They could always give them a cup of coffee, if they
would be satisfied with that. Her heart always rejoiced to see him, even
from a distance. Wishing them happiness and blessing in the holy state
of matrimony, the pastor himself lighted them out with candle held high,
and bade them to wish good evening to aunt and uncle for him. * * *
Nearer, and nearer came the fateful wedding-day. As on the day before
some holy Sunday, when solemn feelings almost irresistibly make their
way into the heart, almost as on the eve of her confirmation, so Freneli
felt on the eve of her wedding. Thoughtfully and seriously she did her
housework; perhaps she had never spoken so little as on that day. At
times she felt like weeping, and still she had a friendly smile for all
she met. Then again she would sink into deep reflection, in which she
forgot place and time and everything; she knew nothing of herself,
nothing of this brooding. Then when some one spoke to her, she would
start up as out of deep sleep; it seemed to her as if she had only just
recovered her eyes and ears, as if she were falling back upon the earth
from another world.
As they were sitting at supper, such an unexpected crash was heard on
the hill near the house that all started up. It was the men and some of
the day-laborers, who wished to proclaim to the world the glory of their
new masters. There lies hidden in this shooting and banging at weddings
a deep significance; the only pity is that so many a human life is
endangered by it.
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