“That must be horrible!” said the lieutenant. “They say the wolf-glen is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings. Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid theatre!”
“Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!” said the lady of the house. “It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it was the ‘Sandseslöse.’ I was then ill; but because I wished so much to see it, the whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and that, too, in our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could look on. That was an extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only think—the burgomaster himself acted with them!”
In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden, where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just unladen, near the bridge of boats.
Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor. Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
“The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?”
“No, not at all!” replied Maren.
“You have manuscript poems in the little book!” said Otto, and boldly approached. “Perhaps of your own composition?”
“O, it is only a memorandum-book,” said Maren, blushing. “When I read anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books.”
“Then I may see it!” said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:—
“So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
Das eine sind die Thränen,
Das andre ist der See!”
[Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]