A little while afterwards the whole peaceful parsonage of Upper Wood lay in deep sleep; only old ’Lizebeth went about the passage calling:  “Bs, bs, bs.”  She wanted to get the old grey cat into the kitchen to catch the mice during the night.  ’Lizebeth had been in the parsonage of Upper Wood as long as one could remember, for there had always been a son, and when the time had come, then he had become parson in Upper Wood.  First ’Lizebeth had served the grandfather, then the father and now the son, and she had long since elected Edi as the future minister, and intended to look after his house when he should be the master here.

CHAPTER II

A Call in the Village

The friendly village Upper Wood lay on the top of the hill close by the fir wood; it had a beautiful white church with a high, slender tower.  At a distance of three-quarters of an hour’s walk, down in the valley, lay Lower Wood, a small community which, however, did not wish to be considered smaller.  They had a new schoolhouse and a church of their own, but the church had no tower, only a little red dome.  Therefore the people of Upper Wood were a little proud, because their church was much prettier and also because they learned much more in the old schoolhouse in Upper Wood than in the new one of Lower Wood; but that was the children’s fault, not the teacher’s.  In the middle, between the two villages lay a hamlet consisting of a few farms and some small houses of little pretense.  It was called the Middle Lot, and its people the Middle Lotters.  They had the choice to what church and school they wished to belong, whether to Lower Wood or Upper Wood, and according to their choice they were judged by the people of Upper Wood; for whoever wanted to learn much and be decent, he must, according to the Upper Wooders, strive to belong to them.  This was a fixed and general idea of the people on the top of the hill.  In the Middle Lot there lived only two families who were generally respected; the Justice of Peace, who was obliged to live there because otherwise he would have to be called there, and that would have been inconvenient.  This peace-making man was Kaetheli’s father.  And the other was old Marianne, who lived in her own house and pulled horse-hair for a living, and never did harm to anyone.

When on the next morning the three children of the parsonage passed Marianne’s house on their way to school, Sally said:  “It is fun to go to school to-day for the strange boy of yesterday will come too; if we only knew his name.  Kaetheli described him to me; he wears velvet pants.  Of course he will come to Upper Wood to school.”

“Of course,” said Edi with a dignified air; “who would think of going to Lower Wood to School?”

“Of course, who would go there to school?” observed Ritz.