'Tis one of the many privileges of the old, to see the world about them always young and full of children." And he led the way past the wide-open lattice, where they could dimly perceive the spinning-wheel standing alone, as though thinking deeply of the fair hands that had lately left it idle, and so round to the actual front of the house, which was exceedingly picturesque, and literally overgrown with roses from ground to roof.

The entrance door stood open;--it was surrounded by a wide, deep porch richly carved and grotesquely ornamented, having two comfortable seats within it, one on each side.

Through this they went, involuntarily brushing down as they passed, a shower of pink and white rose-leaves, and stepped into a wide passage, where upon walls of dark, polished pine, hung a large collection of curiously shaped weapons, all of primitive manufacture, such as stone darts and rough axes, together with bows and arrows and two-handled swords, huge as the fabled weapon of William Wallace.
Opening a door to the right the _bonde_ stood courteously aside and bade them enter, and they found themselves in the very apartment where they had seen the maiden spinning.
"Sit down, sit down!" said their host hospitably.

"We will have wine directly, and Thelma shall come hither.

Thelma! Thelma! Where is the child?
She wanders hither and thither like a mountain sprite.