e did not find it
easy to change the subject all at once; he was all preoccupied with
thoughts and wondering, and began asking questions of this and that.
He learned that the application had been sent up to the King, and
might be decided in one of the first State Councils. "'Tis all a
miracle," said he.

Then they went up into the hills; Geissler, his man, and Isak, and
were out for some hours. In a very short time Geissler had followed
the lie of the copper vein over a wide stretch of land and marked out
the limits of the tract he wanted. Here, there, and everywhere he was.
But no fool, for all his hasty movements; quick to judge, but sound
enough for all that.

When they came back to the farm once more with a sack full of samples
of ore--he got out writing materials and sat down to write. He did not
bury himself completely in his writing, though, but talked now and
again. "Well, Isak, it won't be such a big sum this time, for the
land, but I can give you a couple of hundred _Daler_ anyway, on the
spot." Then he wrote again. "Remind me before I go, I want to see that
mill of yours," said he. Then he caught sight of some blue and red
marks on the frame of the loom, and asked."Who drew that?" Now that
was Eleseus, had drawn a horse and a goat; he used his coloured pencil
on the loom and woodwork anywhere, having no paper. "Not at all bad,"
said Geissler, and gave Eleseus a coin.

Geissler went on writing for a bit, and then looked up. "You'll be
having other people taking up land hereabouts before long."

At this the man with him spoke: "There's some started already."

"Ho! And who might that be?"

"Well, first, there's the folk at Breidablik, as they call it--man
Brede, at Breidablik."

"Him--puh!" sniffed Geissler contemptuously.

"Then there's one or two others besides, have bought."

"Doubt if they're any good, any of them," said Geissler. And noticing
at the same moment that there were two boys in the room, he caught
hold of little Sivert and gave him a coin. A remarkable man was
Geissler. His eyes, by the way, had begun to look soreish; there was a
kind of redness at the edges. Might have been sleeplessness; the same
thing comes at times from drinking of strong waters. But he did not
look dejected at all; and for all his talking of this and that between
times, he was thinking no doubt of his document all the while, for
suddenly he picked up the pen and wrote a piece more.

At last he seemed to have fin