puzzled.) This debt, then, I cannot
pay up at once, but I can prove to you that I consider myself your
debtor by making you a present of another hundred dollars. Here is the
money, my lad, so go and tell Raneilda to get ready as soon as
possible!"

Hans stared in wonder and unbelief, first at the money, then at Fred.
Then a look of triumph gleamed in his eyes, and he seized Fred's hand
and wrung it. Then he uttered a shout, and ran to Raneilda and kissed
her. Fred kissed her too. Sam Sorrel and Grant, not knowing exactly
what to do, kissed her also; and Bob B