"He'll bid for somebody himself, sir, and we all know who that is."
"Who?"
"Somebody at Government House who has wanted the farm these fifteen years."
"So you think the Sheriff will hold the auction to-morrow morning whether anybody is there or not?"
"Sure to, sir. The fewer there are to bid the better he'll be pleased, and the bigger the Minister's bargain."
"I must go on then, I suppose," said Christian Christiansson.
"Come in and melt yourself first," said Jon. "The wind is going down--it will be quiet presently."
A few minutes later Christian Christiansson was drinking hot coffee in the elt-house, while Jon and Gudrun talked of the family at the Inn-farm.
"We were servants with the family for ten years, so we know them well, sir," said Jon.
"Poor old Anna!" said Gudrun. "She would be welcome to anything I have, but with the boys growing up we haven't a bed to spare in the badstofa."'