A servant in dress-coat
appeared, and again vanished as noiselessly as he
had come. To our Norseman there was some
thing weird and uncanny about these silent
entrances and exits; he could hardly suppress a
shudder. He had been accustomed to hear the
clatter of people's heels upon the bare floors, as
they approached, and the audible crescendo of
their footsteps gave one warning, and prevented
one from being taken by surprise. While
absorbed in these reflections, his senses must
have been dormant; for just then Miss Edith
Van Kirk entered, unheralded by anything but
a hovering perfume, the effect of which was to
lull him still deeper into his wondering abstraction.
"Mr. Birch," said Mrs. Van Kirk, "this is
my daughter Miss Edith," and as Halfdan
sprang to his feet and bowed with visible
embarrassment, she continued:
"Edith, this is Mr. Daniel Birch, whom your
father has sent here to know if he would be
serviceable as a music teacher for Clara. And
now, dear, you will have to decide about the
merits of Mr. Birch. I don't know enough
about music to be anything of a judge."
"If Mr. Birch will be kind enough to play,"
said Miss Edith with a languidly musical
intonation," I shall be happy to listen to him."
Halfdan silently signified his willingness and
followed the ladies to a smaller apartment which
was separated from the drawing-room by folding
doors. The apparition of the beautiful
young girl who was walking at his side had
suddenly filled him with a strange burning and
shuddering happiness; he could not tear his
eyes away from her; she held him as by a powerful
spell.
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