He Had Been Obliged To Tell Them That The Consul Was Ill, And That He
Must, Therefore, Remain In The House. No One Thought Of Accusing Gabriel
Of Pride, And They All Drank His Health, And As Many Other Healths As
They Could Find An Excuse For, In bumpers Of The Wine To Which They Were
So Little Accustomed. Of The Food Which Had Been Given To Them, They Ate
As Much As They Could, And When They Could Eat No More, They Divided The
Remainder By Lot, Just As They Shared The Shavings For Their Fires,
Laughing The Whole Time Heartily At The Sport. Then Away They All
Wandered Homewards To The West End, Carrying Sausages, Chickens, Bottles
Of Wine, And Other Delicacies. The Sun Was Just Rising Over The Corner
Of The Mountain To The East Of The Town, And Lit Up The Window-Panes Of
The Cottages, Till It Looked As If The Whole West End Was Illuminated.
That Morning There Was Not A Wife Who Had The Heart To Find Fault With
Her Husband Because He Had Had A Little Drop Too Much. Eating And
Drinking Went On Merrily, Combined With Gossiping And Running From House
To House. The Children Sat Up In bed, Blinking At The Sunlight, And
Stuffing Themselves With Sausages, Still Half In doubt Whether It Was
Real Tangible Sausage They Were Eating, Or Whether It Was Not One Of
Those Lovely Dreams Which Sometimes Visit The Hungry.
Chapter 18 Pg 125
The Sun Was Shining Over The Bay Of Sandsgaard, Where The New Ship Now
Lay Securely Moored With Hawsers Both Ahead And Astern. The Sounds Of
Activity From West End Could Be Heard Far Out Into The Fjord.
In Begmand'S Cottage Marianne Lay Raving In delirium, And The Neighbour
Who Attended Her Said She Had The Fever. Anders, Who Had Burnt Himself
On The Side Of The Face At The Fire, Was Sitting With Her, A
Handkerchief Tied Round His Head.
The Townspeople Managed To Get Home By Degrees. Some Pretended That They
Did Not See The Sun, And Went To Bed. Others Stayed Up, And Went Yawning
About All Day. More Than Half The Town Had Been At Sandsgaard That
Night, Or Else On The Heights Above The House, Looking On The Fire.
One Of The Few People Who Had Not Been At The Fire Was Our Friend
Woodlouse. When He And The Swede Parted, After The Fight Between Martin
And Robson, He Went Straight Off To His Home In The Town. As He Passed
The First House, He Met Some People Who Were Running, And Deaf As He
Was, He Heard The Two Cannon-Shots Which Gave Warning Of A Fire. When He
Got To The Church, He Saw That The Door Was Open, And That There Was A
Light In The Place From Whence The Bells Were Pulled. Woodlouse Looked
In And Saw A Pair Of Legs, Now Bending, Now Straightening Again, Now
Going Up, And Now Down. From What He Saw, He Drew The Conclusion That
Some One Was Tolling The Big Bell. He Observed Carefully What Time It
Was By The Church Clock, And As He Went Along, He Was Already Making Up
His Mind How He Should Answer The Inquiries Of The Police, For He Fully
Expected The Cause Of The Fire Would Be The Subject For Investigation.
Chapter 19 Pg 126
Consul Garman Was In bed, Now Three Days After The Fire. The Left Side
Was Almost Powerless; But The Doctor Said There Was Still A Chance Of
Recovery, Since The Patient Had Managed To Get Through The First Few
Days. The Consul Had Not Hitherto Spoken A Word, But The Eyes Moved
Occasionally, And Especially The Right One, For The Left Was Half
Closed, And The Mouth Remained Crooked.
Uncle Richard Sat Constantly By The Bed, Watching His Brother, Until
Their Eyes Happened To Meet, When He Would Look Away With An Expression
That Was Meant To Be Unconcerned, For The Doctor Had Particularly Said
That The Patient Was Not To Be Excited.
When The _Attache_ Was Alone With His Brother, He Was Always Anxious
Lest He Should Begin To Speak, And It So Happened That He Began To Do So
One Day Just After The Doctor Had Been, As If He Had Been Waiting For
Him To Leave The Room.
"Richard," Said He All At Once, "There Will Have To Be A Great Many
Changes."
Chapter 19 Pg 127
"There, Now He Is Off!" Thought The _Attache_.
The Consul Waited A Little Before He Continued. "It Was A Heavy Loss,
Which Will Affect Us All. The Ship Was Not Insured."
"Yes; But, You See," Answered Uncle Richard, In a Tone That Was Most
Unbecoming In Its Frivolity, "It Is Extraordinary What May Possibly
Happen; In The Case Of A Ship, For Instance."
The Consul Regarded Him Expectantly.
"How Shall I Get On?" Thought His Brother, Looking Round Vainly For
Assistance.
"What Do You Mean, Richard?"
"Yes, He Is A Wonderful Boy, Gabriel Is," Said The _Attache_, Trying To
Smile. "I Don'T Mean In School, But I Mean--Well, I Hardly Know; Well,
He Knows A Good Deal About Ship-Building."
"What'S The Matter With Gabriel?" Asked The Consul, Quickly.
"Oh, Nothing Is The Matter With Gabriel; He Is All Right--Quite Right.
Did You Think There Was Anything Wrong?"
At This Moment Rachel Entered The Room, And Uncle Richard Gave A Sigh Of
Relief.
Rachel Saw In a Moment That Her Father Had Begun To Talk, And Went Over
To The Bed.
"Tell Me All About It, Rachel," Said The Invalid. "I Should Like To Tell
You The Whole Story, Father; Everything Has Turned Out So Well. But I Am
Not Sure That You Could Bear The Surprise--And Such A Joyful Surprise,
Too." As She Said These Words She Looked At Him Calmly.
The Invalid Began To Get Impatient, And Rachel Took Hold Of His Hand As
She Continued Her Story. "You See, The Ship Was Ready For Launching,
Quite Ready, And So Away She Went Just At The Very Nick Of Time--Without
Being Burnt, You Understand--Out Into The Fjord; And Now She Is Quite
Safe, And Everything Is All Right. Now, Father, You Know It All."
"But What About Gabriel?" Said The Consul, Looking At His Brother.
"Oh, It Was Gabriel Who Managed Everything, Because Tom Robson Never
Came," Said Rachel.
"Drunk, You Know; Drunk As A Lord. In bed All The Time. Dead
Drunk--Don'T You See?" Said Uncle Richard, Explaining His Words
