“‘Never would have thought it,’ says one of them.  And they go on with their meal.

“‘Do as the folks you fall in with, it seems,’ says one bolder than the rest.

“‘Just so,’ say I, ‘and that’s as it should be’; and there’s no saying anything against that, and so we get on finely.

“Then when the meal’s over, we lie down by the fire a bit.  One man takes out some leaf tobacco from his pack, and cuts it up on a tree stump—­hadn’t had time before.  Then he passes it round, and I fill my pipe too, for all that I’m in company with a fine lady.

“And then we go on our way.  But when we’ve got a few paces off, I turn round suddenly and say, ’Here, you, Heikki, give us a bit of a sermon for the young lady.  ‘Tis just the place for church.’

“‘H’m,’ says Heikki.  ‘I doubt it wouldn’t do.’

“‘’Twill please her, for sure—­I’ll answer for that,’ say I.  ’And you do it better than anything else.  Antti can help with the service.’

“‘Yes, yes!’ cry the others.  ’If she’s wanting to see things out here.  Sermon, Heikki!’

“Heikki climbs up on a big rock, and Antti on a tree stump, and Heikki starts off, grumbling out just like the priest at Kakela.

“‘Is—­any soul—­from Keituri—­here in—­church to-day?’

“‘Ay, lord and noble master, here be I,’ says Antti in a deep base that goes rumbling through the woods.

“And so they go through the service, and after, Heikki begins to preach.  It’s the wildest nonsense, Swedish and Finnish and gipsy-talk and all sorts of odd lingo muddled up together, and he pours out the words like a river in flood.  The men are in fits of laughter all the time, and you—­you’re near to bursting.

“‘The young lady bids me thank you very much,’ say I, when it’s over.  ‘Both of you.  Says she’s never heard so fine a sermon all her life.’

“‘’Tis well said,’ say the men.  ’Heikki, he’s a wonder to preach, that he is.’

“And so they wave their caps to us as we go off.”

“Oh!” said the girl delightedly.  “And is it really like that, I wonder?”

“Yes, of course.  Only you mustn’t say anything.  We must go home now—­then we can talk all about it after.

“And we go up the hill and start off down the other side.

“When we get down on the flat, you begin putting on the pace, to see if you can go as fast as I can—­and it’s all I can do to keep up with you.  And your cheeks are red as roses, and you’re so hot you take off your kerchief and fasten it round your waist like a sash.  And there you are running beside me, bareheaded, and your bright hair lifting as you go.  I’ve never seen you look so beautiful before, and I tell you so.  You ought to be like that always.

“And so we come home, as happy as can be....  And here we are!”

“You can make stories!” cried the girl.  “It was wonderful!  Just as if we’d really been there and seen it all.”