Page:Fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen (Walker).djvu/152

 116 in the fragile glass. 'Found! won! gold!' he cried, stretching up his hand with the glass which glittered in the sunbeams; his hand shook and the alchemist's glass fell to the ground shivered into a thousand atoms. The last bubble of his welfare was shattered, too. Whew! whew! fare away! and away I rushed from the goldmaker's home.

"Late in the year, when the days were short and dark up here, and the fog enveloped the red berries and bare branches with its cold moisture, I came along in a lively mood, clearing the sky and snapping off the dead boughs. This is no great labour, it is true, yet it has to be done. Borreby Hall, the home of Waldemar Daa, was having a clean sweep of a different sort. The family enemy, Ové Ramel from Vasness, appeared, holding the mortgage of the Hall and all its contents. I drummed upon the cracked window panes, beat against the decaying doors, and whistled through all the cracks and crannies, whew! I did my best to prevent Herr Ové taking a fancy to stay there. Ida and Anna Dorothea faced it bravely, although they shed some tears; Johanna stood pale and erect and bit her finger till it bled! much that would help her! Ové Ramel offered to let them stay on at the Castle for Waldemar Daa's lifetime, but he got no thanks for his offer; I was listening. I saw the ruined gentleman stiffen his neck and hold his head higher than ever. I beat against the walls and the old linden trees with such force that the thickest branch broke, although it was not a bit rotten. It fell across the gate like a broom, as if some one was about to sweep; and a sweeping there was indeed to be. I quite expected it. It was a grievous day and a hard time for them, but their wills were as stubborn as their necks were stiff. They had not a possession in the world but the clothes on their backs; yes, one thing—an alchemist's glass which had been bought and filled with the fragments scraped up from the floor. The treasure which promised much and fulfilled nothing. Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his hand, and with his three daughters the once wealthy gentleman walked out of