"There's something in what Helga says, certainly."
"Then you, also, Oscar----"
"No, Rector, no--that is to say--well, I'm glad to be back and I shall be glad to go away again."
And then everybody was as happy as before.
IV
Next day Oscar and Helga spent many hours in a round of return visits, while Thora, who was still tired, stayed at home and received some of her old schoolfellows. One of them, who had been the beauty of her day, had married a farmer fifteen miles away and borne him three children. It was all work, work, work with her now and the once-bright girl was a slave.
"Ah, Thora, how lucky you were not to marry Magnus!" she said.
"Do you think so?" said Thora.
"Why, yes, Thora. And then everybody says Oscar is going to be such a distinguished man."
It was the spring caravan time and Magnus himself, who had brought his wool to the Factor's, came late in the afternoon. Thora thought he looked brawnier and bigger than ever, and she could not help seeing that his hands were coarser and his nails chopped off square. But his voice was as soft as it used to be, and he was shy and even nervous.