Petra longed to be alone, and so withdrew. Domestic matters required Signe's attention, so the dean and Odegaard repaired to the study, to take a glass of wine, of which the traveller stood in need. Here he was briefly told the events of the last few days, it made him very thoughtful but he said nothing. They were interrupted in a singular way. Two women and three men came past the windows, following one after the other; as soon as the dean caught sight of them, he sprang up: "There they are again!--now for a trial of patience."--In they came, first the women, then the men, slowly, silently. They placed themselves along the wall under the book shelves, opposite the sofa where Odegaard was seated. The dean set chairs, and brought others from the next room; they all took seats with the exception of a young man in a modern suit who declined, and leaned against the door post, not without a defiant expression and with both hands in his pockets. After a long silence, during which the dean filled his pipe, and Odegaard who did not smoke surveyed the visitors, the conversation was at length opened by a pale light-haired woman of about forty. Her forehead was rather narrow, her eyes large, but shy; they did not know exactly which way to turn. "The father gave an excellent sermon to-day," she said, "it touched upon what we were just thinking about;--for up at Oygarene we have been talking much about temptation lately."--She sighed; a man with a small face and large forehead sighed also: "'Take away mine eyes from beholding vanity, O Lord, and quicken thou me in thy way.'" Then Else, she who had first spoken, sighed again and said: "Lord, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word."--It seemed rather strange, for she was no longer young. But a middle aged man who sat with his head to one side, rocking backwards and forwards, his eyelids never really lifted, said as if half asleep: "Temptation, Satan's fiery dart, None is exempt from sharing-- Who taketh part in Jesu's death, The name of Christ thus bearing." The dean knew them too well not to be aware that this was only the introduction, so he waited as if nothing had been said, although there was again a long silence with repeated sighs.