and talked. She said nothing that would indicate that she had come
out expressly to see him, but he felt it to be so. It flashed into
his head that she wanted to speak with him about Glory Goldie, and
he was rather miffed when she began to talk about something quite
different.

"I wonder, Jan, if you remember the old owner of Falla, my father,
who was master there before Eric came?"

"Why shouldn't I remember him, when I was all of twelve at the time
of his death?"

"He had a good son-in-law," said the old mistress.

"He had that," agreed Jan.

The old mistress was silent a moment, and sighed once or twice
before she continued: "I want to ask your advice about something,
Jan. You are not the sort that would go about tittle-tattling what
I say."

"No, I can hold my tongue."

"Yes, I've noticed that this year."

New hopes arose in Jan. It would not be surprising, thought he, if
Glory Goldie had turned to the old mistress of Falla and asked her
to tell him and Katrina of the great thing that had come to her.
For the old seine-maker had been taken down with rheumatic fever
shortly after their interrupted conversation, and for weeks he had