She made an effort, however, to appear composed, as she answered--"I have sworn to obey you, Lovisa,--and I will.

But tell me one thing--how do you know that Thelma Gueldmar is indeed a witch ?" "How do I know ?" almost yelled Lovisa.

"Have I lived all these years for nothing?
Look at her! Am _I_ like her?
Are _you_ like her?
Are any of the honest women of the neighborhood like her?
Meet her on the hills with knives and pins,--prick her, and see if the blood will flow! I swear it will not--not one drop! Her skin is too white; there is no blood in those veins--only fire! Look at the pink in her cheeks,--the transparency of her flesh,--the glittering light in her eyes, the gold of her hair, it is all devil's work, it is not human, it is not natural! I have watched her,--I used to watch her mother, and curse her every time I saw her--ay! curse her till I was breathless with cursing--" She stopped abruptly.

Ulrika gazed at her with as much wonder as her plain, heavy face was capable of expressing.

Lovisa saw the look and smiled darkly.
"One would think _you_ had never known what love is!" she said, with a sort of grim satire in her tone.