The sale of his mother's property
brought him a very handsome little fortune,
which enabled him to build a fine and comfortable
house in one of the best portions of the
city. Thus their outward circumstances were
greatly improved, and of comfort and luxury
Brita had all and more than she had ever
desired; but her health was broken down, and the
physicians declared that a year of foreign
travel and a continued residence in Italy might
possibly restore her. At last, Thomas, too,
began to urge her, until she finally yielded. It
was on a bright morning in May that they both
started for New York, and three days later they
took the boat for Europe. What countries
they were to visit they had hardly decided, but
after a brief stay in England we find them again
on a steamer bound for Norway.
IV.
Warm and gentle as it is, June often comes
to the fjord-valleys of Norway with the voice
and the strength of a giant. The glaciers totter
and groan, as if in anger at their own weakness,
and send huge avalanches of stones and ice
down into the valleys. The rivers swell and
rush with vociferous brawl out over the mountain-
sides, and a thousand tiny brooks join in
the general clamor, and dance with noisy chatter
over the moss-grown birch-roots. But later,
when the struggle is at an end, and June has
victoriously seated herself upon her throne, her
voice becomes more richly subdued and brings
rest and comfort to the ear and to the troubled
heart.
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