Pastor Martens had not had an opportunity of speaking to Madeleine by herself since his proposal.  But at this time of anxiety and excitement he came very frequently to Sandsgaard.  Mrs. Garman kept her bed, for what reason it was not easy to know; and so it chanced that several times, when he came, no one but Madeleine happened to be in the room.  At first she was very shy and timid, but when she found that he was not in the least offended with her, she could not help appreciating his conduct.  Of all others, he was certainly the person who showed her the most attention; for her father’s thoughts were entirely engrossed with her uncle’s illness.

A few days after this, when the Consul had been quiet for some time, he said to Rachel, “Send Gabriel in here.”

Mr. Garman gave Gabriel his right hand, which he was now able to move a little.  “Thanks, my boy; you have saved us from a heavy loss, and shown yourself a man.  If what I hear from Rachel is true, that you would prefer to give up your studies—­”

“Not without you wish it, father,” stammered the boy.

“I should wish you to go to the commercial school in Dresden, and then take your place in the firm, when you have gained sufficient instruction.”

“Father! father!” cried Gabriel, bending down over the Consul’s hand.

“There, my boy, let me see that you are able to work, and then you may turn out good for something after all.  And now will you do me the favour of finding another name for the ship?  For I wish her to have a new one,” said the Consul, calmly.

This great honour was almost too much for Gabriel, but with a sudden inspiration he cried, “Phoenix!”

A faint smile flitted over the right side of the Consul’s face.  “Very well; we will call her Phoenix.  And will you see the name painted on her stern?”

As Gabriel left the room he met Miss Cordsen.  He threw his arms round her neck, and began hugging and kissing her, repeating all the time, incoherently, the words, “Phoenix—­Dresden—­the firm.”

Miss Cordsen scolded and struggled.  She was afraid to scream; but he was too strong for her, and the old lady had to resign herself to her fate.  At length he ran off, and Miss Cordsen was left, arranging her cap-strings, and saying to herself, “They are all alike, one and all.”  But when Gabriel ran across the yard, and, meeting the fat kitchen-maid Bertha, gave her a friendly slap on the back, the old lady clapped her hands together, and exclaimed, “Well, I declare, he is the worst of the whole lot!”

The Consul had several long interviews with Morten, who put on an air of importance before the clerks and workpeople.  But his feelings, when he took his father’s place in the old armchair in the office, are not easily described.