“I found my eyes growing damp; for I was thinking of the riotous profusion of the rich, and of the costly toys they heap upon their children; and the contrast of this poor man, unable to buy a single cheap toy for his family, and giving his chubby boy a rude iron hammer and nails, to pound into that poor stool, as a substitute for doll or rocking-horse, was very touching.  And then I looked with some wonder at the straightforward honesty of the little maid, who, in the midst of the new, fine house, was not ashamed to talk so frankly of the dismal wretchedness and want which a few days before had been the lot of the family.  She saw nothing to be ashamed of in poverty; while by meaner and more sordid souls it is regarded as the very abasement of shame and crime.

“Ole was pounding away at his nails.

“‘Does he not hurt himself sometimes?’ I asked.

“’Oh yes, she said, laughing; ’at first he would hit his little fingers many a hard rap; and he would start to cry, but papa would tell him that “men never cry;—­and then it was funny to see how he would purse up his little red mouth, while the tears of pain ran down from his big round eyes, but not a sound more would escape him.’

“And I said to myself:  ’This is the stuff of which was formed the masterful race that overran the world under the names of a dozen different peoples.  Ice and snow made the tough fiber, mental and physical, which the hot sun of southern climes afterward melted into the viciousness of more luxurious nations.  Man is scourged into greatness by adversity, and leveled into mediocrity by prosperity.  This little fellow, whose groans die between his set teeth, has in him the blood of the Vikings.’

“There was one thing I did out of policy, which yet went very much against my inclinations, in dealing with such good and honest people.  I knew that in all probability I had been traced by the spies of the Oligarchy to this house; they would regard it of course as a crazy adventure, and would naturally assign it to base purposes.  But it would not do for me to appear altogether different, even in this family, from the character I had given myself out to be, of a reckless and dissipated man; for the agents of my enemies might talk to the servant, or to members of the household.  And so the second night I came home to supper apparently drunk.  It was curious to see the looks of wonder, sorrow and sympathy exchanged between the members of the family as I talked ramblingly and incoherently at the table.  But this feint served one purpose; it broke down the barrier between landlord and tenants.  Indeed, paradoxical as it may seem, I think they thought more of me because of my supposed infirmity; for ‘pity is akin to love;’ and it is hard for the tenderer feelings of the heart to twine about one who is so strong and flawless that he demands no sympathy or forbearance at our hands.  I ceased to be the rich owner of a house—­I was simply one of themselves;