"H'm," said Isak, feeling very strange—ay, he was like a stranger with them all at once.
Said Inger: "If you find a sewing-machine down by the boat, it'll be mine. And there's a chest as well."
Off goes Isak, goes off more than willingly, after the chest; the men on board showed him which it was. The sewing-machine was another matter; Inger had to go down and find that herself. It was a handsome box, of curious shape, with a round cover over, and a handle to carry it by—a sewing-machine in these parts! Isak hoisted the chest and the sewing-machine on to his shoulders, and turned to his wife and child:
"I'll have these up in no time, and come back for her after."
"Come back for who?" asked Inger, with a smile. "Did you think she couldn't walk by herself, a big girl like that?"
They walked up to where Isak had left the horse and cart.
"New horse, you've got?" said Inger. "And what's that you've got—a cart with a seat in?"
"Tis but natural," said Isak. "What I was going to say: Wouldn't you care for a little bit of something to eat? I've brought things all ready."
"Wait till we get a bit on the way," said she. "Leopoldine, can you sit up by yourself?"
But her father won't have it; she might fall down under the wheels.
"You sit up with her and drive yourself."