with the
people when she saw the smoke whirling up from their chimneys, and she
could guess what they were going to have for supper. As she sat there,
she again heard a creaking in the branches, and Halvard Ullern stood
again before her, with his jacket on his arm, and the same bridle in his
hand.

"You have not found your bay mare yet?" she exclaimed, laughingly. "And
you think she is likely to be in this neighborhood?"

"I don't know," he answered; "and I don't care if she isn't."

He spread his jacket on the grass, and sat down on the spot where he
had sat the night before. Brita looked at him in surprise and remained
silent; she didn't know how to interpret this second visit.

"You are very handsome," he said, suddenly, with a gravity which left no
doubt as to his sincerity.

"Do you think so?" she answered, with a merry laugh. He appeared to her
almost a child, and it never entered her mind to feel offended. On the
contrary, she was not sure but that she felt pleased.

"I have thought of you ever since yesterday," he continued, with the
same imperturbable manner. "And if you were not angry with me, I thought
I would like to look at you once more. You are so different from other
folks."

"God bless your foolish talk," cried Brita, with a fresh burst of
merriment. "No, indeed I am not angry with you; I should just as soon
think of being angry with--with that calf," she added for want of
another comparison.

"You think I don't know much," he stammered. "And I don't." The sad
smile again settled on his countenance.

A feeling of guilt sent the blood throbbing through her veins. She saw
that she had done him injustice. He evidently possessed more sense, or
at least a finer instinct, than she had given him credit for.

"Halvard," she faltered, "if I have offended you, I assure you I didn't
mean to do it; and a thousand times I beg your pardon."

"You haven't offended me, Brita," answered he, blushing like a girl.
"You are the first one who doesn't make me feel that I am not so wise as
other folks."

She felt it her duty to be open and confiding with him in return; and in
order not to seem ungenerous, or rather to put them on an equal footing
by giving him also a peep into her heart, she told him about her daily
work, about the merry parties at her father's house, and about the
lusty lads who gathered in their halls to dance the Halling and the
spring-dance. He listened attentively while she spoke, gazing e