Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/126



new arrival was the tall, thin, and somewhat bent man, with the curious cat-like face, who had been the object of so much attention among Emanuel's audience in the morning. He remained standing a moment by the door, looking about him and smiling with his crooked, drawn-up mouth. Then he said "Good-day" in a drawling voice, and went round shaking hands.

Old Anders Jörgen, who rose from his chair immediately, became quite pale with consternation, and looked at the stranger with a bewildered, imploring glance, which the latter evidently tried to avoid. The whole bearing of the stranger made an unusually unpleasant impression on Emanuel. He remembered having seen the same face in church occasionally, where it had also inspired him with extraordinary repulsion. This feeling was not lessened when the stranger turned towards him, and, fixing him with a glance which was partly hidden by his red, swollen eyelids, introduced himself in these words:

"I am Hansen the weaver."

Emanuel had need of all his self-command not to lose his composure. He felt himself turning fiery red.

He just kept presence of mind enough to return the man's greeting with the right amount of cold reserve, after which he continued his