He was silent and no longer looked at Finn. And Finn was at ease again and at last found words for what he had long wanted to say:
“May I use the old room, father? May I set it up again ... all as it was ... and live there with my books?...”
Cordt released his son’s hands and his face wore a look that made Finn regret his request. They both rose to their feet. And, at that moment, Cordt’s face lit up with a smile:
“That you may,” he said. “You dear child, who never asked for anything. Let this, then, be my present to you to-day.”
This happened on the day when Cordt’s son completed his twenty-first year.
CHAPTER XIII
Finn stood in the old room with the yellow document in his hand: