第14章

Nilslookedinterested。“Theotherwill？“

“Yes。Alaterone。Theyknewyourfathermadeanother，buttheyneverknewwhathedidwithit。Theyalmosttoretheoldhousetopieceslookingforit。Theyalwayssuspectedthathecarriedonaclandestinecorrespondencewithyou，fortheonethinghewoulddowastogethisownmailhimself。Sotheythoughthemighthavesentthenewwilltoyouforsafekeeping。Theoldone，leavingeverythingtoyourmother，wasmadelongbeforeyouwentaway，andit’sunderstoodamongthemthatitcutsyouout——thatshewillleaveallthepropertytotheothers。Yourfathermadethesecondwilltopreventthat。I’vebeenhopingyouhadit。Itwouldbesuchfuntospringitonthem。“Claralaughedmirthfully，athingshedidnotoftendonow。

Nilsshookhisheadreprovingly。“Come，now，you’remalicious。“

“No，I’mnot。ButI’dlikesomethingtohappentostirthemallup，justforonce。Thereneverwassuchafamilyforhavingnothingeverhappentothembutdinnerandthreshing。I’dalmostbewillingtodie，justtohaveafuneral。Youwouldn’tstanditforthreeweeks。“

Nilsbentoverthepianoandbeganpeckingatthekeyswiththefingerofonehand。“Iwouldn’t？Mydearyounglady，howdoyouknowwhatIcanstand？Youwouldn’twaittofindout。“

Claraflusheddarklyandfrowned。“Ididn’tbelieveyouwouldevercomeback——“shesaiddefiantly。

“EricbelievedIwould，andhewasonlyababywhenIwentaway。However，all’swellthatendswell，andIhaven’tcomebacktobeaskeletonatthefeast。Wemustn’tquarrel。Mothermillbeherewithasearchwarrantprettysoon。“Heswungroundandfacedher，thrustinghishandsintohiscoatpockets。“Come，yououghttobegladtoseeme，ifyouwantsomethingtohappen。I’msomething，evenwithoutawill。Wecanhavealittlefun，can’twe？Ithinkwecan！“

Sheechoedhim，“Ithinkwecan！“Theybothlaughedandtheireyessparkled。ClaraVavrikalookedtenyearsyoungerthanwhenshehadputthevelvetribbonaboutherthroatthatmorning。

“Youknow，I’msotickledtoseemother，“Nilswenton。“I

didn’tknowIwassoproudofher。Aregularpiledriver。Howaboutlittlepigtails，downatthehouse？IsOlafdoingthesquarethingbythosechildren？“

Clarafrownedpensively。“Olafhastodosomethingthatlookslikethesquarething，nowthathe’sapublicman！“SheglanceddrollyatNils。“Buthemakesagoodcommissionoutofit。OnSundaystheyallgettogetherhereandfigure。HeletsPeterandAndersputinbigbillsforthekeepofthetwoboys，andhepaysthemoutoftheestate。Theyarealwayshavingwhattheycallaccountings。Olafgetssomethingoutofit，too。Idon’tknowjusthowtheydoit，butit’sentirelyafamilymatter，astheysay。AndwhentheEricsonssaythat——“Claraliftedhereyebrows。

Justthentheangryhonk-honkofanapproachingmotorsoundedfromdowntheroad。Theireyesmetandtheybegantolaugh。Theylaughedaschildrendowhentheycannotcontainthemselves，andcannotexplainthecauseoftheirmirthtogrownpeople，butshareitperfectlytogether。WhenClaraVavrikasatdownatthepianoafterhewasgone，shefeltthatshehadlaughedawayadozenyears。Shepractisedasifthehousewereburningoverherhead。

WhenNilsgreetedhismotherandclimbedintothefrontseatofthemotorbesideher，Mrs。Ericsonlookedgrim，butshemadenocommentuponhistruancyuntilshehadturnedhercarandwasretracingherrevolutionsalongtheroadthatranbyOlaf’sbigpasture。Thensheremarkeddryly:

“IfIwereyouIwouldn’tseetoomuchofOlaf’swifewhileyouarehere。She’sthekindofwomanwhocan’tseemuchofmenwithoutgettingherselftalkedabout。Shewasagooddealtalkedaboutbeforehemarriedher。“

“Hasn’tOlaftamedher？“Nilsaskedindifferently。

Mrs。Ericsonshruggedhermassiveshoulders。“Olafdon’tseemtohavemuchluck，whenitcomestowives。Thefirstonewasmeekenough，butshewasalwaysailing。Andthisonehasherownway。

Hesaysifhequarreledwithhershe’dgobacktoherfather，andthenhe’dlosetheBohemianvote。ThereareagreatmanyBohunksinthisdistrict。Butwhenyoufindamanunderhiswife’sthumbyoucanalwaysbesurethere’sasoftspotinhimsomewhere。“

Nilsthoughtofhisownfather，andsmiled。“Shebroughthimagooddealofmoney，didn’tshe，besidestheBohemianvote？“

Mrs。Ericsonsniffed。“Well，shehasafairhalfsectioninherownname，butIcan’tseeasthatdoesOlafmuchgood。Shewillhaveagooddealofpropertysomeday，ifoldVavrikadon’tmarryagain。ButIdon’tconsiderasaloonkeeper’smoneyasgoodasotherpeople’smoney，“

Nilslaughedoutright。“Come，Mother，don’tletyourprejudicescarryyouthatfar。Money’smoney。OldVavrika’samightydecentsortofsaloonkeeper。Nothingrowdyabouthim。“

Mrs。Ericsonspokeupangrily。“Oh，Iknowyoualwaysstoodupforthem！Buthangingaroundtherewhenyouwereaboyneverdidyouanygood，Nils，noranyoftheotherboyswhowentthere。

Thereweren’tsomanyafterherwhenshemarriedOlaf，letmetellyou。Sheknewenoughtograbherchance。“

Nilssettledbackinhisseat。“OfcourseIlikedtogothere，Mother，andyouwerealwayscrossaboutit。Younevertookthetroubletofindoutthatitwastheonejollyhouseinthiscountryforaboytogoto。Alltherestofyouwereworkingyourselvestodeath，andthehousesweremostlyamess，fullofbabiesandwashingandflies。oh，itwasallright——Iunderstandthat；butyouareyoungonlyonce，andIhappenedtobeyoungthen。

Now，Vavrika’swasalwaysjolly。Heplayedtheviolin，andIusedtotakemyflute，andClaraplayedthepiano，andJohannausedtosingBohemiansongs。Shealwayshadabigsupperforus——herringsandpicklesandpoppy-seedbread，andlotsofcakeandpreserves。

OldJoehadbeeninthearmyintheoldcountry，andhecouldtelllotsofgoodstories。Icanseehimcuttingbread，attheheadofthetable，now。Idon’tknowwhatI’dhavedonewhenIwasakidifithadn’tbeenfortheVavrikas，really。“

“Andallthetimehewastakingmoneythatotherpeoplehadworkedhardinthefieldsfor，“Mrs。Ericsonobserved。

“Sodothecircuses，Mother，andthey’reagoodthing。Peopleoughttogetfunforsomeoftheirmoney。EvenfatherlikedoldJoe。“

“Yourfather，“Mrs。Ericsonsaidgrimly，“likedeverybody。“

Astheycrossedthesandcreekandturnedintoherownplace，Mrs。Ericsonobserved，“There’sOlaf’sbuggy。He’sstoppedonhiswayfromtown。“Nilsshookhimselfandpreparedtogreethisbrother，whowaswaitingontheporch。

Olafwasabig，heavyNorwegian，slowofspeechandmovement。

Hisheadwaslargeandsquare，likeablockofwood。WhenNils，atadistance，triedtorememberwhathisbrotherlookedlike，hecouldrecallonlyhisheavyhead，highforehead，largenostrils，andpaleblueeyes，setfarapart。Olaf’sfeatureswererudimentary:thethingonenoticedwasthefaceitself，wideandflatandpale；devoidofanyexpression，betrayinghisfiftyyearsaslittleasitbetrayedanythingelse，andpowerfulbyreasonofitsverystolidness。WhenOlafshookhandswithNilshelookedathimfromunderhislighteyebrows，butNilsfeltthatnoonecouldeversaywhatthatpalelookmightmean。TheonethinghehadalwaysfeltinOlafwasaheavystubbornness，liketheunyieldingstickinessofwetloamagainsttheplow。HehadalwaysfoundOlafthemostdifficultofhisbrothers。

“Howdoyoudo，Nils？Expecttostaywithuslong？“

“Oh，Imaystayforever，“Nilsansweredgaily。“IlikethiscountrybetterthanIusedto。“

“There’sbeensomeworkputintoitsinceyouleft，“Olafremarked。

“Exactly。Ithinkit’saboutreadytoliveinnow——andI’maboutreadytosettledown。“Nilssawhisbrotherlowerhisbighead(“Exactlylikeabull，“hethought。)“Mother’sbeenpersuadingmetoslowdownnow，andgoinforfarming，“hewentonlightly。

Olafmadeadeepsoundinhisthroat。“Farmingain’tlearnedinaday，“hebroughtout，stilllookingattheground。

“Oh，Iknow！ButIpickthingsupquickly。“Nilshadnotmeanttoantagonizehisbrother，andhedidnotknownowwhyhewasdoingit。“Ofcourse，“hewenton，“Ishouldn’texpecttomakeabigsuccess，asyoufellowshavedone。Butthen，I’mnotambitious。

Iwon’twantmuch。Alittleland，andsomecattle，maybe。“

Olafstillstaredattheground，hisheaddown。HewantedtoaskNilswhathehadbeendoingalltheseyears，thathedidn’thaveabusinesssomewherehecouldn’taffordtoleave；whyhehadn’tmorepridethantocomebackwithonlyalittlesole-leathertrunktoshowforhimself，andtopresenthimselfastheonlyfailureinthefamily。Hedidnotaskoneofthesequestions，buthemadethemallfeltdistinctly。

“Humph！“Nilsthought。“Nowonderthemannevertalks，whenhecanbutthisideasintoyoulikethatwithouteversayingaword。Isupposeheusesthatkindofsmokelesspowderonhiswifeallthetime。ButIguessshehasherinnings。“Hechuckled，andOlaflookedup。“Nevermindme，Olaf。Ilaughwithoutknowingwhy，likelittleEric。He’sanothercheerfuldog。“

“Eric，“saidOlafslowly，“isaspoiledkid。He’sjustlethismother’sbestcowgodrybecausehedon’tmilkherright。I

washopingyou’dtakehimawaysomewhereandputhimintobusiness。

Ifhedon’tdoanygoodamongstrangers，heneverwill。“ThiswasalongspeechforOlaf，andashefinisheditheclimbedintohisbuggy。

Nilsshruggedhisshoulders。“Sameoldtricks，“hethought。“Hitsfrombehindyoueverytime。Whatawhaleofaman！“Heturnedandwentroundtothekitchen，wherehismotherwasscoldinglittleEricforlettingthegasolinegetlow。