visibly dirty, and her condition plain enough now even to his innocent
eyes.

"Can't you play a bit on the guitar?" he asked.

"No," answered Barbro shortly. "What I was going to say: Sivert,
couldn't you come and help Axel a bit with the new house a day or
so? If you could begin tomorrow, say, when you come back from the
village?"

Sivert thought for a moment. "Ay, maybe. But I've no clothes."

"I could run up and fetch your working clothes this evening, so
they'll be here when you get back."

"Ay," said Sivert, "if you could."

And Barbro unnecessarily eager now: "Oh, if only you would come!
Here's summer nearly gone already, and the house that should be up and
roofed before the autumn rains. Axel, he's been going to ask you a
many times before, but he couldn't, somehow. Oh, you'd be helping us
no end!"

"I'll help as well as I can," said Sivert.

And that was settled.

But now it was Eleseus' turn to be offended. He can see well enough
that it's clever of Barbro and all that, to look out and manage to her
own advantage and Axel's too, and get help for the building and save