then an insane
jealousy possessed him for a moment, as he watched her go through the
same ceremony with Lorimer.

She next carried the now more than half-emptied cup to the _bonde_, and
said as she held it, laughing softly--

"Drink it all, father!--if you leave a drop, you know these gentlemen
will quarrel with us, or you with them."

"That is true!" said Olaf Gueldmar with great gravity; "but it will not
be my fault, child, nor the fault of wasted wine."

And he drained the glass to its dregs and set it upside down on the
table with a deep sigh of satisfaction and refreshment. The ceremony
concluded, it was evident the ice of reserve was considered broken, for
Thelma seated herself like a young queen, and motioned her visitors to
do the same with a gesture of gracious condescension.

"How did you find your way here?" she asked with sweet, yet direct
abruptness, giving Sir Philip a quick glance, in which there was a
sparkle of mirth, though her long lashes veiled it almost instantly.

Her entire lack of stiffness and reserve set the young men at their
ease, and they fell into conversation freely, though Errington allowed
Lorimer to tell the story of their trespass in his own fashion without
interference. He instinctively felt that the young lady who listened
with so demure a smile to that plausible narrative, knew well enough the
real motive that had brought them thither though she apparently had her
own reasons for keeping silence on the point, as whatever she may have
thought, she said nothing.

Lorimer skillfully avoided betraying the fact that they had watched her
through the window, and had listened to her singing. And Thelma heard
all the explanations patiently till Bosekop was mentioned, and then her
fair face grew cold and stern.

"From whom did you hear of us there?" she inquired. "We do not mix with
the people,--why should they speak of us?"

"The truth is," interposed Errington, resting his eyes with a sense of
deep delight on the beautiful rounded figure and lovely features that
were turned towards him, "I heard of you first through my pilot--one
Valdemar Svensen."

"Ha, ha!" cried old Gueldmar with some excitement, "there is a fellow who
cannot hold his tongue! What have I said to thee, child? A bachelor is
no better than a gossiping old woman. He that is always alone must talk,
if it be only to woods and waves. It is the married men who know best
how excellent it is to keep silence!"

They