came, nor to go out to meet him; on the contrary, she hid
herself. Later, and as by chance, she made her appearance. With
unvarying consistency she treated both the marriage and Skarlie as
though neither in the least concerned her.

Skarlie was in high spirits; the fact was both the priest and his wife
took pains to make amends for Magnhild's lack of courtesy, and he
reciprocated in the most winning manner. The governess declared him to
be decidedly amiable.

The next evening Magnhild sat in the dining-room arranging some articles
belonging to the industrial school that must now be sent back. She was
alone, and Skarlie entered softly and smiling, and slowly closing the
door behind him took a seat at her side. He talked for some time on
indifferent subjects, so that she began to breathe freely again; she
even ventured at last to look down on him as he sat bent over smoking.
Her eyes rested on the bald head, the bushy brows, and the extreme end
of the snub-nose, then on his enormous hands and their very
singular-looking nails; the latter were deeply set in the flesh, which
everywhere, therefore in front also, encompassed them like a thick round
frame. Under the nails there was dirt, a fact to which the governess,
who had herself very pretty hands, had once called the attention of her
pupils as a deadly sin. Magnhild looked at the reddish, bristling hair
which completely covered these hands. Skarlie had been silent for a
little while, but as if he felt that he was being scrutinized, he drew
himself up, and with a smile extended to her one of his objectionable
hands.

"Aye, aye, Magnhild!" said he, laying it on both of hers. This gave her
a shock, and in a moment she was like one paralyzed. She could not stir,
could not grasp a single thought except that she was in the clutches of
a great lobster. His head drew nearer, the eyes too were those of a
lobster; they stung. This she had never before observed, and she sprang
hastily to her feet. He retained his seat. Without looking back Magnhild
began to busy herself where she stood with another lot of the industrial
work. Therefore she did not leave the room, but a little while later
Skarlie did.

The governess decked her in her bridal finery the next day; the mistress
of the house too came to look on. This gave her great pleasure, she
said. Magnhild let everything be done for her without stirring, without
uttering a word and without shedding a tear.

It was the same in th