The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1870-03-04

''Oh, tell him, Carl ~ she answered,
bowling her head down, as If afraid to
look me in the face-"tell him know
he is kind man, and may help us!"
Thus solicited, Carl narrated to me
the following touching tale:
They had been brought up together,
he said, from childhood, and what won
der If they became all in all to each
other. He knew he was not worthy of
her, and that Ingsbret would never
give his daughter to him-a common
birmingham. But he would make him.
self worthy of her; and so he studied
hard at his books, and with the help of
the good pastor, had hoped to be able
to take post as schoolmaster ian Office
held in great respect among the peas
antry.) But it was all in vain; he had
no royal blood in his veins; and neith-
er prayers nor entreaties could move
the stern old man from his purpose of
wedding his daughter to one of the
same family with herself. "Then,"
said Carl, ~ was miserable, and
thought I had better leave the world
as quickly as / could, for there was
nothing in it worth living for now. But
she came to me, just as 1 was about to
-" and his voice failed as he came to
this part of his story, "and promised to
share veal or woe with me, and in a
weak moment 1 consented. And now
-now-she is made as wretched as my
self; and IL alone am her destroyer"
Words would fail me were / to at.
tempt to describe the scene that follow
ed the conclusion of his simple but
touching tale; indeed, l was so moved
myself at the distress of the two young
people, that it is best to draw a veil
over it.
"But where has the child been all
this while?" inquired.
"Here, sir !" answered Carl. 81 built
this hut, and Ingeleiv and take it in
turns as we can be with it,"
"And how far is this from your faith
er's house?" l inquired Of Ingeleiv.
"About three miles; but Carl has
twice that distance to go;"and the tears
rolled fast down her cheeks.
"Y ou see, sir" added Carl, "as yet
during the summer we have been able
to manage; but now that the days are
becoming shorter and shorter, and win
ter is coming on, God above only
knows what will he the end of it," And
here Carl followed Ingeleiv's example,
and cried like child.
swell, cheer up, my friends; I'll do
what l can to help you; but you must
agree to act according to my directions.
Let us wait till to- morrow, however; it
is too late to think of doing anything
at this late hour" So spreading my
rug down on the ground, and making
a pillow of my knapsack, and light
ing that unfailing source of ofconsolation,
a good cigar, lay down and smoked,
thought over the best plan to be adopt
ed TO make things smooth, and then
fell asleep.
Next morning we all set out for In
geleiv's house. / need not say how
surprised my old friend was to see me
return so quickly.
"What you couldn't leave the sal
mon then 2" he said.
Meanwhile, Carl, had taken the child
and loitered a little behind on the road,
while Ingeleiv slipped into the house
unobserved.
EYES," I said, entering the house;
and then after few commonplace re.
marks, led the conversation TO topic
on which the old man never wearied
of hearing himself or others talk
namely, the old kings of Norway. But
/ was determined not TO humor him to
his full bent this time; for when he
got on his favorite hobbyhOrse, it was
difficult to stop him; SO l turned the
conversation to hard-hearted parents
and i'll assorted marriages, and told him
about Philip of Spain, D'Aguesseau,
and others; and then, when l saw had
made some impression-fo the old man
received any historical fact, especially
when it related to the great of the earth,
with implicit confidence-and had ex-
cited his curiosity, l concocted a little
history exactly similar in all respects
to that of Ingeleiv and Carl; and when
1 had concluded, 1 took down two
books from the book shelf, which gave
evident signs of having been well stud
led.
"Here, Ingebret," said, taking up
one it was his favorite book-the His
tory of the kings of Norway-"here is
a book which tells you all about the
lives and deaths of royalty, but here
is book" lit was the Bible) (which
teaches us that in Gods sight, who is
King of all kings, we are all equal. HUI
mility, forgiveness and love are the
lessons it teaches u.s." And then run
ming oat of the room, and fetching back
the infant in trice, laid it in his arms
saying: "And here is your daughters
child, Ingebrset, and it prays through
me that you will not repulse your own
blood from you; remember too, that
the blood Of old Harald Haarhger is
flowing in Its veins"
1t was strange way of breaking
news, dear reader, YOU may perhaps
say; and you are quite right. But still
/ think it was the most effective way
/ could have adopted. That last touch
about the child being of royal descent
was,I have eversince thought, the most
mastery and diplomatic thing l ever
did in my life A death-like paleness
came over the old mans face. 4 felt II
was critical moment, and did not keep
silence. Never, am sure, did l talk
so fast, beg, pray or entreat so hard as
/ did then. AT last he began to relent;
for at first he was all for driving his
daughter out from home and hearth.
Not that he would have done ii, l am
sure, for he loved her dearly. But by