But
this is none so bad."
But Fru Heyerdahl would not hear of taking it as a gift. "Say what you
want for it," she said. Oh, a fine lady, 'twas not her way to take
gifts from folk! And the end of it was that Axel got a good price for
his lamb.
He saw nothing of Barbro at all. Lensmand's lady had seen him coming,
and got her out of the way. And good luck go with her--Barbro that had
cheated him out of his help for a year and a half!
Chapter IX
That spring something unexpected happened--something of importance
indeed; work at the mine was started again; Geissler had sold his
land. Inconceivable! Oh, but Geissler was an unfathomable mind; he
could make a bargain or refuse, shake his head for a "No," or nod the
same for "Yes." Could make the whole village smile again.
Conscience had pricked him, maybe; he had no longer the heart to see
the district where he had been Lensmand famishing on home-made gruel
and short of money. Or had he got his quarter of a million? Possibly,
again, Geissler himself had at last begun to feel the need of money,
and had been forced to sell for what he could get.
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