"Not very correct of the men of Kolding," said Hardy, "and, I fear, not a good side of the Danish character."

"I cannot deny that such principles occur with us," said Pastor Lindal; "possibly we have learnt it from the English."

"We shall have to start at six to-morrow, Herr Pastor, to reach Hoisted," said Hardy. "The hotel there is moderate, and we can only expect what we can obtain. We shall have to break our longest journey where we can, to give the horses a little rest."

"Therefore, we should go to bed early," said the Pastor.

"But I cannot go to bed without thanking you, Herr Hardy, for your goodness to my father," said Froken Helga. "I have never seen him so bright, and I thank you." She thanked him in her Danish manner by shaking hands.

"There is little need to thank me," said Hardy. "I have learnt much from your father, and am thankful for it; but I hope with time to win the same kindly trust from him as you already possess, and I think deservedly."

Helga never forgot these words. They echoed in her recollection through the winter months, and Kapellan Holm was nowhere.



CHAPTER XIX.

"Piscator.—Come, sir, let us be going; for the sun grows low, and I would have you look about you as you ride, for you will see an odd country, and sights that will seem strange to you." —The Complete Angler.

John Hardy, before he retired to rest, had arranged with the hotel manager at Veile to telegraph to Baekke, where he designed to have a late breakfast, or rather lunch, and to a little inn, a few English miles further on, where they could pass the night. Thus the horses could rest at Baekke, and then go further to a station that would leave them but a little distance to reach Esbjerg.

It was eleven before they reached Baekke, travelling over not the best of roads, and when they got there Hardy's forethought in telegraphing was apparent. The Pastor was tired, but as conversational as ever. Karl and Axel were obviously hungry, and as there was nothing to be had but fried eggs, and the usual indigestible et ceteras, Hardy was anxious to get on to their destination for the night. The Pastor went into the carriage, and Helga got up by Hardy's side, but her father had specially stipulated that she was not to drive the horses. This, of course, had to be obeyed, as the Pastor's wish once expressed was enough for Helga. The direction was over by-roads, and it was perhaps best the Pastor had been so decisive.

Helga talked as before, unreservedly, and the ring of her clear voice, with its transparent truth, was a pleasure to hear.

"Travelling like this is such a pleasure," she said; "the sound of the step of the horses even has its effect, as we feel they go easily to themselves. There is the succession of change of place and scene, fresh green meadows after dry and dusty roads, and, after a dull bit, there comes a pretty prospect of a country house, with its woods and lake. The coming also to a fresh place every night has its interest. I cannot think of a more pleasant way of travelling. Do you, Herr Hardy?"

"Yes," said Hardy. "I like a fresh breeze blowing in the wished-for direction, and an English sailing yacht, as a means of travelling. You do not go so fast as you appear to sail, but it is pleasant to see the bright wave flashing by, and to feel the yacht rushing through the sea."

"But, then, there is not the varied change of scene as in travelling as we now do, Herr Hardy," said Helga.

"There is nothing like yachting for variety, if there be favourable winds, but on that it is dependent," said Hardy. "For instance, the Mediterranean can be explored in a winter, and places in Spain and Portugal visited on the way to Gibraltar, and then Italy and the Ionian Islands and Greece."

"It must be a great drawback to be so dependent on the wind," said Helga.

"Yes; and particularly so in yachting on the coast of Norway, amongst the Danish islands, or up the Baltic," said Hardy; "but this difficulty is got over by the use of steam, and steam yachts are becoming the rule."

"Have you a yacht, Herr Hardy?" asked Helga.

"I am having one built," replied Hardy. "My mother likes the sea, and I am having one built so that she may be as comfortable as possible. It is a steam yacht, and we shall be at sea in a fortnight, and I shall take Karl, if he wishes."

"He likes the sea, and when we go to Copenhagen from Aarhus in the steamer, we enjoy the journey," said Helga.

"There is one small matter which has struck me with regard to Karl," said Hardy, "and that is, you Scandinavians are liable to what you call Hjemve (home sickness). I wish you would ask your father to say to him that he goes to England to try to get on in life, and that it is childish to be afraid of meeting strange people, but to look to the future and not be occupied with the present."

"Thank you very much, Herr Hardy; you are very thoughtful. Karl has been very quiet the last two days, and you have anticipated what I had thought," said Helga.

They had arrived at Hoisted, where they had to pass the night. The modest little inn did its best for them, and the Pastor was glad to rest; but after dinner his enjoyment of his pipe was great. It is not understood in England that such is good or necessary. Tot homines quot sententiae. The question is in England, Is it wrong for a parson to enjoy his pipe? The answer is, "No," with some people, "Yes," with others; but the question whether it is good for him is very generally answered in the negative.

"You have but few stories of the people, or, as you call them, Eventyr?" asked Hardy.

"There are very many," replied the Pastor. "But in Norway you will have found an even richer store. The grandness of nature there has influenced the imaginations of the people. Their legends, traditions, and stories are more romantic and weird. Their traditions of the Huldr are exquisitely fantastic and picturesque to a degree. Their Folke-Eventyr is rich in colour. There is a depth of thought and of the knowledge of human nature as it is that fills the mind with astonishment. There is in them all a sense of justice, a feeling of appreciation of what is good and true, as if the thought had been inspired. Nationally, the Norwegians are honest, and their Folke-Eventyr has contributed to form the character of the people. It has engendered a respect for what is good and true. There is also an idea of rough justice and humour; and I will tell you a story which will illustrate this. There was once a priest who was very overbearing. When he drove in the roads, he shouted to the people he met, 'Out of the way, I am coming; out of the way!' He did this so often that the king determined to check his pride, and drove to the priest's. As he was coming, he met the priest, who shouted as usual. The king drove as he should do, as king, and the priest had to give way. When the king was at the side of the priest's carriage, he said, 'Come to me at the palace to-morrow, and if you cannot answer three questions I put to you, I will punish you for your pride's sake.' This was treatment the priest was not accustomed to. He could bully the Bonder, but answering questions did not suit him. So he went to his clerk and told him that one fool can ask more questions than ten wise men could answer, and that he must go up to the palace to the king and reply to his questions. So the clerk went in the priest's gown. The king was in the balcony with his crown and sceptre, and was dressed in such a costume that he looked a king."

"'So you have come,' said the king.

"'Yes,' said the clerk. It was quite certain that he was there.

"'Tell me' said the king, 'how far the east is from the west?'

"'A day's journey,' answered the clerk.

"'How can that be?' said the king.

"'The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and generally does it in a day,' answered the clerk.

"'Good,' said the king. 'But tell me now how much money I am worth?'

"'Well,' replied the clerk, 'Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and I should put you at twenty-nine.'

"'A good answer,' said the king. 'But tell me now what I am at this moment thinking about?'

"'That's easy to answer,' replied the clerk. 'The fact is, you think I am the priest, but I am only the clerk.'

"'Then go you home and be priest, and, let the priest be clerk,' commanded the king."

"A very excellent story," said Hardy, "and, as you say, shows a strong sense of rough justice and humour."

"There is a child's story," said the Pastor, "with its humour; but it is very simple, as all stories of the people should be. A boy found a pretty box in a wood, but he could not open it, for it was locked. A little further he found a key. The question was whether the key would fit the box. He blew into the key and put the key into the lock, when lo! it fitted, and the box opened. But can you guess what was in the box? No, of course not. There was a calf's tail in the box, but if the calf's tail had been longer, so would this story be."

"But that is a Norwegian story," said Hardy. "Are there none essentially Danish?"

"They are related to some extent in H. C. Andersen's stories, and they have been translated into English. There is a story, however, that may not have been translated. A king and queen had no children; but a beggar came to her and said, 'You can have a son, if you will let me be his godfather when he is christened.' The queen assented. The queen had a son, but the king had to go to war to quell a rebellion. The king made her promise that she would nurse the child herself, and not trust to nurses and other people. The queen did so, and the beggar stood godfather. The beggar bent down over the child, and said that everything it wished for it should have. This the king's attendant heard. He was accustomed to attend the king when hunting, and he thought that such a child was worth possessing. The queen, however, watched the child night and day. One day she was in a summer-house and had fallen asleep, with the child in her lap; when she woke the child was gone. When the king returned, he had a tower built in a wood, and he walled the queen up in it, as a punishment for losing the child. The attendant brought the child up as his own, and there was no suspicion. He took the child, when grown up, out hunting when the king went, and taught him to wish for such and such a head of game, and if he shot an arrow at it, he always hit. The king could not understand how so young a hunter could always be so successful, but the attendant assured him that it was only a sure hand and eye. The attendant had meanwhile become very rich, by getting the king's son to wish him to be so. The attendant had taken a girl into his service, who grew up to be very beautiful. She had suspicions that all was not right, and asked the attendant; but he would not tell her. At last the attendant told her the boy must be killed, and she must do it, and cut out his tongue, to show him that she had murdered him. She, however, killed a hind, and cut out its tongue, and showed the attendant the tongue. The attendant thought she had done as she was told, and told her the story, which the king's son heard from a place where she had hid him. The king's son immediately wished the attendant should be a three-legged dog, that must always follow him. He wished the girl to be a rose and put her in his button-hole. The king's son then attended the court, as the king wished to go hunting. 'Where is the attendant?' asked the king. 'He is here close by,' said the king's son. The king was satisfied with the answer, and went out hunting. The king's son led the hunt to the tower where the queen was walled in, and wished that the tower might fall down and the queen be found in it yet living. This happened, although she had been there seventeen years. The prince then took the rose out of his button-hole, and married the girl who had so well served him."

"A graphic story," said Hardy, "and has the same tendency that you attributed to the Norwegian stories of the people, or Folke-Eventyr."

"There is a story more peculiarly belonging to Jutland," said Pastor Lindal, "and that is of a Trold who lived in a wood in a large Kaempehoi, or tumulus. He was an old grey-bearded Trold, and the people in the district were afraid of him. There was an old woman who lived near with her son. They had a cow, and it was difficult to get grass for it, particularly in the winter. The boy took the cow and grazed it on the Trold's Kaempehoi. The Trold came out and objected, and threatened, and drove the boy and the cow away. The boy, however, got a piece of soft cheese from his mother, and stole a bird sitting on its eggs in a nest, these he put in his pocket; so the next day he took the cow to the same place, and the Trold came out and threatened. The Trold took up a stone and pressed it in his hand, so that water came from it, to show how he could crush him. The boy said that is nothing, and took the cheese from his pocket and pressed it, so that it appeared as if he was squeezing more out of a stone than the Trold could. So the Trold said, 'I will throw a stone up, and you can count until it comes down. The boy did so, and counted up to one hundred and thirty-one. 'That is good!' said the boy. 'But now count for the stone I cast;' and the Trold counted, but the boy threw the bird up in the air, and of course it flew away. The Trold was astonished, and asked the boy if he would come into his service. The first thing was to fetch water, as the Trold wanted to brew. The Trold had a large bucket to fetch water, which the boy could not even lift; so he said, 'This will not do at all; we had best fetch in the river.' But this the Trold could not do. The boy behaved in the same way with fetching turf and fuel; and when the Trold went out to pick nuts, he picked up stones and gave the Trold to crack. This gave him the toothache, but the boy advised him to fill his mouth full of water and sit on the fire until it boiled. This did not succeed, and so the boy continued to tease the Trold until he compassed his destruction, and taking all the Trold's gold and silver, he went home, and had enough to live on all his days, with his mother."

"I have heard a parallel story from many lands," said Hardy.

"That is true enough; it is a story very widespread, with different incidents and features," said the Pastor.

The next day they drove into Esbjerg, and Garth and Hardy put the horses on board the steamer for England. It would leave in the evening, when the tide would allow it to get out of dock.

The Pastor had arranged to stay the night at Esbjerg, to see the very last of his son Karl on his leaving for England.

As they left, Hardy said, "I shall be at Rosendal in May, and I hope my mother will be with me; but you will hear from me many times before then, and I dare say Karl will write you more frequently than I do."

Helga said simply, "I thank you, Herr Hardy, for your kindness to us."

The steamer left that night, and the next day Pastor Lindal went to the railway station at Esbjerg to take three tickets to the station nearest his parsonage. Three tickets were handed to him, and the Pastor expostulated.

"They are first-class tickets, and——"

"Yes," said the station clerk; "but they are already taken and paid for."



CHAPTER XX.

"Piscator,—But, look you, sir, now you are at the brink of the hill, how do you like my river, the vale it winds through like a snake, and the situation of my little fishing-house?"—The Complete Angler.

As John Hardy drove up to the front of Hardy Place, the young Danish lad was struck with the beauty of the lawns and shrubberies.

"This is by far prettier than Rosendal, Herr Hardy," he said.

Mrs. Hardy had evidently been waiting some time for the sound of wheels on the carriage drive, and as her son alighted, she received him with warm natural affection.

"John, my own boy, I am so glad to see you again," she said; "you have been too long away from your mother."

"You will have me all to yourself until next May, mother, and then you will have me with you at Rosendal," said her son. "But here is Karl Lindal, son of Pastor Lindal, of Vandstrup Praestegaard, Denmark."

The tall, fair-haired lad, with his honest blue eyes, favourably impressed Mrs. Hardy, who could see beyond outward appearance and awkwardness of manner.

"Welcome to Hardy Place, Mr. Karl Lindal," she said, taking the lad's hand kindly. "You can have no better introduction here than as my own boy's friend."

Karl bowed. He saw a tall elderly lady, dressed in good taste and perfect neatness, strikingly like her son. They entered the inner hall, where Mrs. Hardy had been sitting, and tea was served, and she and her son talked to each other with that kindly confidence not so frequent nowadays. Karl looked at the old portraits on the wall, and observed the quiet taste of the decorations and furniture, with its appearance of comfort, so conspicuous in an English home.

Mother and son had much to say to each other; but at length John Hardy observed a tired look on the young Dane's face, and he took him up to the bedroom Mrs. Hardy had directed to be prepared for him, near her son's rooms.

"Karl," he said, "here is your room, and everything you are likely to want ready. If you want anything, press that nob, which rings a bell, and a man-servant will answer it; but as he may not understand you, come for a moment into my dressing-room, and I will show you where my things are, and if you want anything, take it."

There was a strong contrast between Hardy's rooms in his own home and the single little room he had occupied in Denmark, and Karl said so.

"Yes," said Hardy; "you will find a good deal of difference between England and Denmark, but you will find me the same John Hardy."

"I have not dressed, mother," said Hardy, as he came down just before the gong was struck for dinner; "my young Danish friend is not supplied with evening dress, and I thought he might feel a trifle less strange, where everything must strike with the force of novelty a lad of seventeen, if I appeared as he has usually seen me."

"You are the same thoughtful, considerate old John," said his mother, proud of her son's kind heart; "but I do think, John, you look better than when you left."

"I am better," said John. "The fare at the little Danish parsonage was simple and good. At first I missed a few things that I was accustomed to here, but the excellence of the quality of everything at the Pastor's soon made me forget them. I think, too, my mother, I have learnt much. The simplicity with which the Danish Pastor did his work with exact conscientiousness interested me. There was never a thought of postponing a duty under any circumstances. There was never a thought that a duty done was a sacrifice of self, but his duty was done with a serious singleness of purpose and thorough trust in God, that had a strong influence on his parishioners. They saw he was sincere and true."

"You are drawing a good picture of the Pastor, John," said his mother; "but," she added in a whisper, as John took her into dinner, "what about the Scandinavian princess?"

"I will tell you all about her after you have seen her photograph," said John. "I will give it you when you go into the library after dinner. I will give Karl Lindal some English to read, as he must lose no time in acquiring the language."

Karl Lindal felt awkward and uneasy at dinner. The novelty of everything so occupied him that he was the more gauche in manner. This Mrs. Hardy observed, and said little to him. It was best the lad should be left to get over the change that had impressed him.

When John Hardy joined his mother in the library, he found her with a large reading-glass, looking at Helga Lindal's photograph. "It is a good face, John, like her brother somewhat, and fine features," said his mother. "Is she tall?"

"About five feet eight, mother," replied John. "She is like her father in character—simple and true, and with common sense."

"But you wrote me, John, that if you did propose to her that she would not accept you, on account of her father wanting her assistance and relying so much on her," said Mrs. Hardy.

"I did, mother; but her father wished her to become engaged to a curate of his called Holm," said John. "She refused Holm, as she did not like him, and I think her father would wish her to marry any one she did like. His view appears to be that she owes a duty to herself, and he would think it his duty to prevent her sacrificing all her young life even to him."

"Why, the man is right, John, and his photograph says as much!" said Mrs. Hardy. "But, John, answer me plainly—have you said anything to her?"

"No," replied Hardy. "I do not feel certain of myself without you, mother. I want you to see her."

"Have you led her to expect that you might speak to her John?" asked his mother.

"When I went there first, she behaved towards me as if she disliked me," replied John; "but her manner changed. I had offered to teach her to ride: she declined in a very decided way; but in driving to Esbjerg, she said she should like to learn, and that her objection, whatever it was, did not exist longer. I said I would teach her when I came again to Denmark. One evening, I sang the German song you have heard me sing so often, and I turned round suddenly and saw her face; she looked at me as if she loved me with all her heart, but possibly so simple a nature as hers was carried away by the song's influence. I turned away my face, that it might reflect nothing to her."

"Did anything else occur, John?" asked his mother.

"Yes," replied John. "A few evenings before I left, I showed her father and herself your photographs; she exhibited a warm interest in them, particularly that one of the picture. I gave her the photographs, and she thanked me as if I had given her something she had a great wish for."

"It is a long way for an old woman, John," said Mrs. Hardy; "but I would go to the end of the earth to see you happily married. I like her face," added she, looking at Helga Lindal's photograph; "it is good and firm of purpose for so young a woman. Is she ladylike, John?"

"Her manner is simple and sincere," he replied; "and I never saw anything that you, mother, would not approve of; but, living as she does, and has, she has not seen much society, or acquired any artificial manner. Her management of her father's house is practical, and the obedience to her wishes and orders as complete as they ever are in Denmark. Their servants are not as ours are."

"Why you do like her, John," said his mother.

"I do, but I do not feel certain of myself," said John. "The time I have known her is short, and it may be only a passing fancy; and what I want, mother, is your help in knowing my own mind, but, above all, hers. You will understand her instantly."

"But why did you buy Rosendal, John?" asked his mother; "in all your letters you never gave a reason."

"I bought it on an impulse," replied John, "but I did think I might want it at the time. It is a place you can live in, mother, until you are tired of it, but from which you can help me."

"I do not think you need fear, John, her being carried off by any one," said Mrs. Hardy, to whom the idea of any woman not being in love with her son was impossible.

"I must risk it," said John, "but I could not do other than I have done. If I had spoken a word to her when a guest in her father's house, it would have been wrong. But I wanted to talk with you, my mother. I have no secrets from you; and John kissed her, and wished her 'Good night.'"

A few weeks at Hardy Place made a great change in Karl Lindal. He talked English better, and his manners were not so boyish. He felt also the influence of the good people about him, and had lost his home-sickness.

The experimental trip in the new steam yacht that Hardy had had built (and which he had christened the Rosendal) was a great delight to the young Dane, who was naturally fond of the sea. The yacht made a few short trips in the English Channel, and was then laid up for the winter. Karl made himself useful on board the yacht, and his greatest pleasure was to do anything for John Hardy or his mother. The lad's thankfulness for the kindness he received was thorough, and Mrs. Hardy liked the lad.

"Is your sister Helga like you, Mr. Karl Lindal?" asked Mrs. Hardy, one day, when her son was not present.

"She is more clever in everything than I am," replied Karl, "and she is so good to me and Axel, and gives up everything for us. She is four years older."

At last a letter came to John Hardy, from Vandstrup Praestegaard.

"Herr Hardy,

"My father desires me to say that they are proceeding with the work at Rosendal, and that there is nothing specially to report at present, as there is nothing being done contrary to your wishes, and there is no room for complaint on what is being done.

"My father also desires me to express his thanks for your kindness about the tickets from Esbjerg. It was a matter that surprised us all, except me, and it was my fault in saying that my coming back from Esbjerg would be an additional cost to him; I understood the completeness of your kindness at once. I felt you would not let it be a burden to my father on my account and Axel, and that when you were taking the tickets that you might as well include my father's also; but to take first-class tickets was not necessary, and what we did not wish.

"I promised to write if I caught a trout that weighed one pound, English, by your measure. I have fished many times, and caught one by the bend in the river just below the tile works. Axel got it into the landing-net, and my father has seen it weighed, and it is just a little heavier than the line that marks the one pound English. I thank you also for your consideration in this. My father is pleased to see me looking fresh and well after going out fishing, and he says no fish are so good as those Helga catches. I thank you, Herr Hardy, for your thinking that this would also please my father.

"We all send you friendly greeting from here, and our best affection to Karl.

"Helga Lindal."

John Hardy translated the letter for his mother, and gave it to her with the original.

"Her handwriting is ladylike, John," said his mother, "there is no doubt of that; and she writes such a beautiful, simple letter! I like her, John! If you love her, do not lose her for the world."

John Hardy was touched.

"Bless you, my mother," he said; "your heart is as mine; you love again with your son's love. But I know it is best to wait until May, when we can go there."

Karl Lindal wrote to his father in Denmark.

"My all-dearest Father,

"The kindness I receive from Herr Hardy and his mother is great. They are most kind. I feel it not possible to express my thanks; but I am always trying to be useful, to show how thankful I am. They are so different from Danish people. I cannot say how beautiful Herr Hardy's house is. It is far prettier than Rosendal. I learn English every day with an English Kapellan; he is very kind, and he teaches me the English games of cricket and lawn tennis. Mrs. Hardy, that is Herr Hardy's mother, is beautiful. She touches my cheek with her hand, and she asks if Helga is like me. I answer that Helga is better, and she seems to be pleased to hear me say so. Herr Hardy has taken me out in his yacht, that is a pleasure vessel with steam power; he has called it the Rosendal.

"I have been out with Herr Hardy shooting partridges. He has had many gentlemen down to shoot, but they none of them shoot so well as Herr Hardy. A flock of the birds get up, and Herr Hardy, who shoots with a double-barrelled gun, always gets two. His gamekeeper, or Jaeger, told me that they always could depend on the governor, as they call Herr Hardy.

"Herr Hardy took me to London, and I went to the Zoological Gardens, where there were a great many rare animals, and to the Haymarket Theatre, which is like the Royal Theatre at Copenhagen. I was measured for clothes by a tailor in London, and Herr Hardy has given me many more things than necessary; but he is so kind I do not know what to say or do. I send my best love to you and Helga and Axel.

"Your son,

"Karl Lindal."

Another letter came from Vandstrup Praestegaard.

"Herr Hardy,

"My father desires me to say that the work at Rosendal is nearly finished, and that the land where the trees are to be planted is prepared for them. There is nothing that he sees neglected, or that he should bring to your notice.

"We have received many letters from Karl, and we are interested in them. He writes and describes your house, and repeats again and again your goodness to him. He describes your mother as very kind. We have no doubt but this is you. My father says if you do anything, you do it always in the kindest way. I do not doubt but that this is so, and we all thank you gratefully, and greet you kindly.

"Helga Lindal."

John Hardy translated this letter for his mother. She read it, and said—

"John, the letter is a letter to keep for all time! I feel so proud of you, my own boy, that such a letter should be addressed to you. I never read so beautiful a letter; so short, and yet so exquisite in its simplicity! You can trust your future to her, John."

"Thank you, my mother," replied her son. "I know I can trust her, if she will trust me."

"Why, John, you can offer her wealth, position, and influence," said Mrs. Hardy.

"All which would be nothing with her," said John "She would be as content to marry me on a bare subsistence as if I had a larger income than we have. Position is nothing to her, because she scarcely understands it; and as for influence, she has more influence for good in her father's parish than any person in it."

"A faint heart, John," suggested his mother.

"Yes, I know that; but my heart is not faint," said John. "I only wait to be sure of it, and your approval, mother."

Karl Lindal made progress in learning English and Hardy made inquiries for a berth for him with a foreign broker. In reply to the question as to Karl's character, Hardy told the story of the young Dane's refusing taking any money from Hardy in their driving tour to Esbjerg. This slight matter made a favourable impression, and the young Dane entered on his duties. Hardy procured lodgings for him in London, with a young medical man who had recently married, and had began to keep house, and whose relatives resided near Hardy Place.



CHAPTER XXI.

"Only a sweet and virtuous soul Like seasoned timber, never gives But when the whole world turns to coal, Then chiefly lives." The Complete Angler.

The interior of Rosendal had been painted, and sketch plans of the different floors and rooms had been submitted to Mrs. Hardy. Lithographed drawings of Danish furniture had been procured in Copenhagen, so that she could select what furniture she thought necessary for their stay at Rosendal during the summer, and this was purchased for John Hardy by Prokurator Steindal, and sent to Rosendal.

The planting and improvements in the grounds had been carried out.

Robert Garth and a manservant were sent with the horses, a carriage, and the heavy impedimenta to Esbjerg by steamer, late in April, to prepare for the occupation of the mansion at Rosendal.

Then came a letter from Vandstrup Praestegaard.

"Herr Hardy,

"We have heard that your servants are preparing Rosendal for your mother's residence there. It has occurred to my father that everything may not be at first ready for her, and he has directed me to write and say that if she will come here on her arriving in Jutland, that we will do our best to make her stay a pleasant one. We are all so grateful for your goodness to Karl, that it would gladden us to do anything for your mother.

"We send respectful greetings to her and to yourself.

"Helga Lindal."

John translated the letter to his mother.

"Accept it, John," she said. "My maid can be driven over by Robert Garth, the two miles you say that Rosendal is situated from the parsonage, if she would be in the way there."

"No, my mother," said Hardy; "you do not know the language. I will go to Rosendal, and you can certainly take your maid with you. Pastor Lindal knows a little English, and so does his daughter. It will be a good sign if she has been learning it in the winter; I left my Danish-English books there, but I suggested nothing to her in this direction."

"How simply to the point her letter is, John!" exclaimed Mrs. Hardy. "There are no phrases about their accommodation not being so good, or that their means are narrow; she simply says they will do their best, and that they would be glad to do it. It is not possible to doubt her."

"It is like her manner," said John. "I can fancy I hear the words she writes."

Towards the middle of May, Mrs. Hardy, her son, and two women-servants travelled overland to Jutland, from Flushing.

Robert Garth met them at the railway station, and drove them to the parsonage.

Parson Lindal was at the door, and welcomed Mrs. Hardy with much old-fashioned politeness. "Welcome, and glad to see you," he said in English to her, while he warmly greeted Hardy in Danish.

Helga was standing by her father, regarding their visitor with great interest; she had shaken hands with John Hardy, and welcomed him back to Jutland. The Pastor introduced his daughter to Mrs. Hardy, who held out her hand to Helga, and drew her closer and kissed her, as if she had been her daughter.

"You are a beautiful edition of your brother Karl, Miss Lindal," she said. "He has become a great favourite of mine, and you will be glad to hear he is well spoken of in London."

Robert Garth drove one of the servants to Rosendal, and had orders to fetch John Hardy in the evening, at the parsonage.

The Pastor had time for a word with Hardy, as his mother went to change her travelling dress.

"I am glad to see you, Hardy; but what a trick you played us about the tickets from Esbjerg! I did not like it at first, but when I thought of your friendly intentions, I forgave you; but I cannot thank you enough for your goodness to Karl, and your wisely placing him in lodgings with the chance of good influence. That is good of you, indeed."

"Where is Axel?" asked Hardy.

"He is at Copenhagen, at a school for a time," replied the Pastor. "He will be home in the summer for a holiday."

"What about Rosendal?" asked Hardy.

"It is much improved; in a month or six weeks it will be lovely," answered the Pastor. "The plan was excellent that you adopted, and, as you have been written, it has been executed well."

When Mrs. Hardy appeared, perfectly well dressed, as she always was, John could see that the Pastor observed her well-bred manner. "Your parsonage, Herr Pastor," she said, "has a look of calm contentment and quiet that strikes me in coming from busy England."

"That is near the reality, Mrs. Hardy," replied he; "but it is not the fact with all our Danish parsonages, men vary here as they do elsewhere."

"That may be; but you have the greater opportunity for attaining the actuality of what is simple and true," said Mrs. Hardy.

"Possibly we have," replied Pastor Lindal; "but I fear we are all liable to neglect opportunities which suggest only."

John Hardy had been obliged to assist at this conversation as interpreter, when Kirstin announced dinner was served. Hardy rose and shook hands with Kirstin.

"It is an old servant, mother," said Hardy; and Mrs. Hardy rose and shook hands with Kirstin, and then the Pastor took Mrs. Hardy in to dinner.

Mrs. Hardy's ladylike tact soon enabled her to get on with the Pastor—she used the simplest English words, and Hardy was able to talk to Helga.

"I have brought the side saddle," he said.

"I have seen it at Rosendal; and your man Garth has been exercising the horses with a skirt daily, to make them more accustomed to a lady riding them," said Helga.

"Well?" said Hardy, inquiringly.

"I shall be glad to learn to ride, Herr Hardy, if you will kindly teach me," said Helga. "Your man has told us that the horses and carriage were at our disposal until your mother came. We have not often used them, as my father said that if I wished to learn to ride, I had better wait until you came, as you understood horses, and that he was afraid some accident might occur."

John Hardy had apprised Mrs. Hardy of the inevitable porcelain pipe, which, as she did not like tobacco smoking, her son asked the Pastor to hold his tobacco-parliament in his own study, where he went to keep him company.

Thus Mrs. Hardy was alone with Helga for some time. She found that Helga could speak a little English, and Mrs. Hardy led her to speak of the management of the little household at the parsonage, and then of her father, which with Helga was an inexhaustible theme. She told Mrs. Hardy of John's gift of the piano, which she said she had accepted because her father liked to hear her sing.

"I feel it was wrong to have accepted it," she said, "but I did so on the impulse of the moment; my father had been listening to my singing, and it seemed to draw his mind away from his great sorrow, and I thought any feeling of my own should be sacrificed to that."

"Why, what a dear child you are!" said Mrs. Hardy, led away by Helga's earnest blue eyes, and she kissed her affectionately. "You talk a good deal better English than I expected," she added.

"Perhaps so," replied Helga. "Mr. Hardy left his books here for Axel, and I have been learning all the winter, in the hope of being of use to you; I knew you would want some one to speak English, as your son might not always be at hand. Karl has written with such gratitude of you, that it is the only way that occurred to me that I might really be useful to you."

"You are a dear, sensible girl, Miss Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, caressing her; "and so it will be. And will you come and stay with me as long as your father can spare you, at Rosendal, and help me to get the house in order?"

"I will do anything for you, Mrs. Hardy," replied Helga, earnestly.

John Hardy came in to wish them "Good night," before he left for Rosendal.

"I shall drive over in the morning to see if you wish to go to Rosendal, mother," he said.

"Certainly I do, John," replied his mother, "But I have a message for you;" and she whispered, "I like her already, John; she is perfectly good and true."

John Hardy was right when he said that his mother's influence on his own thoughts would crystallize them.

The next few days were occupied in settling down at Rosendal. Mrs. Hardy was charmed with the place. Its natural beauty was what such a mind as hers could recognize, and she praised Rosendal to Helga, to the latter's great satisfaction.

Helga was assiduous in learning English, and daily became more useful to Mrs. Hardy, The Pastor often came to dinner, and the days passed pleasantly.

"John," said Mrs. Hardy, one day, when she was alone with her son, "you have asked me to ascertain what Helga Lindal's feelings are to you, if I possibly could. I cannot. All I can say is, marry her, and you will never regret it. Ask her. She is the best and truest woman I ever met."

"Very good, mother," replied John. "I will."

That day Pastor Lindal came to dinner, and his daughter was to return with him in the evening, to remain at home.

John Hardy asked Helga to walk through the grounds, while her father was conversing with Mrs. Hardy, They went to a particular place that John recollected, and he said—

"Froken, do you remember your asking me at this spot why I bought Rosendal?"

"Yes, perfectly," said Helga, frankly; "and you said you would tell me when your mother came."

"My reason is, and was, because you said there was no place you should like to live at so much as Rosendal."

"Do you mean you will give it to us?" asked Helga.

"My meaning is that I will give it to you, Helga. I want you to be my wife."

"I will, if you will wait. Hardy; my father cannot live without me now."

"Wait!" cried Hardy; and he looked into her blue eyes. "Why, you have loved me a long time, and never told me so! I have been in doubt and fear."

"You never need doubt it more. Hardy," said she, saying "du" to him for the first time. "When you came here first, I tried not to like you; then I tried to disgust you with me, and you were so good and manly that I loved you with all my heart. I thought," she added, "you would have spoken to me when you proposed the driving tour to Esbjerg, and I was so frightened."

"Yes," said Hardy, "it was in my mind, but I was a guest in your father's house, and I had to ask my mother's blessing and support. But tell me one thing, what was the reason that you would not tell me about your refusing to learn to ride?"

"My reason was that I did try not to like you, and then I refused."

"I see," said Hardy, kissing what he thought the most beautiful mouth in the world.

When they returned to the house, Mrs. Hardy saw her son's bright face, and knew he had been accepted.

"Dear mother," said John, caressing her, "she's won."

Mrs. Hardy embraced Helga warmly, and the Pastor saw how the matter stood, and held out his hand.

"I have understood you all along, Hardy, and you are a noble fellow. You have my consent, willingly."

Helga was preparing to return with her father, but Mrs. Hardy interposed.

"You can have John, Herr Pastor," she said; "but I must have my daughter here, that I may get to know more of her. John shall go with you, but I must have her for to-night."

The Pastor had to give way, and John Hardy went with him, and they held a tobacco-parliament, and John slept in his old room at the parsonage.

Mrs. Hardy, when they were gone, said, "Tell me all about John, my darling, all you know;" and Helga told her.

"He is like his father," said Mrs. Hardy; "he was so true and good a gentleman, that I feel the same interest as if it were my own marriage over again, and my son has been my all for years. He has told me so much about you, that before I came it was the holding up the mirror to memory; all what he said, and had dwelt in my mind, came back."

Helga told her that she could not marry until her father was too old to attend to his duty; that he could not, and would not, give his duty up until pronounced unfit.

"I will arrange all that," said Mrs. Hardy, "You shall be married to John this summer, and you must say no more; you must leave that to me. Your father's greatest happiness will be to see you happily married, and he has told me so."

A few days after, John Hardy and his mother and Helga Lindal called at the Jensens'. John frankly told them the story of his engagement, and, as he was going to be married in Denmark, asked the two Froken Jensens if they would be bridesmaids. Helga wished it.

Mathilde Jensen reminded Hardy that she had said he bought Rosendal because he wanted to marry Helga Lindal.

"Yes," said John; "I thanked you for so disposing of me."

The worthy proprietor was delighted that John Hardy would be his neighbour for some time of the year, and thanked him for the mare Hardy had sent over from England to improve his breeding stock. John Hardy had made him a present of it.

"She is," said the proprietor, "as handsome as can be; but she has a temper."

"She is Irish," said Hardy. "But you will find the horse foals easy to manage; the mares may give a little trouble, but they will go like birds."

The Jensens pressed them to stay to an early dinner, and Mrs. Hardy thought they had best do so. The well-bred English lady made a strong impression on the Jensen ladies, and the genuine Danish hospitality appealed to Mrs. Hardy.

The result of this visit was a return visit to Rosendal. The exact service and the excellent arrangements of everything had its effect on the Jensens, and the consequence was that numerous calls were made at Rosendal.

Helga had returned to the parsonage, when John Hardy one day came to his mother with a telegram. The steam yacht Rosendal was at Aarhus.

"Let us go to Copenhagen, John," said Mrs. Hardy, "and take Helga with us. She is fond of the sea, and I enjoy her society. It is the perfect truth that is in everything about her that I love."

"She will not go if I ask her, mother," said John; "but if you do she may."

"Telegraph to them to have steam up, John," said his mother, "and I will drive to the parsonage."

His mother left, and, to John's astonishment, Helga returned with her, ready to go anywhere.

"The Pastor insisted on her going," said Mrs. Hardy, "and I promised to bring back his youngest son, who is at school at Copenhagen. The Pastor is a sensible man. He said to his daughter, 'Why should you not enjoy the kindness your future husband can show you?' and there was an end to her objections."

They hurried to the station, and got on board the Rosendal after a short railway journey.

"You had better go below and get your dress changed, Helga; my mother will show you where your berth is. What you want is a warm woollen dress that a little sea water will not hurt. There are several belonging to my mother on board."

When Helga came up, they were at sea. The pilot was steering. Mrs. Hardy was sitting on a wicker chair on deck. Some one in a sailor's dress placed a chair for her.

"When you are tired of sitting here," said Hardy, for he it was, "you can go into the deck-house and lie down. We shall have dinner at six. There is Samso, and before you rise to-morrow we shall be at Copenhagen, I shall have to be up all night."

The yacht delighted Helga. The dinner was served so well that it surprised her; and when they came on deck, it was a pleasure to see the distant lights in the fine summer's night, and to feel the yacht rushing through the smooth sea.

"I do like this. Hardy," she said. "Must I go to my berth? I would rather be on deck and hear your voice now and then."

"No," said Hardy; "because you must not draw off my attention. We have to look after the pilot, and I am the only man on board that knows Danish;" and Helga went at once.

Mrs. Hardy, who had heard what had passed, was pleased to see her rapid compliance with what was necessary.

When Helga came on deck the next day, they were at anchor near the Custom House at Copenhagen. Mrs. Hardy was already up, and they had breakfast.

Hardy gave some necessary orders as to coaling, and they went ashore and saw the Museum of Northern Antiquities, Thorwaldsen's Museum, and much else, and lunched at the Hotel d'Angleterre in the King's New Market, or Kongens Nytorv.

"Now, Helga, what is there more to see?" asked Hardy.

"There is the picture gallery in Christiansborg Slot, but there are so many steps up to it that it will fatigue Mrs. Hardy; but, if we might, I should like to call and see Axel, and arrange about his coming back with us," said Helga. "To-morrow you could see Rosenborg, which is certain to interest you; we have to give notice to-day to the curator."

"I shall be henpecked, mother," said Hardy. "She orders everything already."

"No, you will not," said Helga, who understood him, although he had spoken in English. "I shall give my life to you, and my will too." There was no mistaking the look in those blue eyes. "You might be interested," she added, "in going to the Royal Theatre. The play to-night is one of Holberg's comedies, 'Den pantsatte Bondedreng,' that is, 'The Farmer's Boy left in Pledge.' It is a good play and popular. I can tell the story of the play to Mrs. Hardy before she goes, as you. Hardy, already know it."

"I give myself entirely in your hands, Helga. You shall be obeyed before marriage, and obey me after," said Hardy, laughing.

"It is not a question of obedience," replied Helga. "I am yours altogether when I am your wife."

As she had said this in Danish, Hardy explained to his mother.

Mrs. Hardy said, "She is a jewel, John, and without price;" and rose from her seat and kissed her on the parting of her hair.

"Don't do that, mother," said John; "you make me wish to kiss her head off."



CHAPTER XXII.

"Oh, ye valleys! oh, ye mountains! Oh, ye groves, and crystal fountains! How I love, as liberty, By turns to come and visit ye!" The Complete Angler.

Axel's joy at the unexpected pleasure of seeing his sister and Hardy was unbounded, but when he heard he was going on board the yacht for a cruise, and then to return home, he was wild with delight.

They went to the theatre that evening, and to Rosenborg the next day, and the yacht left in the afternoon for Elsinore, and anchored for the night.

Mrs. Hardy preferred being at sea to staying longer at Copenhagen. The theatre with its excellent acting interested her, but the knowledge of the language was wanting, and detracted from her enjoyment of Holberg's dramatic genius, which for so many years has interested the Danish public. Rosenborg, with its rich and varied treasures for four hundred years, was a greater enjoyment to her, and is alone worth a visit to Copenhagen.

"We have supplies and coal on board, mother," said Hardy, "and we can run up the Swedish coast to Gothenborg and see the falls at Trollhaettan, by starting early, and can then cruise down the Danish coast."

"I think, John," said Mrs. Hardy, "I would rather go up to Christiania; we can write Pastor Lindal from Elsinore that we shall do so. We can lay to during the darker hours at many places, or, as we take a pilot from here to Christiania, can run on. The weather is calm."

Helga had heard what Mrs. Hardy had said, and, as Hardy looked at her, she said, "Where your mother pleases."

The next day, at breakfast time after English fashion, the yacht was fifty miles from Elsinore, and sea life began. The decks were clean and everything in order. The fore-staysail was set, as well as the fore and main sails, to catch the wind from the westward, and the yacht ran steadily, to the comfort of all on board.

Hardy had every arrangement made for his mother's comfort, her chair and wraps and footstool were all placed on deck, as he knew she liked, and Helga watched him doing this with pleasure.

"I think, Helga," he said, "it may interest you to inspect the yacht. Axel has been everywhere except up the masts." And Hardy showed her the engines, the many contrivances for economizing space, the compact little cooking-galley, and the berths for his own use and friends, as well as the little library they had on board, the stores and pantry. "And now," he said, "as the sea air will make you hungry, and you are not accustomed to an English breakfast, what would you like for lunch? There is a list of soups, also preserved meats, and a lot of things sent from Hardy Place."

"I will have anything that has come from Hardy Place," said Helga; and Hardy gave directions accordingly, to her subsequent approval.

They walked up and down the deck, and Hardy pointed out the different places on the coast on the chart, stopping at times to speak to Mrs. Hardy.

"I think this is the most delightful way of travelling. Hardy," said Helga, "and I recollect that you said so when you drove us to Esbjerg. There is more living interest at sea; the changes and contrasts are greater, that is, in natural features."

"You are right, Helga, except that you call me Hardy. Now, my name is John, positively John."

"I cannot pronounce it as you do," said Helga, "and I am afraid you will laugh at me. The name with us is spelt 'Jon,' pronounced 'Yon.' We have also 'Johan,' pronounced 'Yohan.'"

"I am aware of the learning you exhibit, Helga; but, notwithstanding, my name is John, and if you do not call me so, I shall be obliged to kiss you until you do, and my mother will say I shall be quite justified in taking that course."

Helga went and sat down by Mrs. Hardy.

"He is teasing me," she said, as she laid her head on Mrs. Hardy's lap.

"John," said Mrs. Hardy, as she touched Helga's cheek, "you do not take care of your Scandinavian princess; her skin is so thin and clear, that this little cheek is at fever heat with the action of the sun and wind. Tell my maid to bring the lotion I use, and a sponge."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hardy," said Helga, "but I do not mind the sun burning me; it makes my face a little warm, that is all."

"She does not know how handsome she is, John," said Mrs. Hardy, in French; "but her beauty lies in this, that there is nothing so beautiful as what is true."

After lunch, John Hardy told one of his men to fetch some rope quoits, to amuse Axel, and cleared part of the deck for the purpose. Helga, however, joined in the game with the zest of a child; her clear voice and laughter and natural grace made conquests of the yacht sailors.

"Uncommon neat about the spars!" exclaimed an old salt; "a smart craft when she's got all her sails bent, I'll be bound."

"Well, pilot," said Hardy, "where can you put us in for shelter for the night? We want to go up the Christiania Fjord by daylight, and when the ladies will be on deck. It has, besides, been a long run for the engineers."

"We shall have Frederikstad abeam at ten tonight, if she goes as she's going, and we can lay off there until the morning," replied the pilot. "There is no anger in the weather, and it will be a fine night. In fact, there will be no night; we are close on St. Hans' night, the longest day."

"We will keep the fires banked, anyway," said Hardy, "and set a watch.''

"Yes, better weigh," said the pilot. "The chances are the custom-house officers will board, and you had best keep your burgee and ensign flying, as then they may not trouble you."

At six the wind fell, and the sails were taken in, and the sea was soon without a ripple. Mrs. Hardy and Helga sat on deck after dinner, enjoying the changing beauty of the shore and the soft tints that rest on the northern lands at close of day. Hardy had wraps brought up from below, to keep the dew off his mother and the Scandinavian princess, and chatted with them.

When they determined to go below, Helga, in her Danish manner, shook hands with Hardy, and said, "Tak for i dag" (thank you for to-day). "I have never enjoyed life so much."

"Mother," said John, when Helga had gone, "you surprised me when you said you would rather go up to Christiania; you did so that I might see my princess for a few days when her mind is animated by what is strikingly novel to her, so that the bright transparency of her character should be more apparent. Thank you, my mother!"

"We have one heart, John," replied his mother.

John Hardy went on deck, anything but disposed to sleep. "Pass the word to get up for drift-lines and two men to go in a boat fishing."

The night, or rather the softer daylight, was favourable for catching, Pollock and one man rowing. John Hardy worked two lines and the other man two. They pulled in round the islands and soon caught many fish, which made a welcome addition to the breakfast-table the next day.

At eight they were under weigh, steaming up the grander scenery of the Christiania Fjord. Helga had come on deck, and Hardy saw she was interested in the scenery they were passing.

"We are in the Christiania Fjord," he said.

"How lovely and lake-like!" said Helga, when the breakfast-bell rang. "Must we go below, John?"

"There is no need whatever, now that you have called me, John;" and he directed her breakfast and his own to be brought on deck, and that his mother should be informed they were having breakfast on deck, which brought Mrs. Hardy up with them.

"We are making progress, mother," said Hardy, "and, for the first time, I have been called John; but only under desperate threats."

"You will not let him tease me, Mrs. Hardy?" said Helga, with an appealing look and earnest tone.

"Do you wish me to punish him?" said Mrs. Hardy, smiling. "Shall I have him thrown overboard, or put in irons?"

"No, no!" cried Helga, who was doubtful how far the maternal authority might extend amongst the English.

"Then we will both of us forgive him this time?" said Mrs. Hardy.

"Yes, I will, Mrs. Hardy," said Helga, with an earnestness that left no doubt.

"Now then," said John, "as I have been condemned and pardoned, let us have breakfast. I was afraid to go to sleep last night, so went fishing, to catch some fish for breakfast, and here they are."

"Why, John, were you afraid to go to sleep?" asked Helga, anxiously.

"Because I knew I should dream of you, Helga," replied Hardy, "and have not been in bed all night because of that, and because I went fishing. Moreover, I suspect you of being a 'Mare,' your eyebrows grow together, and I dread the nightmare."

"My eyebrows do not grow together," replied Helga, firmly.

"Let me see," said John; and he took her face between his hands, and added, "I am not certain, I must look closer;" and kissed her between the eyes.

"It is time for me to interfere," said John's mother; and she rang a small handbell in the deckhouse.

"Oh, don't, mother!" said John, with a piteous look.

"Oh, Mrs. Hardy! what are you going to do with Him?" asked Helga, with concern.

"First, he shall have no more breakfast, because he has finished," said Mrs. Hardy; "and then I will condemn him to——"

"No, no!" said Helga, beseechingly.

"I must," said Mrs. Hardy.

The great black-bearded steward came in to take away the breakfast things.

"Do go away; you are not wanted!" said Helga; and she pushed him out, and shut the door of the deck-house.

Mrs. Hardy got up and embraced her affectionately.

"Why," said she, "I was only going to condemn him to love you always, all his life, and with all his heart. You must not mind if he teases a little, all men do; but he is as good as gold, and as true as yourself."

"Now, Helga," said John, "let the steward clear away, and have a walk on deck. I will not tease you any more until next time. But where is that boy Axel?"

Axel had become a favourite with the men, for English sailors like a quick lad. He had an undying interest in knots and the contrivances on board the yacht, and the men liked the little Dane, as they called him. John Hardy sent a man to find him.

"He is down in the fok'sle, sir, learning knots off the men," said the man, touching his cap.

"Axel is trying to learn our English way of tieing knots, Helga," said Hardy, "and my men have taken him in charge. They will be kind to him, and would teach a lad no harm."

"When you were with us last year, you were so thoughtful of every one, and you were so kind; but when you tease me, I think you love me less," said Helga, slowly; "and I see you are thoughtful still. But why do you tease me?"

"Because I love you so; I do not know how to behave wisely," replied John. "You called me a cool and calculating Englishman; but if you knew how it hurt me when you said so, you would not have said what you did."

Mrs. Hardy had come on deck, and Helga went to her. Mrs. Hardy saw she was agitated, and was alarmed, but waited for Helga to speak.

"I know now he loved me from the first time we went to Rosendal," said Helga, "and I have been so bad to him. What I have said and did was hard."

"He understands it all, Helga, and there is no need for grief when you are so happy in the certainty of John's truth," said Mrs. Hardy.

"Thank you; thank you!" said Helga. "I feel so weak against his strength."

"Go and tell him so," said Mrs. Hardy, "if you feel so, and enjoy the beautiful scenes he is taking you through."

"There is not the weirdness in the scenery here, Helga, as further north, on the west coast of Norway. The hills here are rounder in form, as if by the action of ice ages ago," said Hardy. "Your father has often explained to you the action of glaciers, and how the large stones or boulders found in Jutland were conveyed by the ice and left where the ice grounded."

"It is lovely to pass a fresh prospect every minute," said Helga, "and to sail so easily through the still waters. The sun is hotter here than I think with us; it scalds more."

"Pass the word to get the awning up," said Hardy to one of his men; and presently half a dozen willing hands had done it.

"How pleasant!" said Helga. "The draught of air under the awning makes it feel so delightfully fresh. The colour of the foliage, the grass, the rocks, and sea appear distinct in effect of colour, John; how is that?"

"It is one of the many phases of nature," replied John. "The air is very clear here, and it may be that the summer being so short, nature paints in fresher colours."

"When shall we reach Christiania?" asked Helga.

"About three, as the yacht is going; the order I have given is, to run forty revolutions, that is a little more than half speed," replied Hardy. "If you wish to reach Christiania earlier, I will give the order for full speed."

"You must do what your mother wishes, John," said Helga.

"I am," replied John; "her wishes are that I should consult yours. Now, for instance, we shall get to Christiania at three; what would you like to see this afternoon?"

"Oscarshall," said Helga, "and Tidemand's pictures is what I long to see; but we had best go there to-morrow. We can take a walk this afternoon."

"And come back to dinner and go to the theatre?" added John.

The New Palace came in view about two, and then Akershuus Castle, and the yacht was put in her berth by the pilot.

Mrs. Hardy declined to go ashore, as she said she should be too fatigued to go to the theatre, and John had a walk with his princess. He tried to inveigle her into saying that she wanted something, that he might get it for her; but his sly ways were detected.

At the theatre a French Vaudeville was acted, which John thought his mother was greatly tired of and would have left, but Helga's interest at being in a foreign theatre, and seeing so many strange faces, was so apparent that Mrs. Hardy would not leave. The night when they came out of the theatre was beautiful, and John, at his mother's wish, steered the yacht's gig a little out of the harbour before they joined the yacht.

The next day was Helga's birthday, her twenty-first, and at eight o'clock, Norsk time, the yacht was dressed with bunting.

Before Helga had finished dressing, Mrs. Hardy's maid came into her state-room, with a small packet, containing a handsome turquoise ring from Mrs. Hardy, and a leather case from John Hardy, with the initials "H. H." There was a slight blush on her cheek as she remarked this. Her name was to be Helga Hardy.

"Mr. Hardy has directed me to show you the contents of the dressing-case, as you may not understand how to open the secret drawer," said Mrs. Hardy's maid. "This is a little gold key, and opens the dressing-case; there is scent, tooth-powder, and soap, and the whole is ready for use. And this is the way the jewel drawer opens; you press this knob, and it flies open, and is filled with the jewellery Mr. Hardy thought you might like. When you wish to shut the drawer, you push it so, and it closes with a spring."

Mrs. Hardy's maid opened the jewel drawer again, and left it for Helga to examine its contents. The initials were engraved as a monogram on different articles, even the ivory brushes had them. Mrs. Hardy had told her that light blue suited her, and there was a turquoise bracelet in good taste, and several rings, some of which did not fit her, as John Hardy when he bought her betrothal ring in Copenhagen had not been able to get them altered, as his stay in Copenhagen was short. Her first impulse was to decline such a costly present, next she thought, "He cannot have told his mother." The breakfast bell rang, and she went into the saloon where breakfast was served, and kissed Mrs. Hardy, whose present she wore and thanked her warmly. John Hardy wished her many happy returns of the day in a kindly Danish phrase.

"But how do you like John's present, my child?" said Mrs. Hardy.

Helga looked at John. She saw at once that his mother not only knew all about it, but had probably suggested it. "I thought it too costly to accept," said Helga.

John put his hands on her two shoulders and shook her gently. "You must not," he said in Danish, "be stiff-necked on your birthday. My mother bought what I have given you in London, and the jewellery was sent to Copenhagen for us to select from. It is all my mother's choice."

"In the winter?" said Helga.

"Yes, my child, in the winter. I understood John, although he had so many doubts and fears. He told me so much about you that I ordered the dressing-case, which John has paid for," said Mrs. Hardy, "and if I were you I would thank him."

She thanked him in the pretty Danish manner that so well became her, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Hardy; you are so good to me."

If the black-bearded steward had not come in at this moment, it is to be feared that John would have run the risk of being summarily adjudicated upon as before described.

"Where is Axel?" asked John.

"He is out fishing, sir; been out since six o'clock, with one of the men forard," replied the steward. This was explained to Helga, and breakfast proceeded.

"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "that Helga should write her father, and say that we have arrived here and shall leave to-morrow evening; and, John, you could ask him to meet us at Aarhus when we arrived. I fear the worthy Pastor may think you have carried off his daughter, John."

"The very course I intend to take, mother, and in which you have aided and abetted, and I bless and thank you for it," said John.



CHAPTER XXIII.

"Come, live with me and be my love. And we will all the pleasures prove, That valleys, groves, or hills, or field, Or woods and sleepy mountains yield." The Complete Angler.

Helga wrote her father as follows:—

"My All-dearest Father,

"You were written to that we were going to Christiania from Elsinore. I did not know that it was so far, but the steamship Herr Hardy has sails as fast as the steamer from Aarhus to Copenhagen, and everything is so clean and nice, and seeing fresh places, has been a great pleasure. Mrs. Hardy has been, as Karl said, as kind as any one could be, and I cannot say how grateful I am to her. We are to go to Oscarshall to-day and many other places in Christiania; and Mr. Hardy has asked me to write and say that we shall leave here to-morrow, and shall call at Fredrikshavn and telegraph to you from there the time we may expect to be at Aarhus, and they think you might like to come and see the steamer, and stay the night on board, and return home the next day with us. Herr Hardy has written a letter, which I enclose, as he said you might wish to hear from him to say how glad his mother would be to see you on English ground, as an English ship is as English land. If you can come, dear little father, I should be so glad! I hope Kirstin has managed everything for you in my absence. She said I was wrong to go away from you, and perhaps I am, and it is a sad thought to me; but it is not for long, and if I have been led away to do what is not fitting, you will tell me, and I will do what you say. Axel is very happy on board. Herr Hardy is very good to him, and his men are so friendly and teach him how to tie knots and go fishing with him, that he is very happy all day long.

"Mrs. Hardy greets you kindly, and Herr Hardy says I must say that he thanks you for teaching him to love what is good and true. Live well, little father.

"Your daughter,

"Helga Lindal."

John Hardy gave directions that the yacht should fill up with coal and supplies; and in the two days they were at Christiania, a good deal was seen. There is much to see, and much of natural beauty in Christiania, and Helga was interested. When they got under way and steamed down the Christiania Fjord and saw the effect of the sun setting, which then had its special beauty, Helga thought she had never seen anything so lovely.

"No! not even Rosendal?" asked John.

"Rosendal has its own charm," replied Helga; "there can be other places that have their singular beauty."

"I am so glad that you say that," said Hardy. "You may even come to think that the place where my fathers have lived in England has its charm;" and he held her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes.

"I have promised to marry you, John," said Helga, "and it is not whether your house is beautiful or not; wherever you live I will give my life to you."

"Bless you, dearest," said John, "I will never forget what you say;" and he never did.

When the yacht had cleared the Christiania Fjord, the night was fine and clear, but a breeze sprang up from the westward, and grew fresher towards morning. This had the effect of sending the yacht along under sail and steam, and at eight o'clock the next day the pilot was sent ashore at Frederikshavn with a telegram for Pastor Lindal, that they hoped to arrive at Aarhus at six in the evening.

"When are you going to marry your Scandinavian princess, John?" asked Mrs. Hardy, when she was settled in her usual place on deck.

"I am afraid to say anything, mother, to Helga," replied her son. "I see there does exist a doubt in her mind as to whether she is not doing what is wrong in leaving her father for this cruise, much more a cruise for life. I fear to approach the subject with her, as it may lead to her entertaining a fixed determination not to marry until her father's death."

"There is no selfishness about Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "and, moreover, he is a sensible man. He is certain to desire that his daughter should be well and happily provided for; besides, he has seen enough of you, John, to value you, and I see he likes you. I think you are right not to speak to Helga on the subject; leave it to me and Pastor Lindal."

"Thank you, mother, a thousand times," said John. "I understand you perfectly well, and I will do anything you think best or shall arrange."

"What I have thought of, John, is this," said his mother: "you can be married, say, the first of August, and remain at Rosendal for your honeymoon, and then come home to Hardy Place."

"And what will you do, mother?" asked John.

"I see you do not want your own mother in the way during the honeymoon," said Mrs. Hardy, smiling. "You can send the yacht round to Esbjerg, and I will meet it by rail as soon as you are married, and return home in the yacht to Harwich."

"What! go home alone, mother?" said John. "I cannot let you do that!"

"Well, you can see me safely off at Esbjerg, John," said Mrs. Hardy, "But this is the way that will please me best, and I wish to give you a welcome home with your wife, and I long to see her at the head of the table at Hardy Place."

"You are the same good mother, ever;" and John took his mother's hand and kissed it.

As soon as the entrance of the outer harbour at Aarhus could be made out, John Hardy went on the bridge with his binocular, and distinguished Pastor Lindal's head appearing over the parapet wall at the pierhead.

"Your father is on the pier, Helga, and you can see him with this glass," said Hardy, handing her his binocular. This she found difficult to do, as there were so many other heads appearing; but all doubt was at an end as the yacht glided past the pierhead of the outer harbour, for there was the worthy Pastor himself.

The yacht was soon brought to, and Pastor Lindal stepped on deck, to be met with much affection from his daughter and Axel. It was clear to Mrs. Hardy that Helga's attachment to her father was one of simple trust in each other, the same as existed between herself and her own boy John.

The Pastor was ceremoniously polite to Mrs. Hardy, but he greeted John Hardy with much warmth and thanks. He was pleased with the yacht and its many clever contrivances for saving space and arriving at comfort, and at dinner was, for him, merry. He was delighted to see his daughter with such a fresh and healthy look, after the cruise to Christiania. Axel, usually a quiet and retiring lad, talked incessantly; he had so much to relate of all that passed since leaving Copenhagen, that at length the Pastor stopped him; but Hardy intervened, "Let him run on, Herr Pastor; he is describing very well. He will come to an end with what he has to say, shortly."

The Pastor had thus, from Axel's point of view, the whole history of the cruise from beginning to end.

"And what do you say, Helga?" asked the Pastor.

"I never thought that life could be made so pleasant and so happy, little father," replied Helga. "Mrs. Hardy is kinder than I can say."

"And Hardy was not?" said the Pastor, smiling.

"He is like his mother, little father; their natures are the same," replied Helga. "But he is a man, and men are never so good as women."

John Hardy laughed, and, as the conversation was in Danish, told his mother what Helga had said.

"It is her simple naturalness that makes her say that, John," said Mrs. Hardy. "She sees in me what she thinks a perfect woman, although I am an ordinary Englishwoman; while she does not understand the rougher nature men possess. Her thorough truth in thought and feeling is her greatest charm."

Axel, however, put his oar in. "Why, father how can Helga say Herr Hardy is not as good as Fru Hardy? He gave her a toilet box with costly things in it."

"Yes, little father, it is true," said Helga; "but it was too costly a present, and I did not like to accept it."

When dinner was over, Mrs. Hardy told her son to go on deck, and take Axel with him. She then asked Helga to show her father the dressing-case John Hardy had given her. The Pastor started when he read the initials, "H. H." His quick apprehension realized the position.

"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "our children leave us as we grow older; and is there any better wish for them than that they should have a happy future?"

Mrs. Hardy held out her hand, and Pastor Lindal grasped it. He understood her, and, with the ceremonious politeness habitual to him, raised her hand to his lips.

"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "they can be married on the first of August. There is no reason to delay the happiness of their young life. They can remain near you at Rosendal for a month, and come to England for the winter, and return to you in May."

Helga was present, and heard all Mrs. Hardy had said. She put one hand on her father's shoulder.

"Father," she said in Danish, "I will wait your wish and time."

"Mrs. Hardy is right, Helga," said her father, "I shall miss you, but it will be a joy to me to lose you to Hardy. He is the one man I like, and I hope he is the one man you love."

"I can never forget how we wronged him, when Rasmussen was injured and died, and how noble he has always been!" said his daughter. "I have been unkind and bad to him, and I now know pained him with what I said. Little father, what you say I should do that will I do."

"Mrs. Hardy," said the Pastor, "my daughter assents to what you propose, and I assent. You can order the matter as you will."

"I will promise you. Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "that all the time she can she shall be in Denmark, and that I will be to her as her own mother." Mrs. Hardy held out her hand to the Pastor, and the compact then made ever after was adhered to.

Mrs. Hardy rose, and kissed Helga on her flaxen hair. "Will you tell John, or I?" she asked.

"I cannot," replied Helga, earnestly.

"Then, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "we will go on deck, and I should like a walk about Aarhus, if you will take me, and John can take his wife that is to be."

When Mrs. Hardy came on deck, she said to her son, "The first of August, John; it is so settled."

John Hardy lifted his mother from the deck, and positively kissed her in the sight of his own men and a numerous crowd of curious Danes, who had collected to see the yacht, and f Helga had not jumped ashore, it was not at all improbable but that she might have shared the same fate.

The trust and confidence the mother and son had in each other was a comfort to the Pastor. It was the best guarantee for Helga's future.

"It is late," said the Pastor; "but I know the clerk at the Domkirke (cathedral), and you can possibly see it."

The advantage of seeing the Domkirke with the Pastor was obvious to Mrs. Hardy, and they were much interested in the details he gave of the old vestments preserved in the Domkirke and the ancient folding pictures at the altar, the date of which is 1479, but the pictures are Italian and older.

"The old church tradition," said the Pastor, "is that the patron saint, St. Clement, after suffering martyrdom, came ashore after floating about the sea for eleven hundred years, bound to a ship's anchor, which circumstance is delineated in more than one place in the Domkirke. One of the stories of the Domkirke is recorded on a stone," continued the Pastor. "It is the figure of a woman with a hole in her left breast. She was shot by a rejected lover, as she went to the Domkirke to attend the church service of the times. The stone must have been once in an horizontal position, as it is worn as if it had been placed at the entrance of the Domkirke, as is believed to be the case, and much trodden on."

"Are there more stories connected with the Domkirke?" asked Mrs. Hardy.

"Yes, many," replied the Pastor. "There is the story of the monks being killed by bricks falling on them from the arched roof, when playing cards behind the altar. There is also the story of a large hunting horn, which is said to be now preserved in one of our museums, which horn was used at the evening service before Good Friday, in catholic times. It was blown through a hole in the roof of the Domkirke, and the words shouted as loud as possible, 'Evig forbandet vaere, Judas' (For ever may Judas be accursed). There is also the monument of Laurids Ebbesen who had been unfaithful to the king, who, when he visited the Domkirke, cut the nose off the monumental figure with his sword. The ship which is hung up in the Domkirke, is a model which Peter the Great of Russia had made in France, and it was sent by a French vessel from Toulon, which was wrecked at the Scaw, or, as we call it, Skagen. The cargo of the ship was sold by auction. A seaman of Aarhus bought the model, which is that of a ship of war with seventy-four cannon, and gave it to the Domkirke, at Whitsuntide, 1720."

"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.

It must, however, be recorded that notwithstanding the interest John Hardy had in such lore as the Pastor possessed in such rich abundance, he was very much interested in another direction. At length, after much absorbing contemplation, he said, "I never saw such blue as there is in your eyes, Helga!"

The next day they returned to Rosendal, and Pastor Lindal to his parsonage with Helga. He had been pleased with his berth on board the yacht, and the comfortable opportunity the deck-house afforded for holding a tobacco-parliament, which Mrs. Hardy bore with much patience.

As the yacht was at Aarhus, Mrs. Hardy wished to make a tour amongst the Danish islands before sending it to Esbjerg.

"I think, John," she said, "that to-morrow we will invite Pastor Lindal and Helga to dinner, and we will talk over the arrangements for your wedding. I should not offer to give her a wedding outfit, as I think she would not like it. I should give her a good watch and chain, as a wedding present, and lockets to the two Miss Jensens. It is clear that the quieter the wedding is the more likely to meet the Pastor's wishes and his daughter's."

"I think," said John, "that you are right, but I should wish to let Helga know that I would bear any expense they wished. I should be so glad if you would say so to her, mother. When we were at Christiania, I wanted her to let me get her gloves or anything else she might wish for, and she said 'You need not try to buy my goodwill, John; you possess it' but she used a Danish word which 'goodwill' does not translate."

"I had better ascertain their wishes, John," said his mother, "and say we only wish to further them; and this once settled, you must come with me on board the yacht, so that your mother may have her own boy with her for a while. It will be better for you, as here you would be restless; and as to your plans for teaching Helga to ride, you can do so after you are married and are staying here."

John caressed his mother and assented.

Helga had filled the porcelain pipe after dinner, and Mrs. Hardy and Pastor Lindal sat in a garden seat in the grounds at Rosendal, the day following the decision of Mrs. Hardy's views for her son's wedding.

"We should wish to obey any wishes you may have, Herr Pastor, as to the wedding," said Mrs. Hardy, after a general conversation with him.

"John will remain at Rosendal for a month, and then go to England for the winter, and come to you again in May."

The Pastor took several long pulls at his pipe and created a cloud of smoke. At last he said—

"I have not thought of it, Mrs. Hardy." And it was plain he had not.

"I will, then, say what I think," said she. "The wedding should be at your church; and will you marry them?"

"Certainly; it is my intention," he replied.

"The wedding to be as quiet as possible," continued Mrs. Hardy, "and proprietor Jensen's daughters to be bridesmaids; and John has an old college friend who will come here to be his best man, and will return with me to England in the yacht, from Esbjerg."

Mrs. Hardy's practical common sense impressed the Pastor; he assented sadly.

"There is nothing to mourn over or regret, Herr Pastor, and you will feel the constant joy of knowing that she is happy with the man of her choice, and that as long as I live I will watch over her as my own; also the pleasure of looking forward to her stay in Denmark every summer will occupy and interest you."

The Pastor smoked in silence, but his heart was sad.

It was fortunate that John and Helga appeared, the latter laden with blooms gleaned in the valley of roses. Her face was bright with happiness.

"Mrs. Hardy," she said, "John has persisted in picking rose after rose, holding them up to my cheek and telling me that I am the fairest rose, and that I am going to be the rose of Rosendal, and has teased me dreadfully."

"I think John is right to say so, and to say so to you," said Mrs. Hardy, smiling kindly at her.

The Pastor felt what Mrs. Hardy had once said, that we should love with our children's love, and the sadness left his face. He began to share his daughter's love for Hardy.

Mrs. Hardy rose from her seat, and drew Helga away, and John had to be content to follow her with his eyes only.

"Your father, Helga, last year, went for a tour with John; can he do the same now? On Monday, I am going with John in the yacht for a cruise amongst the Danish islands," said Mrs. Hardy, "do you think he would like to go with us? It would allow of his being better acquainted with us, and would distract his thoughts from dwelling on your leaving him."

"Nothing could be better or kinder, Mrs. Hardy," replied Helga. "I will write for the priest who generally does my father's duty in his absence, at once."

"Stay," said Mrs. Hardy, "if your father leaves with us, it will enable you to get ready for your wedding in his absence; it will be better so. And here is a little packet. It will meet any expense; it is not from John, it is from me;" and Mrs. Hardy kissed her affectionately and was gone.



CHAPTER XXIV.

"Piscator.—But, my worthy friend, I would rather prove myself a gentleman by being learned and humble, valiant and inoffensive, virtuous and communicable, than by any fond ostentation of riches." —The Complete Angler.

Pastor Lindal accepted the invitation to join the yacht. He was anxious to know more of Mrs. Hardy, in whose hands he felt so much of his daughter's future lay.

Mrs. Hardy had, as she had done before every Sunday, attended the parish church, and Helga thanked her for the contents of the packet of Danish bank notes. It was more in amount, she said, than she wanted, and would return Mrs. Hardy three-fourths of it.

"It is very kind," said Helga; "but I can only accept what is positively necessary, and I accept that because it would relieve my father from an expense that he cannot well bear, and because John might wish to see me well dressed when I am married to him."

"Would you not like to make Kirstin and your father's other servants a present when you are married?" said Mrs. Hardy.

"Yes, I shall; but I cannot use your money to do that, Mrs. Hardy. I shall give them what I have of my own, and what they know I have valued; it is not much, but they would like it best."

This conversation had ended when they reached the parsonage, where Robert Garth was waiting with the carriage to drive Mrs. Hardy and her son to Rosendal.

"John," said Mrs. Hardy, as they drove away, "she is worthy of your best affection. There is not a day passes but that something arises which makes me love her more and more." Mrs. Hardy loved again with her son's love.

"Mother," said John, "she is so dear to me; there is nothing that is not truth with her."

"You are right, John," said his mother. "Give her all your heart, and she will give you hers."

"I know it, mother," said John.

Pastor Lindal accompanied them to Aarhus, and when they came on board the yacht, John Hardy spread out the chart of the Danish islands before him.

"We can reach Nyborg to-night, Herr Pastor," said he, "and call and stop at Svendborg, and run round Moen's Klint to Copenhagen, and passing Elsinore to Aarhus again, stopping at any place on the way."

"But the time?" asked the Pastor.

"A week," replied John; "or you can land at any place, and return by rail in a few hours."

"No, Herr Pastor," interposed Mrs. Hardy, "you must not bind us to time. We shall see if the cruise is a benefit to you, and if so, you must prolong it."

The Pastor always surrendered when challenged by Mrs. Hardy.

Whilst they were at lunch, the Rosendal steam yacht was passing Samso.

"This island," said John Hardy, "appears from the chart to be a sand bank washed up by the sea."

"So is all Denmark," said Pastor Lindal. "The legends and traditions belonging to Samso, however, are not as old as those of Jutland, and it would therefore appear not to have been inhabited at so early a period. There is an historical tradition that in 1576 a mermaid appeared to a man of Samso, and directed him to go to Kallundborg, where King Frederick II. was then staying with his court, and tell him that his queen would have a son, which would become a mighty ruler. The king questioned the man, who stated that the mermaid's name was Isbrand, and that she lived in the sea, not far from land, with her mother and grandmother, and that it was the latter that had foretold the birth of Queen Margrethe, who united the three Scandinavian kingdoms under one crown. King Frederick sent the man home, and commanded him not to come to the court again.

The king's son was Christian IV., under whose rule Denmark attained its zenith of power. Once, when Christian IV. was driven ashore by a storm on Samso, he saw the priest's man ploughing. The king took the plough and ploughed a furrow, and told the man to tell his master that the king had ploughed for him."

"A good way to acquire popularity in those times," remarked Mrs. Hardy. "But are there any more stories of the kind?"

"There is the story of the Church of the Holy Cross. There is a tablet said to be yet in the church, on which there is an inscription," replied the Pastor. "This states that a gilt cross in the church was washed ashore bound to a corpse, but that when they would take the corpse to a particular churchyard, that four horses could not move the waggon in which it was placed. They then tried to draw the waggon to another churchyard, with the same result; but at last they directed the horses to the church at Onsberg, and then two horses could easily draw it; so the corpse was buried in the eastern end of the church, and the church afterwards called the Church of the Holy Cross. The date is given as 1596. There is also a story of the Swedish war of 1658, when a party of Swedish cavalry took a tailor prisoner, and set him at work on a table in a farm-house, while they fired at a mark on the door, the balls passing close to his head. It is said the door yet exists, with the bullet marks in it."

"We have an island in sight, on the starboard bow, called Endelave; are there any traditions existing there?" asked Hardy.

"There is only the story of a giant who threw a stone from thence to Jutland, which was so large that two girls saved themselves from a bull by climbing to the top of it. There is, however, the variation that it was thrown by a giantess from Fyen (Funen) with her garter. I know of no special legend from Endelave."

"There is a town marked Kjerteminde on the chart; is that in recollection of anything specially historical, as would appear from the name?" asked Hardy.

"When Odin built the town called Odense," replied the Pastor, "the other towns were envious of its better appearance and condition, and particularly the town now called Kjerteminde, and complaint was made to Odin, who was angry, and replied, 'Vaer du mindre' (literally, 'be you less'); this was that they should continue to be smaller towns than Odense. In time the name from Vaer du mindre became altered to its present name of Kjerteminde. There is also the variation that the name is from St Gertrude's minde (memory) contracted to Kjerteminde. She was the sailors' patron saint."

"There is more to be said of Odense, as it was founded by Odin," said Mrs. Hardy.

"What I can tell you of Odense," said the Pastor, "is history, chiefly. There is the story that a rich man called Ubbe gave his property to St. Knud's (Canute) Church under singular circumstances. His relatives wanted him to leave his property to them, and they placed a woman in his household, if possible, to influence him in their favour, and she did not. Ubbe had become blind. He directed some tripe to be cooked, possibly because his teeth were gone. The woman, however, having no tripe, cut up an old felt hat and gave him. This he chewed and chewed, when a little child told him what it was. He was angry at the deceit, and gave his property to the Church; and the name of a portion of his lands was changed from Ubberud to Kallun (tripe). Odense is the birth-place of Hans Christian Andersen, whose stories have been translated into English," continued Pastor Lindal; "but, like other translations, they lose immeasurably by translation."

"What is the chief historical interest connected with Odense?" asked Mrs. Hardy.

"The death of St. Knud," replied the Pastor. "He was the grand-nephew of Canute the Great. He was killed in the church of St Albanus, in 1086, by his rebellious subjects. He wanted to make war on England, as he claimed the English throne, and they resisted; so far it is history. The story is that he was pursued, and fled to the church, and prayed for his enemies. He saw a Jutland man looking at him through a window of the church, and the king asked for water. The man ran to a stream and fetched water in a cup; but as he reached it to the king, another man struck the cup with his spear, and the water was spilt, and the king was killed by a stone thrown at him. The man who had prevented the king getting the cup of water went out of his mind, and had always a burning thirst, and on going to a well to drink fell down, and stuck in it over the water, which he could not reach, and so perished. The king was canonized, but is said to occasionally visit the church, where he was buried, from his place amongst the angels. This church he had just commenced to build. There is a story that when the tower was building, an apprentice told his master he was as good a builder. The master-builder went out of the tower on the scaffolding and stuck an axe into it, and told the apprentice to go and fetch it, if he could. The apprentice went, but called out that an adjoining village was approaching the town of Odense. 'Then God have mercy on your soul' said the master-builder. The apprentice fell to the ground and was killed. There is, however, a variation of this story, which localizes it in Copenhagen at Our Lady's Church there, and that the apprentice cried out that he saw two axes. The result was the same."

"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy. "You must try and keep up the practice of speaking English." The Pastor was in the habit of falling back on his own language when he had a difficulty, for John Hardy to interpret.

"I think we should have but one language all over the world," said the Pastor, "and that language should be English."

"There is not much to see at Nyborg, mother," said John, "and the pilot says if we leave early to-morrow that we had best anchor outside the harbour, clear of the course of the steamers from Korsor. We shall have the anchor down at six, and we can go ashore and have dinner a little before eight, and then the Pastor can hold his second tobacco-parliament before we turn in. We shall also have to engage another pilot, as it is difficult navigation to Svendborg; and if we start at six, we shall be there at eight to-morrow, which will enable us to see Svendborg and its pretty neighbourhood, and in the evening can anchor under shelter of Vaeiro, an island, so as to reach Vordingborg early to-morrow."

Mrs. Hardy followed her son's explanation on the chart. He was himself the registered owner of his yacht, and acted as his own skipper when on board; and as his men had been with him in other yachts, of which he had been the owner, they had confidence in him, as they had seen his courage and seamanship again and again put to the proof.

"You are always self-reliant, John," said his mother.

"Yes; but Pastor Lindal has taught me on whom reliance should be placed," said John. "The simple trust he has and the simple faith of which he is convinced are in his life and practice. No sermon can have such influence as to be with him one day in his parish when he visits those he sees it necessary to visit. It is the simplicity of perfect truth about him that has made his daughter a pearl without price."

"I believe every word of what you say, John," said his mother. "She has now my heart as completely as she has yours."

There is not so much to see in Nyborg. The walk in the wood is pretty with its thoroughly Danish prospect, and there is little else to interest. Pastor Lindal was tired when they reached the yacht, but revived with the tonic effect of a good dinner. They adjourned to the deck-house, and Hardy essayed to fill the porcelain pipe with Kanaster, but failed. The pipe was too hard pressed with tobacco and would not draw, and it was not John Hardy only who missed Helga.

"Is there anything to relate about Nyborg, Herr Pastor?" asked Hardy.

"There is not much specially," replied the Pastor. "There is the story of the monkey taking Christian II. out of his cradle when there was a royal residence at Nyborg, and jumping out of the window with him, and taking him upon the roof, so that it was with difficulty that they got him down again. There is also the story of the ghost of Queen Helvig, who was married to Valdemar Atterdag. She is said to have appeared for years to the sentry on the ramparts, and to have always left a dollar under a stone, which he collected; but one day, he was sick, and told a comrade to fetch the dollar, but no dollars were placed under the stone after. Queen Helvig was imprisoned there for a long time, under a charge frequently preferred in those days."

"Had you not particular days called Maerkedage, to which particular importance was attached?" asked Hardy.

"They were principally the greater festivals of the Church, or on New Year's Day," replied the Pastor. "Thus, for instance, if the sun shone out so long on New Year's Day that a horse could be saddled, it was a sign of a fruitful year; also, if a girl or a young man wished to know whom she or he would marry, they write the names of suspected persons on different pieces of paper, and put them under their pillows on New Year's Eve, and the one thus dreamt of is the one selected; also, if a turf is cut from the churchyard New Year's Eve, the person who puts it on his or her head can see who will die in the year, as their ghosts will appear in the churchyard. There is also another means to the same end, and that is when people sit at a table New Year's Eve; those that will die in the year cast a shadow, but without a head. Tyge Brahe has particularized many days in the year as being unlucky, on which to attend to any business or to do anything important, but they are so numerous that they are not regarded."

"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "you are tired with your walk about Nyborg, and your speaking so much in English; I wish to suggest a subject that will give you something to think of."

"What may that be?" asked the Pastor.

"I have thought," said Mrs. Hardy, "that you might like to see us at home in England before the winter. John will leave at the end of August, and you might go with him. What I feel is, that I should like during the winter you should feel that your daughter is well cared for."

"I will go," said the Pastor; and he held out his hand to Mrs. Hardy in his Danish manner, and the matter was at an end. Mrs. Hardy's kindly tact always overcame him.