Good Books

"Ha, ha!" he exclaimed. "That was good; that was clever! If I had upset
you now, you would have said your prayers backward! What are you here
for? This is no place for you! They are all gone out of it. _She_ has
gone--all the world is empty! There is nothing any where but air, air,
air!--no birds, no flowers, no trees, no sunshine! All gone with her on
the sparkling, singing water!" and he swung his arms round violently,
and snapped his fingers in the minister's face. "What an ugly man your
are!" he exclaimed with refreshing candor. "I think you are uglier than
I am! You are straight,--but you are like a load of peat--heavy and
barren and fit to burn. Now, I--I am the crooked bough of a tree, but I
have bright leaves where a bird hides and sings all day! You--you have
no song, no foliage; only ugly and barren and fit to burn!" He laughed
heartily, and, catching sight of Britta, where she stood in the doorway
entirely unconcerned at his eccentric behavior, he went up to her and
took hold of the corner of her apron.


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