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Clara nodded, and dropped her forehead on his shoulder.

Nils took a deep breath. "Will you go with me tonight?"

"Where?" she whispered softly.

"To town, to catch the midnight flyer. "

Clara lifted her head and pulled herself together. "Are you crazy, Nils? We couldn’t go away like that. "

"That’s the only way we ever will go. You can’t sit on the bank and think about it. You have to plunge. That’s the way I’ve always done, and it’s the right way for people like you and me. There’s nothing so dangerous as sitting still. You’ve only got one life, one youth, and you can let it slip through your fingers if you want to; nothing easier. Most people do that. You’d be better off tramping the roads with me than you are here. " Nils held back her head and looked into her eyes. "But I’m not that kind of a tramp, Clara. You won’t have to take in sewing. I’m with a Norwegian shipping line; came over on business with the New York offices, but now I’m going straight back to Bergen. I expect I’ve got as much money as the Ericsons. Father sent me a little to get started. They never knew about that. There, I hadn’t meant to tell you; I wanted you to come on your own nerve. "

Clara looked off across the fields. "It isn’t that, Nils, but something seems to hold me. I’m afraid to pull against it. It comes out of the ground, I think. "

"I know all about that. One has to tear loose. You’re not needed here. Your father will understand; he’s made like us. As for Olaf, Johanna will take better care of him than ever you could. It’s now or never, Clara Vavrika. My bag’s at the station; I smuggled it there yesterday. "

Clara clung to him and hid her face against his shoulder. "Not tonight," she whispered. "Sit here and talk to me tonight. I don’t want to go anywhere tonight. I may never love you like this again. "

Nils laughed through his teeth. "You can’t come that on me. That’s not my way, Clara Vavrika. Eric’s mare is over there behind the stacks, and I’m off on the midnight. It’s goodbye, or off across the world with me. My carriage won’t wait. I’ve written a letter to Olaf; I’ll mail it in town. When he reads it he won’t bother us—not if I know him. He’d rather have the land. Besides, I could demand an investigation of his administration of Cousin Henrik’s estate, and that would be bad for a public man. You’ve no clothes, I know; but you can sit up tonight, and we can get everything on the way. Where’s your old dash, Clara Vavrika? What’s become of your Bohemian blood? I used to think you had courage enough for anything. Where’s your nerve—what are you waiting for?"

Clara drew back her head, and he saw the slumberous fire in her eyes. "For you to say one thing, Nils Ericson. "

"I never say that thing to any woman, Clara Vavrika. " He leaned back, lifted her gently from the ground, and whispered through his teeth: "But I’ll never, never let you go, not to any man on earth but me! Do you understand me? Now, wait here. "

Clara sank down on a sheaf of wheat and covered her face with her hands. She did not know what she was going to do—whether she would go or stay. The great, silent country seemed to lay a spell upon her. The ground seemed to hold her as if by roots. Her knees were soft under her. She felt as if she could not bear separation from her old sorrows, from her old discontent. They were dear to her, they had kept her alive, they were a part of her. There would be nothing left of her if she were wrenched away from them. Never could she pass beyond that skyline against which her restlessness had beat so many times. She felt as if her soul had built itself a nest there on that horizon at which she looked every morning and every evening, and it was dear to her, inexpressibly dear. She pressed her fingers against her eyeballs to shut it out. Beside her she heard the tramping of horses in the soft earth. Nils said nothing to her. He put his hands under her arms and lifted her lightly to her saddle. Then he swung himself into his own.