says father, with such a tender note in his voice.

"'Well, you see, father, four years ago--the same year that I took
over the farm--I was courting Brita of Bergskog.' 'Let me see'--
says father, 'do any of our folks live at Bergskog?' He seems to
have lost all remembrance of how things are down on earth. 'No, but
they are well-to-do people, and you must surely remember that
Brita's father is a member of Parliament?' 'Yes, of course; but you
should have married one of our people, then you would have had a
wife who knew about our old customs and habits.' 'You're right,
father, and I wasn't long finding that out!'

"Now both father and I are silent a moment; then the old man
continues: 'She was good-looking, of course?' 'Yes,' I reply. 'She
had dark hair and bright eyes and rosy cheeks. And she was clever,
too, so that mother was pleased with my choice. All might have
turned out well but, you see, the mistake of it was that she didn't
want me.' 'It's of no consequence what such a slip of a girl wants
or doesn't want.' 'But her parents forced her to say "yes."' 'How
do you know she was forced? It's my candid opinion that she was
glad to get a rich husband like you, Ingmar Ingmarsson.'

"'Oh, no! She was anything but glad. All the same, the banns were
published and the wedding day was fixed. So Brita came down to the
Ingmar Farm to help mother. I say, mother is getting old and
feeble.' 'I see nothing wrong in all that, little Ingmar,' says
father, as if to cheer me up.

"'But that year nothing seemed to thrive on the farm; the potato
crop was a failure, and the cows got sick; so mother I decided it