LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1890
[_All rights reserved_]
_TO MY BEST FRIEND_
_ETATSRÅD FREDERIK HEGEL_
_IN REMEMBRANCE_
Thou never hast been here; yet I roam
Often up and down and meet thee everywhere.
Here is no room, nor road
But thoughts of thee stand forth
Awaiting me from by-gone days,
When thou by deeds of faithful friendship
Brought comfort to my home in all its troubles.
And ofttimes as I wrote this book,
Thy kindly eye would beam on me;
We were alone then, thou and I, and
All that silently grew into words--
Here and there the book must needs
Be like thy heart, thy simple faith,
And therefore may thy name impart a blessing unto it.
AULESTAD, _September_ 11, 1889.