it; and I am sure that Stineli and Silvio will agree famously,--just as
sure as if I saw it with my own eyes now," added the lad.

Pushing his plate to one side, Stineli's father put his cap on his head.
He had finished his dinner; and when he had some very severe thinking to
do, he was always more comfortable with his cap on. It seemed to help
him to collect his thoughts.

He thought, always in silence, how much labor he would have to perform
before he could earn even one good gulden; and he said to himself, "Five
gulden every month without lifting a finger."

So he shoved his cap first on one side and then on the other; and said,
at last, "She may go. One of the others can do the work in the house."

Stineli's eyes sparkled, but the mother looked sadly at all the little
heads and plates. Who would keep them all nice and in order?

But the father's cap got another shove. Something else had
occurred to him.

"Stineli has not yet been confirmed, and ought to be before she
goes away."

"I am not to be confirmed for two years yet, father," said the girl
eagerly; "so that I can go away for two years perfectly well, and come
back quite in time for that."

This was a good decision, and everybody was satisfied. The father and
mother thought, even if every thing does go badly without Stineli, it