Year: 1874

all be understood II 1T were told Most
certainly not.


He heard two children playing, and he
looked around. He was sitting in the
green inclosure Aasta had spoken of a
little while ago, but he had not been
aware of it till now. Five hours had
passed he thought it was few minutes.
The children had most likely been play
ing there for long; but he heard them
now for the first time.


What! was not one of them Agnes,
the clergyman's little daughter of eight
years, whom Aasta had loved even to
idolatry, and who was so like her? Good
heavens! how like she was!


Agnes had just set her little brother
upon great stone, where he had to be
in school, while she was schoolmaster.


"Say now just what l say" she COM
manded; "Our Father"


"Ou' Farver."


"Who art in heaven"


"Eb'm."


"Hallowed be thy name.'"


"Arvid be name."


"'Thy kingdom come"


"Noh


"'Thy will be done"


"No; SAINT"


Botolf crept away; not, however, be-
cause the prayer had touched him in
deed, he had not marked that it was q
prayer; but while he looked and listened
to the children, he became, in his own
eyes horrible wild beast, unfit to come
either near God or man. He dragged
himself behind some bushes, so that the
children might not discover him; he was
more afraid of them than he had ever
been of any one in all his life. He
skunk off into the forest, far away from
the high road.


Where should he GO? To the now
empty house he had bought and fur
nished for Aasta? Or should he go some
where farther away? 1t mattered moth
ing; for everywhere he thought of
going, he saw Aasta standing there. 1t
is said that when folks are dying, the
last object they see is pictured upon
their eyes; so, too, when man awakes
to consciousness after doing wicked
deed, the first object he sees is pictured
upon his eyes, and he can never get rid
of it. Thus, when BOtOlf now saw Aasta,
she no longer appeared to him as she had
upon the mountain slope so short time
before, but she seemed to be a little in
nOcent girl-in fact, to be Agnes. Even
the picture he retained of her figure
while she was sinking down the steep,
was that of Agnes, with her little hands
uplifted. In whatever direction he
turned his thoughts and remembrances
of the suffering woman whom he had 80
suspected, they were met by the inno-
cent child, whom he had Just heard re-
peating the Lords Prayer. In every
scene of his life with Aasta-from the
night of the shipwreck to this Sunday
mOrning-the child's face appeared. The
thought of this mysterious transforma-
tion so preyed upon him, in both mind
and body, that in the course of a few
days he became unable to take his neces-
sary food, and little while after was
compelled to take his bed.


Soon every one could see he was ap-
preaching death. He whose mind is
burdened by some great life enigma ac-
guires peculiar manner, through which
he himself becomes an enigma to others.
Even from the day Botolf and Aasta
first came to live in that parish his
gloomy taciturnity, her beauty, and the
loneliness of the life of both, had been
the subject of frequent gossip among the
neighbors; and now, when Aasta all at
once disappeared, the talk increased un-
til the most incredible things said were
the best believed. Nobody could throw
any light upon the matter; for none of
all those who lived upon the mountain
ridge, or the shore beneath, or who
were accustomed to 60 there, had hap
pened to be looking toward the steep
just when Aasta flung herself over.
Neither did her corpse ever drift to land,
itself to give evidence.


Even while Rotolf was yet alive, there
fore, mo end of strange spiritualistic
stories were told about him. He became
dreadful to see, as he lay there with long,
sunken face, red beard and unkempt
red hair, growing tangled together, and
large eyes looking up like some dark tarn
in mountain hollow. He seemed to
have no wish either to live or to die and
50 the folks said there was fight for his
soul going on between God and the
devil. Some said they had even seen the
evil one, surrounded by flames, climb up
to the windows of the dying mans cham
Der to call on him. They had seen the
evil one, too, they said, in the form of a
black dog, go shifting round the house.
Others, who had rowed past, had seen the
whole place on fire; while others again
had heard company of devils, shout
ing, barking, and laughing, come from
the sea, pass slowly toward the house, en-
ter through the closed door, rush fur
iously through all the rooms, and then
20 down once more beneath the waves,
with the same awful row as they made
in coming out. Botolfs servants, men as
well as women, left Immediately, and
told all these tales to everybody. Hardly
any dared ever go near the place; and ii
an old peasant and his wife, to whom the
sick man had shown some kindness, had
not taken care of him, he would have
lain utterly INTENDED. Even this old
woman herself was in terror, when she
was with him and she used to burn
straw under his bed TO keep off the evil
one but though the sick man was nearly
scorched up, he still kept alive.


He lay in terrible suffering; and the
old woman thought at last he must be
waiting to see some one. So she asked
him whether she should send for the
clergyman. He shook his head. Was
there any one else he would like to see?
To that he made no answer. The next
day, while he was lying as usual, he dis
tinctly pronounced the name, agnes"
Certainly, this was not in reply to the
old woman's question of the day before
but she fancied IL was, and she rose
gladly, went out 10 her husband, and
bade him harness the horses with all
speed, and drive over TO the parsonage
to fetch Agnes.


When he reached there, everybody
thought there must be some mistake,
and that il was the clergyman that was
sent for; but the old man insisted that
IL was the little girl. She herself was
indoors. and heard the message. which