"Good-by," and she ran on.

"Marit!" She stopped. "Say, was it not strange that we met first on
the cliff?"

"Yes, it was." She ran on again.

Oyvind gazed long after her. The dog ran on before her, barking; Marit
followed, quieting him. Oyvind turned, took off his cap and tossed it
into the air, caught it, and threw it up again.

"Now I really think I am beginning to be happy," said the boy, and went
singing homeward.




CHAPTER X.


One afternoon later in the summer, as his mother and a girl were raking
hay, while Oyvind and his father were carrying it in, there came a
little barefooted and bareheaded boy, skipping down the hill-side and
across the meadows to Oyvind, and gave him a note.

"You run well, my boy," said Oyvind.

"I am paid for it," answered the boy.