For though
Lars had managed well enough since he got his own little place up in the
wood, he had never equalled Nils' work here on the Captain's land. And
Lars Falkenberg feels himself aggrieved.
"What have you got to come cackling about?" he asks.
"I'm saying what is the truth, that's all," answers Nils.
"Ho, are you, you goat? If you want me to wipe the floor with you, I'll do
it on the spot!"
Nils and I walked away, but Lars still shouted after us. And there was
Ragnhild, of course, sniffing at the lilacs as we passed.
That evening I began to think about moving on again as soon as I had
finished my work in the timber. When the three weeks were up, the Captain
came back as he had said. He noticed I had scraped the northern wall of
the barn, and was pleased with me for that. "End of it'll be you'll have
to paint that again, too," he said. I told him how far I had got with the
timber; there was not much left now. "Well, keep at it and do some more,"
was all he said. Then he went back to his duty again for another three
weeks.
Pages:
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298