the home to which the little schoolmistress and nils were bound had formerly been a wayside inn of most modest pretensions. it was but a one-story red building, with a row of white-framed windows looking out on the road close at hand. there was a storm-house, for stamping off the snow and depositing extra articles of carriage, and for dogs, who, like the peri, must stand outside the paradise within. next came one large, cheerful room, which served as kitchen, as well as general place of refreshment and assembly. on one side of this apartment of manifold uses were four small rooms for lodgers, furnished with almost as much simplicity as the prophet's chamber of the scriptures, save that a plain sofa-bed was added in each, as a possible accommodation for an extra sleeper when there was a throng of guests.[pg 43]
on the death of nils's father, the widow had resolved to retire into private life, as she was comfortably provided for. not but that she was willing at times to give a meal or a bed to an old acquaintance; but such inmates must conform to the temperance arrangements of the establishment, for total abstinence was now the rule of the house. the widow had declared that her son should not be brought up with the fumes of spirituous liquors as his natural atmosphere. perhaps this resolution had been prompted by the suspicion that her husband's life had been shortened by too frequent good meals and too frequent strong potations. be that as it may, the determined woman had made it known that, now that she was mistress in her own house, she would manage it as she thought best. the tables for guests had been swept away (or rather sold discreetly at private sale) to make room for a spinning-wheel, a loom, and a sewing-machine, by which the prudent woman said she was sure she could add to her substance in a quiet way. "the clicking, the buzzing, and the slamming," she said, were nothing to her, and now she could choose what noises she would have in her ears.
it was not yet time for the usual return of her[pg 44] son from school, but the mother had begun to go to the door to see if nils could possibly be coming. perhaps the old habit of looking out occasionally up and down the road, to reconnoitre as to what customers might be expected, had lingered to keep the former hostess now constantly, as it were, on guard. in one of these excursions for inspection she was surprised to see a big wagon drawing up before the door, with the schoolmistress and nils as passengers.
the driver hastened to tell in an abridged form the story of their experiences, and to hand over his charge, with as many orders that they should be well looked after as if he were the only person interested in the matter.
the doors to the little bedrooms were always kept ajar when unoccupied, that they might be at least not chilly when needed. two of them were immediately put into requisition. nils, as in the most desperate case, was stripped and rubbed down, and put into bed at once; and then the little schoolmistress was looked after. she had obeyed orders, and her pale face lay on the pillow when she was visited. the quondam hostess left her suddenly, and soon returned with a hot drink, which she assured the patient would make her "quite natural." to[pg 45] nils a similar draught was administered, with the command that he should dash it down at once, with "no sipping," and go to sleep afterwards.
"wasn't that whisky?" exclaimed nils, in surprise.
"there was a drop in it," owned the mother; adding, "i would give it clear to anybody dying. i am not wild crazy about temperance, boy."
"do you think i am dying?" said nils; and then he hastily added, "i should not like to leave you and the schoolmistress; but for anything else i should not mind. maybe i should be like other folks up there."
"hush, child! you are not dying, nor likely to be; you are as strong as a bear. a little dip in cold water is not going to hurt you. that stuff has gone to your head and made you melancholy-like and weepish. it does sometimes; it don't generally, though, just in a minute. you go to sleep; and don't let me hear anything from you for one while."
the mother put down the thick paper shade, and set a pin here and there along the edge, to keep out any adventurous rays of light that might be peeping in at the sleeper—"a pin practice" she had sorely complained of when ventured upon by restless lodgers. the same process was gone through in the room[pg 46] where the mistress was lying. the locks and hinges of the doors were carefully oiled, and then the agitated woman sat down to meditate and be thankful. the meditation proved to be of the perambulatory sort, for she peeped into one room and then into the other, noiselessly appearing and retiring. she listened to see if her patients were alive. the schoolmistress lay pale and still; her hands, loosely spread out, dropped on the sheet almost as colourless as itself. but she breathed regularly; that was an ascertained fact. nils was frequently visited. he gave audible tokens as to how he was enjoying himself. the mother sat down for the fifth or sixth time, as it might be, in the great, quiet room. she did not enter upon any of her favourite branches of home industry; she thought them too noisy for the occasion. she was not a reader. she could but nod a little in her chair, and then make another round of observation.
at last, towards evening, the schoolmistress was fairly awake; and such a dish of porridge as she was obliged to consume! such a series of inquiries she was subjected to as to her symptoms and sensations as would have done credit to a young medical practitioner examining his first patient, though the[pg 47] questions, in this case, were practically rather than scientifically put, and could actually be understood by the respondent.
to have quiet was all that the little schoolmistress craved, and that she was at last allowed. as for nils, it was plain that he considered that small apartment his sleeping-car, for which his ticket had been taken for the livelong night.
the schoolmistress rose early. her room was soon in perfect order. she was reading devoutly in the bible: that had been an accessory in the arrangement of her room, as of all the other small dormitories, since the hostess "had her way in her own house."
tora suddenly heard a quick repeated knock at her door. the permission to enter was hardly given when nils burst in, his face glowing with delight.
"it's all right with me, teacher!" he exclaimed—"it's all right with me! you know that hymn i've tried to learn so many times, and couldn't make out. the first line came into my head yesterday in our troubles—'god is our stronghold and defence;' but i could not get any further."
"perhaps that was far enough just then, nils," said tora. "i thought of that line too myself when[pg 48] i first suspected how matters stood, as i sat there with my book before me."
"but, teacher, i'm all right. this morning i thought i would read that hymn all over, and i did—twice. and then, o teacher, i'm all right, for the whole hymn just repeated itself in my mind as if i had the book before me. i asked mother to hear me, and when she saw i could say it all through without a stumble, she put her arms round my neck and cried and talked about herself dreadfully. she said she had been such a sinner to make prayers and never believe they could come true; and that she hadn't taken any comfort, either, in what the doctor had always been telling her, and that she had thought was awful. he had said that if anything remarkable could happen to me, or any great shock, or even if i had a hard blow on the head, i might come round like other boys. she had felt sure that nothing remarkable could ever happen to me; and as to anybody's giving me a hard knock on the head, she would not have let that happen when she was by. she said she had prayed and worried, and never thought of leaving it all to her heavenly father, and now she wasn't fit to have such a blessing. i couldn't make her glad about it; but she'll come[pg 49] round, i'm sure, teacher, if you'll just go and talk to her."
the teacher's eyes were full of tears of joy as she took nils by the hand and said, "you are all right, i really believe. may god bless you, and make you a good and useful man."
the mother was not to be found. she was locked into her own room. there she was pouring out thanksgiving from the depths of her heart now for the first time in her life, understanding that she had indeed a loving heavenly father, and that even her faithlessness and ingratitude could be forgiven.
it was a happy morning at the wayside inn.
