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Page 43
"You must not scold me, Carl, I am only a little wet."
She then quietly drew herself to the shore.
"How will you dry yourself now?" inquired Carl in a tone of uneasiness
and vexation.
"O, easily, I will call on Mother Larsson and borrow a dress to wear
while we visit our father, and my clothing will be dry by the time we
return."
Carl was silent. He was displeased because Magde had not called him to
her assistance. Meanwhile he proceeded with the children to the prison,
that he might prepare the old man for the visit. Magde did not tarry
long at Mother Larsson's. As soon as she had obtained the necessary
garments, she hurried on, clothed in a neat peasant's frock which fitted
her fine form gracefully.
The prison at Harad was located in the ruins of an old castle. Its
outward appearance presented a dark and forbidding aspect. The heart of
the beholder would contract within him as he gazed upon those ruins of
fallen greatness, as they reposed before him, dark and deserted, like
an evil omen in his path.
But the interior of the prison, with its tottering weather beaten
projections, apparently ready to fall from their resting places,
presented an appearance still more gloomy and forbidding. Dampness, and
mould of a hundred years growth had obliterated all traces of the fresco
paintings that had formerly ornamented the ceiling, on which the
moisture had gathered and fell at regular intervals with a hollow patter
upon the stone pavement below.
The places once occupied by glittering chandeliers were now shrouded
with immense spider webs, in which a whole colony of spiders lived
subsisting on the noisome vapors of this gloomy charnel like abode.
Aside from these poisonous insects, an occasional rat, and a few
unfortunate prisoners, there were no other inhabitants in this dark
prison. A flock of jackdaws had built their nest beneath the eaves of
the old castle, and as they received good treatment from the prisoners
they would pay them a passing visit at their grated windows to look in
upon them or to receive a few crumbs of bread. Old Mr. Lonner had
already made their acquaintance and derived much pleasure from attending
to their little wants, while he anxiously awaited the arrival of his
children.
When Magde arrived she found Carl had prepared the way for her so that
she, without hindrance, proceeded directly to the old man's cell. Mr.
Lonner was deeply moved by the visit of his children; but he appeared
perfectly resigned. Magde's two children were seated upon his knees,
while Carl was standing before him relating all that had transpired
during his imprisonment. The cloud which had rested upon the old man's
brow changed instantly to an expression of joy when he beheld Magde the
wife of his beloved son, enter the room. His arms trembled as he
embraced her, and his heart throbbed painfully when she described her
sorrows and troubles, and told him that Nanna had nearly fainted as they
were about entering the boat, at the mere thought of the second parting.
"It was right to leave her behind," said Mr. Lonner, "and if we can only
find some means whereby I may be released before the autumn, that the
cold may not increase my feebleness, then--"
"Means must be found, father, I think, of immediately going to the city,
to take our cow and the two sheep with me, aside from those I will also
take the piece of linen which I have made for Ragnar's shirts. By adding
all these together I--"
"But, dear daughter, if you sell the cow, how will these little ones
prosper?" He clasped his hands upon the two little white heads of the
children who were sitting in his lap.
"O, I can borrow some milk of our neighbors, and we can repay them in
the fall, after Ragnar returns, for then we shall have another cow."
"That will never do, my child. We must discover some other method."
"I had an idea, also," said Carl, advancing from a corner into which he
had withdrawn when Magde entered.
"What is it, my good boy?" inquired his father.
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