That day, that day!
"I've heard you've such a queer little hut up there, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, a nest. And the very thing for me. Come and see me there one day;
there's no such hut anywhere else. And the great forest behind it."
Another came up and said kindly:
"You have not been up here in the north before?"
"No," I answered. "But I know all about it already, ladies. At night I
am face to face with the mountains, the earth, and the sun. But I will
not try to use fine words. What a summer you have here! It bursts forth
one night when everyone is asleep, and in the morning there it is. I
looked out of my window and saw it myself. I have two little windows."
A third came up. She was charming by reason of her voice and her small
hands. How charming they all were! This one said:
"Shall we change flowers? It brings luck, they say."
"Yes," I answered, holding out my hand, "let us change flowers, and I
thank you for it. How pretty you are! You have a lovely voice; I have
been listening to it all the time."
But she drew back her harebells and said curtly:
"What are you thinking about? It was not you I meant."
It was not me she meant! It hurt me to feel that I had been mistaken; I
wished myself at home again, far away in my hut, where only the wind
could speak to me.
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