possessionaten bilberg was subject to transient indispositions on sunday morning. the symptoms that had prevented his being at the church service the day before seemed to have disappeared entirely on monday. he came home from his drive with his daughter in unusually good spirits; and as for little elsa, she was quite delighted. she had had a nice play with some charming children, and there was a baby in the house, which she had really been allowed to carry in her own willing arms. karin's overshadowed countenance passed unnoticed in the general stir that followed the return of the father and daughter. they had been invited to spend several days at the hospitable country home where they had been so warmly welcomed. it had been urged that while elsa was happy with playmates of her own[pg 77] age, possessionaten could see many things in the neighbourhood that might be suggestive to him, interested as he was in agriculture and manufactures. planning and packing took all the afternoon, and towards evening the carriage was at the door, and elsa and her father were to take their departure.
"i was afraid you would be lonely, karin, and sorry we are going away; but you don't seem to mind it at all," said the little girl, in an injured tone.
"so you want me to be sorrowful," answered karin, trying to be playful.
"no, no! but i thought you would miss me, and i was glad when papa said you could keep on sleeping in my nice room, and be as comfortable as anybody."
there was a little condescension in the tone, though it was affectionate; but karin did not notice it, for she was accustomed to elsa's airs and graces. karin really drew a sigh of relief when the carriage drove away and she was left to herself. it was not a pleasant evening that she spent, filled with the thronging reminiscences of the past and a full realization of her own shortcomings. to-morrow she would make another visit to her mother, and try to be more frank and affectionate.[pg 78]
the morning came, and karin was busy clearing all traces of a traveller's comfort from the capacious bag that elsa had been allowed to give her for the journey. it really would hold a great deal, and filled it was to the uttermost at the country shop to which karin easily found her way; tea, sugar, and tempting articles of diet, which she hoped her mother would enjoy. it was heavy, but karin rather liked to feel the pain in her arm, from bearing her unusual burden. she easily found her way along the upward path, and exhilarated by the exercise and the pleasure she was about to give, she entered the cottage in a very cheerful frame of mind. all was silent within.
in the box sofa-bed of the single room there was some one lying, pale and still. "she is dead!" was the first wild thought of distress; but a sweet, broken voice murmured something about erik and heaven. it was plain that the old woman was wandering in mind, and lost in visions of the past.
karin unpacked her basket in a hurry. there were the preparations of the night before for the fire and the boiling of the water for the morning meal, to be simple indeed. yet there was a packed basket, "the basket" no doubt from the parsonage. she did not unpack it, though it seemed filled with food.[pg 79] she made some tea in haste, and took it with a biscuit to her mother's side. she put the cup on a chair near her, and sitting down on the edge of the bed, she lifted up the old woman, passing one strong arm about the little body. there was gentleness and kindness in the touch. the old head was voluntarily drooped caressingly against the breast of her daughter; there was a long sigh, and karin knew she was motherless. repentant, sorrowing tears flowed fast. there was no opportunity left for reparation in this world. that loving last movement towards her was the only pleasant thought on which karin could dwell.
how still it was in the cottage! the birches without scarcely quivered in the soft summer air, and not even the twitter of a bird was to be heard.
karin had just gently laid the old head on the pillow, when a form, almost to her as of an angel, suddenly appeared at the door. it was the pastor's wife, her face beaming with the tender interest she was feeling for the lone dweller in the cottage. she understood the whole as she saw karin's streaming tears, and the changed old face beside her.
"my mother is dead!" said karin simply, but in a broken voice.[pg 80]
"i am glad she saw her good daughter before she died," said the pastor's wife comfortingly.
"i am no good daughter!" exclaimed karin bitterly. it was a relief to confess her selfishness, her forgetfulness of her mother, in the midst of her own comfortable surroundings, and her cold willingness to believe that all was well with that old woman, who she had supposed was still in the far north.
the pastor's wife listened in silence. she had no words of comfort to say. here was a case beyond her treatment. she did not kneel, but she clasped her hands and sat quite still, while she laid karin's sorrow and penitence before the dear lord jesus, so ready to forgive, and to heal the broken, repentant heart. when she had closed the prayer with a fervent "amen!" which seemed to be the sealing of her petitions to the one strong to save, she turned to karin and said, "i will go down and send a person to watch her, and then you must go with me to our home; for i have heard that you were left at the inn. you cannot be there now." she felt that it would be best for karin to be for a time alone. she had brought her to the heavenly presence, and she left her there to commune with the pitiful father in heaven.
