er used to carry?"

"Yes; both the stick and the high leather cap he always wore when
he went to church."

"So you remember the cap, too? Do you know what father did at the
last? He told me to fetch him his stick and cap, and then he gave
them to Eric. 'I could have given you something that was worth more
money,' he told Eric, 'but I am giving you these instead, for I
know you would rather have something I have used.'"

"That was an honour well earned." When Jan said that he noticed
that the old mistress drew her shawl closer together. He was sure
now she was hiding something under it--maybe a present from Glory
Goldie! "She'll get round to that in time," he thought. "All this
talk about her father is only a makeshift."

"I have often spoken of this to my children," the old mistress went
on, "and also to Lars Gunnarson. Last spring, when Eric lay sick, I
think both Lars and Anna expected that Lars would be called to the
bedside, as Eric had once been called. I had brought him in the
stick and cap so they'd be handy in case Eric wished to give them
to Lars; but he had no such thought."

The old mistress's voice shook as she said that, and when she spoke
again her tone sounded anxious and uncertain.

"Once, when we were alone, I asked Eric what his wishes were, and
he said if I wanted to I could give the things to Lars when he was
gone as he had not the strength to make speeches."

Whereupon the mistress of Falla threw back her big shawl, and then
Jan saw that she held under it a long, silver-mounted ebony stick
and a stiff, high-crowned leather cap.

"Some words are too heavy for utterance," she said with great
gravity. "Answer me with just a nod, Jan, if you will. Can I give
these to Lars Gunnarson?"

Jan drew back a step. This was a matter he had entirely dismissed
from his mind. It seemed such a long time since Eric of Falla died
he hardly remembered how it happened.

"You understand, Jan, that all I want to know is whether Lars can
accept the stick and cap with the same right as Eric. You must
know, as you were with him that time in the forest. It would be
well for me," she added, as Jan did not speak, "if I could give
them to Lars. I believe there would be less friction afterward
between the young folks and me."

Her voice failed her again, and Jan began to perceive why she had
aged so much the past few months; but now his mind was so taken up
with other things that he no longer cherished the old rese