When he had gone down, and set the light away from him on the table, Signe came and threw herself into his arms,----"Yes, my child, this is a fearful disappointment." Shortly after, Signe was sitting in the sofa corner, with a pocket handkerchief before her eyes, the dean had lit his pipe, and walked quickly up and down. Suddenly there was a scream from the kitchen, and they heard the servants run up stairs, and rush along the passages overhead; they both hastened out: Petra's room was on fire! A spark must have fallen from the light in the corner, for the fire had sprung from there, and in a moment blazed along the wall-paper, and reached the wood work of the window, when it had been observed by some one passing by, who had run into the wash house and told them about it. The fire was soon put out; but in the country, where everything has its even routine from one year's end to another, any sudden interruption causes great excitement. The fire is their worst, most dangerous enemy, never out of their thoughts, and when he thus comes in the night, thrusting his head up over the precipice, and licking greedily after his prey, they tremble, and do not regain composure for weeks, some not even for life. When after this, the dean and his daughter again stood together in the dining room, the lamps having been lit, they both felt there was something ominous in the thought, that Petra's room had thus been destroyed, and all traces of her burnt out. At the same moment, they heard her clear voice, calling and questioning; she sprang up and down stairs, ran from the attic to the passage, from the passage to the kitchen, and finally came rushing in with her things on: "Heavens! my room is burnt!" No one answered, and in the same breath, she asked: "Who has been there? When did it happen? How did the fire break out?" The dean now replied, that it was they who had been there: they had been looking for something; he gave her a penetrating look. But Petra did not give the slightest sign of finding this anything wonderful, nor did she betray any fear for what they could have found. She did not even suspect anything wrong when Signe did not look up from the sofa; she attributed it to her fright from the fire, and she never ceased asking, how it had been discovered, put out, who had got there first, &c., and as she got no answer quickly, she ran out as she had come in. But she soon came rushing in again, having partly taken off her things, and told them how she had seen the light herself, and run so fearfully, but was so glad now to find it was no worse. So saying, she took off the rest of her things, carried them out, and coming in again, she seated herself at the table, talking incessantly, of what this and that one had said and done, the whole place indeed was turned upside down, and it was very amusing. As the others continued silent, she expressed her regret that it had spoilt the evening for them; for she had been