The youngest of the danneman’s daughters brought some brandy, made in the house; that famous corn-brandy, whose manufacture Gustavus III. afterwards made a state monopoly, thus burdening his subjects with a heavy and vexatious tax, that robbed him of all his popularity, and reduced to their former poverty the very people whom he had freed from the tyranny of the nobles. Is the frequent use of brandy really a necessity in these rigorous climates? Christian thought not, and his opinion was strengthened by the fact that this special beverage, which the danneman had made with his own hands, and of which he was very proud, was so strong as literally to take the skin off the throat. The worthy man urged his guest to drink copiously; he could not understand that he should not feel the necessity of getting a little intoxicated, after killing two bears. But Christian could not carry his good-nature so far as that. He would have been very well pleased to have had strength and coolness enough to get Bœtsoi drunk, without losing his own head; but, as it was, he confined himself to drinking some tea, left for him by the major, and served hot, in a wooden cup, very tastefully cut and carved by the youthful Olof.
The young man was a little mortified at having enjoyed the royal pleasure of killing a bear at the expense of his friends; for, in a word, this bear was the property of the danneman, as all game belongs, without question, to the person who finds it on his lands. They had made Christian a present of his prize; that is, they had purchased it for him. He learned with pleasure from the danneman that it was not yet paid for. The major and his friends, not foreseeing that the hunt would be so successful, had not brought money enough. Christian inquired the price of the animal.
“That depends upon circumstances,” said the danneman, proudly; “if you leave me the beast, as is sometimes done, it is simply a ‘thank you,’ which I owe the person who helped me slay him; but, no doubt, Herr Christian, you will want the skin, the claws, the fat, and the legs.”
“I don’t want any of them at all,” said Christian, laughing. “Good heavens! what should I do with them? I beg you to keep the whole animal, Herr Bœtsoi, and, as I presume you have the right to sell rather dearer to those who have enjoyed the privilege of hunting on your land than you would do to customers purchasing plainly and simply a commodity, I beg you to accept thirty dalers that I have about me—”
Christian finished his sentence mentally:
“And which is all that I possess.”
“Thirty dalers!” cried the danneman, “that is a great deal. You are very rich, then?”
“I am rich enough to beg you to accept them.”
The danneman took the money, looked at it, and then looked at Christian’s hands, but without noticing anything but their whiteness.
“Your gold is good,” he said, “and your hand is white. You are not a laborer, and yet you eat kakebroe like a Dalecarlian. Your face belongs to this country, and your speech does not,—the clothes you had on when you came here, were no better than mine. I can see one thing, anyhow, and that is that you are proud; you don’t wish your friends, who gave up, for your sake, the pleasure of killing the bear, to spend their money for you.”