Page:Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (Volume 3).djvu/32

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20
The Field

spirit, Constantine applied the slender savings of many years to the purchase of a fresh yoke of oxen; and with his newly amended plough drove to the field in the highest glee. Sabina looked after him with an anxious sorrowful countenance, and with an equally anxious mind awaited his return in the evening, fearing a renewal of the same disaster, the same disappointed hopes, or that his personal injuries, this time, might be more dangerous and alarming than before. But with the sound of the vesper-bell, Constantine came singing through the village, driving his sleek well fed yoke before him, kissed his wife and children in the fulness of his joy, and shook his servant cordially by the hand.

Forester now frequently went to the field alone, while Constantine remained behind engaged about the yard or garden. A considerable piece of the “Field of Terror” was cleared for cultivation; and, to the great astonishment of the village neighbours, and the equal discontent and envy of Sabina’s selfish relations, every thing assumed an air of prosperity and