“SHE NEVER KW.”
first time she could see me. She greeted me with a smile. At
last she reached the end of the bridge; I held out my hand, and
helped her into the boat. Jansen loopened the moorings, and our
craft glided off. We sat close to each other; she leaned against my
arm. She was dressed entirely in white, and looked like a girl of
eighteen.
"What is there to see on this island?" she asked.
I could not help smiling.
She blished and said, “At any rate, there is a lighthouse.”
“And perhaps a church too," I added.
" ksk the man.” She blicated Jansen.
I asked, “How old is the church on the Island?”
But he couldn’t understand a word of German, and so after this
attempt we felt more tête-à-tête than before.
"What's that over there? An island too?" she asked, pointing
with her eyes
No," I replied, “that is Sweden, the mainland.”
"That would be more interesting still," she said.
"Yes," I answered, "but you would have to stay there a long
time, always..."
If she had said to me then: “Come, let us go together into a
foreign land and never come back, I should have consented on the
selle für spot.
As we thus scudded over the wa^xes in the little boat, the fresh
breeze playing round us, the Ioudless sky above, and the glittering
cea ahead, it seemed to me like a festal voyage, and as if we were
a veritable royal pair, disencumbered of all the responsibles of our
former existence.
Son the cottages on the island came in sight; the white-washed
church on the hill, which, with its gradual slope, ran the whole
length of the Island, stood out in sharp outline against the sky. We
were in thenetst of tiny fishing smacks as our boat shot ‘straight
for the island; some with their oars Conpped were Irifting lazily on
the breast of the waves. Friederika kept her eyes mostly fixed on
the Island, though she did not appear to be looking at it. In less
than an hour we were entering the harbour, which was enclosed by
a wooden jetty, so that you might imagine yourself in a small pond.
A group of children stood on the jetty. We landed, and strolled
slowly along the shore, the children following, but they soon 12,pped
off. The whole village consisted of about twenty houses at most,
and these wereseltered. Our feet sahk dieply in the fine, known
sand, from which the sea had receded. We came to an open sunny
selvot, where nets were spread out to dry; a couple ofKfisher wives
sat at their doors mending sails. After we had gone another hundred
wards we were quite alone. We found ourselvesorrsuing a rrow
path which led from the village to the end of the island, where the
lighthouse stood. On our left the sea was now divided from us by a
bor'der oi barren fields which grew nairower. The hill rose on our
first time she could see me. She greeted me with a smile. At
last she reached the end of the bridge; I held out my hand, and
helped her into the boat. Jansen loopened the moorings, and our
craft glided off. We sat close to each other; she leaned against my
arm. She was dressed entirely in white, and looked like a girl of
eighteen.
"What is there to see on this island?" she asked.
I could not help smiling.
She blished and said, “At any rate, there is a lighthouse.”
“And perhaps a church too," I added.
" ksk the man.” She blicated Jansen.
I asked, “How old is the church on the Island?”
But he couldn’t understand a word of German, and so after this
attempt we felt more tête-à-tête than before.
"What's that over there? An island too?" she asked, pointing
with her eyes
No," I replied, “that is Sweden, the mainland.”
"That would be more interesting still," she said.
"Yes," I answered, "but you would have to stay there a long
time, always..."
If she had said to me then: “Come, let us go together into a
foreign land and never come back, I should have consented on the
selle für spot.
As we thus scudded over the wa^xes in the little boat, the fresh
breeze playing round us, the Ioudless sky above, and the glittering
cea ahead, it seemed to me like a festal voyage, and as if we were
a veritable royal pair, disencumbered of all the responsibles of our
former existence.
Son the cottages on the island came in sight; the white-washed
church on the hill, which, with its gradual slope, ran the whole
length of the Island, stood out in sharp outline against the sky. We
were in thenetst of tiny fishing smacks as our boat shot ‘straight
for the island; some with their oars Conpped were Irifting lazily on
the breast of the waves. Friederika kept her eyes mostly fixed on
the Island, though she did not appear to be looking at it. In less
than an hour we were entering the harbour, which was enclosed by
a wooden jetty, so that you might imagine yourself in a small pond.
A group of children stood on the jetty. We landed, and strolled
slowly along the shore, the children following, but they soon 12,pped
off. The whole village consisted of about twenty houses at most,
and these wereseltered. Our feet sahk dieply in the fine, known
sand, from which the sea had receded. We came to an open sunny
selvot, where nets were spread out to dry; a couple ofKfisher wives
sat at their doors mending sails. After we had gone another hundred
wards we were quite alone. We found ourselvesorrsuing a rrow
path which led from the village to the end of the island, where the
lighthouse stood. On our left the sea was now divided from us by a
bor'der oi barren fields which grew nairower. The hill rose on our