"But that is not for you, not for you," she said. "You will reach him, I know you will reach him—I feel it. I want you to reach him—something or other tells me that it must and will be so—that——"
The door of the balcony opened hastily, and Ragnhild came to Tante and held out both her hands to help her up.
"Two Englishmen have come and are asking for thee," she said.
"Men du milde Himmel!"[J] cried Tante. "My icebergs, of course!"
She almost ran to the hall, where she found Clifford and Alan standing together like the two forlorn creatures that they were.
"Velkommen, velkommen!" she cried. "I don't know where you've come from, whether from the bottom of the sea or the top of the air! Nor how you've got here! But velkommen, velkommen!"
Their faces brightened up when they saw her and heard her cheery voice with its slight foreign accent.
"Oh, Knutty, it is good to see you again," the man said.
"Yes, by Jove! it is ripping," the boy said.