But here the girl could contain herself no longer, and laughed outright.
"What are you laughing at? That"s not right a bit. No, you just blush, and go on nibbling at a crust of bread, just like a tiny mouse....
"And the men nudge each other to look. Here"s a fine lady sitting down to eat as natural as can be, for all there"s neither plate nor fork.
And it"s all I can do to keep from laughing myself, and you have to bite your lips and bend down behind me.
"Then I take out our milk bottle, that"s been warming by the fire.
""How"ll they manage now?" says one, and all the rest look on to see.
""Why, we"ll just have to share and share about, unless the lady"s to go without," say I. And then I make believe to whisper something in your ear.
"And you nod, and take the bottle and drink, and hand it to me after.
"""Tis as good as newly milked," say I. And you laugh, and the men laugh too.
"Then I take a drink, and you again. I wipe the mouth of the bottle on my sleeve each time before giving it you. And the men, of course, they think that"s a mighty fine way of doing things.
""Never would have thought it," says one of them. And they go on with their meal.
""Do as the folks you fall in with, it seems," says one bolder than the rest.
""Just so," say I, "and that"s as it should be"; and there"s no saying anything against that, and so we get on finely.
"Then when the meal"s over, we lie down by the fire a bit. One man takes out some leaf tobacco from his pack, and cuts it up on a tree stump--hadn"t had time before. Then he pa.s.ses it round, and I fill my pipe too, for all that I"m in company with a fine lady.
"And then we go on our way. But when we"ve got a few paces off, I turn round suddenly and say, "Here, you, Heikki, give us a bit of a sermon for the young lady. "Tis just the place for church."
""H"m," says Heikki. "I doubt it wouldn"t do."
"""Twill please her, for sure--I"ll answer for that," say I. "And you do it better than anything else. Antti can help with the service."
""Yes, yes!" cry the others. "If she"s wanting to see things out here.
Sermon, Heikki!"
"Heikki climbs up on a big rock, and Antti on a tree stump, and Heikki starts off, grumbling out just like the priest at Kakela.
""Is--any soul--from Keituri--here in--church to-day?"
""Ay, lord and n.o.ble master, here be I," says Antti in a deep base that goes rumbling through the woods.
"And so they go through the service, and after, Heikki begins to preach. It"s the wildest nonsense, Swedish and Finnish and gipsy-talk and all sorts of odd lingo muddled up together, and he pours out the words like a river in flood. The men are in fits of laughter all the time, and you--you"re near to bursting.
""The young lady bids me thank you very much," say I, when it"s over.
"Both of you. Says she"s never heard so fine a sermon all her life."
"""Tis well said," say the men. "Heikki, he"s a wonder to preach, that he is."
"And so they wave their caps to us as we go off."
"Oh!" said the girl delightedly. "And is it really like that, I wonder?"
"Yes, of course. Only you mustn"t say anything. We must go home now--then we can talk all about it after.
"And we go up the hill and start off down the other side.
"When we get down on the flat, you begin putting on the pace, to see if you can go as fast as I can--and it"s all I can do to keep up with you. And your cheeks are red as roses, and you"re so hot you take off your kerchief and fasten it round your waist like a sash. And there you are running beside me, bareheaded, and your bright hair lifting as you go. I"ve never seen you look so beautiful before, and I tell you so. You ought to be like that always.
"And so we come home, as happy as can be.... And here we are!"
"You _can_ make stories!" cried the girl. "It was wonderful! Just as if we"d really been there and seen it all."
"Ah, we"ll do it really one day, we must. And it"ll be ever so much easier then, after you"ve seen it once to-day."
"No, no! I never can, I know."
"Wait and see," said he. "Now you know what a grand life it is in the forest in winter. A glorious life--though there"s trouble, too, at times--danger and hurt; but who cares for that? Do you wonder that I"m always in high spirits when I come home? And when I am here, why, "tis just like another little world, as clean and fresh as there....
Daisy--sit here, and let me look at you."
The girl sat down on his knee and rested one hand on his shoulder.
"Don"t laugh at me," she said softly. "I"m not a bit clever, I know.
Just nothing--to you."
"You don"t know a bit what you are--but I do. And shall I tell you, just for once, what you are to me?"
The girl laughed happily. "If you"ll be sure and only tell the truth!"
"The truth--of course! How could I help it? Now, listen. Once I was in a big town, where there was a picture gallery, and lots of marble statues--like the old Greeks used to make. You"ve read about them, haven"t you?"
"Yes, I think so. But I"ve never seen them."
"Well, there were lots of these statues, white as snow, and looking just like life. And they were all naked, with never a rag to cover them, but for all that one could look at them, as calm and pure as on the face of G.o.d. For they were so beautiful that one could think of nothing but the sacred beauty G.o.d has given to the human form.
And--can you guess what I"m going to say now?"
"How should I guess?" said the girl, looking down shyly, as if with some inkling she would not confess of what was in his mind.
"Just this--you are like that to me: a marble statue, white and cool, with a beauty that is holy in itself. And I thank G.o.d that made you so beautiful and pure."
"Now you"re laughing at me again," said the girl sadly.
""Tis solemn earnest. Listen. Ask yourself, in the time we"ve been together here, have we ever exchanged a single kiss, a single touch, with any thought of pa.s.sion?"
"Pa.s.sion?" The girl"s eyes looked frankly into his.
"Yes.... It might have been, you know. I am pa.s.sionate by nature, but when I look at you, it cools and dies. I am telling you the truth when I say you have been like a healing, cooling draught to one in a fever.
And I believe you have changed me altogether, now and for ever after."