At last it was very still and sad in the cabin.
The mother kept up some measure of courage, but the father was not a bit
like himself. He could no longer work nor jest, but sat from morning
till night, his head buried in his hands, and only brooded.
Once--that was after the third burial--the father had broken out into
wild talk, which frightened the children. He said that he could not
understand why such misfortunes should come upon them. They had done a
kindly thing in helping the sick woman. Could it be true, then, that the
evil in this world was more powerful than the good?
The mother tried to reason with him, but she was unable to soothe him.
A few days later the eldest was stricken. She had always been the
father's favourite, so when he realized that she, too, must go, he fled
from all the misery. The mother never said anything, but she thought it
was best for him to be away, as she feared that he might lose his
reason. He had brooded too long over this one idea: that God had allowed
a wicked person to bring about so much evil.
After the father went away they became very poor. For awhile he sent
them money, but afterward things must have gone badly with him, for no
more came.
The day of the eldest daughter's burial the mother closed the cabin and
left home with the two remaining children, Osa and Mats.
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