ny day now; especially, if the
weather should become settled, and our establishment must be in a
condition to receive them. Do you realize that this is the fifteenth
of April?"

"The fifteenth of April!" repeated the young girl, thoughtfully.

"Yes, so to-morrow I must attend to these matters," continued Dame
Hansen. "I can make all my purchases in two hours, and I will return
with Joel in the kariol."

"In case you should meet the postman, don't forget to ask him if there
is a letter for us--"

"And especially for you. That is quite likely, for it is a month since
you heard from Ole."

"Yes, a month--a whole month."

"Still, you should not worry, child. The delay is not at all
surprising. Besides, if the Moel postman has nothing for you, that
which didn't come by the way of Christiania may come by the way of
Bergen, may it not?"

"Yes, mother," replied Hulda. "But how can I help worrying, when I
think how far it is from here to the Newfoundland fishing banks. The
whole broad Atlantic to cross, while the weather continues so bad. It
is almost a year since my poor Ole left me, and who can say when we
shall see him again in Dal?"

"And whether we shall be here when he returns," sighed Dame Hansen,
but so softly that her daughter did not hear the words.

Hulda went to close the front door of the inn which stood on the
Vesfjorddal road; but she did not take the trouble to turn the key in
the lock. In hospitable Norway, such precautions are unnecessary. It
is customary for travelers to enter these country inns either by
night or by day without calling any one to open the door; and even
the loneliest habitations are safe from the depredations of thieves
or assassins, for no criminal attempts against life or property ever
disturb the peace of this primitive land.

The mother and daughter occupied two front rooms on the second story
of the inn--two neat and airy, though plainly furnished rooms. Above
them, directly under the sloping roof, was Joel's chamber, lighted by
a window incased in a tastefully carved frame-work of pine.

From this window, the eye, after roaming over the grand mountain
horizon, returned with delight to the narrow valley through which
flowed the Maan, which is half river, half torrent.

A wooden staircase, with heavy balusters and highly polished steps,
led from the lower hall to the floors above, and nothing could be more
neat and attractive than the whole aspect of this establishment, in