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But it was precisely about the supper that they were talking. There was
a great danger that the pancakes would not succeed; and Louise could not
prevent Henrik and Jacobi running down into the kitchen, where, to the
greatest amusement of the young ladies, and to the tragi-comic despair
of the cook, they acted their parts as cooks so ridiculously that Louise
was obliged at length, with an imposing air, to put an end to the
laughter, to the joking, and to the burnt pancakes, in order that she
herself might put her hand to the work. Under her eye all went well; the
pancakes turned out excellently. Jacobi besought one from her own hand,
as wages for his work; graciously obtained it, and then swallowed the
hot gift with such rapture that it certainly must have burnt him
inwardly, had it not been for another species of warmth (which we
consider very probable)--a certain well-known spiritual fire, which
counteracted the material burning, and made it harmless. Have we not
here, in all simplicity, suggested something of a homoeopathic nature?

But we will leave the kitchen, that we may seat ourselves with the
family at the supper-table, where the mother's savoury, white pancakes,
and the thick ones for Henrik, were found to be most excellent, and
where the "angels' food" was devoured with the greatest earthly
enjoyment.

After this, they drank the health of the travellers, and sang a merry
little song, made by Petrea. The father was quite pleased with his
Petrea, who, quite electrified, sang too with all her might, although
not with a most harmonious voice, which, however, did not annoy her
father's somewhat unmusical ear.

"She sings louder than they all," said he to his wife, who was
considerably less charmed than he with Petrea's musical accompaniment.

Although every one in the company had had an exciting and fatiguing day,
the young people began immediately after supper, as if according to a
natural law, to arrange themselves for the dance.

Jacobi, who appeared to be captivated by Sara's appearance, led her in
the magic circle of the waltz.

"Our sensible little Queen-bee," a rather broad-set, but very well-grown
blonde of eighteen, distinguished herself in the dance by her beautiful
steps, and her pleasing though rather too grave carriage. Everybody,
however, looked with greater admiration on Eva, because she danced with
heart and soul. Gabriele, with her golden curls, flew round like a
butterfly. But who did not dance this evening?--Everybody was actually
enthusiastic--for all were infected with the joyous animal spirits of
Henrik. Even Jeremias Munter, to the amazement of everybody, led Eva,
with most remarkable skill, through the Polska,[4] the most artificial
and perplexing of dances.

It was only at midnight that the dance was discontinued, at the
suggestion of Elise. But before they separated, the Judge begged his
wife to sing the well-known little song--"The First Evening in the New
House." She sang it in her simple, soul-touching manner, and the joy
full of peace which this song breathed penetrated every heart; even the
grave countenance of the Judge gleamed with an affectionate emotion. A
quiet glory appeared to rest on the family, and beautified all
countenances; for it is given to song, like the sun, to throw its
glorifying light upon all human circumstances, and to lend them beauty,
at least for a moment. "The spinner," and "the aged man by the
road-side," are led by song into the kingdom of beauty, even as they are
by the Gospel into the kingdom of heaven.

On taking leave for the night, all agreed upon a rendezvous the next
morning after breakfast in the orchard, in order to see what was to be
made of it.

The father conducted the daughters up into their chambers. He wanted to
see yet once more how they looked, and inquired from them again and
again--"Are you satisfied, my girls? Do they please you? Would you wish
anything besides? If you wish anything, speak out right Swedishly."

As now his daughters, assuring him of their contentment, gratefully and
affectionately hung about him, there was not a happier man on the face
of the earth than Judge Frank.

The mother, on her part, had taken her first-born with her into her
little boudoir. She had as yet not been able to speak one word to him
alone. Now she questioned him on everything, small and great, which
concerned him, and how freely and entirely he opened his whole heart to
her!

They talked of the circumstances of the family; of the purchase of this
new property; of the debt which they had thereby contracted; of the
means through which, by degrees, it would be paid off, and of the
necessity there was for greater economy on all sides. They talked, too,
of the daughters of the house.

"Louise is superb," said Henrik, "but her complexion is rather muddy;
could she not use some kind of wash for it? She would be so much
handsomer if she had a fresher complexion; and then she looks, the least
in the world, cathedral-like. What a solemn air she had to-night, as
Jacobi made some polite speech to her! Do you know, mother, I think the
sisters sit too much; it is in that way that people get such grave
cathedral-like looks. We must make them take more exercise; we must find
out some lively exhilarative exercise for them. And Eva! how she is
grown, and how kind and happy she looks! It is a real delight to see
her--one can actually fall in love with her! But what in all the world
is to be done with Petrea's nose? It does, indeed, get so large and
long, that I cannot tell what is to be done! It is a pity, though, for
she is so good-hearted and merry. And Leonore! How sickly and unhappy
she looks at times! We must endeavour to cheer her up."

"Yes, that we will," said the mother; "if she were but healthy, we could
soon manage that; but how does little Gabriele please you?"

"Ah! she is very lovely, with her high-bred little airs--quite
fascinating," said Henrik.

"And Sara!" asked she.

"Yes," said he, "she is lovely--very lovely, I think; but still there is
something, at least to my taste, very unpleasant in her. She is not like
my sisters; there is something about her so cold, so almost repulsive."

"Yes," said the mother, sighing; "there is at times something very
extraordinary about her, more particularly of late. I fear that a
certain person has too great, and that not a happy, influence over her.
But Sara is a richly gifted and truly interesting girl, out of whom
something very good may be made, if--if----She gives us, indeed, anxiety
at times, for we are as much attached to her as if she were our own
child. She has a most extraordinary talent for music--you must hear her.
There really is much that is very distinguished and truly amiable in
her; you will see it, as you remain so much longer time with us."

"Yes, thank God!" said Henrik, "I can now reckon on that, on remaining
some months at home."

The conversation now turned on Henrik's future prospects. His father
wished him to devote himself to mining, and with this end in view he had
studied, but he felt ever, more and more, a growing inclination to
another profession, and this had become a ground of dissatisfaction in
the family. The mother now besought her first-born to prove himself
carefully and seriously before he deserted the path to which his father
was attached, and which Henrik himself had selected in common council
with his father. Henrik promised this solemnly. His soul was warm and
noble. His young heart possessed every fine sentiment, a pure enthusiasm
for virtue and for his country, a glowing desire to live for them, this
belonged to his heart in the richest measure. The wish to be useful to
the community generally, united itself with all his views of
self-advantage, and he only saw his own prosperity in connexion with
that of his family. These thoughts and sentiments poured themselves
forth in that sweet confidential hour freely and fully to his
mother--the happy mother, whose heart beat with joy and with proudest
hope of her first-born, the favourite of her soul, her summer child!

"And when I have made my own way in the world," added Henrik, joyfully
kissing the hand of his mother, "and have a house of my own, then,
mother, you shall come to me, and live with me, will you not?"

"And what would your father say to that?" said she, in a tone like his
own.

"Oh! he has all the sisters who can keep house for him," said Henrik,
"and----"

"Do you intend to sit up here the whole night?" asked a voice at the
door. It was the voice of the Judge, and both mother and son rose up as
if they had been caught in the fact of conspiracy. The conspiracy,
however, was immediately imparted to the Judge, whereupon he declared
that all this would lead to such fearful consequences that they had
better say no more about it.

Both mother and son laughed, and said "Good night" to each other. But as
Henrik conveyed the hand of his mother towards his lips, he fell into a
sort of ecstasy over it.

"Heavens! what a white hand! and what small fingers! nay, how can people
have such small fingers?" And with a sort of comic devotion he kissed
the little finger of that beautiful hand.

"I see I must carry you off forcibly, if I would have you to myself,"
said the Judge merrily, and taking his wife's arm in his, led her out.

But her thoughts still hovered around her first-born, her handsome and
richly endowed son. She uttered a glowing prayer for his perfecting in
all good, whilst all were sleeping sweetly the first night in the new
house.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] A wild and animated Swedish national dance.

CHAPTER II.

THE MORROW.

How pleasant it must have been to the family the next morning to
assemble round the amply-supplied breakfast-table in a handsome and
spacious drawing-room. But drawing-room, and breakfast-table, and all
outward comforts, signify nothing, if the inward are wanting; if
affectionate dispositions and kind looks do not make the room bright,
and the breakfast well-flavoured. But nothing was wanting on this
morning to the family of the Franks--not even the sun. It shone in
brightly to illumine the bright scene.

Henrik made a speech to Madame Folette, in testimony of his love and
reverence for her, and of his joy on meeting her again in so good a
state of preservation.

Louise, with the help of Eva, served tea and coffee, bread and butter,
etc., taking particular care that everybody had just what they liked
best. The basket which held sugar-biscuits was constantly in the
neighbourhood of Jacobi.

"How glorious this is!" exclaimed Henrik, rubbing his hands, and casting
a glance of pleasure around on his parents and sisters, "it is quite
paradisiacal! What does your Majesty desire? Ah, your most devoted
servant! Coffee, if I might ask it, excellent Madame Folette!"

"After breakfast," said the mother, "I have something for you to guess."

"Something to guess?" said Henrik, "what can it be? Tell me, what is it
like, sweet mamma? what name does it bear?"

"A wedding," replied she.

"A wedding? A most interesting novelty! I cannot swallow another morsel
till I have made it out! Jacobi, my best fellow, can I possess myself of
a biscuit? A wedding! Do I know the parties?"

"Perfectly well."

"It cannot possibly be our excellent Uncle Munter, himself?" suggested
he. "He seems to me very odd, and, as it were, a little touched in the
heart."

"Oh, no, no! He'll not marry."

"He is already so horribly old," said Eva.

"Old!" exclaimed the Judge. "He is something above forty, I fancy; you
don't call that so horribly old, my little Eva. But it is true he has
always had an old look."

"Guess better," said the mother.

"I have it! I have it!" said Petrea, blushing. "It is Laura! Aunt
Evelina's Laura!"

"Ah, light breaks in," said Henrik; "and the bridegroom is Major Arvid
G. Is it not?"

"Precisely," said his mother. "Laura makes a very good match. Major G.
is a very good-looking, excellent young man; and beyond this, has a good
property. He has persuaded Evelina to remove with Karin to his beautiful
seat at Axelholm, and to consider Laura's and his home as theirs for the
future. Eva dear, set the ham before Henrik. What do you want, my angel
Gabriele? Another rusk? Heavens! how quick you are! Leonore, may I give
you some more bread and butter, my child? No?"

"But I hope," exclaimed Henrik, "that we shall be invited to the
wedding. Evelina, who is such a sensible woman, must have the good sense
to invite us. Most gracious sister Queen-bee, these rolls--very
nourishing and estimable rolls--were they baked before or after the
Flood?"

"After," replied Louise, a little piqued, yet with a smile.

"Oh! I humble myself in the dust," said he. "I pray your Majesty most
graciously to pardon me--[_aside_--but after all they taste remarkably
either of the ark or of a cupboard]. But what in all the world sort of
breakfast are you making, Petrea? Nay, dear sister, such, a superfluity
in eating never can prosper. I pray you do not eat yourself ill!"

Petrea, who had her curious fancies, or as Louise called them,
her "raptures," had now for some time had the fancy to take only a
glass of cold water and a piece of dry bread for her breakfast. On
account of this abstinence, Henrik now jested, and Petrea answered
him quite gaily; Louise, on the contrary, took up the matter quite
seriously, and thought--as many others did--that this whim of Petrea's
had a distant relationship to folly; and folly, Louise--the sensible
Louise--considered the most horrible of horrors; Louise, who was so very
sensible!

"Now, really, you must not sit gossiping any longer!" exclaimed the
father, when he saw their mouths only put in motion by conversation,
"else I must go away and leave you; and I should very much like to go
into the garden with you first."

A general rising followed these words, and all betook themselves to the
garden, with the exception of Leonore, who was unwell, and the little
Gabriele, who had to be careful on account of the damp.

In the mean time the garden had its own extraordinary circumstances, and
all here did not go on in the usual mode; for although the place was yet
not laid out, and the April snow covered the earth, and still hung in
great masses on the low fruit-trees, which were the only wealth of the
garden, yet these, not at all according to the commonly established laws
of nature, were covered with fruit the most beautiful; rennets and
oranges clustered the twigs, and shone in the sun. Exclamations were
uttered in every variety of tone; and although both Jacobi and Henrik
protested that they could not discover any way of accounting for this
supernatural phenomenon, still they did not escape the suspicion of
being instrumental in the witchcraft, spite of all the means they used
to establish their innocence. The opinion, however, was universally
adopted, that good and not bad elves had been thus busily at work; and
the fruit, therefore, was gathered without fear of bad consequences, and
laid in baskets. The elves were praised both in prose and verse; and
there never was a merrier harvest-feast.

The Judge had some trouble to get anybody to listen to all his plans of
lilac-hedges, strawberry-beds, of his arbour, and his garden-house. The
narrow space, however, in which he had to work troubled him.

"If one could only get possession of the piece of land beyond this!"
said he, striking with his stick upon the tall red-boarded fence which
bounded one side of the garden. "Look here, Elise, peep through that
gap; what a magnificent site it is for building--it extends down to the
river!--what a magnificent promenade it would make, properly laid out
and planted! It might be a real treasure to the whole city, which needs
a regular walk in its neighbourhood; and now it lies there desolate, and
useful to nobody, but only for a few cows, because the proprietor does
not know how to make use of it; and our good men of the city have not
public spirit enough to purchase it out of the common fund for the
general good. If I were but rich enough to buy the place, it should soon
have a different appearance, and instead of cows human beings should be
walking there; these boards should be torn down, and our garden should
be united to the great promenade. What a situation it would be!"

"Would not beehives answer very well here?" asked our sensible
Queen-bee; "the sun strikes directly on these boards."

"You are perfectly right, Louise," said her father, well pleased; "that
is a good thought; this is an excellent place for beehives: to-morrow
I'll see about some. Two or three we must have, and that directly, that
the bees may have the advantage of the apple and cherry bloom. Thus we
can see them working altogether, and learn wisdom from them, and watch
how they collect honey for us. That will be a pleasure--don't you think
so, Elise?"

Elise rejoiced sincerely over the bees, and over the garden. It would
give her great pleasure to lay it out. She would set Provence-roses as
soon as possible; and forcing houses also should be erected. Eva thought
she should give herself up to gardening.

But it was necessary to leave for the present the future home of
radishes and roses, because it was wet and uncomfortable out of doors.

Gabriele made large eyes when she saw the basketful of fruit which had
been gathered in the garden. But the little Princess Turandotte could
not unravel the riddle respecting them, as Henrik presented it to her.

The forenoon was spent in clearing away, and in arranging things in the
house. Sara alone took no part in it, but took lessons on the harp from
a distinguished young musician of the name of Schwartz, who had come a
stranger to the city. She sate the whole morning at her music, which she
loved passionately; in the mean time, Petrea had promised to enact the
part of lady's-maid to her, and to put all her clothes and things in
order.

Henrik sate perfectly happy in his sisters' rooms, and nearly killed
himself with laughing while he watched in part their clearing away and
bustling about, and in part taking a share in all. The quantities of
bundles of pieces, old bonnets, cloaks, dresses, etc., which were here
in motion, and played their parts, formed a singular contrast to his
student-world, in which such a thing as a piece of printed cotton or a
pin might be reckoned quite a curiosity. Then the seriousness with which
all these things were treated, and the jokes and merriment which arose
out of all this seriousness, were for him most delicious things.

Nothing, however, amused him more than Louise and all her "properties,"
as well as the great care which, with a half-comic, half-grave
earnestness, she took of them; but he declared solemnly that he would
disclaim all relationship with her if ever he should see her wearing a
certain pale green shawl, called jokingly "spinage," and a pale grey
dress, with the surname of "water-gruel." None of the sisters had so
many possessions as Louise, and none treated them with so much
importance; for she had in the highest degree that kind of passion which
we will call property-passion. Her bandboxes and bundles burst
themselves out of the space in which she wished to stow them, and came
tumbling down upon her head. She accused Henrik of being guilty of these
accidents; and certain it is that he helped her, not without some
mischievous pleasure, to put them up again in their places.

Louise was well known in the family for her love of what was old; the
more shabby a dress was, the more distinguished she seemed to think it;
and the more faded a shawl, the more, according to her, it resembled a
Cashmere. This affection for old things extended itself sometimes to
cakes, biscuits, creams, etc., which often occasioned Henrik to inquire
whether an article of a doubtful date had its origin before or after the
Flood. We will here add to the description of Louise a few touches,
which may make the reader more fully acquainted with her character.

Pure was she both in Heart and intention, with great love of truth, and
a high moral sense, although too much given to lecturing, and sometimes
a little wanting in charity towards erring fellow-mortals. She had much
of her father's understanding and prudence, but came, of course, far
short of him in knowledge of mankind and in experience, although now, in
her eighteenth year, she considered herself to have a perfect knowledge
of mankind. The moral worth of her soul mirrored itself in her exterior,
which, without her being handsome, pleased, and inspired a degree of
confidence in her, because good sense expressed itself in her calm
glance, and her whole demeanour was that of a decided and well-balanced
character. A certain comic humour in her would often dissolve her solemn
mien and important looks into the most hearty laughter; and when Louise
laughed, she bore a charming resemblance to her mother, for she
possessed Elise's beautiful mouth and teeth.

She was as industrious as an ant, and in the highest degree helpful to
those who were deserving of help, but less merciful than Lafontaine's
ants were to thoughtless crickets and their fellows. Louise had three
hobby-horses, although she never would confess that she had a single
one. The first was to work tapestry; the second, to read sermons; and
the third, to play Patience, and more especially Postillion. A fourth
had of late began to discover itself, and that was for medicine--for the
discovering and administering of useful family medicines; nay, she had
herself decocted a certain elixir from nine bitter herbs, which Henrik
declared would be very serviceable in sending people to the other world.
Louise was no way disturbed by all this, for she did not allow herself
to be annoyed by remarks.

She prized, enjoyed, and sought, above all things, after "the right;"
but she also set a high value on "respectability" and "property," and
seemed to think that these were hers of course. She had the excellent
peculiarity of never undertaking anything that she could not creditably
get through with; but she had a great opinion of her own ability, in
which her family participated, although they sometimes attempted to set
her down. In the mean time she was in many instances the adviser and
support of the family; and she had a real genius for the mighty
department of housekeeping.

The parents called her, with a certain satisfaction--the father with a
secret pride--"our eldest daughter." The sisters styled her rather
waggishly "our eldest sister," and sometimes simply "our eldest;" and
"our eldest" knew exceedingly well how to regard her own dignity in
respect to rank and priority. Beyond this, she had a high idea of the
value of woman.

Louise had an album, in which all her friends and acquaintance had
written down their thoughts or those of others. It was remarkable what a
mass of morality this book contained.

We fear that our readers may be somewhat weary of hearing the names of
Sara, Louise, Eva, Leonore, Petrea, Gabriele, repeated so often one
after another, and we are very sorry that we find it unavoidable yet
once more to present the whole array in connexion with Louise. But we
will see what little variety we can make by taking them at hap-hazard,
and therefore now steps forward

PETREA.

We are all of us somewhat related to chaos; Petrea was very closely so.
Momentary bursts of light and long periods of confusion alternated in
her. There was a great dissimilarity between Louise and Petrea. While
Louise required six drawers and more to contain her possessions, there
needed scarcely half a one for the whole wardrobe of Petrea; and this
said wardrobe too was always in such an ill-conditioned case, that it
was, according to Louise, quite lamentable, and she not unfrequently
lent a helping hand to its repair. Petrea tore her things, and gave away
without bounds or discrimination, and was well known in the sisterly
circle for the bad state of her affairs. Petrea had no turn for
accumulation; on the contrary, she had truly, although Louise would not
allow it, a certain turn for art.

She was always occupied by creations of one kind or another, either
musical, or architectural, or poetical. But all her creations contained
something of that which is usually called trash. At twelve years old she
wrote her first romance: "Annette and Belis loved each other tenderly;
they experienced adversity in their love; were at last, however, united,
and lived henceforth in a charming cottage, surrounded with hedges of
roses, and had eight children in one year," which we may call a very
honourable beginning. A year afterwards she began a tragedy, which was
to be called "Gustavus Adolphus and Ebba Brahe," and which opened with
these verses spoken by one Delagardie:

Now from Germania's coast returned,
I see again the much-loved strand;
From war I come, without a wound,
Once more into my native land.
Say, Banner say, what woe has caused these tears,
Am I not true to thee, or is it idle hope alone that will befool my years?

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