h tonight!" said she, "stay at home and rest." And the
next night she would persuade him again, with another excuse. She
took care not to suggest that he should give up the sea entirely;
Soeren was stubborn and proud. Could she only keep him at home from
time to time, the question would soon be decided by his partners.

So Soeren remained at home first one day and then another; Maren
said that he was ill. He fell easily into the trap, and when this
had gone on for some little time, his partners got tired of it,
and forced him to sell his part of the boat and implements. Now
that he was driven to remain at home, he grumbled and scolded, but
settled down to it after a while. He busied himself with odd jobs,
patched oilskins and mended wooden shoes for the fishermen and
became quite brisk again. Maren could feel the improvement, when
he good-naturedly began to chaff her again as before.

He was happiest out on the downs, with Ditte holding his hand,
looking after the sheep. Soeren could hardly do without the little
one; when she was not holding his hand, he felt like a cripple
without his staff. Was it not he whom she had chosen for her first
smile, when but three weeks old! And when only four or five months
old dropped her comforter and turned her head on hearing his
tottering steps.

"'Tis all very well for you," said Maren half annoyed. "'Tis you she
plays with, while I've the looking after and feeding of her; and
that's another thing." But in her heart she did not grudge him first
place with the little one; after all he was the man--and needed a
little happiness.

There was no one who understood Ditte as did her grandfather. They
two could entertain each other by the hour. They spoke about sheep
and ships and trees, which Ditte did not like, because they stood
and made the wind blow. Soeren explained to her that it was God who
made the wind blow--so that the fishermen need not toil with their
oars so much. Trees on the contrary did no work at all and as a
punishment God had chained them to the spot.

"What does God look like?" asked Ditte. The question staggered
Soeren. There he had lived a long life and always professed the
religion taught him in childhood; at times when things looked dark,
he had even called upon God; nevertheless, it had never occurred to
him to consider what the good God really looked like. And here he
was confounded by the words of a little child, exactly as in the
Bible.

"God?" began So