"Yes; it was a long job, but it's over at last," said the Sheriff.
"I mean," said Magnus, "is it certain that the auction must take place?"
"Quite certain. There has never been any doubt of it that I know of."
"Look here, sir," said Magnus, heaving up to his feet. "A Sheriff can do a good deal if he cares to use his influence. Give me another chance, and you shall have everything I owe. I've had five bad years in succession--no wonder I fell into arrears. Last spring I lost forty lambs in a single night, and next morning two heifers and a calf. The floods came in the autumn, too. And half my hay was swept into the lake. But weather like that can't last forever. We are sure to have a run of good years next. Give me four years more, sir--and you shall see what I can do."
"The thing is past praying for," said the Sheriff.
"Don't say that, sir. Listen! My people have farmed this place for a hundred and fifty years, and a man doesn't like to be the one to lose it. My own flesh and blood are in the land too--the strength of my muscles and the sweat of my brow. Give me three years more, sir--just three."
"Impossible!" said the Sheriff.
"Sheriff, come this way," said Magnus, drawing the man aside by the arm and speaking in a low voice, so that the women might not hear. "I don't care a straw about myself I'll get along somehow, and if I don't it doesn't matter--but there's the child. She ought to inherit the farm, and she's an orphan, but she'll get nothing. Give me a chance for the child's sake, Sheriff. Don't be hard on me. Sell up half my stock to pay part of the interest and let me have two years more--only two."
"You know quite well that the mortgage is on the loose property as well as the land," said the Sheriff. "How can I sap away the security? As for the girl, she's young and strong; let her go into service."
Magnus bit his lip in an effort to control himself, and then he said, "You are quite right, sir; the girl and I can take care of ourselves, but there's the old mother. She was born in this house and she expected to die here. I shouldn't so much mind if she were gone, and to tell you the truth she's not well now, sir. Give me one more year, Sheriff--one single year."