they set before us," Aunt Lovisa remarked. "And they knew we were to be out on Vänern."
"No, Vänern isn't pleasant!" sighed Fru Lagerlöf.
Then Back-Kaisa, too, began to whisper.
"Say, Frua, are we there yet?—there where the sea stops, and the water rushes down the bottomless pit?"
"My dear girl, there'll be no stop to the sea to-night!" said Fru Lagerlöf, who did not know what Back-Kaisa was talking about.
Again there was silence for a space, but not stillness. The floor rocked on and the little girl continued her delightful rolling.
Fru Lagerlöf struck a match and lit the lantern.
"I must see whether the children are able to hold themselves on their shelves," she said.
"Lord be praised for the light!" said Mamselle Lovisa. "Anyhow, there's no chance of our getting a wink of sleep to-night."
"Oh, Frua! Oh, Mamselle Lovisa! don't you feel that we're going down and down?" Back-Kaisa wailed. "Oh, how'll we ever get out of this deep? How'll we ever get back home?"
"Now, whatever does she mean?" queried Mamselle Lovisa.
"She says that we have reached the last extremity," Fru Lagerlöf interpreted—no more comprehending than the other.
The little girl had a faint suspicion that they were
