An Evening in the Squire's Kitchen. 250 fewtvain attempts at engrossing my attention in my book, I was obliged to let myself be carried away by the impetuous torrent of the squire's eloquence. The squire was now on his hobby-horse, as wc say ; he had placed the old worn fur cap by his side on the sofa, leaving his bald head and grey hairs exposed. He became more and more excited ; he rose from the sofa, walked up and down the floor with hurried steps and fought with his hands in the air, till the light flickered hither and thither, while the sweeping tail of his long grey home-spun coat described long circles every time he swung himself round and raised himself on his longer leg, for, like Tyrtæus and Peter Solvold of our parish, he was afflicted with a limp. His impassioned words buzzed about my ears like cockchafers round the top of the lime-trees. He thundered away about lawsuits and judgments in the High Court of Justice, about disputes with the Court of Chancery, about clearing out the forests, about luxury, the rule of the majority in the national assembly, and the blowing up of the rocks in the Morkefos, about the corn duty and the cultivation of the Jædern district, about industries and centralisations, about the insufficiency of the currency, about offictal aristocracy and all other " ocracies " in the world, from King Nebuchadnezzar down to Peter Solvold's democracy. It was impossible to endure the jargon and the affected pathos of the squire any longer. Out in the kitchen one peal of laughter succeeded another; Kristen, the smith on the farm, was the spokesman out there—he had evidently just finished a story, and another hearty laugh echoed through -the room. " No, I must go out and hear what the smith is telling," I said, interrupting the eloquent squire, and made a dart for the kitchen, leaving him behind in the room in company with the dimly burning candje and his own disturbed reflections. " Stuff and nonsense, and lying rigmaroles ! " he growled, as I vanished through the door ; " it's a disgrace to see learned people— But well-meant patriotic words, no " I heard no more. Light, life, and merriment prevailed in the lofty airy kitchen. A greajr^fire blazed on the large open hearth and lighted up the room even in its farthest corners. By the side of the hearth presided the
