even
so--would her desert have been greater if that sorry finery had been
her best? Leave her in peace; she has a right to peace!

She overdid things finely, and worked harder than she ought. There
were two men on the place, but Inger took the chance when both were
away at once, and set to work herself sawing wood; and where was
the good of torturing and mortifying the flesh that way? She was so
insignificant a creature, so little worth, her powers of so common
a sort; her death or life would not be noticed in the land, in the
State, only here in the wilds. Here, she was almost great--at any
rate, the greatest; and she may well have thought herself worth all
the chastening she ordered and endured. Her husband said:

"Sivert and I, we've been talking about this; we're not going to have
you sawing wood, and wearing yourself out."

"I do it for conscience' sake," she answered.

Conscience! The word made Isak thoughtful once more. He was getting
on in years, slow to think, but weighty when he did come to anything.
Conscience must be something pretty strong if it could turn Inger all
upside down like that. And however it might be, Inger's conversion
made a change in him also; he caught it from her, grew tame, and given
to pondering. Life was all heavy-like and stern that winter; he sought
for loneliness, for a hiding-place. To save his own trees he had
bought up a piece of the State forest near by, with some good timber,
over toward the Swedish side, and he did the felling now alone,
refusing all help. Sivert was ordered to stay at home and see that his
mother did not work too much.

And so, in those short winter days, Isak went out to his work in the
dark, and came home in the dark; it was not always there was a moon,
or any stars, and at times his own track of the morning would be
covered with snow by nightfall, so he was hard put to it to find his
way. And one evening something happened.

He was nearing home; in the fine moonlight he could see Sellanraa
there on the hillside, neat and clear of the forest, but small,
undergroundish to look at, by reason of the snow banked high against
the walls. He had more timber now, and it was to be a grand surprise
for Inger and the children when they heard what use he would make of
it--the wonderful building he had in mind. He sat down in the snow to
rest a bit, not to seem worn out when he came home.

All is quiet around him, and God's blessing on this quiet and
thoughtfuln