Then a spell of hot weather set in, and in the light
evenings, after I got home from work, it was a pleasure to go round
mending and seeing to little things here and there--a gutter-pipe, a
window, and the like. At last I got the escape ladder up and set to
scraping the old paint from the north wall of the barn--it was flaking
away there of itself. It would be a neat piece of work if I could get the
barn done this summer after all, and the paint was there all ready.
But there was another thing that made me weary at times of the work and
the whole place. It was not the same working there now as when the Captain
and Fruen were home; I found here confirmation of the well-known truth
that it is well for a man to have some one over him at his work, that is,
if he is not himself in charge as leading man. Here were the maids now,
going about the place with none to look after them. Ragnhild and the
dairymaid were always laughing and joking noisily at meal-times and
quarreling now and again between themselves; the cook's authority was not
always enough to keep the peace, and this often made things uncomfortable.
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