340 'GOD'S PEACE'
Asta, and her two-year-old brother Carl, children of a fisherman down by the fjord, who in his youth helped at the mill. For the first time in their lives they are going to have a Christmas tree, on which occasion they shine with overstarched cleanhness and unnatural good behaviour. On seeing me, a strange man, they seek cover behind Greta, who pulls them out and shakes them up, so that they should be presented to me in all their beauty. And beautiful they are. Asta, an exact copy of a Christmas tree angel, caressing and confiding, with yellow curly head and large blue eyes, and Carl, a stumpy little person, sailor — silent with male conceit and brown eyes, which twinkle with sly humour.
The Christmas supper is over and we walk into the garden room where the tree is lit. Greta has the boy in her arms and Asta she holds by the hand. After them comes the miller and I with our pipes. To begin with the children are mute with astonishment, with wide-open eyes they are gazing at the tree, while Greta dances about with them. I whisper to her : ' I believe you are the happiest of the three.' ' Yes, of course,' she answers; ' fancy spending Christmas with you and two such darlings.'
But it is not long before the children frankly forget themselves in their happiness, and when they discover that the splendours of the tree are fruits that can be picked, they become quite off their heads with joy. They finish by rolling round on the floor like two kittens amongst all their
