"No, it is not wicked." And he added, after a pause, "It is rather something grand, very grand and great."
"Really something great?"
"In reality the grandest thing in all the world."
"But what can you mean?"
"Well, then, if only you will not tell, not to a living soul--do you hear?--I might tell you."
"What is it, Ole?"
"I am going to be a missionary."
"A missionary?"
"Yes, a missionary among the heathen, the regular savages, don't you know, those who eat people." He saw that Edward was almost speechless; so he made haste to tell him all sorts of things about cyclones, raging wild beasts, and poisonous snakes. "You see one requires to be prepared for such things."
"How prepared--for raging wild beasts and poisonous snakes?" Edward began to think everything possible.