The loom rattled still louder.
"But a young man who couldn't be satisfied with a girl like Thora isn't likely to find many to his liking."
And then the loom rattled louder than ever, and nothing more was said that night.
II
At intervals during Anna's visit to the farm there came news of the wedding party--the letters being sent on by the weekly post from Government House and from the Factor's. The first to come was from England, and it was a joint letter to everybody written by all three of the wanderers. Oscar began it, with a playful review of their journey from the time of the departure of the "Laura."
"As soon as we set foot on the ship we were told that Captain Zimsen had given up his own cabin to us, and from that hour to this everybody has shown us boundless hospitality, especially father's old college friends, the professor at Oxford and the banker here in London. Naturally we know we owe everything to the magic of the Governor's name, and consequently I am cultivating an extraordinary reverence for it, though I doubt if I shall ever find it more beautiful than I did on the morning of our wedding at the bottom of that splendid check."
"Ha, ha, the mouse knows where to come back for his cheese," said Anna.
Helga came next, with a glowing account of the London theaters, opera-houses, and picture-galleries.
"The half had not been told me, as the big Book says, and I wonder more than ever why a poor girl should be doomed to waste her life in a wilderness when she might live in a world of so many clever and beautiful people."
"M'm! It's poor work pouring water on a rock," said Anna.