"Really, did he say that?" Lars Peter flushed with pride.
"But a bit close, he said. You thought codfish could talk reason."
"Well, now—what the devil did he mean by it? What nonsense! Of course codfish can't speak!"
"I don't know. But he's a clever man—he might have been one of the learned sort."
"You're getting on well, I hear," said Lars Peter, to change the subject. "Is it true you're half engaged to a farmer's daughter?"
Johannes smiled, stroking his woman-like mouth, where a small mustache was visible. "There's a deal of gossip about," was all he said.
"If only you keep her—and don't have the same bad luck that I had. I had a sweetheart who was a farmer's daughter, but she died before we were married."
"Is that true, Father?" broke out Ditte, proud of her father's standing.
"What do you think of him, my girl?" asked Lars Peter, when his brother had gone. "Picked up a bit, hasn't he?"