like the house and grounds?"

"The house is Danish, of a past fashion," replied Hardy, "and there is no difference in plan from your parsonage. The stables and outhouses are too near the house, and so is the kitchen garden; it may be convenient, but it is not to our English taste. The grounds are not made the best of; but this is a subject in which the climate must be consulted. The specimen trees we use for the purpose would, many of them, grow dwarfed, or not at all."

"I have heard much of the English taste in this respect," said the Pastor. "I should like to see an English residence, in contrast to our dear Rosendal."

"That you can judge of by some photographs of Hardy Place, my residence in England," said Hardy. "I will fetch them."

He shortly after appeared with a set of four photographs, and a strong reading-glass.

"There," said Hardy, "is the front of Hardy Place. You will observe the arrangement of the lawn, and you will see the fineness of the turf, which you will see nowhere else than in England. The conservatory is to the right of the front entrance, to be sheltered from the east wind; the house faces south. You will see by these other photographs different views of the house and its surroundings. The stables and gardens, for vegetables and fruit, are at some distance; while the home farm, equivalent to your Bondegaard, is an English mile distant. This gives greater privacy; while at Rosendal, the stables and house and farm are practically under one roof."

"Herr Hardy would say, father, that we Danes want the refinement of the English," said Frøken Helga, who did not like the correct criticism of a place she loved so well.

"When I asked you the name of the owner of Rosendal," said Hardy, looking at her, "the answer I received from you might have led my thoughts in that direction, Frøken Helga."

"I gave no answer!" retorted Helga.

"Just so," said Hardy, smiling.

Helga understood him.

The Pastor and his two boys had been looking at the photographs with much interest. "It is a Slot [a palace], and there is good taste throughout. And do you live there, Herr Hardy?"

"Yes," replied Hardy, "except when I take a foreign tour. My mother resides there. My father died when I was young. But would not Frøken Helga like to see the photographs?"

Helga did not look up from the knitting, which was her constant employment every spare moment; so Hardy addressed himself to her father, as if he had not put the question.

"Before I came here," said Hardy, "I read in the Berlinske Tidende an advertisement for the sale of Rosendal, which to-day appears to be the same place.

"Yes," said Pastor Lindal. "It is the property of a Baron Krag; he will sell it if he can obtain about double its value. He has the argument on his side, that it is an exceptional place, and should sell at an exceptional price; hitherto he has not found a buyer on these terms. The property is small in extent."

About a week after this conversation, John Hardy received the following letter from Copenhagen:—

"I was honoured by your letter of the 10th of this month, and, in pursuance of your wishes, called at the Bank and enquired of you, and presented your letter, requesting them to give me information about you. They replied that they had heard from your London bankers that you had a considerable sum at your disposition in their hands, and that your yearly income was considerable, and that any services I rendered you would be promptly paid for. I accordingly send particulars of Rosendal, which I have already procured for other clients; and I send sketch of the estate. The price is much in excess of its value, 300,000 kroner (18 kroner is equal to £1 sterling). The price that has been bid is 200,000 kroner, and possibly an advance may be obtained on that. I wish to point out to you that 200,000 kroner is beyond the value of Rosendal in an economical sense, and the same money in the Danish funds would yield twice the income.

"The cows, horses, and sheep, agricultural implements, all go to the purchaser. The land is managed by a bailiff, and the sources of income are chiefly from the sale of butter, barley, and produce. There is a small tile works; and a certain quantity of turf can be sold yearly. The income is therefore uncertain.

"I think it also my duty to lay clearly before you, that if you wish to introduce any alteration in our Danish system of farming, that it would not be successful. There would be a passive antagonism with the people, who, if you let them be steered by a good bailiff, would give you no trouble. In the direction of any improvement, however, new agricultural implements from England of the simpler kind would be well received and adopted. The Danish cattle also are suitable to the country, and the introduction of English high class-breeds might not answer.

"If you did not reside at Rosendal, the bailiff's accounts could be checked either by me or any other person you thought proper, and the place visited twice yearly, to report the condition and the state of the property.

"I will ascertain the exact sum that will be accepted, if you desire it; but it will take time—negotiations for large properties are often much protracted in Denmark.

"I wait, therefore, the honour of your reply, and respectfully greet you.

"Obediently,
"Axel Steindal,
"Prokuratør."

CHAPTER IV.

"Many a one
Owes to his country his religion,
And in another, would as strongly grow
Had but his mother or his nurse taught him so."
The Complete Angler.

The church at Vandstrup lay on rising ground from the river. It was white-washed, covered with red tiles, and surrounded by a white-washed wall enclosing God's acre, in which so many slept the last long sleep. There were a few poplars planted close to the church-yard wall, and a few weather-beaten ash trees, with a single dwarfed weeping willow over a grave. On Sunday, John Hardy watched with interest the church-going people collecting by the church gate. The men in dark Wadmel jackets with bright buttons, and the women with red ribands bound on their caps and knitted sleeves. The women left their wooden shoes in the dry ditch by the roadside, and put on leather shoes, and waited for the Pastor's arrival. Accuracy of time was not expected, and only when the Pastor appeared did the men throng into the church on one side and the women on the other. The interior of the church was simple to a degree. John Hardy with Karl and Axel sat on the men's side, and Frøken Helga and Kirstin on the other. The service was similar to that of the English Protestant service, although relics of what would be now called Romanism remained. There were candles on the altar, and the Pastor chanted some portion of the service. John Hardy longed for the sermon. The thorough honest feeling exhibited by the Pastor's character in his home, with his evident refinement and education, had excited his curiosity as to what the sermon would be.

The text of the sermon was from the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, part of ver. 42: "Give to him that asketh thee!"

"When a man comes and asks anything of you, what should you give? The best thing is sympathy and love; material gifts he may want, but these kindliness will dictate, and kindliness is the real gold of life. If no power exists to give what is necessary to assist your neighbour in a material sense, yet to your ability give; and if you give at all, give kindly. Those of you who want not material things, yet may want kind sympathy when God smiteth with sorrow. Recollect, then, that that is the time for kindliness to be proved that is golden."

This was the epitome of the sermon, and John Hardy could not hear a sound in the church, so intently was it listened to.

"I