'Tis my own dread of parting with her"--his
voice trembled, and his fine face quivered with suppressed emotion.
Errington pressed his arm. "Our house shall be yours, sir!" he said
eagerly. "Why not leave this place and come with us?"
Gueldmar shook his head. "Leave Norway!" he said--"leave the land of my
fathers--turn my back on these mountains and fjords and glaziers? Never!
No, no, my lad, you're kind-hearted and generous as becomes you, and I
thank you from my heart. But 'twould be impossible! I should be like a
caged eagle, breaking my wings against the bars of English
conventionalities. Besides, young birds must make their nest without
interference from the old ones."
He stepped out on deck as Errington opened the little cabin door, and
his features kindled with enthusiasm as he looked on the stretch of dark
mountain scenery around him, illumined by the brilliant beams of the sun
that shone out now in full splendor, as though in glorious defiance of
the retreating storm, which had gradually rolled away in clouds that
were tumbling one over the other at the extreme edge of the northern
horizon, like vanquished armies taking to hasty flight.
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