“I have done well, Elizabeth,” he said, looking pleased.

“On the galliot?”

“Yes, and I had a little matter to arrange in Arendal, which kept me there till after midday.”

“You saw Gjert, then?”

“I did.”  He looked a little impatiently towards the door.

“And he is well?”

“He can tell you now, himself,” was the reply, as the door at the moment opened and Gjert entered with a loud “Good evening, mother!”

She sprang towards him in astonishment, and threw her arms round him.  “And not a dry stitch on the whole boy!” she cried, with motherly concern.

“But, Salve dear, what is the meaning of this?  How can the boy come away from school?”

“When we have changed our clothes and warmed ourselves a little, I’ll tell you, mother,” answered the pilot, slily.  “He will be at home with you the whole week.”

Gjert was evidently ready to burst with some news or other, but he had to restrain himself until his father had taken his seat by the fire that was crackling brightly on the hearth in the kitchen, and had leisurely filled his pipe, and taken two or three pulls at it.

“Now then, Gjert,” he said, “you may tell it.  I see you can’t keep it in any longer.”

“Well, mother!” he exclaimed, “father says that I shall be an officer in the navy; and so he has taken me from school and is going with me to Frederiksvoern next week.”

Henrik’s mouth opened slowly, while Elizabeth, who was stirring the porridge, suspended that operation, and looked in something like alarm at her husband.

“What do you mean, Salve?”

“Wouldn’t it be a fine thing, don’t you think, to see the boy come home to you some day in a smart uniform, Elizabeth?  You have always had a turn for that sort of thing,” he added, jokingly.  “And since you couldn’t go in for it yourself,—­as they don’t take womenfolk in the navy—­and it was not much in my line either,—­why, I thought we could make the experiment with Gjert.”

“Are you really in earnest, Salve?” she asked, looking at him still in suspense.

He nodded in confirmation.

“Well, if it is your father’s wish, may—­may God prosper you in it, my boy!” she said, going over to Gjert and stroking his forehead.

“So—­now you may take your joiner’s bench into the room again, Henrik; you can talk with Gjert in there—­that is to say, if he will condescend now to answer a common man like you—­tell him you will be a merchant captain, and earn as much as two such fellows in uniform.  Mother and I can then enjoy a little peace from you here in the kitchen.”

When they were alone, Elizabeth asked—­

“But how has it all happened, Salve?”

“Well, you see, I had taken the idea into my head about Gjert that he should become something a little better than his father had been, and so I went up to the Master, to Beck, and asked what I must do to push the thing.  Yes; and I spoke to young Fru Beck too.”