ust necessarily have on the mind to be so
completely shut in by mountains. The various barriers in the spiritual
life of the people were named; old prejudices, established customs,
above all those regulations of the church which had became mere empty
forms, hypocrisy, too, were all reviewed in the most amusing manner; the
infinite claims of love, however, were freely conceded.

"See, there she is sitting with her forefinger in her mouth again,"
laughed the lady; this greatly startled Magnhild, and created a fresh
flow of merriment.

A little while after this Magnhild permitted her hair to be decked by
Magda with flowers and grass. She hummed softly to herself all the
while, a habit she had acquired during the days when she was practicing
reading notes at the parsonage. This time her irregular song took higher
flights than usual, inasmuch as thoughts filled it, just as the wind
inflates a sail. The higher she sang, the stronger her voice became,
until Magda exclaimed:--

"There comes mamma."

Magnhild was silent at once. True enough there came the lady, and
directly following her Tande.

"Why, my child, do you sing?"

In the course of the day they had fallen into the habit of using the
familiar "du;" that is, Fru Bang used it, but Magnhild could not do so.

"That is the highest, clearest soprano I have heard for some time,"
said Tande, who now drew near, and who was flushed from having taken a
few steps at a more rapid pace than usual.

Magnhild sprang to her feet, so hastily that there fell a shower of
flowers and grass to the ground, at the same time putting up her hands
to remove Magda's adornments from her hair, which called forth a bitter
complaint from the little girl. Tande's words, appearance, and the look
he now fastened on her had embarrassed Magnhild, and Fru Bang displayed
most kindly tact in endeavoring, as it were, to shield her young friend.

It was not long before they were on their way home,--and they went at
once to Tande's room to try Magnhild's voice.

Fru Bang stood holding her hand. Magnhild sang the scale, and every note
was so firm and true that Tande paused and looked up at her. She was
then obliged to admit that she had sung before.

A feeling of happiness gradually took possession of her; for she was
appreciated, there could be no mistake about it. And when a little
two-part song was brought forward and Magnhild proved able to sing the
soprano at sight, and then a second one was tr