"Black silk conf—"
"Yes, and some other dresses, which we must order in Christiania; there is no help for it."
Captain Jäger began to walk to and fro.
"So, so!—So, so! Well, if that is your idea, then I think we will decline the invitation with thanks."
"I knew that, Jäger! You would like to have the yolk, but as to breaking the egg, you hesitate."
"Break the egg? Break my purse, you mean."
"I mean, you can call in a part of the six hundred dollars you got with me. I have thought and reckoned it over. Inger-Johanna alone will cost us over one hundred dollars this year, and when Thinka is going to Ryfylke, we shall not get off with two hundred."
"Over two hundred dollars!—Are you crazy? Are you crazy—really crazy, Ma? I think you have a screw loose!" He made a sudden turn over the floor. "The letter shall rather go at once into the stove."
"Very well; you know that I think everything you do is sensible, Jäger."
He stopped, with the letter in his hand and his mouth half open.