And off he went on board his own old-fashioned _Birkebeineren_.
The news ran like wildfire through the town: Nils Petter Jorgensen had been left a million gylden by his wife's uncle in Holland. It was true as could be; Justice Heidt had had a letter from the Queen to say so.
"Jantje!" roared Nils Petter out into the wash-house, where his wife stood in a cloud of steam and soapsuds.
"What is it, husband?" Jantje appeared in the doorway, little, stout and smiling, with her sleeves rolled up and the perspiration thick on her forehead.
"Oh, I haven't time now, husband. There's the washing to be done."
"Oh, bother the washing! We've done with all that now," said Nils Petter loftily. And, thrusting his thumbs into the armholes of his waistcoat, he strode stiffly in, followed by Jantje.
"Jantje, sit down on the sofa. Ahem ... er ... an event has occurred..."
"Have they made you captain, husband; you have got a ship? We can go to Holland together, is it not?" Jantje clapped her hands together, and looked at him expectantly. Poor Jantje had never seen her native land since the day she sailed away on board the _Eva Maria_, and still felt strange in Norway, speaking the language with difficulty as she did.
"We're rich, Jantje; we're millionaires, that's what it is."
Jantje turned serious at once; her first thought was that Nils Petter must have taken a drop too much--a thing that rarely happened now since he had been married.
"Don't you think you'd better lie down a little, husband?" she said quietly, pointing to the bedroom.
"Oho, you think I've been drinking? Well, here's the letter from the Justice; you can see for yourself."
Jantje took the letter and studied it intently, but could not make out a word of what it said.
"Your Uncle Peter van Groot died in Java last year, and left millions of gylden, and no children----"
"And all those millions are ours now, seeing we're the nearest heirs since your mother and father died."
"Poor Uncle Pit--kind old Uncle Pit," sighed Jantje, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Then, rising to her feet, she went on: "If that's all, husband, then I'll go and finish the washing."
"Washing, now? No, you don't, Jantje. Off with you at once and put on the finest you've got: your green dress and the coral brooch."