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Page 9
"The ticket and some money are waiting for her at L�vberg's, so
that she will have everything she needs. I felt that Ingmar ought
to know of it, so he won't have this burden on his mind any longer,"
said the senator.
Then Mother Martha kept still, too. Her headkerchief had slipped
back, and she sat gazing down at her apron.
"Ingmar should be looking about for a new wife."
Both mother and son persistently held their peace.
"Mother Martha needs a helper in this big household. Ingmar should
see to it that she has some comfort in her old age." The senator
paused a moment, wondering if they could have heard what he said.
"My wife and I wanted to make everything right again," he declared
finally.
In the meantime, a sense of great relief had come to Ingmar. Brita
was going to America, and he would not have to marry her. After all
a murderess was not to become the mistress of the old Ingmar home.
He had kept still, thinking it was not the thing to show at once
how pleased he was, but now he began to feel that it would be only
right and proper for him to say something.
The senator quietly bided his time. He knew that he had to give
these old-fashioned people time to consider. Presently Ingmar's
mother said:
"Brita has paid her penalty; now it's our turn." By this the old
woman meant that if the senator wanted any help from the
Ingmarssons, in return for his having smoothed the way for them,
they would not withhold it. But Ingmar interpreted her utterance
differently. He gave a start, as if suddenly awakened from sleep.
"What would father say of this?" he wondered. "If I were to lay the
whole matter before him, what would he be likely to say? 'You must
not think that you can make a mockery of God's judgment,' he would
say. 'And don't imagine that He will let it go unpunished if you
allow Brita to shoulder all the blame. If her father wants to cast
her off just to get into your good graces, so that he can borrow
money from you, you must nevertheless follow God's leading, little
Ingmar Ingmarsson.'
"I verily believe the old man is keeping close watch of me in this
matter," he thought. "He must have sent Brita's father here to show
me how mean it is to try to shift everything on to her, poor girl!
I guess he must have noticed that I haven't had any great desire to
take that journey these last few days."
Ingmar got up, poured some brandy into his coffee, and raised the
cup.
"Here's a thank you to the senator for coming here to-day," he
said, and clinked cups with him.
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.
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