Father has been standing here the whole evening holding onto my
hand so I shouldn't go pick any."

Now the lieutenant was tickled. "Good for you, my girl!" said he.
"You did right in not letting your father shoulder the blame. I
suppose you know that when Our Lord was so angry at Adam and Eve it
wasn't because they had stolen an apple, but because they were
cowards and tried to shift the blame, the one onto the other. You
may go now, and you can keep your apples because you were not
afraid to tell the truth."

With that he turned to one of his sons, and said:

"Give Jan a glass of punch. We must drink to him because his girl
spoke up for herself better than old Mother Eve. It would have been
well for us all if Glory Goldie had been in the Garden of Eden
instead of Eve."



BOOK TWO

LARS GUNNARSON

One cold winter day Eric of Falla and Jan were up in the forest
cutting down trees. They had just sawed through the trunk of a big
spruce, and stepped aside so as not to be caught under its branches
when it came crashing to the ground.

"Look out, Boss!" warned Jan. "It's coming your way."