"But then he turned away from the window, and looked quickly at me. 'But you say you can see nothing?' "'I can see nothing now,' I said. 'But one day last spring I saw the farmhouse as you say it is.' "And now I noticed that father and mother and the other stranger had come closer and were listening. "'There are many in our family who have that gift,' said the other stranger to father, in a low voice, 'but I have never heard until to-day that my brother had it too.' "But the one who had spoken to me before turned his eyes to the window again, and next moment he started back, afraid. "'She has seen me!' he cried. 'It is all over with me now!' "And it was strange to see him so afraid, that great, strong man. But not even mother, who was always ready enough to laugh, so much as smiled at him now. "'Let us sing a hymn,' I whispered to mother. And we sang the first verse that came into our heads. "And while we were singing, the rain stopped. The grey cloud hung no longer like a wall above the river bank, and a ray of sunlight stole into the room. "The man who had seen the vision had sat down on a chair, with his hands before his face, not daring to look up or even to move. "But now, when it cleared up and grew bright again, his brother spoke to him sensibly. "'Come now, Jon,' he said. 'The rain has stopped, and we can go on now. Look up; you can see it is all gone now.' "But Jon sat huddled up in his chair, and only moved his elbow to say he would not be disturbed. "'No, Anders, no,' he said. 'Let me be. I dare not.' "Then Anders came over to us, and shook his head. "'It is no wonder he was afraid,' he said. 'For the thing he saw was something that once was, and the place he spoke of is the place our grandfather's father came from.' "'I think he said it was called Hånger,' I said, seeing that none of the others spoke. "'Yes,' he answered. 'Hånger it is, and it lies in Dalsland, and we who come from there are called the trollfolk of Hånger. We are bigger in body than most men, and they say we are ill to meet, but, for my part, I know of nothing strange about us, beyond that we all die by our own hand. My father did so, and his father and his father's father before him.' "When he had spoken, all was silent again. We shuddered, and could not ask nor speak a word. But the stranger seemed to feel that when he had said so much, he must go on. "'They say it all comes of an old story,' he said. 'In the old days, the men of Hånger were proud and rich, and would submit to none, and often they were at feud with the priests. And once it seems that one of them killed a priest in a fit of jealousy. But it was never found out who had done it. The crime was never atoned, and for the sake of that sin, it has been so ever since, that all the men from Hånger must die a violent death, by their own hand or another's.' "'But surely that can't be,' said mother. 'That the innocent should suffer for the guilty, no.'