In the
course of conversation, Lars perceived it was still a question
with them whether the road should run through this valley, or
another parallel one.
Like a flash of lightning it darted through his mind, that, if he
could manage to get it through here, all real estate would rise in
value, and not only he himself be saved, but his popularity handed
down to future generations. He could not sleep that night, for his
eyes were dazzled with visions; sometimes he seemed to hear the
noise of an engine. The next day he accompanied the surveyors in
their examination of the locality; his horses carried them, and to
his farm they returned. The following day they drove through the
other valley, he still with them, and again carrying them back
home. The whole house was illuminated, the first men of the parish
having been invited to a party made for the surveyors, which
terminated in a carouse that lasted until morning. But to no
avail; for the nearer they came to the decision, the clearer it
was to be seen that the road could not be built through here
without great extra expense. The entrance to the valley was
narrow, through a rocky chasm, and the moment it swung into the
parish the river made a curve in its way, so that the road would
either have to make the same--crossing the river twice--or go
straight forward through the old, now unused, churchyard. But it
was not long since the last burials there, for the church had been
but recently moved.
Pages:
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80