Elsket | Page 6

I learned that she had
had a violent hemorrhage two summers before, from which she had
come near dying, and that the skill of my friend, the doctor, had
doubtless saved her life. This was the hold he had on Olaf of the
Mountain: this was the "small service" he had rendered them.
By aiding them thus, I was enabled to be of material assistance to Olaf,

and I found in helping these good people, that work took on once more
the delight which I remembered it used to have under like
circumstances when I was a boy. I could cut or carry on my back loads
of hay all day, and feel at night as if I had been playing. Such is the
singular effect of the spirit on labor.
To make up for this, Elsket would sometimes, when I went fishing,
take her knitting and keep me company, sitting at a little distance. With
her pale, calm face and shining hair outlined against the background of
her sad-colored kerchief, she looked like a mourning angel. I never saw
her smile except when her father came into her presence, and when she
smiled it was as if the sun had suddenly come out. I began to
understand the devotion of these two strange people, so like and yet so
different.
One rainy day she had a strange turn; she began to be restless. Her large,
sad eyes, usually so calm, became bright; the two spots in her cheeks
burned yet deeper; her face grew anxious. Then she laid her knitting
aside and took out of a great chest something on which she began to
sew busily. I was looking at her, when she caught my eye and smiled. It
was the first time she ever smiled for me. "Did you know I was going
to be married?" she asked, just as an American girl might have done.
And before I could answer, she brought me the work. It was her
wedding dress. "I have nearly finished it," she said. Then she brought
me a box of old silver ornaments, such as the Norsk brides wear, and
put them on. When I had admired them she put them away. After a
little, she arose and began to wander about the house and out into the
rain. I watched her with interest. Her father came in, and I saw a
distressed look come into his eyes. He went up to her, and laying his
hand on her drew her toward a seat. Then taking down an old Bible, he
turned to a certain place and began to read. He read first the Psalm:
"Lord, thou hast been our refuge, from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the
world were made, thou art God from everlasting, and world without
end." Then he turned to the chapter of Corinthians, "Now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept," etc. His
voice was clear, rich, and devout, and he read it with singular

earnestness and beauty. It gave me a strange feeling; it is a part of our
burial service. Then he opened his hymn-book and began to sing a low,
dirge-like hymn. I sat silent, watching the strange service and noting its
effect on Elsket. She sat at first like a person bound, struggling to be
free, then became quieter, and at last, perfectly calm. Then Olaf knelt
down, and with his hand still on her prayed one of the most touching
prayers I ever heard. It was for patience.
When he rose Elsket was weeping, and she went and leant in his arms
like a child, and he kissed her as tenderly as if he had been her mother.
Next day, however, the same excited state recurred, and this time the
reading appeared to have less effect. She sewed busily, and insisted that
there must be a letter for her at L----. A violent fit of weeping was
followed by a paroxysm of coughing, and finally the old man, who had
sat quietly by her with his hand stroking her head, arose and said, "I
will go." She threw herself into his arms, rubbing her head against him
in sign of dumb affection, and in a little while grew calm. It was still
raining and quite late, only a little before sunset; but the old man went
out, and taking the path toward L---- was soon climbing the mountain
toward the Devil's Seat. Elsket sat up all night, but she was as calm and
as gentle as ever.
The next morning when Olaf returned she went out to meet him. Her
look was full of eager expectancy. I did not go out, but watched her
from the door. I