“Oh, yes, count the others too, and you’ll get off all the easier!” said Kalle teasingly.
Lasse was looking at Anna’s child, which lay side by side with Kalle’s thirteenth. “She looks healthier than her aunt,” he said. “You’d scarcely think they were the same age. She’s just as red as the other’s pale.”
“Yes, there is a difference,” Kalle admitted, looking affectionately at the children. “It must be that Anna’s has come from young people, while our blood’s beginning to get old. And then the ones that come the wrong side of the blanket always thrive best—like our Albert, for instance. He carries himself quite differently from the others. Did you know, by-the-by, that he’s to get a ship of his own next spring?”
“No, surely not! Is he really going to be a captain?” said Lasse, in the utmost astonishment.
“It’s Kongstrup that’s at the back of that—that’s between ourselves, of course!”
“Does the father of Anna’s child still pay what he’s bound to?” asked Lasse.
“Yes, he’s honest enough! We get five krones a month for having the child, and that’s a good help toward expenses.”
Maria had placed a dram, bread and a saucer of dripping on the table, and invited them to take their places at it.
“You’re holding out a long time at Stone Farm,” said Kalle, when they were seated. “Are you going to stay there all your life?” he asked, with a mischievous wink.
“It’s not such a simple matter to strike out into the deep!” said Lasse evasively.