Ticket No. 9672 | Page 9

whatever:
"An idea occurs to me, Hulda."
"What is it?"
"It seems to me that we ought to marry."
"I think so too."
"And so do I," added Dame Hansen as coolly as if the matter had been
under discussion for some time.
"I agree with you," remarked Joel, "and in that case I shall naturally
become your brother-in-law."
"Yes," said Ole; "but it is probable that I shall only love you the better
for it."
"That is very possible."
"We have your consent, then?"
"Upon my word! nothing would please me better," replied Joel.
"So it is decided, Hulda?" inquired Dame Hansen.
"Yes, mother," replied the girl, quietly.
"You are really willing?" asked Ole. "I have loved you a long time,
Hulda, without saying so."
"And I you, Ole."

"How it came about, I really do not know."
"Nor I."
"But it was doubtless seeing you grow more beautiful and good day by
day."
"That is saying a little too much, my dear Ole."
"No; I certainly ought to be able to say that without making you blush,
for it is only the truth. Didn't you see that I was beginning to love
Hulda, Dame Hansen?"
"I suspected as much."
"And you, Joel?"
"I was sure of it."
"Then I certainly think that you ought to have warned me," said Ole,
smiling.
"But how about your voyages, Ole?" inquired Dame Hansen. "Won't
they seem intolerable to you after you are married?"
"So intolerable that I shall not follow the sea any more after my
marriage."
"You will not go to sea any more?"
"No, Hulda. Do you think it would be possible for me to leave you for
months at a time?"
"So this is to be your last voyage?"
"Yes, and if we have tolerable luck, this voyage will yield me quite a
snug little sum of money, for Help Bros. have promised me a share in
the profits."

"They are good men," remarked Joel.
"The best men living," replied Ole, "and well known and highly
respected by all the sailors of Bergen."
"But what do you expect to do after you cease to follow the sea, my
dear Ole?" inquired Hulda.
"I shall go into partnership with Joel in his business, I have pretty good
legs, and if they are not good enough, I will improve them by going
into regular training. Besides, I have thought of a plan which will not
prove a bad one perhaps. Why can't we establish a messenger service
between Drammen, Kongsberg and a few other towns in the Telemark
Communication now is neither easy nor regular, and there might be
money in the scheme. Besides, I have other plans, to say nothing of--"
"Of what?"
"Never mind, now. I will tell you on my return. But I warn you that I
am firmly resolved to make my Hulda the happiest woman in the
country. Yes, I am."
"If you but knew how easy that will be!" replied Hulda, offering him
her hand. "Am I not that already, and is there a home in all Dal as
pleasant as ours?"
Dame Hansen hastily averted her head.
"So the matter is settled?" asked Ole, cheerfully.
"Yes," replied Joel.
"And settled beyond recall?"
"Certainly."
"And you feel no regret, Hulda?"
"None whatever, my dear Ole."

"I think, however, that it would be better not to appoint the day for your
marriage until after your return," remarked Joel.
"Very well, but it will go hard with me if I do not return in less than a
year to lead Hulda to the church at Moel, where our friend, Pastor
Andersen, will not refuse to make his best prayer for us!"
And it was in this way that the marriage of Hulda Hansen and Ole
Kamp had been decided upon.
The young sailor was to go aboard his vessel a week later; but before
they parted the lovers were formally betrothed in accordance with the
touching custom of Scandinavian countries.
In simple and honest Norway lovers are almost invariably publicly
betrothed before marriage. Sometimes the marriage is not solemnized
until two or three years afterward, but one must not suppose that the
betrothal is simply an interchange of vows which depend only upon the
honesty of the parties interested. No, the obligation is much more
sacred, and even if this act of betrothal is not binding in the eyes of the
law, it is, at least, so regarded by that universal law called custom.
So, in this case, it was necessary to make arrangements for a ceremony
over which Pastor Andersen should preside. There was no minister in
Dal, nor in any of the neighboring hamlets. In Norway they have what
they call Sunday towns, in which the minister resides, and where the
leading families of the parish assemble