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。