The Emperor of Portugallia Part 7

"No, not that I see," replied the little girl meekly. Never had she felt so crushed and unhappy. She was to look after the house for her mother and father, and now this had to happen!

"But the spectacles?" snapped Agrippa. "They must have dropped, too?"

"No," said the girl, "there are no spectacles here." Suddenly a faint hope sprang up in her. What if he couldn't do anything to the clock without his gla.s.ses? What if they should be lost? And just then her eye lit on the spectacle-case, behind a leg of the table.

The old man rummaged and searched among the cog-wheels and springs in his bundle. "I don't see but I'll have to get down on the floor myself, and hunt," he said presently. "Get up, crofter-brat!"

Quick as a flash the little girl's hand shot out and closed over the spectacle-case, which she hid under her ap.r.o.n.

"Up with you!" thundered Agrippa. "I believe you're lying to me.

What are you hiding under your ap.r.o.n? Come! Out with it!"

She promptly drew out one hand. The other hand she had kept under her ap.r.o.n the whole time. Now she had to show that one, too. Then he saw the b.u.t.tered bread.

"Ugh! It's b.u.t.tered bread!" Agrippa shrank back as if the girl were holding out a rattlesnake.

"I sat eating it when you came, and then I put it out of sight for, I know you don't like b.u.t.ter."

The old man got down on his hands and knees and began to search, but to no purpose, of course.

"You must have left them where you were last," said Glory Goldie.

He had wondered about that himself, though he thought it unlikely.

At all events he could do nothing to the clock without his gla.s.ses.

He had no choice but to gather up his tools and replace the works in the clock-case.

While his back was turned the little girl slipped the spectacles into his bundle, where he found them when he got to Lovdala Manor-- the last place he had been to before coming to Ruffluck Croft. On opening the bundle to show they were not there, the first object that caught his eye was the spectacle-case.

Next time he saw Jan and Katrina in the pine grove outside the church, he went up to them.

"That girl of yours, that handy little girl of yours is going to be a comfort to you," he told them.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

There were many who said to Jan of Ruffluck that his little girl would be a comfort to him when she was grown. Folks did not seem to understand that she already made him happy every day and every hour that G.o.d granted them. Only once in the whole time of her growing period did Jan have to suffer any annoyance or humiliation on her account.

The summer the little girl was eleven her father took her to Lovdala Manor on the seventeenth of August, which was the birthday of the lord of the manor, Lieutenant Liljecrona.

The seventeenth of August was always a day of rejoicing that was looked forward to all the year by every one in Svartsjo and in Bro, not only by the gentry, who partic.i.p.ated in all the festivities, but also by the young folk of the peasantry, who came in crowds to Lovdala to look at the smartly dressed people and to listen to the singing and the dance music.

There was something else, too, that attracted the young people to Lovdala on the seventeenth of August, and that was all the fruit that was to be found in the orchard at that time. To be sure, the children had been taught strict honesty in most matters, but when it came to a question of such things as hang on bushes and trees, out in the open, they felt at liberty to take as much as they wanted, just so they were careful not to be caught at it.

When Jan came into the orchard with his Glory Goldie he noticed how the little girl opened her eyes when she saw all the fine apple trees, laden with big round greenings. And Jan would not have denied her the pleasure of tasting of the fruit had he not seen Superintendent Soderlind and two other men walking about in the orchard, on the lookout for trespa.s.sers.

He hurried Glory Goldie over to the lawn in front of the manor-house, out of temptation's way. It was plain that her thoughts were still on the apple trees and the gooseberry bushes, for she never even glanced at the prettily dressed children of the upper cla.s.s or at the beautiful flowers. Jan could not get her to listen to the fine speeches delivered by the Dean of Bro and Engineer Boraeus of Borg, in honour of the day. Why she would not even listen to s.e.xton Blackie's congratulatory poem!

Anders oster's clarinet could be heard from the house. It was playing such lively dance music just then that folks were hardly able to hold themselves still, but the little girl only tried to find a pretext for getting back to the orchard.

Jan kept a firm grip on her hand all the while and no matter what excuse she would hit upon to break away, he never relaxed his hold.

Everything went smoothly for him until evening, when dusk fell.

Then coloured lanterns were brought out and set in the flower beds and hung in the trees and in among the clinging ivy that covered the house wall. It was such a pretty sight that Jan, who had never before seen anything of that kind, quite lost his head and hardly knew whether he was still on earth; but just the same he did not let go of the little hand.

When the lanterns had been lighted, Anders oster and his nephew and the village shopkeeper and his brother-in-law struck up a song.

While they sang the air seemed to vibrate with a strange sort of rapture that took away all sadness and depression. It came so softly and caressingly on the balmy night air that Jan just gave up to it, as did every one else. All were glad to be alive; glad they had so beautiful a world to live in.

"This must be the way folks feel who live in Paradise," said a youth, looking very solemn.

After the singing there were fireworks, and when the rockets went up into the indigo night-sky and broke into showers of red, blue, and yellow stars, Jan was so carried away that for the moment he forgot about Glory Goldie. When he came back to himself she was gone.

"It can't be helped now," thought Jan. "I only hope all will go well with her, as usual, and that Superintendent Soderlind or any of the other watchers won't lay hands on her."

It would have been futile for Jan to try to find her out in the big, dark orchard: he knew that the sensible thing for him to do was to remain where he was, and wait for her. And he did not have to wait very long! There was one more song; the last strains had hardly died away when he saw Superintendent Soderlind come up, with Glory Goldie in his arms.

Lieutenant Liljecrona was standing with a little group of gentlemen at the top of the steps, listening to the singing, when Superintendent Soderlind stopped in front of him and set the little girl down on the ground.

Glory Goldie did not scream or try to run away. She had picked her ap.r.o.n full of apples and thought of nothing save to hold it up securely, so that none of the apples would roll out.

"This youngster has been up in an apple tree," said Superintendent Soderlind, "and your orders were that if I caught any apple thieves I was to bring them to you."

Lieutenant Liljecrona glanced down at the little girl, and the fine wrinkles round his eyes began to twitch. It was impossible to tell whether he was going to laugh or cry in a second. He had intended to administer a sharp reprimand to the one who had stolen his apples. But now when he saw the little girl tighten her hands round her ap.r.o.n, he felt sorry for her. Only he was puzzled to know how he should manage this thing so that she could keep her apples; for if he were to let her off without further ado, it might result in his having his whole orchard stripped.

"So you've been up in the apple trees, have you?" said the lieutenant. "You have gone to school and read about Adam and Eve, so you ought to know how dangerous it is to steal apples."

At that moment Jan came forward and placed himself beside his daughter; he felt quite put out with her for having spoiled his pleasure, but of course he had to stand by her.

"Don't do anything to the little girl, Lieutenant!" he said. "For it was I who gave her leave to climb the tree for the apples."

Glory Goldie sent her father a withering glance, and broke her silence. "That isn't true," she declared. "I wanted the apples.

Father has been standing here the whole evening holding onto my hand so I shouldn't go pick any."

Now the lieutenant was tickled. "Good for you, my girl!" said he.

"You did right in not letting your father shoulder the blame. I suppose you know that when Our Lord was so angry at Adam and Eve it wasn't because they had stolen an apple, but because they were cowards and tried to shift the blame, the one onto the other. You may go now, and you can keep your apples because you were not afraid to tell the truth."

With that he turned to one of his sons, and said:

"Give Jan a gla.s.s of punch. We must drink to him because his girl spoke up for herself better than old Mother Eve. It would have been well for us all if Glory Goldie had been in the Garden of Eden instead of Eve."

BOOK TWO

LARS GUNNARSON

One cold winter day Eric of Falla and Jan were up in the forest cutting down trees. They had just sawed through the trunk of a big spruce, and stepped aside so as not to be caught under its branches when it came crashing to the ground.

"Look out, Boss!" warned Jan. "It's coming your way."