"I dropped down in front of the sofa and covered her lips and brow with kisses. Quite radiantly she opened her eyes and stared at me, as if she saw a vision; only as consciousness returned did her face grow serious and sad, as before.
"'Well, well, my girl, what is the matter with you?' she said. 'This is not your usual behaviour!'
"And gently she pushed me away, so that once more I stood alone with my overflowing heart; but as I was slinking away she came after me, and whispered---
"'I love you very much, my darling sister!'
"On the evening of the same day I noticed that she constantly kept smiling to herself. Papa was struck by it too, for as a rule it never occurred. He took her head between his two hands, and said--
"'What has come over you, Margell? Why you are blooming like a flower to-day.'
"Then she blushed a deep red, while I secretly clasped her hand under the table, and thought to myself, 'We know very well what makes us so happy.'
"Next morning papa came to the breakfast-table with an open letter in his hand.
"'A strange bird is about to fly into our nest,' he said, laughing; 'now guess what his name is!' And with that he looked quite peculiarly across at Martha. She appeared to me to have grown even a shade paler, and the coffee-cup which she held in her hand shook audibly.
"'Has the bird been in our nest before?' she asked slowly and softly, and did not raise her eyes.