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Page 3
Nanna, who at her first glance at the youth, had thought him a gipsy,
which wild tribe she greatly feared, was reassured by a second look.
The stranger, on his side, appeared greatly astonished at the sudden
appearance of the beautiful water nymph, for such a goddess Nanna much
resembled, as she stood, with her garments flowing gracefully around her
slight figure; her tiny white feet playing with the moist grass, and her
pale and mournful face, encircled with golden locks, that fell
negligently upon her white and well rounded shoulders.
The youth thus addressed her:
"Pardon me, lovely naiad. It appears that I have taken the wrong path,
although I supposed that I had chosen the right direction."
"Whither are you going?" inquired Nanna, in a voice sweet and melodious.
"To Almvik," replied the stranger.
"Alas!" said the maid, casting a peculiar glance at his knapsack, "I
hoped that you were not a member of the aristocracy."
"Oh, my little sylph, for I know not what else to call you, is my face
so poor a recommendation, that I cannot be considered a man because I
carry a pack on my back?"
"Are those of noble birth the only men?" inquired Nanna, and a gloomy
expression fell upon her lips, which a moment before had been illumined
with a sunny smile.
"Ah," replied the youth, "the longer I gaze upon your dear face, the
more I esteem you. Far be it from me to wound your sensitive nature. If
it will comfort you, I will say that no man can long more earnestly
than I do for the time when all mankind shall be equal."
"Do you speak from your heart?"
"I do, earnestly; but tell me your name."
"Nanna, Nanna of the Valley, I am called."
"That is poetical; but have you no other name?"
"I am sometimes called Mademoiselle Nanna; but that grieves me, for we
are poor people."
"Ah! I thought that you were something more than a peasant girl. Pardon
me, I have spoken too familiarly. I knew not your station."
"Familiarly!"
"I addressed you too warmly."
"Your words sounded well when you thus spoke."
"Possibly; but henceforth I shall address you as Mademoiselle Nanna."
"Shall we then see each other again?"
"Yes, yes, quite probably--we are to be neighbors."
"You intend, then, to reside at Almvik?"
"Yes, for a few weeks, perhaps during the whole summer; but I pray you
come with me a few steps on my road, I need your guidance."
Nanna sprang to her feet, and as she stood before the young man, her
eyes sparkling with unusual brilliancy, her garments falling in graceful
folds over her sylph-like limbs, he gazed at her as if enchained by her
almost superhuman beauty. To the youthful stranger's request she
answered by putting her little white feet in such active motion, that
they seemed to tread upon the air instead of the green sward.
CHAPTER II.
THE COTTAGE.
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