“Yes, yes, I will surely promise that,” Sally said quickly, for she was very anxious to hear the secret.

“No, Sally, you must consider it well,” said Erick, and held his hands behind his back, to let her have time, “then if you have decided that you will tell no human being one single word, then you must promise it to me with a firm handshake.”

Sally had fully decided.  “Just give me your hand, Erick,” she urged.  “So, I promise you that I will tell to no one a single word of that which you want to tell me.”

Now Erick felt safe.  “You see, Sally,” he began, “in Denmark there is a very large, beautiful estate, with a beautiful lawn before the house to which one can go directly through large doors out of the halls, and in the middle of the lawn are the beautiful flower-beds just filled with roses; and on the other side of the house one goes across to the large, old oaks, where the horses graze—­for there are many beautiful horses.  And on the left side of the house one comes directly into the small forest; there is a pond quite surrounded by dense trees, and a small bench stands above and from there one descends three steps to the little boat that has two oars, and my mother liked best to sit there and row about the pond.  For, you see, my mother lived there when she was a child, and also later when she was grown up.  And there below, where the lawn stops, begin the large stables where the horses are when they are not grazing; and my mother had her own little white horse.  She rode about on that with grandfather or with old John.  Oh, that was so beautiful!  But once Mother was disobedient to grandfather, for she wanted to go far away with my father, and grandfather would not have it; but she went, and then she was not allowed to come back, and everything was over.”

Sally had listened with breathless attention.  Now she burst out:  “Dear, dear, what a pity!  That is exactly like Adam and Eve in Paradise!  But where did your mother go to?  And who is now on that beautiful estate?”

“Mother went far away to Paris, then to many other places, and at last we came to Middle Lot.  My grandfather still lives on the estate.”

“Oh, Erick, we will write a letter at once to your grandfather and ask him whether you may now come home again?”

“Oh, no, no!  I dare not do that,” opposed Erick.  “I must not go to my grandfather until I have become an honorable man, so that I may say to him:  ’I will not bring shame on your name, Grandfather, but Mother would like to make up through me for what you have suffered through her!’ I have promised that to my mother!”

“Oh, what a pity, what a pity!” lamented Sally, “you may never go to the beautiful estate until you are a man; that will be a terrible long time.  And then you have to go away in the winter to quite strange people, to an institute.  Oh, if you only could go to the beautiful estate, to Grandfather!  Can it not be brought about, Erick?  Can no one help you?”