"You are driven to despair, Magnus, and a despairing man's words belong to the wind. If I thought you meant it I should die--I should die this very minute."
She was crying and there was silence for a moment, and then Magnus said:
"Never mind, mother. It doesn't matter whether I meant it or not, the temptation isn't likely to come to me. Give me the candle and let us go to bed."
"You have borne a terrible burden, Magnus, and if I could only have helped you to bear it----"
"You have, mother. If it had not been for you and Elin I should have gone under ten years ago."
"Your father knew he had robbed you of your inheritance, and perhaps that helped to kill him in the end."
"It wasn't father's fault altogether. He tried to do what was right, too. But the poor wretch who comes after the prodigal gleans in a barren field, you know."
With their candles in hand they were turning to go--Anna to the badstofa above, and Magnus to the guest-room off the hall--when the dogs, who had risen again, and were snuffling at the bottom of the door, began to growl and bark.
"There's somebody coming," said Magnus.
A moment later there was a sharp knock at the window, as with a metal end of a riding-whip, and a tremulous, high-pitched voice outside, making the customary Icelandic salutation, "God be with you!"