"Yes. Why not?"
The challenge in the girls's eyes was unmistakable.
"You won't buy him," Father Adam said quietly. "And you certainly won't crush him."
"Because I'm a girl?"
"Oh, no. I was thinking of the Skandinavia." The man shook his head. "If I'm a judge of men, the crushing will be done from the other end of the line."
"This man will crush Skandinavia?"
The idea that Skandinavia could be crushed was quite unthinkable to Nancy. It was the great monopoly of the country. It was—but she felt that this lonely creature could have no real understanding of the power of her people.
"Surely," he returned quietly. "But that," he added, with a return of his pleasant smile, "is just the notion of one man. I should say it's no real account. Yes, you go there. You see this man. The battle of your people with him matters little. It will be good for you to see him. It—may help you. Who can tell? He's a white man, and a fighter. He's honest and clean. It's—in the meeting of kindred spirits that the great events of life are brought about. It should be good for you both."
"I wonder?" Nancy rose from her chair.
The man rose also.