Henrik soon caught the spirit of gathering, but he quenched it as much
as possible. His brethren in the gospel advised him to remain where he
was and do his full duty to his sister and their interests. This he
tried to do. He would not quarrel with Selma, but was exceedingly
patient and considerate. He would "talk religion" with any of his
friends who expressed a desire to do so, but he would not contend.

Henrik mingled more freely with his tenants at Nordal, and they soon
became aware of a change in him. He gave them good treatment. Sometimes,
there were Sunday services in the large parlor of the Bogstad residence,
and the people were invited to attend. They turned out, it must be
admitted, more because of Hr. Bogstad's invitation than because of any
enthusiasm on their part.

Henrik, during this period of comparative loneliness, read much. He
always carried a book in his pocket when out among the hills and fields,
and many a moss-covered stone became his reading table. He had procured
a number of English books which he delighted in, for they brought to him
much that had not yet been printed in his own language.

After the harvesting was over that summer, Henrik directed his attention
to another line of work, pointed out to him by the New Light. He
gathered the genealogy of his forefathers. His was a large family, and
when he searched the old church records at Nordal, at Christiania, and
at a number of other places he found that the family was an old and
prominent one, reaching back to the ancient Norsemen. He derived a
peculiar satisfaction in this work, and he extended his researches until
he had a large list of names on his mother's side as well as on his
father's. "Among these there are many noble and true," thought Henrik.