He laughed at that.
"I can now buy the place. Shall I?"
"Yes, do."
"You don"t object? Would you really like to live there?"
"I think, my dear, that you can do much good here. We ought to live where we can do the most good."
And so it was settled. Next day Rupert inquired after the owner of the farm which once was his, and learned that it was in the hands of a real estate dealer. He made his way to the office and knocked at the door, which was partly open. A man was sitting at a desk, but he evidently did not hear, so Rupert stepped into the room, at the same time giving the door another loud rap. Still the man did not hear.
"Good morning, sir," said Rupert.
The man turned.
"Volmer, Volmer Holm, is it you?"
"Rupert Ames, I"m pleased to see you. When did you come to town? Have a chair."
"Are you in the real estate business?"
"I can"t hear very well, and you"ll have to speak at close range, Rupe."
So they put their chairs close together, and Rupert repeated his last question.
"Yes, a man must do something; but there"s nothing going on now--nothing in our line."
Rupert looked in pity at his friend. Quite shabbily dressed he was, and a careworn expression on his face made him look ten years older. He wore gla.s.ses, which he pushed up on his forehead, and then took a good look at Rupert.
"Well, well, Rupe, and where have you been keeping yourself? An" I"ve had luck, I tell you--you haven"t heard, perhaps?"
"No; I haven"t. What"s it been, Volmer?"
"Was getting fifty dollars a week leading the orchestra at the Grand in Chicago, when I got sick. Don"t know what it was, Rupe--the doctors didn"t know. Got into my ears, and that knocked me--couldn"t tell one note from another; so, of course, that let me out. Hard luck, Rupe, hard luck. Tough world this, Rupe. Why G.o.d Almighty crams a fellow"s head full of music, and then disables him so"s he can"t make use of it, I don"t know--I don"t know."
Rupert sympathized with his friend, and then told him of his errand. A ray of sunshine seemed to enter the musician"s life. The property was for sale, yes, and cheap, dirt cheap; so the transaction was partly arranged, and Volmer Holm went home to his wife and four children with quite a happy heart that day.
"It"s too bad about Volmer Holm," said Rupert to his sister. "I had not heard of his misfortune. Such a genius in music, too."
"Well, I don"t know," answered Nina, "it may be all for the best. Rumor had it that he was fast getting into bad ways in Chicago; and some men are better off by being poor, anyway."
"Yes, that"s so," was all he said.
Rupert Ames was again the owner of Dry Bench farm, and the next spring they moved into the old home. Mr. and Mrs. Janson came with them to visit, but their interests in Chamogo would not allow of a protracted stay. Signe was already in love with her new home. With her taste for the artistic, she soon had the place comfortable, and Rupert was never more satisfied than when he came in where his wife"s adept fingers had been at work to adorn. It was the dear old home to him with an added beauty, lacking only his mother"s presence to make it perfect.
Then they sent for Signe"s family. It was hard for the father to make ends meet in his native land, and Rupert needed just such help as Hr.
Dahl could give. In due time they arrived, and were installed in a cottage near Rupert"s farm.
In peace and prosperity, the days, months, and years went by; and Rupert Ames became a light to the surrounding world, and a teacher of righteousness to his brethren.
It was the sixth year after Rupert"s return that the citizens of the Bench decided to enlarge the reservoir in Dry Hollow. Rupert was given the work to supervise, and he entered upon the task with his usual energy.
That morning in September, when he gave his wife the usual departing kiss, the children--four of them, were hanging about his legs and clinging to his coat in great glee.
"Now papa must go," said he, as he tried to shake them off.
"A kiss, another kiss," "A tiss, some more tisses," they shouted.
So he lifted them up, one by one, and kissed them again. Then his arm went around his wife"s neck, and he drew her face to his.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," said he, "take care of the children, and don"t forget me," and he tried to hum a song as he walked to the gate. Signe stood watching him. The tune which floated back to her was, "O, my Father." Then a peculiar feeling came over her, and she sat down crying, while the children climbed over her with questions and comforting words.
Terrible news from Dry Hollow! A blast, prematurely exploded, had seriously injured some of the workmen, and Rupert Ames had been killed--hurled down the ravine and nearly buried under falling rock.
Break the news gently to his wife and children. Do not let them see that bruised, bleeding form. Spare them all you can.
Yes; it was all done--all that lay in human power was done; and hundreds of people to whom Rupert Ames had opened up new light, and in the providence of G.o.d, had given them a tangible hope of the future, gathered around his body and mingled their tears with those of his children"s.
Another immortal soul"s earthly mission was ended. Life"s school had closed for him. Into another sphere he had gone. The Great Schoolmaster had promoted him.
And Mrs. Signe Ames, after it all, simply said:
"G.o.d knows best. He has but gone before. He was my husband for time, he is my husband for eternity. His mission is there, mine is here. In the morrow, we shall meet again."
XI.
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."--_Mark 16:15._
Hr. Henrik Bogstad leaned back in his chair before the fire in great relief. He had just shown out a young man who was distributing religious tracts dealing with some "new-fangled religion" lately imported from America, that land of all new-fangled things. All the day, Hr. Bogstad had been adjusting some difficulties among his tenants, and that evening he was somewhat ill-humored. His treatment of the missionary, was, therefore, harsher than he was wont to treat either strangers or friends.
His conscience smote him a little as he thought of what the young American had said. He could find no fault with the religious doctrines advanced, but why should he be bothered with religion anyway? He had cares enough; for a great responsibility had come to him since he had been put in charge of the estate left by his father"s death. Just now was the season of gaiety in Christiania, and here he was missing a good many things by his enforced visit to his country home.
After musing for some time, he got up and went to the window. Outside, the snow covered everything--the fields, the roads, the frozen lake and river. The houses were half hidden, and the pines on the hill bore up great banks of snow. From the window the view was beautiful in its solemn whiteness. From the white level of the distant frozen lake, broken patches of brown protruded. These were the islands on one of which Signe Dahl had lived. Henrik wondered what had become of her, and where in the big America she had taken up her abode. He had heard that she was well and happy, but further than that he had not set himself to learn. Long ago he had put behind him philosophically his affair with Signe. He had ceased to think of her as anything more than a sweet, yet strange girl who could resist such an offer as he had extended to her.
As Henrik was looking out of the window, he saw the young stranger who had visited him less then an hour ago, returning down the road. Just as he was about to pa.s.s, Henrik hailed him and asked him to come in again, meeting him at the door.
"Come in," he said; "I want to talk with you."
The missionary placed his grip on a chair and seated himself on another.