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"Don't believe it," said Aronsen. "'Tis all one to me what you believe," said Axel, and turned to go. Aronsen called after him: "Hi, wait a bit! What's that you say Isak might take the place, was that what you said?" "Ay," said Axel, "if 'twas only the money. He's means enough to buy up five of your Storborg and all!"
Aronsen stood it for a whole day, then he gave up Andresen, too, and went home. The pedlars had no one to watch them after that. And then things began to go swimmingly. It was in the day when womenfolk used to wear loose plaits in their hair; and Andresen, he was the man to sell loose plaits.
Aronsen is furious himself, marches down in front of the caravan, turning round and shouting at them, barking at them, trying to keep them out of his district. And so they come down to the huts in the mining centre. A little town of huts, but empty and desolate.
Copper, iron, and sulphur, all were there together. Ay, they knew exactly what there was in the rocks up there even gold and silver was there, though not so much of it. A mining engineer, he knows a deal of things. "And it's all going to shut down now?" asked Aronsen. "Shut down?" repeated the engineer in astonishment. "A nice thing that'd be for South America if we did!"
"Good-bye, Sivert man," says he all at once. "No, I can't get up to Sellanraa this time, after all; tell your father. I've a heap of things to see to. But I'll come later on say that...." Aronsen spits after him, and says: "Ought to be shot!" For three days the caravan peddles its wares, selling out the contents of the sacks, and getting good prices. It was a brilliant piece of business.
"I'll sell him the empty sacks," said he. Andresen and Sivert stayed outside while he went in. They heard grand goings-on inside the store, both talking at once, and Fredrik setting up a laugh now and again; then Aronsen threw open the door and showed his visitor out. Oh, but Fredrik didn't come out no, he took his time, and talked a lot more.
Oh, but Aronsen might have saved himself a deal of self-reproach, and likewise Eleseus with his plans and intentions, that he might have kept in moderation. And more than all, the village would have done well to be less confident, instead of going about smiling and rubbing its hands like angels sure of being blessed no call for them to do so if they had but known.
He had also the satisfaction of taking over Andresen, the chief clerk, who was thus, as it were, included in the bargain. Aronsen had no longer any use for him, until he had a new place going. It was a pleasant sensation to be Eleseus, when Andresen came up begging to be allowed to stay; here it was Eleseus who was master and head of the business for the first time in his life.
His name was not Aron really, that being only his Christian name; properly, he was Aronsen, and so he called himself, and his wife called him the same. They were a family not to be looked down upon, and kept two servant-girls and a lad. As for the land at Storborg, it remained untouched for the present. Aronsen had no time for working on the soil where was the sense of digging up a barren moor?
Axel thought if that was so, 'twould be easy to find a buyer; but Aronsen laughed scornfully at the idea there was nobody there in the wilds had money to buy him out. "Not here in the wilds, maybe, but elsewhere." "Here's naught but filth and poverty," said Aron bitterly. "Why, that's as it may be," said Axel in some offence. "But Isak up at Sellanraa he could buy you out any day."
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