"What do you mean, Salvé?"
"Wouldn't it be a fine thing, don't you think, to see the boy come home to you some day in a smart uniform, Elizabeth? You have always had a turn for that sort of thing," he added, jokingly. "And since you couldn't go in for it yourself,—as they don't take womenfolk in the navy—and it was not much in my line either,—why, I thought we could make the experiment with Gjert."
"Are you really in earnest, Salvé?" she asked, looking at him still in suspense.
He nodded in confirmation.
"Well, if it is your father's wish, may—may God prosper you in it, my boy!" she said, going over to Gjert and stroking his forehead.
"So—now you may take your joiner's bench into the room again, Henrik; you can talk with Gjert in there—that is to say, if he will condescend now to answer a common man like you—tell him you will be a merchant captain, and earn as much as two such fellows in uniform. Mother and I can then enjoy a little peace from you here in the kitchen."
When they were alone, Elizabeth asked—
"But how has it all happened, Salvé?"
"Well, you see, I had taken the idea into my head about Gjert that he should become something a little better than his father had been, and so I went up to the Master, to Beck, and asked what I must do to push the thing. Yes; and I spoke to young Fru Beck too."
"Salvé! did you go to Beck?"