His father came walking up from the mill, paused on the door-step, took a survey of all about him, as his son had done, then went down to the water to take the boat in for the night.

The mother appeared at the side of the house, for she had been in the kitchen.
She raised her eyes toward the cliff as she crossed the farm-yard with something for the hens, looked up again and began to hum.

Oyvind sat down to wait.

The underbrush was so dense that he could not see very far into the forest, but he listened to the slightest sound.

For a long time he heard nothing but the birds that flew up and cheated him,--after a while a squirrel that was leaping from tree to tree.