III

Ingmar had been busy all the morning, working around the birches
down by the gate. First he had put up a scaffolding, then he had
bent the tops of the trees toward each other so that they formed an
arch.

"What's all that for?" asked Mother Martha.

"Oh, it suits my fancy to have them grow that way for a change,"
said Ingmar.

Along came the noon hour, and the men folks stopped their work;
after the midday meal the farm hands went out into the yard and lay
down in the grass to sleep. Ingmar Ingmarsson slept, too, but he
was lying in a broad bed in the chamber off the living-room. The
only person not asleep was the old mistress, who sat in the big
room, knitting.

The door to the entrance hall was cautiously opened, and in came an
old woman carrying two large baskets on a yoke. After passing the
time of day, she sat down on a chair by the door and took the lids
off the baskets, one of which was filled with rusks and buns, the
other with newly baked loaves of spiced bread. The housewife at
once went over to the old woman and began to bargain. Ordinarily
she kept a tight fist on the pennies, but she never could resist
a temptation to indulge her weakness for sweets to dip in her coffee.

While selecting her cakes she began to chat with the old woman,