* * * * *
At three in the morning I heard Nils go out to feed the horses. At four
he knocked to rouse me out of bed. I did not grudge him the honour of
being first up, though I could have called him earlier myself, any
hour of that night indeed, for I had not slept. 'Tis easy enough to go
without sleep a night or two in this light, fine air; it does not make
for drowsiness.
Nils sets out for the fields, driving a new team. He has looked over the
visitors' horses, and chosen Elisabet's. Good country-breds, heavy in
the leg.