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[Illustration: LISBETH LONGFROCK]




LISBETH LONGFROCK

TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN OF HANS AANRUD



BY

LAURA E. POULSSON



ILLUSTRATED BY

OTHAR HOLMBOE



GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON. NEW YORK. CHICAGO. LONDON
ATLANTA. DALLAS. COLUMBUS. SAN FRANCISCO

COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY
LAURA E. POULSSON

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The Athenaeum Press
GINN AND COMPANY. PROPRIETORS.
BOSTON. U.S.A.




PREFACE


Hans Aanrud's short stories are considered by his own countrymen as
belonging to the most original and artistically finished life pictures
that have been produced by the younger _literati_ of Norway. They
are generally concerned with peasant character, and present in true
balance the coarse and fine in peasant nature. The style of speech is
occasionally over-concrete for sophisticated ears, but it is not
unwholesome. Of weak or cloying sweetness--so abhorrent to Norwegian
taste--there is never a trace.

_Sidsel Sidsaerk_ was dedicated to the author's daughter on her eighth
birthday, and is doubtless largely reminiscent of Aanrud's own
childhood. If I have been able to give a rendering at all worthy of the
original, readers of _Lisbeth Longfrock_ will find that the whole story
breathes a spirit of unaffected poetry not inconsistent with the common
life which it depicts. This fine blending of the poetic and commonplace
is another characteristic of Aanrud's writings.

While translating the book I was living in the region where the scenes
of the story are laid, and had the benefit of local knowledge
concerning terms used, customs referred to, etc. No pains were spared
in verifying particulars, especially through elderly people on the
farms, who could best explain the old-fashioned terms and who had a
clear remembrance of obsolescent details of saeter life. For this
welcome help and for elucidations through other friends I wish here to
offer my hearty thanks.

Being desirous of having the conditions of Norwegian farm life made as
clear as possible to young English and American readers, I felt that
several illustrations were necessary and that it would be well for
these to be the work of a Norwegian. To understand how the sun can be
already high in the heavens when it rises, and how, when it sets, the
shadow of the western mountain can creep as quickly as it does from the
bottom of the valley up the opposite <DW72>, one must have some
conception of the narrowness of Norwegian valleys, with steep mountain
ridges on either side. I felt also that readers would be interested in
pictures showing how the dooryard of a well-to-do Norwegian farm looks,
how the open fireplace of the roomy kitchen differs from our
fireplaces, how tall and slender a Norwegian stove is, built with
alternating spaces and heat boxes, several stories high, and how
Crookhorn and the billy goat appeared when about to begin their grand
tussle up at Hoel Saeter.

_Sidsel Sidsaerk_ has given much pleasure to old and young. I hope that
_Lisbeth Longfrock_ may have the same good fortune.

LAURA E. POULSSON

HOPKINTON, MASSACHUSETTS




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                                  PAGE

   I. LISBETH LONGFROCK GOES TO HOEL FARM                   1

  II. LISBETH LONGFROCK AS SPINNING WOMAN                  12

 III. LEAVING PEEROUT CASTLE                               22

  IV. SPRING: LETTING THE ANIMALS OUT TO PASTURE           33

   V. SUMMER: TAKING THE ANIMALS UP TO THE SAETER           52

  VI. THE TAMING OF CROOKHORN                              68

 VII. HOME FROM THE SAETER                                  84

VIII. ON GLORY PEAK                                        98

  IX. THE VISIT TO PEEROUT CASTLE                         113

   X. SUNDAY AT THE SAETER                                 129

  XI. LISBETH APPOINTED HEAD MILKMAID                     139




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


LISBETH LONGFROCK                               _Frontispiece_

                                                         PAGE

HOEL FARM                                                   4

THE BIG KITCHEN AT HOEL FARM                               12

LISBETH'S ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS                            34

THE VALLEY AND THE FARMS                                   52

UP AT THE SAETER                                            68




LISBETH LONGFROCK




CHAPTER I

LISBETH LONGFROCK GOES TO HOEL FARM


Bearhunter, the big, shaggy old dog at Hoel Farm, sat on the stone step
in front of the house, looking soberly around the spacious dooryard.

It was a clear, cold winter's day toward the beginning of spring, and
the sun shone brightly over the glittering snow. In spite of the bright
sunshine, however, Bearhunter would have liked to be indoors much
better than out, if his sense of responsibility had permitted; for his
paws ached with the cold, and he had to keep holding them up one after
another from the stone slab to keep from getting the "claw ache."
Bearhunter did not wish to risk that, because "claw ache" is very
painful, as every northern dog knows.

But to leave his post as watchman was not to be thought of just now,
for the pigs and the goats were out to-day. At this moment they were
busy with their separate affairs and behaving very well,--the pigs over
on the sunny side of the dooryard scratching themselves against the
corner of the cow house, and the goats gnawing bark from the big heap
of pine branches that had been laid near the sheep barn for their
special use. They looked as if they thought of nothing but their
scratching and gnawing; but Bearhunter knew well, from previous
experience, that no sooner would he go into the house than both pigs
and goats would come rushing over to the doorway and do all the
mischief they could. That big goat, Crookhorn,--the new one who had
come to the farm last autumn and whom Bearhunter had not yet brought
under discipline,--had already strayed in a roundabout way to the very
corner of the farmhouse, and was looking at Bearhunter in a
self-important manner, as if she did not fear him in the least. She was
really an intolerable creature, that goat Crookhorn! But just let her
dare--!

Bearhunter felt that he must sit on the cold doorstep for some time
longer, at any rate. He glanced up the road occasionally as if to see
whether any one was coming, so that the pigs and goats might not think
they had the whole of his attention.

He had just turned his head leisurely toward the narrow road that came
down crosswise over the <DW72> from the Upper Farms, when--what in the
world was that!

Something _was_ coming,--a funny little roly-poly something. What a
pity, thought Bearhunter, that his sight was growing so poor! At any
rate, he had better give the people in the house warning.

So he gave several deep, echoing barks. The goats sprang together in a
clump and raised their ears; the pigs stopped in the very midst of
their scratching to listen. That Bearhunter was held in great respect
could easily be seen.

He still remained sitting on the doorstep, staring up the road. Never
in his life had he seen such a thing as that now approaching. Perhaps,
after all, it was nothing worth giving warning about. He would take a
turn up the road and look at it a little nearer. So, arching his bushy
tail into a handsome curve and putting on his most good-humored
expression, he sauntered off.

Yes, it must be a human being, although you would not think so. It
began to look very much like "Katrine the Finn," as they called her,
who came to the farm every winter; but it could not be Katrine--it was
altogether too little. It wore a long, wide skirt, and from under the
skirt protruded the tips of two big shoes covered with gray woolen
stocking feet from which the legs had been cut off. Above the skirt
there was a round bundle of clothes with a knitted shawl tied around
it, and from this protruded two stumps with red mittens on. Perched on
the top of all was a smaller shape, muffled up in a smaller knitted
shawl,--that, of course, must be the head. Carried at the back was a
huge bundle tied up in a dark cloth, and in front hung a pretty wooden
pail, painted red.

Really, Bearhunter had to stand still and gaze. The strange figure, in
the meantime, had become aware of him, and it also came to a
standstill, as if in a dilemma. At that, Bearhunter walked over to the
farther side of the road and took his station there, trying to look
indifferent, for he did not wish to cause any fright. The strange
figure then made its way carefully forward again, drawing gradually
closer and closer to its own side of the road. As it came nearer to
Bearhunter the figure turned itself around by degrees, until, when
directly opposite to him, it walked along quite sidewise.

Then it was that Bearhunter got a peep through a little opening in the
upper shawl; and there he saw the tip of a tiny, turned-up red nose,
then a red mouth that was drawn down a little at the corners as if
ready for crying, and then a pair of big blue eyes that were fastened
upon him with a look of terror.

[Illustration: HOEL FARM]

Pooh! it was nothing, after all, but a little girl, well bundled up
against the cold. Bearhunter did not know her--but wait a bit! he
thought he had seen that pail before. At any rate it would be absurd to
try to frighten this queer little creature.

His tail began to wag involuntarily as he walked across the road to
take a sniff at the pail.

The little girl did not understand his action at once. Stepping back in
alarm, she caught her heels in her long frock and down she tumbled by
the side of the road. Bearhunter darted off instantly; but after
running a short distance toward the house he stopped and looked at her
again, making his eyes as gentle as he could and wagging his tail
energetically. With Bearhunter that wagging of the tail meant hearty,
good-natured laughter.

Then the little girl understood. She got up, smiled, and jogged slowly
after him. Bearhunter trotted leisurely ahead, looking back at her from
time to time. He knew now that she had an errand at Hoel Farm, and that
he was therefore in duty bound to help her.

Thus it was that Lisbeth Longfrock of Peerout Castle made her entrance
into Hoel Farm.

                     *      *      *      *      *

Peerout Castle was perched high above the Upper Farms, on a crag that
jutted out from a barren ridge just under a mountain peak called "The
Big Hammer." The real name of the little farm was New Ridge,[1] and
"Peerout Castle" was only a nickname given to it by a joker because
there was so fine an outlook from it and because it bore no resemblance
whatever to a castle. The royal lands belonging to this castle
consisted of a little plot of cultivated soil, a bit of meadow land
here and there, and some heather patches where tiny blueberry bushes
and small mountain-cranberry plants grew luxuriantly. The castle's
outbuildings were a shabby cow house and a pigsty. The cow house was
built against the steep hillside, with three walls of loosely built
stone, and its two stalls were dug half their length into the hill. The
tiny pigsty was built in the same fashion.

      [1] It is customary in Norway for each farm, however small, to
      have a name.

As for the castle itself, that was a very, very small, turf-roofed
cabin lying out on the jutting crag in the middle of the rocky ridge.
It had only one small window, with tiny panes of glass, that looked out
over the valley. And yet, in whatever part of the surrounding country
one might be, by looking in that direction--and looking high
enough--one could always see that little castle, with its single window
peering out like a watchful eye over the landscape.

Since the castle from which Lisbeth Longfrock came was no more
magnificent than this, it may easily be understood that she was no
disguised princess, but only a poor little girl. Coming to Hoel Farm
for the first time was for her like visiting an estate that was, in
very truth, royal; and besides, she had come on an important "grown-up"
errand. She was taking her mother's place and visiting Hoel as a
spinning woman.

Lisbeth's mother, whose name was Randi,[2] had worked hard for the last
four years to get food for herself and her children up at Peerout
Castle. Before that the family had been in very comfortable
circumstances; but the father had died, leaving the mother with the
castle, one cow, and the care of the two children. The children were
Jacob, at that time about six years old, and Lisbeth, a couple of years
younger. Life was often a hard struggle for the mother; but they had,
at any rate, a house over their heads, and they could get wood without
having to go very far for it, since the forest lay almost within a
stone's throw.

      [2] (In the original, Roennaug.) This was the mother's first
      name. Her full name would be Randi Newridge, or Randi Peerout.

In the summer Randi managed to dig up her tiny plots of ground after a
fashion, so that she could harvest a few potatoes and a little grain.
By cutting grass and stripping off birch leaves she had thus far
managed each year to give Bliros, their cow, enough to eat. And where
there is a cow there is always food.

In the winter she spun linen and wool for the women on the farms far
and near, but as she had lived at Hoel Farm as a servant before she was
married, it was natural that most of her spinning should be for
Kjersti[3] Hoel.

      [3] Kyare'-stee.

In such ways had Randi been able to care for her family. Meanwhile
Jacob, now ten years old, had grown big enough to earn his own living.
In the spring before the last a message had come from Nordrum Farm that
a boy was needed to look after the flocks, and Jacob had at once
applied and been accepted. He and Lisbeth had often knelt on the long
wooden bench under the little window at Peerout Castle, and gazed upon
the different farms, choosing which they would work on when they were
big enough. Jacob had always chosen Nordrum Farm,--probably because he
had heard Farmer Nordrum spoken of as the big man of the community;
while Lisbeth had always thought that it would be pleasanter at Hoel
Farm because it was owned by a woman.

When autumn came Farmer Nordrum had concluded that he would have use
for such a boy as Jacob during the winter also, and so Jacob had stayed
on. This last Christmas, however, he had gone home for the whole day
and had taken with him a Christmas present for his sister from a little
girl at Nordrum. The present was a gray woolen frock,--a very nice one.

Jacob had grown extremely pleasant and full of fun while at Nordrum,
Lisbeth thought. When she tried the frock on and it reached way down to
the ground before and behind, he called her "Lisbeth Longfrock" and
Lisbeth Longfrock she had remained from that day.

After Christmas, times had been somewhat harder at Peerout Castle.
Bliros, who generally gave milk the whole year round, had become dry,
and would not give milk for several months. She was to have a calf in
the early summer. During the last few weeks there had not been milk
enough even for Randi's and Lisbeth's coffee.

To go to Svehaugen,[4] the nearest farm, for milk was no short trip;
and milk was scarce there too, as Randi well knew. Besides, she could
not spare the time to go. She had to finish spinning Kjersti Hoel's
wool. When she once got that off her hands, they could have plenty of
milk for their coffee, and other good things besides. What a relief it
would be when that time came!

      [4] Sva-howg-en.

So Randi worked steadily at her spinning, Lisbeth being now big enough
to help in carding the wool. For a week she spun almost without
ceasing, scarcely taking time for meals, but drinking a good deal of
strong black coffee. Not until very late one evening was Kjersti Hoel's
wool all spun and ready. By that time Randi was far from well. Whether
or not her illness was caused, as she thought, by drinking so much
black coffee, certain it is that when Kjersti Hoel's wool was all spun
Randi felt a tightness in her chest, and when she got up the next
morning and tried to get ready to go to Hoel with the spinning, she was
seized with such a sudden dizziness that she had to go back to bed
again. She was too weak for anything else.

Now it was the custom in Norway for the spinning woman to take back to
the different farms the wool she had spun, and for the farmers' wives
to praise her work, treat her to something good to eat and drink, pay
her, and then give her directions about the way the next spinning was
to be done. All this Randi would have to give up for the present--there
was no help for it; but she wondered how it would do to send Lisbeth to
Hoel Farm in her stead. The little girl would find her way safely,
Randi was sure, although Randi had never as yet taken her to that farm
because it was so far off. The payment for the spinning was to be in
eatables as well as money, and Lisbeth could bring home part of what
was due. Then, though they still might lack many things, their drop of
coffee could have cream in it, as coffee ought to have. The remainder
of the payment and the directions for the next spinning Randi herself
could get when she was better.

If she could only be sure that Lisbeth would behave properly and not
act like a changeling, a troll child!

Lisbeth eagerly promised that if her mother would allow her to go she
would behave exactly as a spinning woman should,--she would, really!
And she remembered perfectly well just how everything was done that
time she had gone with her mother to one of the nearer farms.

So Lisbeth put on her long frock, which was used only for very best,
and her mother wrapped her up snugly in the two shawls. Then the bundle
of yarn was slung over her back, the pail was hung in front, many
directions were given to her about the road, and off she started.

And that is the way Lisbeth Longfrock happened to come toddling after
Bearhunter to Hoel Farm on that clear, cold winter's day toward the
beginning of spring.




CHAPTER II

LISBETH LONGFROCK AS SPINNING WOMAN


When Lisbeth found herself in the farm dooryard, with the different
buildings all about her, she really had to stand still and gaze around.
Oh, how large everything was!--quite on another scale from things at
home. Why, the barn door was so broad and high that Peerout Castle
could easily go right through it, and each windowpane in the big house
was as large as their own whole window. And such a goat!--for just then
she caught sight of Crookhorn, who had come warily up to the doorway,
and who only saw fit to draw back as Bearhunter approached. Not that
Crookhorn was afraid of Bearhunter,--no, indeed!

The goat was larger than most goats,--about as large as a good-sized
calf. If the cows belonging to Hoel Farm were as much larger than
ordinary cows, thought Lisbeth, they would be able to eat grass from
the roof of Peerout Castle while standing, just as usual, on the
ground.[5] She glanced searchingly at the cow-house door. No, it was
not larger than such doors usually were, so the cows were evidently no
bigger than other cows.

      [5] Norwegian children in country districts are accustomed to see
      goats walking about on the roofs of turf-covered huts, nibbling
      the herbage; but the idea of a creature so large as to be able to
      eat from the roof while standing on the ground was very
      astonishing to Lisbeth.

Bearhunter had followed after Crookhorn until the latter was well out
of the way; then he had come back again, and now stood wagging his tail
and turning toward the house door as if coaxing Lisbeth to go in. Yes,
she must attend to her errand and not stay out there staring at
everything.

So she followed after Bearhunter and went into the hall way. She lifted
the latch of the inner door, turned herself around carefully as she
went in so as to make room for her bundle, fastened the door behind
her--and there she stood inside the big kitchen at Hoel!

[Illustration: THE BIG KITCHEN AT HOEL FARM]

There were only two people in the kitchen,--one a young servant maid in
the middle of the room spinning, and the other the mistress herself,
Kjersti Hoel, over by the white wall of the big open fireplace,
grinding coffee.

Both looked up when they heard the door open.

Lisbeth Longfrock stood still for a moment, then made a deep courtesy
under her long frock and said in a grown-up way, just as she had heard
her mother say, "Good day, and God bless your work."

Kjersti Hoel had to smile when she saw the little roly-poly bundle over
by the door, talking in such a grown-up fashion. But she answered as
soberly as if she also were talking to a grown-up person: "Good day. Is
this a young stranger out for a walk?"

"Yes."

"And what is the stranger's name, and where is she from? I see that I
do not know her."

"No, you could not be expected to. My mother and Jacob call me Lisbeth
Longfrock, and I am from Peerout Castle. Mother sent me here with the
woolen yarn she has spun for you. She told me to say that she could not
come with it before, for she did not get the last spool wound until
late last night."

"Indeed! Can it be a spinning woman we have here? And to think that I
wholly forgot to ask you to sit down after your long walk! You really
must take off your things and stay awhile."

What a pleasant woman Kjersti Hoel was! She got up from her own chair
and set one forward for Lisbeth.

"Thank you; I shall be glad to sit down," said Lisbeth.

She took off the pail and the bundle of wool and put them down by the
door, and then began to walk across the floor over to the chair. It
seemed as if she would never get there, so far was it across the big
kitchen,--nearly as far as from their own door to the cow-house door at
Peerout Castle. At last, however, she reached the chair; but it was
higher than the seats she was accustomed to and she could barely
scramble up on one corner of it.

Kjersti Hoel came toward her.

"I really think I must open this roly-poly bundle and see what is in
it," said she; and she began to take off Lisbeth's red mittens and to
undo the knitted shawls. Soon Lisbeth sat there stripped of all her
outer toggery, but nevertheless looking almost as plump and roly-poly
as ever; for not only did her long frock barely clear the ground at the
bottom, but its band reached almost up under her arms.

Kjersti stood and looked at her a moment.

"That is just what I thought,--that I should find a nice little girl
inside all those clothes. You look like your mother."

At this Lisbeth grew so shy that she forgot all about being a spinning
woman. She cast down her eyes and could not say a word.

"But what is the matter with Randi, your mother?" continued Kjersti.
"Why could she not come herself?"

"She was a little poorly to-day."

"Indeed! Randi not well? And her health is generally so good. What ails
her?"

"Oh, she thought that very likely drinking strong coffee without milk
had not been good for her."

"So you have no milk at your house. Perhaps that is why you have
brought a pail with you."

"Yes; what do you think! Bliros has stopped giving us milk this
winter."

"Has she, indeed! That is rather inconvenient, isn't it? How long
before she can be milked again?"

"Not until the beginning of summer, after she has had her calf."

"H'm," said Kjersti thoughtfully. By and by, as if to herself, she
said: "I have often thought of going to see Randi, but have never done
so. Before this spring is over, I must surely pay her a visit."

                     *      *      *      *      *

Lisbeth Longfrock stayed a long time at Hoel that day. Although she had
come in the important character of spinning woman, she had never
imagined that a great person like Kjersti Hoel would be so pleasant and
kind to her. Kjersti treated her to coffee and cakes and milk and other
good things, just as if she had been an invited guest, and chatted with
her in such a way that Lisbeth forgot all about being shy. And oh, how
many curious things Kjersti showed her!

The cow house was the finest of them all. There were so many cows that
Lisbeth could scarcely count them. And then the pigs and sheep and
goats! and hens, too, inside a big latticework inclosure,--nearly as
many of them as there were crows in autumn up at Peerout!

And Kjersti wanted to know about _everything_,--whether Lisbeth could
read and write (she could do both, for Jacob had taught her), and how
they managed about food up at Peerout Castle, and how it went with the
farming.

Lisbeth could tell her that in the autumn they had gathered three
barrels of potatoes, and one barrel and three pecks of mixed grain; and
that they had stripped off so many birch leaves that they had fodder
enough to carry Bliros through the winter,--in fact, much more than
enough.

When Kjersti had shown Lisbeth the sheep and the goats, she declared
that she should certainly need a little girl to look after her flocks
when spring came; and then Lisbeth, before she knew what she was
saying, told Kjersti how she and Jacob used to look at the farms from
the window at home, and how she had always chosen Hoel as the place
where she should like to work when she was big enough.

"Should you really like to go out to work?" Kjersti inquired.

"Yes, indeed," Lisbeth said, "if it were not for leaving mother."

"Well, we will not think about that any more at present," said Kjersti,
"but I will go up and talk with your mother about it some time in the
spring. We certainly ought to go into the house now, so that you can
have time to take a little food before leaving. It is drawing toward
evening and you will have to start for home soon."

So they went into the house again, and Lisbeth had another feast of
good things. While she was eating she noticed that Kjersti brought from
the cellar some butter and cheese and other things and packed them in
the dark cloth in which the wool had been tied. The milk pail she did
not touch at all; but Lisbeth saw that she said something about it
softly to the servant maid, after which the maid left the room.

When Lisbeth had eaten and had said "Thanks and praise for both food
and drink," Kjersti remarked: "Now you must lift the bundle over there
and see if you can carry it."

The bundle _was_ rather heavy. Still, Lisbeth thought she could manage
it. But the pail! Not a word did Kjersti say, even now, about the pail!
She only added, kindly, "Come, and I will help you put on your things."

She drew on Lisbeth's mittens, wrapped her up snugly in the two little
shawls, and, in a trice, there stood Lisbeth Longfrock looking exactly
as she did when she had come to Hoel that morning.

Slowly and reluctantly Lisbeth went toward the door, where the pail
still stood. How strange that Kjersti had not even yet said a single
word about it! Lisbeth stood for a moment in doubt. After receiving so
much, it would never do to remind Kjersti about the pail; but she would
much rather have gone without the good things she herself had been
treated to than to go home without any milk for her mother's coffee.

She took up the bundle, drew her face with its turned-up nose tip back
into its little shawl as far as she could so that Kjersti should not
see the tears in her eyes, and then bent down and lifted the pail.

At that Kjersti said: "Oh, yes! the pail! I quite forgot it. Are you
willing to exchange pails with me if I give you one that will never get
empty?"

Lisbeth dropped her pail plump on the floor. She had seen and heard
many curious things on this eventful day,--things she had never seen or
thought of before; but that Kjersti, besides everything else, had a
pail that would never get empty! She stood and stared, open-mouthed.

"Yes, you must come and see it," said Kjersti. "It stands just outside
the door."

Lisbeth was not slow in making her way out. Kjersti followed her. There
stood the servant maid, holding the big goat, Crookhorn, by a rope.

"The goat is used to being led," said Kjersti, "so you will have no
trouble in taking it home. Give my greetings to your mother, and ask
her if she is satisfied with the exchange of pails."

Kjersti was not a bit displeased because Lisbeth Longfrock forgot to
express her thanks as she started off with Crookhorn. Bearhunter
followed the little girl and the goat a long distance up the road. He
did not understand matters at all!

                     *      *      *      *      *

It is not to be wondered at that Randi, too, was greatly surprised when
she saw Crookhorn following after Lisbeth as the little girl approached
the castle.

There was not time for Lisbeth to tell about everything at the very
first, for her mother and she had to clear up the stall next to the one
Bliros occupied, and put Crookhorn into it. When this was done they
felt exactly as if they had two cows. The goat took her place in the
stall with a self-important, superior air, quite as if she were a real
cow and had never done anything else but stand in a cow stall. Bliros
became offended at this remarkable newcomer, who was putting on such
airs in the cow house that had always belonged to herself alone, and so
she made a lunge with her head and tried to hook the goat with her
horns; but Crookhorn merely turned her own horns against those of
Bliros in the most indifferent manner, as if quite accustomed to being
hooked by cows.

Bliros gazed at her in astonishment. Such a silly goat! She had never
seen such a silly goat. And with that she turned her head to the wall
again and did not give Crookhorn another look.

That evening Lisbeth Longfrock had so many things to tell her mother
that she talked herself fast asleep!




CHAPTER III

LEAVING PEEROUT CASTLE


The next time Lisbeth Longfrock came to Hoel Farm, she did not come
alone; and she came--to stay!

All that had happened between that first visit and her second coming
had been far, far different from anything Lisbeth had ever imagined. It
seemed as if there had been no time for her to think about the strange
events while they were taking place. She did not realize what their
result would be until after she had lived through them and gone out of
the gate of Peerout Castle when everything was over. So much had been
going on in