She had hoped
to meet her father as soon as she arrived. Her glance wandered anxiously
from face to face, but she saw only natives. Her father was not there.
She noticed that the Lapps and the Swede, Soederberg, grew more and more
earnest as they talked among themselves. The Lapps shook their heads and
tapped their foreheads, as if they were speaking of some one that was
not quite right in his mind.
She became so uneasy that she could no longer endure the suspense and
asked Soederberg what the Laplanders knew of her father.
"They say he has gone fishing," said the workman. "They're not sure that
he can get back to the camp to-night; but as soon as the weather clears,
one of them will go in search of him."
Thereupon he turned to the Lapps and went on talking to them. He did not
wish to give Osa an opportunity to question him further about Jon
Esserson.
THE NEXT MORNING
Ola Serka himself, who was the most distinguished man among the Lapps,
had said that he would find Osa's father, but he appeared to be in no
haste and sat huddled outside the tent, thinking of Jon Esserson and
wondering how best to tell him of his daughter's arrival. It would
require diplomacy in order that Jon Esserson might not become alarmed
and flee. He was an odd sort of man who was afraid of children. He used
to say that the sight of them made him so melancholy that he could not
endure it.
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