Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/136

 if by her glance she would steal the answer from his lips. Instead of answering he got up to go, he felt that he no longer had the mastery over his thoughts, and feared to lose his self-possession altogether before the strangers. With an apology that his time to-day did not permit him to continue the discussion, he took his hat and began to take leave. Amid a deep silence he went round shaking hands. When he left the room no one accompanied him.

left the farm with hasty steps. To avoid passing through the village again he went by the nearest slopes back to the shore. He soon recovered himself in the fresh air. The stuffy air of the little peasant's room and sitting still so long had both contributed to the confusion which had overcome him.

He was in a curious state, being both relieved and depressed.

He was glad to have made the acquaintance of the notorious and much-feared weaver; and he had a happy feeling that the meeting with this man would not be without importance in his future work in the parish. But he was ashamed that he had not had the courage to talk openly to this man. What reason had he to suspect