Anders still kept on. Then Baard suddenly bid forty dollars,
and ceased to look at his brother. It grew very still in the
auction-room, the voice of the lensmand one was heard calmly naming the
price. Anders, standing there, thought if Baard could afford to give
forty dollars he could also, and if Baard grudged him the watch, he
might as well take it. He bid higher. This Baard felt to be the
greatest disgrace that had ever befallen him; he bid fifty dollars, in
a very low tone. Many people stood around, and Anders did not see how
his brother could so mock at him in the hearing of all; he bid higher.
At length Baard laughed.
"A hundred dollars and my brotherly affection in the bargain," said he,
and turning left the room. A little later, some one came out to him,
just as he was engaged in saddling the horse he had bought a short time
before.
"The watch is yours," said the man; "Anders has withdrawn."
The moment Baard heard this there passed through him a feeling of
compunction; he thought of his brother, and not of the watch. The
horse was saddled, but Baard paused with his hand on its back,
uncertain whether to ride away or no. Now many people came out, among
them Anders, who when he saw his brother standing beside the saddled
horse, not knowing what Baard was reflecting on, shouted out to him:--
"Thank you for the watch, Baard! You will not see it run the day your
brother treads on your heels.
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