Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/300

 he avoided all questioning about the bishop, by which he had been overwhelmed in Skibberup, and which he was not at liberty to answer. Besides, for his own sake, he required a little quiet to consider the bishop's proposals. The carpenter had accompanied him as a sort of adjutant, and the journey had become a kind of triumphal march.

Emanuel now understood what made the eyes of the young people shine every time the High School at Sandinge was mentioned. He was so taken with all he saw, that at times he almost thought it must have been a beautiful dream. The handsome red brick buildings covered with ivy and honeysuckle like an old castle; the great lecture hall built like an old Norse hall, with a panelled wooden ceiling with carved heads to the beams. The eighty fresh-coloured, young peasant girls, who were the present pupils; the singular teaching, which was conducted by means of lectures, reading, conversation, and singing; to say nothing of the evening meetings, when the people flocked in after their work was done,—labourers in their shirt sleeves—artizans in their blouses—he was enchanted with everything from the very first day.

He also understood the affection of the people for the Director, now that he had seen him in his element—in his school, where he hobbled about with his stick from teachers to pupils, encouraging, cheering, and admonishing all like a father.