rected him. "He looked after the fields and tended the cows and provided food for his parents and his brethren."
"H'm—that was just what I thought." So saying, the Lieutenant arose and sidled toward the door, where his hat and cane were hanging, and sneaked out.
"The thirteenth was David," pursued the jungfru. "He married three times, and had three children by each wife. If it please you, I can tell you the names of all the wives and children.… But maybe 'twould be better to keep to the twenty brethren?"
They all thought that quite the wisest plan. But with these prospects before her, Fru Lagerlöf felt a bit uneasy.
"I'll run out and fetch something to work on," she said, "then I'll be able to follow you better." But it was a good while before she came back with that work.
"The fourteenth was a girl named Deborah. She was always so nice about giving me a hand with the breadmaking. She never got married and never left home, for she had to stay at the deanery and help me and her mother with the little ones. Sometimes she was kind of queer, though, and then she'd say she liked the Catholic religion because it didn't allow its priests to marry."
A slight noise was heard down by the door. Herr Tyberg had slipped out so softly no one noticed it till he was gone.
"The fifteenth was a girl, and her name was Martha. She was the greatest beauty you ever set eyes on! But she, too, was a bit queer. When she came seventeen
