"_Goddag!_" says the chaplain from the stern, smiling a little, and doffing his soft hat. All those on shore bare their heads respectfully, and the lay-helpers bow till their long hair falls over their eyes. Big Rolandsen is less obsequious than the others; he stands upright as ever, but takes off his hat and holds it low down.
The chaplain is a youngish man, with reddish whiskers and a spring crop of freckles; his nostrils seem to be choked with a growth of fair hair. His lady is lying down in the deck-house, sea-sick and miserable.
"We're there now," says her husband in through the doorway, and helps her out. Both of them are curiously dressed, in thick, old clothes that look far from elegant. Still, these, no doubt, are just some odd over-things they have borrowed for the journey; their own rich clothes will be inside, of course. The lady has her hat thrust back, and a pale face with large eyes looks out at the men. Lay-helper Levion wades out and carries her ashore; the priest manages by himself.
"I'm Rolandsen, of the Telegraph," says Big Rolandsen, stepping forward. He was not a little drunk, and his eyes glared stiffly, but being a man of the world, there was no hesitation in his manner. Ho, that Rolandsen, a deuce of a fellow! No one had ever seen him at a loss when it came to mixing with grand folk, and throwing out elegant bits of speech. "Now if only I knew enough," he went on, addressing the priest, "I might introduce us all. Those two there, I fancy, are the lay-helpers. These two are your farm-hands. And this is Ferdinand."
And the priest and his wife nod round to all. _Goddag! Goddag!_ They would soon learn to know one another. Well ... the next thing would be to get their things on shore.
But Lay-helper Levion looks hard at the deck-house, and stands ready to wade out once more. "Aren't there any little ones?" he asks.
No answer; all turn towards the priest and his wife.
"If there won't be any children?" asks the lay-helper again.
The lady flushed a little. The chaplain said:
"There are only ourselves.... You men had better come up and I'll settle with you now."
Oh, a rich man, of course. A man who would not withhold his due from the poor. The former priest never "settled" with people at all; he only said thanks, and that would be all "for now."