race. Only the bright flaxen hair and his square,
somewhat clumsy stature might have told him
to be the latter's child. He had a hot temper,
and often distressed his mother by his stubbornness;
and then there would come a great burst
of repentance afterwards, which distressed her
still more. For she was afraid it might be a
sign of weakness. "And strong he must be,"
said she to herself, "strong enough to overcome
all resistance, and to conquer a great name for
himself, strong enough to bless a mother who
brought him into the world nameless."

Strange to say, much as she loved this child,
she seldom caressed him. It was a penance she
had imposed upon herself to atone for her guilt.
Only at times, when she had been sitting up late,
and her eyes would fall, as it were, by accident
upon the little face on the pillow, with the
sweet unconsciousness of sleep resting upon it
like a soft, invisible veil, would she suddenly
throw herself down over him, kiss him, and
whisper tender names in his ear, while her tears
fell hot and fast on his yellow hair and his rosy
countenance. Then the child would dream that
he was sailing aloft over shining forests, and
that his mother, beaming with all the beauty of
her lost youth, flew before him, showering
golden flowers on his path. These were the
happiest moments of Brita's joyless life, and