best to throw himself on the King's mercy; and he exclaimed, I am a miserable Krabbe (a small shore-crab),' when lo! this was the very thing the King had put in the tankard. He was then brought into the presence of the Queen, and the charcoal-burner was indeed perplexed. 'You should not,' he said, 'make a stall for the calf before it is born, or name the child before it sees the light. When the Queen comes before me I think it is a prince; when she goes away I think it is a princess.' The Queen had twins, a prince and a princess. Thus the charcoal-burner was more lucky than he deserved to be." "Well told," said Harild Tyssen; "and thank you, Frøken Nordal."

"I did not hear the story," said John Stirling. "I only heard the silver ripple of her voice."

"You are getting better, John," said his sister. "I saw you understood every word. Good-night, Mr. Tyssen, I must put him to bed now."

CHAPTER XVIII.

Jeg holder fast ved dig og lider,
Og lever, som min Skjæbne vil;
Men dig, det er til alle Tider,
Som Hjærtets Længsel iler til.

I hold me firm to you, and suffer,
And live as my fate may be;

But for all time it is to you

My heart's longing is speeding ever.

CHRISTIAN WINTHER.

JACOB OPPEDAL had been expected to return to the Sæter on the fifth day, and a look-out had been kept down the Fjeld. About mid-day Kristofer reported that he saw two men and three horses coming up from the direction of Opheim, and shortly after he announced:

"Nu kommer han Amtmanden og Jacob med."

"I will go and meet my father, Fanny," said Emilie Nordal; "but do not let Herr Tyssen follow me.”

"Mr. Tyssen," said Fanny Stirling, as she saw him about to leave, "Emilie wishes to speak to her father,

and we will tell him that you did not go to meet him in consequence. We shall have to arrange to receive him, and he will have to sleep in the tent, if he does not return to Opheim to-night."

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'Well, little Ven," said the Amtmand to his daughter, "how is the man you have promised to marry without consulting your father? You are looking as bright and happy as if you had my consent and blessing."

"Thank you a thousand times for coming here, little Father," she exclaimed. "I have so longed to tell you that I knew he was going to speak to me. His sister told me so, and he sent a few lines to me. But he might not have spoken; and then his accident happened, and I thought he would die; and I had the strongest wish to see him, if but for a moment."

"You were attached to him, Emilie," said the Amtmand; "and it was not the sudden impulse of seeing him lying ill and helpless ?

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No, no, little Father," she replied; "he has been dear to me a long time. He is so good."

"What an earnest little face," said the Amtmand, touching her cheek with his hand. "Your mother is delighted at your prospects of happiness, and so am I."

"Thank you, thank you, little Father. You will recollect his leaving Nordal for Vange, suddenly. He then wrote his sister that he intended to ask me to be his wife, and told her to come to him. She has shown me

the letter. He has himself told me that he did not like to speak to me until he felt that he could give me all his heart."

"Good," said her father; "but all this time you have not told me how he is."

"He is now sitting in his camp-bed, which makes into a sort of easy-chair. He can stand and walk a little. His arms were badly sprained and he has a difficulty in using his hands; but every day he grows better."

"Welcome to the Fjelds, Herr Amtmand," said Fanny Stirling, coming a short distance from the Sæter hut. "It is the kindest thing you could do to me and my brother, and to say that I am glad to see you appears an idle phrase."

"You look as fresh as a rose, Fanny," said the Amtmand. "The Fjeld air has made you brighter, if such were possible. Harild Tyssen, you look the picture of health; and now I am longing to see Mr. Stirling."

The Amtmand grasped John Stirling's hand warmly. "I am glad to see Stirling wince," said Tyssen, "when anyone shakes hands with him. I have felt his grip several times. His hands are painful yet, Herr Amtmand."

"I am glad indeed to see you, Herr Amtmand; and thank you for taking so long a journey," said John Stirling. "I fear you will think I have not acted with consideration for you."

Fanny Stirling drew Harild Tyssen out of the Sæter hut.

"Will you kindly see Jacob Oppedal unpacks the things sent from Nordal," she said, "and arrange about the dinner."

"I have told my father everything, John," said Emilie.

“And as I have been told everything," said the Amtmand, we will say no more until you come to Nordal, except that my wife and I know no one we like so much as Mr. Stirling."

The Amtmand then gave the friendly messages he had been charged to deliver from Nordal; and then Fanny Stirling returned.

"We have dinner ready for you in the tent, Herr Amtmand," she said. "John has his dinner here, and I will attend to him, if you and Emilie will go to

dinner."

"She

"Now my Father is here," said Emilie, "do let me wait on John, Fanny. It will be such a pleasure to me." "Let her, by all means," said the Amtmand. should show the man she has promised to marry that she is ready to devote herself to him."

"It is so nice to have you to take care of, John,” she said, as she brought him his simple dinner; "and to have you all to myself for a while. My father has spoken so kindly that my heart is full."