this
person was steering his course exactly toward where she sat, and it was
plain that he knew the marsh thoroughly,--where the cloudberries grew,
and where it was not so wet but that you could get across. It could not
possibly be----? She blushed the instant she thought of the name, and
at the same moment the stranger disappeared behind a hill, so that she
saw no more of him for the time.

Involuntarily she tied her kerchief freshly under her chin, stroked her
light hair under the edge of the kerchief, and smoothed out the folds
in her skirt. Then, sitting with her back half turned to the quarter
where he might be expected to appear, she took up her book and bent her
head over it as if reading.

Shortly afterward a young man shot up over the hill behind her. He had
on brand-new gray woolen clothes, a "bought" scarf around his neck, and
top-boots outside his trousers. He was not tall, but his figure was
well knit and manly. In his youthful face, on which the merest shadow
of down could be distinguished, was set a pair of brown eyes, trusting
and trustworthy. He stopped a moment and looked down at the open space
where Lisbeth sat upon the stone with the flock of animals around her.
It was evident that he had a memory of the scene,--that he had seen
that picture before. Lisbeth did not look up, but she knew he was
there,--felt in her back, so to speak, that he was standing there
gazing at her. He smiled and then swung his course around so as to
approach her from the side, and so that the animals might have time to
become gently aware of his presence and not scramble up in a flurry.
Silently he drew near to her, until at last his shadow fell upon her
book. Then she looked up and their eyes met. At that both of them
flushed a little, and he said hastily, "Good day, Lisbeth Longfrock."

"Good day. Why, is it you, Peter, out for a walk?"

They shook hands.

"Yes; I thought it would be pleasant to have a look at the old places
again; and since Jacob was coming up to visit you, I made up my mind to
keep him company."

"Is Jacob with you?"

"Yes, but he is waiting down at the saeter, for he was tired. We were
out early to-day, and tomorrow we are to take home a pair of nags to
Hoegseth Farm. He sent you his greeting and will see you this evening."

"Were you sure that you could find me?"

"Oh, yes! I knew just about where you would be in such weather. And, of
course, it is more fun for me to ramble around here than