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 THE UNIVERSITY 
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 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 MRS. H. RUSSELL AMORY . 
 
 GIFT OF HER CHI LDREN 
 R. W. AND NINA PARTRIDGE 
 
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 U^^B LIBRARY
 
 FEATS ON THE FIORD 
 
 A TALE OF NORWAY, 
 
 HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 CHARLES KNIGHT & Co. LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1846.
 
 LONDOi^ : WILLIAil CLOTTES AND SONS, STAMFORD STESET.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CWAPTEn 
 
 I. Erlingsen's ' At Home' 
 
 
 Plgd 
 
 9 
 
 II. Oddo'sWalk 
 
 • • 
 
 34 
 
 III. Olaf and his News 
 
 . 
 
 47 
 
 IV. Roving here and roving 
 
 there 
 
 64 
 
 V. The Water Sprites' Doings 
 
 75 
 
 VI. Spring . 
 
 
 89 
 
 ' VII. Vogel Islet 
 
 
 105 
 
 VIII. A Summer Apartment 
 
 
 313 
 
 IX. Hand's Report • 
 
 
 123 
 
 X. Seeking the Uplands 
 
 
 140 
 
 XI. Dairy-maids' Talk 
 
 
 155 
 
 XII. Peder Abroad . 
 
 
 1G2 
 
 XIII. Plot and Counterplot 
 
 
 178 
 
 XIV. Midnight 
 
 
 192 
 
 XV. Mountain Fare • 
 
 
 203 
 
 XVI. Old Tales and better Tidings 
 
 214 
 
 XVII. The Watch on the Hill 
 
 . 
 
 222 
 
 XVIIT. To Church 
 
 , , 
 
 OOf)
 
 NOTICE FROM THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
 * Feats on the Fiord,' which the Publishers 
 have received permission from Miss Martineau 
 to introduce into this Series, forms one of four 
 Volumes, bearing the general title of ' The 
 Playfellow.' Although written for young per- 
 sons, this volume is characterized as a book 
 that " will be read with delight through every 
 generation in a house." {Quarterly Review, 
 June, 1844.) This volume is especially intro- 
 duced here in the hope that it may form one 
 amongst other Tales describing Life in foreign 
 Lands. It is not intended by the present 
 publication to separate this book from the 
 Series of ' The Playfellow,' with the other 
 volumes of which it will continue to be sold in 
 the original form and larger type ; nor will the 
 other volumes of that series be included in 
 * Knight's Weekly Volume.'
 
 FEATS ON THE FIORD, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 erlingsen's 'at home.' 
 
 Every one who has looked at the map of Nor- 
 way must have been struck with the singular cha- 
 racter of its coast. On the map it looks so jag-ged, 
 such a strange mixture of land and sea, that it ap- 
 pears as if there must be a perpetual struggle be- 
 tween the two, — the sea striving to inundate the 
 land, and the land pushing itself out into the sea, 
 till it ends in their dividing tlie region between 
 them. On the spot, however, this coast is very 
 sublime. The long straggling promontories are 
 mountainous, towering ridges of rock, springing 
 up in precipices from the water ; while the bays 
 between them, instead of being rounded with 
 shelving sandy shores, on which the sea tumbles its 
 waves, as in bays of our coast, are, in fact, long 
 narrow valleys, filled with sea, instead of being laid 
 out in fields and meadows. The high rocky banks 
 shelter these deep bays (called fiords) from almost 
 every wind ; so that their waters are usually as 
 still as those of a lake. For days and weeks toge- 
 
 B
 
 10 ERLIXGSEn's ^ AT HOME.* 
 
 ther, tliey reflect each separate tree-top of the pine- 
 forests which clothe the mountain sides, the mirror 
 being broken only by the leap of some sportive 
 fish, or the oars of the boatman as he goes to 
 inspect the sea-fowl from islet to islet of the fiord, 
 or carries out his nets or his rod to catch the sea- 
 trout or char, or cod, or herrings, which abound, 
 in their seasons, on the coast of Norway. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether these fiords are the 
 most beautiful in summer or in winter. In sum- 
 mer, they glitter with golden sunshine ; and purple 
 and gi-een shadows from the mountain and forest 
 lie on them ; and these may be more lovely than 
 the famt light of the winter noons of those lati- 
 tudes, and the snowy pictures of frozen peaks which 
 then show themselves on the surface : but before 
 the day is half over, out come the stars, — the glo- 
 rious stars which shine like nothing that we have 
 ever seen. There, the planets cast a faint shadow, 
 as the young moon does with us ; and these planets 
 and the constellations of the sky, as they silently 
 glide over from peak to peak of these rocky passes, 
 are imaged on the waters so clearly that the fisher- 
 man, as he unmoors his boat for his evening task, 
 feels as if he were about to shoot forth his vessel 
 into another liea\enj and to cleave his way among 
 the stars. 
 
 Still as ever\^thing is to the eye, sometimes for a 
 hundred miles together along these deep sea-valleys, 
 there is rarely silence. The ear is kept awake by 
 a thousand voices. In the summer, there are cata- 
 racts leaping from ledge to ledge of the rocks ; and 
 there is the bleating of the kids that browse there, 
 and the flap of the great eagle's wings, as it dashes 
 abroad from its eyrie, and the cries of whole cloud.-?
 
 erlingsen's ' at home.' 11 
 
 of sea-birds which inhabit the islets ; and all these 
 sounds are mingled and multiplied by the strong 
 echoes, till they become a din as loud as that of a 
 city. Even at night, when the flocks are in the 
 fold, and the birds at roost, and the echoes them- 
 selves seem to be asleep, there is occasionally a 
 sweet music heard, too soft for even the listening 
 ear to catch by day. Every breath of summer 
 wind that steals through the pine-forests wakes this 
 music as it goes. The stiff spiny leaves of the fir 
 and pine vibrate with the breeze, like the strings of 
 a musical instrument, so that every breath of the 
 night-wind, in a Norwegian forest, wakens a myriad 
 of tiny harps ; and this gentle and mournful music 
 may be heard in gushes the whole night through. 
 This music, of course, ceases when each tree be- 
 comes laden with snow ; but yet there is sound, in 
 the midst of the longest winter night. There is the 
 rumble of some avalanche, as, after a drifting 
 storm, a mass of snow too heavy to keep its place 
 slides and tumbles from the mountain peak. There 
 is also, now and then, a loud crack of the ice in the 
 nearest glacier; and, as many declare, there is a 
 crackling to be heard by those who listen when the 
 northern lights are shooting and blazing across the 
 sky. Nor is this all. Wherever there is a nook 
 between the rocks on the shore, where a man may 
 build a house, and clear a field or two ; — wherever 
 there is a platform beside the cataract where the 
 sawyer may plant his mill, and make a path from 
 it to join some great road, there is a human habi- 
 tation, and the sounds that belong to it. Thence, 
 in winter nights, come music and laughter, and 
 the tread of dancers, and the hum of many voices. 
 The Norwegians are a social and hospitable people ; 
 
 b2
 
 12 erlingsen's 'at home.' 
 
 and they hold their gay meetings, in defiance of 
 their arctic climate, through every season of the 
 year. 
 
 On a January night, a hundred years ago, there 
 was great merriment in the house of a farmer \vho 
 had fixed his abode within the arctic circle, in 
 Kordland, not far from the foot of Sulitelma, the 
 highest mountain in Norway. This dwelling, with 
 its few fields about it, was in a recess between the 
 rocks, on the shore of the fiord, about five miles 
 from Saltdalen, and two miles from the junction of 
 the Salten's Elv (river) with the fiord. It was but 
 little that Erlingsen's fields would produce, though 
 they were sheltered from the coldest winds, and 
 the summer sunshine was reflected from the rocks, 
 so as to make this little farm much more produc- 
 tive than any near which were in a more exposed 
 situation. A patch of rye was grown, and some 
 beans and oats ; and there was a strip of pasture, 
 and a garden in which might be seen turnips, 
 radishes, potatoes, lettuce and herbs, and ever, 
 some fruits, — a few raspberries, and a great many 
 cherries. There were three or four horses on thr* 
 farm, five cows, and a small flock of goats. In 
 summer, the cattle and flock were driven up the 
 mountain, to feed on the pastures there ; and 
 during the seven months of winter, they were 
 housed and fed on the hay grown at home, and that 
 which was brought from the mountain, and on a 
 food which appears strange enough to us, but of 
 which cows m Norway are extremely fond — fish- 
 heads boiled into a thick soup with horse-dung. 
 At one extremity of the little beach of white sand 
 which extended before the farmer's door was his 
 boat-house ; and on his ])oat he and his family de-
 
 ERLINGSEn's ^ AT HOME.* 13 
 
 pended, no less than his cows, for a principal part 
 of their winter subsistence. Except a kid or a calf 
 now and then, no meat was killed on the farm. 
 Cod in winter, herrings in spring, trout and salmon 
 in summer, and salted fish in winter, always 
 abounded. Reindeer meat Avas regularly purchased 
 from the Lapps who travelled round among the 
 settlements for orders, or drove their fattened herds 
 from farm to farm. Besides this, there was the 
 resource of game. Erlingsen and his housemen 
 brought home from their sporting rambles, some- 
 times a young bear, sometimes wild ducks, or the 
 noble cock-of-the-woods, as big as a turkey, or a 
 string of snipes, or golden plovers, or ptarmigan. 
 The eggs of sea-birds might be found in every cre- 
 vice of the islets in the fiord, in the right season ; 
 and they are excellent food. Once a year, too, 
 Erlingsen wrapped himself in furs, and drove him- 
 self in his sledge, followed by one of his housemen 
 on another and a larger, to the great winter fair at 
 Tronyem, where the Lapps repaired to sell their 
 frozen reindeer meat, their skins, and few articles 
 of manufacture, and where travelling Russian mer- 
 chants came with the productions of other climates, 
 and found eager customers in the inhabitants who 
 thronged to this fair, to make their purchases. 
 Here, in exchange for the salt- fish, feathers, and 
 eider-down which had been prepared by the indus- 
 try of his family, Erlingsen obtained flax and wool 
 wherewith to make clothing for the household, and 
 those luxuries which no Norwegian tliinks of going 
 without, — corn-brandy, coffee, tobacco, sugar, and 
 spices. Large mould candles were also sold so 
 cheap by the Russians that it was worth while to 
 bring them home foi the use of the whole family, —
 
 14 EELINGSEX'S ' AT HOME. 
 
 even to burn in the stables and stalls, as the 
 supply of bears' fat was precarious, and the pine- 
 tree Mas too precious, so far north, to be split up 
 into torches, while it even fell so short occasion- 
 ally, as to compel the family to burn peat, which 
 they did not like nearly so well as pine-logs. It 
 was Madame Erlingsen's business to calculate how 
 much of all these foreign articles would be required 
 for the use of her household for a whole year ; and, 
 trusting to her calculations, which were never 
 found to be wrong, lier husband came home from the 
 winter fair heavily enough laden with good things. 
 
 Nor was it only what was required for his own 
 every-day household that he brought. The quan- 
 tity of provisions, especially corn-brandy, tobacco, 
 coffee, and sugar, consumed in hospitality in Nor- 
 way, is almost incredible ; and, retired as the 
 Erlingsens might appear to dwell, they were as 
 hospitable, according to their opportunities, as an} 
 inhabitant of Bergen or Christiania. They gave 
 feasts at Christmas, and on eveiy occasion that the\ 
 could devise. The occasioji, on the particulai 
 January day mentioned above, was the betroth- 
 ment of one of the house-maidens to a young farm- 
 servant of the estal)lishmeiit. I do not mean that 
 this festival was any thing like a marriage. It 
 was merely an engagement to be married ; but this 
 engagement is a much more formal and public 
 affair in Norway (and indeed wherever the people 
 belong to the Lutheran church) than with us. 
 According to the rites of the Lutheran church, 
 there are two ceremonies, — one when a couple be- 
 come engaged, and another when they are married. 
 In Norway, this betrothment gives the couple a 
 certain dignity beyond that of the unengaged, and
 
 ERLINGSLIN's • AT HOME,' 15 
 
 more liberty of companionship, together Mith cer- 
 tain rights in law. This makes up to them for 
 being obliged to wait so long as they often must 
 before they can marry. In a country, scattered 
 over with fanners, like Korway, where there are 
 few money transactions, because people provide for 
 their own wants on their oAvn little estates, servants 
 do not shift their places, and go from master to 
 master, as with us. A young man and woman 
 have to wait long, — probably till some houseman 
 dies or removes, before they can settle ; and then 
 they are settled for life, — provided for till death, if 
 they choose to be commonly industrious and honest. 
 The stoiy of this betrothment at Erlingsen's v-ill 
 explain w hat I have just said. 
 
 As Madame Erlingsen had two daughters grow- 
 ing up, and they were no less active than the girls 
 of a Norwegian household usually are, she had oc- 
 casion for only two maidens to assist in the business 
 of the dwelling and the dairy. 
 
 Of these two, the younger. Erica, was the maiden 
 betrothed to-day. No one perhaps rejoiced so 
 much at the event as her mistress, both for Erica's 
 sake, and on account of lier own two young- 
 daughters. Erica was not the best companion for 
 them ; and the servants of a Norwegian farmer are 
 necessarily the companions of the daughters of the 
 house. There was nothing wrong in Erica's con- 
 duct or temper towards the family. She had, 
 when confirmed,* borne so high a character that 
 
 * The rite of confirmatiou is thought much more of in 
 Nor-way thau -nitli us. The preparation for it is longer and 
 more strict ; and the destiny of young people for life depends 
 much on how they pass tlirough it. A person wIjo has not 
 been confirmed is looked upon as one without a character
 
 16 
 
 many places were offered her, and Madame Er- 
 lingsen had thought herself very fortunate in ob- 
 taining her services. But, since then, Erica had 
 sustained a shock which hurt her spirits, and in- 
 creased a weakness which she owed to her mother. 
 Her mother, a widow, had brought up her child in 
 all the superstitions of the country, some of which 
 remain in full strength even to this day, and were 
 then verj^ powerful ; and the poor woman's death 
 at last confirmed the lessons of her life. She 
 had stayed too long, one autumn day, at the 
 Erlingsen's ; and, being benighted on her return, 
 and suddenly seized and bewildered by the cold, 
 had wandered from the road, and was found frozen 
 to death in a recess of the forest which it was sur- 
 prising that she should have reached. Erica never 
 believed that she did reach this spot of her own ac- 
 cord. Having had some fears before of the Wood- 
 Demon having been oflfended by one of the family, 
 Erica regarded this accident as a token of his ven- 
 geance. She said this when she first heard of her 
 mother's death ; and no reasonings from the zealous 
 pastor of the district, no soothing from her mis- 
 tress, could shake her persuasion. She listened 
 with submission, wiping away her quiet tears as 
 they discoursed ; but no one could ever get her to 
 say tliat she doubted whether there was a Wood 
 
 and without knowledge ; while those who pass well stand 
 high in credit ; and, if they have to earn their living, are 
 sure of good situations. In the newspapers in rsorway you 
 may see among the advertisements, " A confirmed shop-boy 
 "wants a place." " Wanted, a confirmed girl who can cook ;" 
 which means that their having been confirmed proves that 
 they are considered respectable, and not deficient in capacity 
 or knowledge.
 
 erlingsen's 'at home.' n 
 
 Demon, or that she was not afraid of what he 
 would do if offended. 
 
 Erlingsen and his wife always treated her super- 
 stition as a weakness ; and when she was not pre- 
 sent, they ridiculed it. Yet they saw that it had 
 its effect on their daughters. Erica most strictly 
 obeyed their wish that she should not talk about 
 the spirits of the region with Orga and Frolich ; 
 but the girls found plenty of people to tell them 
 what they could not learn from Erica. Besides 
 what everybody knows who lives in the rural dis- 
 tricts of Norway, — about Nipen, the spirit that is 
 always so busy after everybody's affairs, — about the 
 Water-sprite, an acquaintance of every one who 
 lives beside a river or lake, — and about the Moun- 
 tain-Demon, familiar to all who lived so near Su- 
 litelma ; besides these common spirits, the girls 
 used to hear of a multitude of others from old 
 Peder, the blind houseman, and from all the farm- 
 people, down to Oddo, the herd-boy. Their pa- 
 rents hoped that this taste of theirs miglit die away 
 if once Erica, with her sad, serious face and sub- 
 dued voice, were removed to a house of her own, 
 where they would see her supported by her hus- 
 band's unfearing mind, and occupied with domestic 
 business more entirely than in her mistress's house. 
 So Madame Erlingsen was well pleased that Erica 
 was betrothed ; and she could only have been better 
 satisfied if she had been married at once. 
 
 For this marrying, however, the young people 
 must wait. There was no house, or houseman's 
 place, vacant for them at present. There was a 
 prospect, however. The old houseman Peder, who 
 had served Erlingsen's father and Erlingsen him- 
 self for fifty-eight years, could now no longer do 
 
 b3
 
 18 ERLINGSEN's ' AT HOME.' 
 
 the weekly work on the farm which was his rent 
 for his house, field, and cow. He was blind and 
 old. His aged wife Ulla could not leave the • 
 house ; and it was the most she could do to keep 
 the dwelling in order, with occasional help from 
 one and another. Housemen who make this sort 
 of contract with farmers in Norway are never 
 turned out. They have their dwelling and field 
 for their own life and that of their wives. What 
 they do, when disabled, is to take in a deserving 
 young man, to do their work for the farmer, on 
 the understanding that he succeeds to the house- 
 man's place on the death of the old people. Peder 
 and Ulla had made this agreement with Erica's 
 lover, Rolf; and it was understood that his mar- 
 riage with Erica should take place whenever the 
 old people should die. 
 
 It was impossible for Erica herself to fear that 
 Nipen was offended, at the outset of this festival 
 day. If he had chosen to send a wind, the guests 
 could not have come ; for no human frame can en- 
 dure travelling in a wind in Nordland on a Janu- 
 ary day. Happily, the air was so calm that a flake 
 of snow, or a lock of eider-down, would have fallen 
 straight to the ground. At two o'clock, when the 
 short daylight was gone, the stars were shining so 
 brightly, that the company who came by the fiord 
 would be sure to have an easy voyage. Almost all 
 came by the fiord, for the only road from Erling- 
 sen's house led to so few habitations, and was so 
 narrow, steep, and rocky, that an arrival by that 
 way was a rare event. The path was now, how- 
 ever, so smooth with frozen snow, that more than 
 one sledge attempted and performed the descent. 
 Erlinorsen and some of his servants went out to the
 
 ERMNGSEn's ^ AT HOME.' 19 
 
 porch, on hearing music from the water, and stood 
 with lighted pine-torches to receive their guests, 
 when, approaching from behind, they heard the 
 sound of the sleigh-bells, and found that company- 
 was arriving both by sea and land. 
 
 It was a pretty sight, — such an arrival. In 
 frontj there was the head of a boat driving up upon 
 the white beach, and figure after figure leaping out 
 and hastening to be welcomed in the porch ; while, 
 in the midst of the greeting, the quick and regular 
 beat of a horse's feet Avas heard on the frozen ground, 
 and the active little animal rushed into the light, 
 shaking his mane and jingling his bells, till sud- 
 denly checked by the driver, who stood upright at 
 the back of the sledge, while the ladies reclined, so 
 MTapped in furs that nothing could be seen of them 
 till they had entered the house, and issued forth 
 from the room where they threw off their pelisses 
 and cloaks. Glad had the visitors been, whether 
 they came by land or water, to arrive in sight of 
 the lighted dwelling, whose windows looked like 
 rows of yellow stars, contrasting with the blue ones 
 overhead ; and more glad still were they to be 
 ushered into the great room, where all was so 
 light, so warm, so cheerful I "Warm it was, to the 
 farthest corner ; and too warm near the roaring 
 and crackling fires : for the fires were of pine- 
 wood. Rows upon rows of candles were fastened 
 against the walls, above the heads of the company ; 
 the floor was strewn with juniper twigs ; and the 
 spinning-wheels, the carding-boards, every token of 
 household labour was removed, except a loom, 
 which remained in one corner. In another corner 
 was a welcome sight, — a platform of rough boards, 
 two feet from the floor, and on it two stools. This
 
 20 eelixgsen's ' AT home/ 
 
 was a token that there was to be dancing ; and in- 
 deed Oddo, the herd-boy, old Peder's grandson, was 
 seen to have his clarionet in his belt, as he ran in 
 and out on the arrival of fresh parties. 
 
 Before four o'clock, the whole company, con- 
 sisting of about forty, had arrived. They walked 
 about the large room, sipping their strong coffee, 
 and helping one another to the good things on the 
 trays which were carried round, — the slices of 
 bread and butter, with anchovies, or shreds of 
 reindeer ham or tongue, or thin slices of salt 
 cheese. When these trays disappeared, and the 
 young v/omen who had served them returned into 
 the room, Oddo was seen to reach the platform 
 with a hop, skip, and jump, followed by a dull- 
 looking young man with a violin. The oldest men 
 lighted their pipes, and sat dovm. to talk, two or 
 three together. Others withdrew to a smaller 
 room, where card-tables were set out ; while the 
 younger men selected their partners, and handed 
 them forth for the gallopade. The dance was led 
 by the blushing Erica, whose master was her part- 
 ner. It had never occurred to her that she was not 
 to take her usual place ; and she was greatly em- 
 barrassed ; not the less so that she knew that her 
 mistress was immediately behind, with Rolf for 
 her partner. Erica might, however, have led the 
 dance in any country in Europe. All the women 
 in Xorway dance well ; being practised in it from 
 their infancy, as an exercise for which the leisure of 
 their long winter, and the roominess of their houses, 
 afford scope. Every woman present danced well ; 
 but none better than Erica. 
 
 " Very well !" '' very pretty !" " very good !" 
 observed the pastor, M. Kollsen, as he sat, with
 
 ERLINGSEN S ' AT HOME. 21 
 
 Lis pipe in his mouth, looking on. M. Kollsen 
 was a very young man ; but the men in Norway 
 smoke as invariably as the women dance. " Very 
 pretty indeed ! They only want double the num- 
 ber to make it as pretty a dance as any in Tron- 
 yem." 
 
 " What would you have, sir ?" asked old Peder, 
 who sat smoking at his elbow. " Are there not 
 eleven couple ? Oddo told me there were eleven 
 couple ; and I think I counted so many pairs of 
 feet as they passed." 
 
 " Let me see : — yes, you are right, Peder. 
 There are eleven couples." 
 
 " And what would you have more, sir ? In 
 this young man's father's time " 
 
 "Rolfs father's?" 
 
 " No, sir, — Erlingsen's. Ah ! I forgot that 
 Erlingsen may not seem to you, or any stranger, to 
 be young ; but Ulla and I have been used to call 
 him so ; and I fear I always shall, as I shall never 
 see the furrows in his face. It will be always 
 smooth and young to me. My Ulla says there is 
 nothing to be sorry for in that, and she does not 
 object to my thinking so of her face. But, as I 
 was saying, in the elder Erlingsen's time we 
 thought we did well when we set up nine cou- 
 ples at Yule : and since then, the Holbergs and 
 Thores have each made out a new farm within ten 
 miles ; and we are accustomed to be rather proud 
 of our eleven couples. Indeed I once knew it 
 twelve, when they got me to stand up with little 
 Henrica, — the pretty little girl whose grave lies 
 behind, just under the rock. But I suppose there 
 is no question but there are finer doings at Tron- 
 yem.'
 
 22 ERLINGSEN'S ' AT HOME.' 
 
 " Of course, — of course," said the young clergy- 
 man. '' But there are many youths in Tronyem 
 that would be glad of so pretty a partner as M. 
 Erlingsen has, — if she would not look so fright- 
 ened." 
 
 " Pretty she is," said Peder. '•' As I remember 
 her complexion, it looks as if it was made by the 
 reflection of our snows in its own clearness. And 
 when you do get a full look into her eyes, how- 
 like the summer sky they are, — as deep as the 
 heavens in a midsummer noon ! Did you say she 
 looks frightened, sir ?" 
 
 '■ Yes. When does she not ? Some ghost from 
 the grave has scared her, I suppose ; or some spirit 
 that has no grave to lie still in, perhaps. It is a 
 great fault in her that she has so little faith. I 
 never met with such a case. I hardly know how 
 to conduct it. I must begin with the people about 
 her, — abolish their superstitions, — and then there 
 may be a chance for her. Meanwhile I have but 
 a poor account to give to the bishop* of the reli- 
 gion of the district." 
 
 " Did you say, sir, that Erica wants faith ? It 
 seems to me that I nexev knew any one who had so 
 much." 
 
 " You think so because there is no idea in this 
 region of what faith is. A prodigious work indeed 
 my bishop has given me to do. He himself cannot 
 be aware what it is, till I send him my report. 
 One might suppose that Christianity had never 
 been heard of here, by the absurd credulity one 
 meets with in the best houses, ^ — the multitude of 
 
 * A hiuidred years ago, Nordland was included in the 
 diocese of Tronyem.
 
 AT HOME.' 23 
 
 good and evil spirits one hears of at every turn. I 
 will blow them all to the winds presently. I will 
 root out every superstition in a circle of twenty- 
 miles." 
 
 "You will, sir?" 
 
 *' I will. Such is my duty as a Christian 
 pastor." 
 
 " Do you suppose you can, sir?" 
 
 " Certainly. ISTo doubt of that. What sort of 
 pastor must he be who cannot vindicate his own 
 religion ?" 
 
 " These beliefs, sir, were among us long before 
 you were born ; and I fancy they will last till some 
 time after you are dead. And, what is more, — I 
 should not wonder if your bishop v,as to tell you 
 the same thing, when you send him your report 
 of us." 
 
 " I thought you had had more faith, Peder. I 
 thought you had been a better Christian." 
 
 " However that may be," said Peder, " I have 
 some knowledge of the people about us, having 
 lived nearly fourscore years in the parish ; and 
 perhaps, sir, as you are young, and from a distance, 
 you would allow me to sav a word. May I ?" 
 
 " O, certainly." 
 
 But while M. Kollsen gave this permission, he 
 took his pipe from his mouth, and beat time with 
 it upon his knee, and with his foot upon the ground, 
 to carry off his impatience at being instructed. 
 
 *' My advice would be, sir, with all respect to 
 you," said Peder, " that you should lead the 
 people into everything tliat you think true and 
 good, and pass over quietly whatever old customs 
 and notions you do not understand or like. I 
 have so much belief in the religion you are to
 
 24 ERLI^'GSE^■'s ' at home.* 
 
 teach as to feel sure tliat whatever v>'ill not agree 
 with it will die oif out of its way, if let alone. 
 But if religion is brought in to hurt the people's 
 feelings and notions, that religion will be the thing 
 to suffer." 
 
 " I must judge for myself about such matters, of 
 course,'' said M. Kollsen. He was meditating a 
 change of place, to escape further lecturing about 
 his duty, when Peder saved him the trouble of 
 leaving his comfortable seat by rising, and moving 
 away towards the fire. Peder's pipe was smoked 
 out, and he was going for more tobacco to the 
 place where tobacco was always to be found, — in a 
 little recess above the fireplace. He felt his way 
 carefully, that he might not interfere with the 
 dancers, or be jostled by them ; but he had not far 
 to go. One friend begged to be sent for anything 
 he wanted ; another, with a quicker eye, brought 
 him tobacco ; and a third led him to his seat again. 
 All looked with wonder at M. Kollsen, surprised 
 that he, Peder's companion at the moment, young 
 and blessed with eyesight, could let the blind old 
 man leave his seat for such a reason. M. Kollsen 
 vrhiffed away, however, quite unconscious of what 
 everybody was thinking. 
 
 " This waltz," said Peder, when the dancers 
 had begun again, " does not seem to go easily. 
 There is something amiss. I think it is in the 
 music that the fault lies. My boy's clarionet goes 
 well enough ; no fear of Oddo's being out. Pray, 
 sir, who plays the violin at this moment ?" 
 
 *' A fellow who looks as. if he did not like his 
 business. He is frowning with his red brows, as 
 if he would frown out the lights." 
 
 '•Hi^red brows! O, tlien it is Hund. I was
 
 erlingsen's ^at home/ 25 
 
 thinking it would be hard upon him, poor fellow, if 
 he had to play to-night. Yet not so hard as if he 
 had to dance. It is weary work dancing with the 
 heel s when the heart is too heavy to move. You 
 may have heard, sir, for every one knows it, that 
 Hund wanted to have young Rolf's place ; and, 
 some say. Erica herself. Is she dancing, sir, if I 
 may ask?" 
 
 "Yes, — with Rolf. What sort of a man is 
 Rolf, — with regard to these superstitions, I mean? 
 Is he as foolish as Erica, — always frightened about 
 something ?" 
 
 '' No, indeed. It is to be wished that Rolf was 
 not so light as he is, — so inconsiderate about these 
 matters. Rolf has his troubles and his faults ; but 
 they are not of that kind." 
 
 *' Enough," said M. Kollsen with a voice of 
 authority. " I rejoice to hear that he is superior 
 to the popular delusions. As to his troubles and 
 his faults, they may be left for me to discover, all 
 in good time." 
 
 " With all my heart, sir. They are nobody's 
 business but his own ; and, may be. Erica's. Rolf 
 has a good heart ; and I doubt not Ulla and I shall 
 have great comfort in him. He lives with us, sir, 
 from this night forwards. H'here is no fear that he 
 will wish us in our graves, though we stand be- 
 tween him and his marriage." 
 
 " That must be rather a painful consideration to 
 you." 
 
 " Not at all, sir, at present. Ulla and I were 
 all the happier, we think to this day, for having 
 had four such years as these young people have 
 before them, to know one another in, and grow 
 suitable in notions and habits, and study to please
 
 26 ERLINGSEX'S ^ AT HOxME.' 
 
 one another. By the time Rolf and Erica are 
 what we were, one or botli of us will be under- 
 gi'ound, and Rolf will have, I am certain, the plea- 
 sant feeling of having done his duty by us. It is 
 all as it should be, sir ; and I pray that they may 
 live to say, at our age, what Ulla and I can say of 
 the same season of our lives." 
 
 The pastor made no answer. He had not heard 
 the last few ^vords ; for what Peder said of being 
 underground had plunged him into a reverie about 
 Peder's funeral sermon, Mhich he should, of course, 
 have to preach. He was pondering how he should 
 at once do justice to Peder's virtues, and mark his 
 own disapprobation of the countenance Peder gave 
 to the superstitions of the region in which he lived. 
 Pie must keep in view the love and respect in which 
 the old man Mas held by everj-body ; and yet he 
 must bear witness against the great fault above- 
 mentioned. He composed two or three paragraphs 
 in his imagination, Mhich he thought M'ould do. 
 and then committed them to memorJ^ He wa.s 
 roused from this employment by a loud laugh from 
 the man Avhose funeral he M-as meditating, and saw 
 that Peder was enjoying life, at present, as mucli 
 as tlie youngest, — with a glass of punch in his 
 hand, and a group of hid men and women round 
 him, recalling the jests of fifty j'ears ago. 
 
 '•How goes it, Rolf?" said his master. Mho, 
 having done his duty in the dancing-room, Mas now 
 making his May to the card-tables, in another 
 apartment, to ^^e hoM- his guests there M-ere enter- 
 tained. Thinking that Rolf looked xerj absent, as 
 he stood, in the pause of the dance, in silence by 
 Erica's side, Erlingsen clapped him on the shoulder 
 and said, '• IIom- goes it ? Make your friends merry."
 
 ERLINGSEN^S ' AT HOME.' 27 
 
 Rolf bowed and smiled, and his master passed on. 
 
 " How goes it ?" repeated Rolf to Erica, as he 
 looked earnestly into her face. " Is all going on 
 well, Erica?" 
 
 '' Certainly. I suppose so. Why not ?" she re- 
 plied. " If you see anything wrong, — anything 
 omitted, be sure and tell me. Madame Erlingsen 
 would be very sorry. Is there anything forgotten, 
 Rolf?" 
 
 " I think you have forgotten what the day is : 
 that is all. Nobody that looked at you, love, 
 would fancy it to be your own day. You look 
 anything but merry. Hardly a smile from you to- 
 night ! And that is a great omission." 
 
 " 0, Rolf, there is something so much better 
 than merriment !" 
 
 '■ Yes, love ; but where is it ? not in your heart 
 to-night. Erica." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, Rolf." 
 
 ^' You look as dull, — as sad, — you and Hund, 
 as if " 
 
 " Hund !" repeated Erica, glancing around the 
 room for Hund, and not seeing him till her lover 
 reminded her that Hund was the musician. " Hund 
 does seem dull enough, to be sure," said she, 
 smiling ; " I hope I do not often look like that." 
 
 '• I am more sorry for him than you are, I see," 
 said Rolf, brightening when he found how entirely 
 Hund had been absent from her thoughts. "I 
 am more sorry for Hund than you are : and with 
 good reason, for I know what the happiness is that 
 he has missed, poor fellow ! But yet I think you 
 might feel a little more for him. It would show 
 that you know how to value love." 
 
 '• Indeed I am very sorr}^ for him ; but more for
 
 28 ERLINGSEX'S ' AT HOME. 
 
 his disappointment about the house than any other. 
 To-day once over, he will soon fix his love on 
 somebody else. Perhaps we shall be dancing on 
 his betrothment-day before the year is out." 
 
 " Then I hope his girl will look merrier than 
 you do to-night," muttered Rolf, with a sigh. " O 
 Erica ! I \>ish you Mould trust me. I could take 
 care of you, and make you quite happy, if you 
 >yould only believe it. Ah ! I know what that 
 look means. I know you love me, and all that ; 
 
 but you are always tormenting yourself " 
 
 ''I think I know one who is cleverer still at 
 tormenting himself," said Erica, with a smile. 
 '• Come, Eolf, no more tormenting of ourselves or 
 one another ! No more of that after to-day ! 
 "What is to-day worth, if it is not to put an end to 
 all doubts of one another ?" 
 
 " But wdiere is the use of that, if you still will 
 not believe that I can keep off all trouble from you 
 — that nothing in the universe shall touch you to 
 
 your hurt, while " 
 
 '' O, hush ! hush !" said Erica, turning pale and 
 red at the presumption of this speech. '' See, 
 they are waiting for us. One more round before 
 supper." 
 
 And in the whirl of the waltz she tried to forget 
 the last words Rolf had spoken ; but they rang in 
 her ears : and before her eyes were images of 
 Nipen overhearing this defiance, — and the AVater- 
 sprite planning vengeance in its palace under the 
 ice, — and the Mountain-Demon laughing in scorn, 
 till the echoes shouted again, — and the AVood- 
 Demon waiting only for summer to see how he 
 could beguile the rash lover. Erica finished her 
 dance ; but when the company and the men of the
 
 ERLINGSEn's ^ AT HOME.' 29 
 
 household were seated at the supper-table, and she 
 had to help her mistress and the young ladies to 
 wait upon them, she trembled so that she could 
 scarcely stand. It was so very wrong of Rolf to 
 be always defying the spirits ! 
 
 Long was the supper, and hearty was the mirth 
 round the table. People in Norway have univer- 
 sally a hearty appetite, — such an appetite as we 
 English have no idea of. "Whether it is owing to 
 the sharp climate, or to the active life led by all, — 
 whatever may be the cause, such is the fact. This 
 night, piles offish disappeared first; and then joint 
 after joint of reindeer venison. The fine game of 
 the country was handed round, cut up ; and little 
 but the bones was left of a score of birds. Then 
 there were preserved fruits, and berries eaten with 
 thick cream;— almost every dish that could be 
 thought of made of the rich cream of the north. 
 Erica recovered herself as the great business -went 
 on ; and while her proud lover watched her, for- 
 getting his supper, he thought to himself that no 
 one of the fair attendants trod so lightly as Erica, 
 — no one carved so neatly, — no one handed the 
 dishes so gracefully, or was so quick at seeing to 
 whom the most respect and attention were owing. 
 Perhaps this last thought was suggested by Rolf's 
 perceiving that, either by her OAvn hand or ano- 
 ther's, the hottest dishes and the nicest bits were 
 found, all supper-time, close to his elbow. Ma- 
 dame Erlingsen, he decided, with all her expe- 
 rience, did not do the duties of the table so well ; 
 «n(l the young ladies, kind and good-tempered as 
 they were, would never, by any experience, become 
 so graceful as Erica. 
 
 At last appeared the final dish of the long feast,
 
 30 erlixgsen's 'at home.' 
 
 — the sweet cake, with which dinner and supper in 
 Norway usually conclude. AVhile this was sliced 
 and handed round, Rolf observed that Erica looked 
 anxiously towards him. He took no notice, hoping 
 that she Mould come and speak to him, and that he 
 should thus be the gainer of a few of her sweet 
 ^vT)rds. She did come, and just said, 
 
 " The cake and ale are here, Eolf. 'SYill you 
 carry them?" 
 
 '' O, the treat for old Xipen. Yes, I will carry 
 them," replied Rolf, rising from his seat. 
 
 It is the custom in the countiy regions of Nor- 
 way to give the spirit Nipen a share at festival 
 times. His Christmas cake is richer than that 
 prepared for the guests ; and, before the feast is 
 finished, it is laid in some place out of doors, 
 where, as might be expected, it is never to be 
 found in tlie morning. Everybody knew therefore 
 why Rolf rose from his seat, though some were 
 too far off to hear him say that he would carr\- out 
 the treat for old Nipen. 
 
 " Now, pray do not speak so, — do not call him 
 those names," said Erica, anxiously. '• It is quite 
 as easy to speak so as not to offend him. Pray, 
 Rolf, to please me, do speak respectfully. And 
 promise me to play no tricks, but just set the things 
 down, and come straight in, and do not look be- 
 hind you. Promise me, Rolf." 
 
 Rolf did promise, but he was stopped by two 
 voices, calling upon him. Oddo, the herd-boy, 
 came running to claim the office of carrying out 
 Nipen's cake ; and M. KoUsen, from his seat, de- 
 clared that he could not countenance any supersti- 
 tious observances, — would not indeed permit any so 
 gross as this in his presence. He requested that
 
 erlingsen's ' at home.' 31 
 
 the company might have the benefit of the cake, 
 and made a speech in ridicule of all spirits and 
 fairies, so very bold and contemptuous that all pre- 
 sent who had to go home that night looked in con- 
 sternation at their host. If such language as M. 
 Kollsen's were allowed, they looked for nothing 
 less than to have their way beset by offended 
 spirits ; so that Erlingsen might hear in the morn- 
 ing of some being frozen, some being lost in the 
 fiord, and others tumbled from precipices. M. 
 Erlingsen made haste to speak. He did not use 
 any scruples with the young clergy-man. He told 
 him that every one present would be happy at all 
 times to hear him speak on the matters belonging 
 to his office. He had discharged his office in the 
 morning, in betrothing Rolf and Erica ; he was 
 now resting from his business, as a guest at that 
 table ; and he would, of course, allow that the di- 
 rection of the festivity rested with the host and 
 hostess, whose desire it was that every thing should 
 be done which was agreeable to the feelings and 
 habits of the greater number of the guests. 
 
 It was settled in a moment that Nipen should 
 have his cake ; which so shocked and annoyed M. 
 Kollsen that he declared he would not remain to 
 sanction anything so impious, and requested that 
 his boatmen might be called from their suppers, 
 and desired to have his boat ready immediately. 
 No entreaties would soften him : go he would. 
 
 It appeared, however, that he could not go. Not 
 a man would row him, after what he had just said 
 of Nipen. All were sure that a gust would blow 
 the boat over, the minute she was out of reach of 
 land ; or that a rock would spring up in deep 
 water, where no rock was before ; or that some
 
 32 erlingsen's ' at home/ 
 
 strong hand would grasp the boat from below, and 
 draw it down under the waters. A shudder went 
 round as these things were prophesied ; and, of 
 course, M. Kollsen's return Y'^me that night was 
 out of the question, unless he would row himself. 
 At first he declared he should do this; but he was 
 so earnestly entreated to attempt nothing so rash, 
 that he yielded the point, with a supercilious air 
 which perhaps concealed more satisfaction than he 
 chose to avow to himself. He insisted on retirmg 
 immediately, however, and was shown to his cham- 
 ber at once, by Erlingsen himself, who found, on 
 his return, that the company were the better for 
 the pastor's absence, though unable to recover the 
 mirth which he had put to flight. Erica had been 
 shedding a few tears, in spite of strong efforts to 
 restrain them. Here was a bad omen already, — on 
 the very day of her betrothment ; and she saw that 
 Hund thought so ; for there was a gloomy satisfac- 
 tion in his eye, as he sat silently watching all that 
 passed. 
 
 She could not help being glad that Oddo re- 
 newed his request to be allowed to carry out 
 Nipen's cake and ale. She eagerly put the ale-can 
 into his hand, and the cake under his arm ; and 
 Oddo was going out, when his blind grandfather, 
 hearing that he was to be the messenger, observed 
 that he should be better pleased if it were some- 
 body else ; for Oddo, though a good boy, was in- 
 quisitive, and apt to get into mischief by looking 
 too closely into everything, having never a 
 thought of fear. Ever^'loody knew this to be true ; 
 though Oddo himself declared that he was as 
 frightened as anybody sometimes. i\Ioreover, he 
 asked what there was to pry into, on the present
 
 EPvLIXGSEN's ' AT HOME. 33 
 
 occasion, in the middle of the night ; and appealed 
 to the company whether Nipen was not best pleased 
 to be served by the yomigest of a party. This was 
 allowed ; and he w- -^ permitted to go, whenPeder's 
 consent was obtained, his mistress going to the door 
 with him, and seeing hiiii off, putting him in mind 
 that the dancing could not begin again till he re- 
 tui'ned to take up his clarionet.
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 
 
 The place where Nipen liked to find his offerings 
 YsSLS at the end of the barn, below the gallery 
 which ran round the outside of the building. 
 There, in the summer, lay a plot of green grass ; 
 and, in the winter, a sheet of pure frozen snow. 
 Thither Oddo shuffled on, over the slippery sur- 
 face of the yard, and across the paddock, along the 
 lane made by the snow-plough between high banks 
 of snow ; and he took prodigious pains, between one 
 slip and another, not to spill the ale. He looked 
 more like a pro^^•ling cub than a boy, wrapped as 
 he Avas in his ^^■olf-skin coat, and his fox-skin cap 
 doubled down over his ears. 
 
 As may be supposed from Oddo*s declaring that 
 he was sometimes frightened, he was a brave bo}'. 
 A cowardly boy would not have said it. A cow- 
 ardly boy would not have offered to go at all. A 
 cowardly boy would, if he had been sent, have 
 wished that the house-door might be left open, that 
 he might see the cheerful yellow light from within : 
 whereas Oddo begged his mistress to shut the door, 
 that his grandfather mio^ht not be made to feel his 
 rheumatism by any draught, as he sat at table. A 
 cowardly boy would have run as fast as he could 
 perhaps slipping or falling, and spilling the ale ; 
 and when his errand was done, he would have fled
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 35 
 
 home, "without looking behind him, fancying every- 
 thing he saw and heard a spirit, or a Aviki beast. 
 Oddo did very differently from this. As usual, he 
 was too busy finding out how everything happened 
 to feel afraid, as a less inquisitive boy would. 
 
 The cake steamed up in the frosty air under his 
 nose, so warm and spicy and rich, that Oddo began 
 to wonder what so very superior a cake could be 
 like. He had never tasted any cake so rich as 
 this ; nor had any one in the liouse tasted such : 
 for Nipen would be offended if his cake was not 
 richer than anybody's else. Oddo wondered more 
 and more how this would taste, till, before he had 
 crossed the yard, he wondered no longer. He 
 broke a piece off, and ate it ; and then woisdered 
 whether Nipen would mind his cake being just a 
 little smaller than usual. After a few steps more, 
 the wonder was how far Nipen's charity would go ; 
 for the cake was now a great deal smaller ; and 
 Oddo next wondered whether anybody could stop 
 eating such a cake when it was once tasted. He 
 was surprised to see, when he came out into the 
 starlight, at the end of the barn, how small a piece 
 w^as left. He stood listening whether Kipeii was 
 coming in a gust of wind ; and ^hen he lieard no 
 breeze stirring, he looked about for a cloud where 
 Nipen might be. There ^vas no cloud, as far as 
 he could see. The moon had set ; but the stars 
 were so bright as to throw a faint shadow from 
 Oddo's form upon the snow. There was no sign 
 of any spirit being angry at present : but Oddo 
 thouglit Nipen would certainly be angry at finding 
 so veiy small a piece of cake. It migiit be better 
 to let the ale stand by itself; and Kipen would 
 perhaps suppose that Madame Erlingsen's stock of 
 
 c2
 
 36 ODD0*S WALK. 
 
 groceries had fallen short ; — at least, that it was 
 in some way inconvenient to make the cake on the 
 present occasion. So, putting down his can uuon 
 the snow, and holding the last fragment of the 
 cake between his teeth, he seized a birch pole 
 which hung down from the gallery, and by its 
 help climbed one of the posts, and got over the 
 rails into the galleiy, whence he could watch what 
 would happen. To remain on the very spot where 
 Kipen was expected was a little more than he was 
 equal to ; but he thought he could stand in the 
 gallery, in the shadow of the broad eaves of the 
 barn, and wait for a little while. He was so very 
 curious to see !Nipen, and to learn how it liked its 
 ale! 
 
 There he stood in the shadow, hearing nothing 
 but his own munching, though there was not much 
 of that ; for, as he came near the end, he took only 
 a little crumb at a time, to spin out the treat ; for 
 never was anything so good ! Then he had nothing 
 to do but listen ; but tlie waterfall was frozen up, 
 and the mill stood as still as if it was not made to 
 move. If the wheel should creak, it would be a sign 
 that Nipen was passing. 
 
 Presently he heard something. 
 
 " Music !" thought he : "I never heard that it 
 liked music ; and I don't think it can know much 
 about music, for this is not at all sweet. There 
 again ! — that was a sort of screech. Oh, how stupid 
 I am !" thought he ag-ain. '•' So much for my 
 head being full of Nipen ! It is only Hund, tuning 
 his violin, because they have all done supper. They 
 will be waiting for me. I wish this Kipen would 
 make haste. It can't be very hungry: that is 
 clear/'
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 37 
 
 He grew more and more impatient as the minutes 
 passed on, and he was aware that he was wanted in 
 the house. Once or twice he walked slowly away, 
 looking behind him, and then turned again, unwill- 
 ing to miss this opportunity of seeing ]Nipen. Then 
 he called the spirit, — actually begged it to appear. 
 His first call was almost a whisper ; but he called 
 louder and louder, by degrees, till he was suddenly 
 stopped by hearing an answer. 
 
 The call he heard was soft and sweet. There 
 was nothing terrible in the sound itself; yet Oddo 
 gTasped the rail of the gallery with all his strength 
 as he heard it. The strangest thing was, it was 
 not a single cry ; others followed it, — all soft and 
 sweet ; but Oddo thought that jSfipen must have 
 many companions, and he had not prepared himself 
 to see more spirits than one. As usual, however, 
 his curiosity grew more intense, from the little he 
 had heard ; and he presently called again. Again 
 he was answered, by four or five voices in suc- 
 cession. 
 
 '' Was ever anybody so stupid !" cried the boy, 
 now stamping with vexation. " It is the echo, after 
 all ! As if there was not always an echo here, 
 opposite the rock ! It is not Nipen at all. I will 
 just wait another minute, however." 
 
 He leaned in silence on his folded arms ; and had 
 not so waited for many seconds before he saw some- 
 thing moving on the snow at a little distance. It 
 came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the 
 can of ale. 
 
 " I am glad I stayed," thought Oddo. " Now 
 I can say I have seen Nipen. It is much less 
 terrible than I expected. Grandfather told me 
 that it sometimes came like an enormous elepha^it
 
 38 ODDO'S W.\I.K. 
 
 or hippopotamus ; and never smaller than a large 
 bear. But this is no bi2:Gfer than — let me see — I 
 think it is most like a fox. I should like to make 
 it speak to me. They would think so much of 
 me at home, if I had talked with Nipen." 
 
 So he began gently, 
 
 " Is that^Nipen ?"" 
 
 The thing moved its bushy tail, but did not 
 answer. 
 
 " There is no cake for you to-night, Nipen. I 
 hope the ale will do. Is tiie ale good, Nipen ?" 
 
 Off went the dark creature, without a word, as 
 quick as it could go. 
 
 " Is it offended?" thought Oddo : " or is it really 
 what it looks like, — a fox ? If it does not come 
 back, I will go down presently, and see whether it 
 has drunk the ale. If not, I shall think it is only 
 a fox." 
 
 He presently let himself down to the ground by 
 the \^ay he had come up, and eagerly laid hold of 
 the ale-can. It would not stir. It was as fast on 
 the ground as if it was enchanted, which Oddo did 
 not doubt was the case ; and he started back, with 
 more fear than he had yet had. The cold he felt 
 on this exposed spot soon reminded him, however, 
 that the can was probably frozen to the snow, — 
 whicli it might well be after being brought warm 
 from the fire-side. It was so. The vessel had 
 sunk an inch into tlie snow, and Avas there fixed by 
 the frost. 
 
 Xone of the ale seemed to have been drunk ; 
 and so cold was Oddo by this time, that he longed 
 for a sup of it. He took first a sup, and then a 
 draught ; and then he remembered that the rest 
 ivould be entirely spoiled by the frost if it stood
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 39 
 
 another hour. This would be a pity, he thought ; 
 so he finished it, saying to himself that he did not 
 believe Nipen would come that night. 
 
 At that very moment he heard a cry so dreadful 
 that it shot, like sudden pain, through every nerve 
 of his body. It was not a shout of anger : it was 
 something between a shriek and a wail, — like what 
 he fancied would be the cry of a person in the act 
 of being murdered. That jS^ipen was here now, he 
 could not dou])t; and at length, Oddo fled. Pie 
 fled the faster, at first, for hearing the rustle of 
 wings ; but the curiosity of the boy even now got 
 the better of his terror, and he looked up at the 
 barn where the wings were rustling. There he 
 saw in the starlight the glitter of two enormous 
 round eyes, shining down upon him from the ridge 
 of the roof. But it struck him at once that he had 
 seen those eyes before. He checked his speed, 
 stopped, went back a little, sprang up once more 
 into the gallery, hissed, waved his cap, and clapped 
 his hands, till the echoes were all awake again ; 
 and, as he had hoped, the great white owl spread 
 its wings, sprang off from the ridge, and sailed 
 away over the fiord. 
 
 Oddo tossed up his cap, cold as the night was, 
 so delighted was he to have scared away the bird 
 whicli had, for a moment, scared him. He hushed 
 his mirth, however, when he perceived that lights 
 were wandering in the yard, and that there ^^^ere 
 voices approaching. He saw that the household Mere 
 alarmed about him, and were coming forth to 
 search for him. Curious to see what they would 
 do, Oddo crouched down in the darkest corner of 
 the gallery to watch and listen. 
 
 First came Rolf and his master, carrying torches,
 
 40 ODDO'S WALK. 
 
 with wliicli tliey lighted up the whole expanse of 
 snow as they came. They looked round them, 
 without any fear, and Oddo heard Rolf say — 
 
 " If it were not for that cry, sir, I should think 
 nothing of it. But my fear is that some beast has 
 got him." 
 
 *•' Search first the place where the cake and ale 
 ought to be," said Erlingsen. *'• Till I see blood, 
 I shall hope the best." 
 
 " You will not see that," said Hund, who fol- 
 lowed ; his gloomy countenance, now distorted by 
 fear, looking ghastly in the yellow light of the 
 torch he carried. '' You will see no blood. Nipen 
 does not draw blood." 
 
 " Xever tell me that any one that was not 
 wounded and torn could send out such a cry as 
 that," said Rolf. '• Some wild brute seized him, 
 no doubt, at the very moment that Erica and I 
 were standing at the door listening." 
 
 Oddo repented of his prank when he sa-sv, in the 
 flickering light behind the crowd of guests, who 
 seemed to hang together like a bunch of grapes, 
 the figures of his grandfather and Erica. The old 
 man had come out in the cold, for his sake ; and 
 Erica, who looked as white as the snow, had no 
 doubt come forth because the old man wanted a 
 guide. Oddo now wished himself out of the scrape. 
 Sorry as he was, he could not help being amused, 
 and keeping himself hidden a little longer, when 
 he saw Rolf discover the round hole in the snow 
 where the can had sunk, and lieard the different 
 opinions of the company as to what this portended. 
 Most were convinced that his curiosity had been 
 his destruction, as they had always prophesied. 
 What could be clearer, by this hole, than that the
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 41 
 
 ale had stood there, and been carried off with the 
 cake ; and Oddo with it, because he chose to stay 
 and witness what is forbidden to mortals ? 
 
 " I wonder where he is now," said a shivering- 
 yoilth, the gayest dancer of the evening. 
 
 '• O, there is no doubt about that ; — an}" one can 
 tell you that," replied the elderly and experienced 
 M. Holberg. '• He is chained upon a wind, poor 
 fellow, like all Nipen's victims. He will have to 
 be shut up in a cave all the hot summer through, 
 when it is pleasantest to be abroad ; and when the 
 frost and snow come again, he will be driven out, 
 with a lash of Nipen's whip, and he must go flying, 
 wherever his wind flies, without resting, or stop- 
 ping to warm himself at any fire in the country. 
 Every winter now, when Erlingsen hears a moan- 
 ing above his chimney, he may know it is poor 
 Oddo, foolish boy I" 
 
 " Foolish boy ! but one can't help pitying him,** 
 said another. " Chained astride upon the wind, 
 and never to be warm again !" 
 
 Oddo had thus far kept his laughter to himself; 
 but now he could contain himself no longer. He 
 laughed aloud — and then louder and louder as he 
 heard the echoes all laughing with him. The 
 faces below too were so very ridiculous ; — some 
 of the people staring up in the air, and others 
 at the rock where the echo came from ; some 
 having their mouths wide open, — others their eyes 
 starting, — and all looking unlike themselves in 
 the torchlight. His mirth was stopped by his 
 master. 
 
 " Come down, sir," cried Erlingsen, looking up 
 at the gallery. " Come down this moment. We 
 shall make you remember this night, as well per- 
 
 c3
 
 42 . ODDO'S WALK. 
 
 haps as Nipen could do. Come down, and bring 
 my can, and the ale and the cake. The more 
 pranks you play to-night, the more you v.ill re- 
 pent it." 
 
 Most of the company thought Erlingsen very 
 bold to talk in this way ; but he was presently jus- 
 tified by Oddo's appearance on tlie balustrade. His 
 master seized him as he touched the ground, v.hile 
 the others stood aloof. 
 
 " Where is my ale-can?" said Erlingsen. 
 
 '^•'Here, sir ;" and Oddo held it uji dangling by 
 the handle. 
 
 " And the cake, — I bade you bring down the 
 cake with you." 
 
 " So I did, sir." 
 
 And to his master's look of inquiry, the boy 
 answered by pointing down his throat with one 
 finger, and laying the other hand upon his stomach. 
 " It is all here, sir." 
 
 *' And the ale in the same place ?" 
 
 Oddo bowed, and Erlingsen turned away with- 
 out speaking. He could not have spoken witjiout 
 laughing. 
 
 '• Bring this gentleman home," said Erlingsen 
 presently to Eolf ; " and do not let him out of 
 your hands. Let no one ask him any questions 
 till he is in the house." Eolf grasped the boy's 
 arm, and Erlingsen went forward to relieve Peder, 
 though it was not very clear to him at the moment 
 whether such a grandchild was better safe or miss- 
 ing. The old man made no such question ; but 
 hastened back to the house, with many expressions 
 of thanksgiving. 
 
 As the search-party crowded in among the 
 women, and pushed all before them into the large
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 43 
 
 M-arin room, M. Kollsen was seen standing on the 
 stair-head, wrapped in the bear- skin coverlid. 
 
 " Is the boy there ?" he inquired. 
 
 Oddo showed himself. 
 
 " How much have you seen of Nipen, hey ?'* 
 
 '' Nobody ever had a better sight of it, sir. It 
 was as plain as I see you now, and no farther off." 
 
 " Nonsense, — it is a lie," said M. Kollsen. 
 " Do not believe a word he says," advised the 
 pastor, speaking to the listeners. " There is the 
 folly of giving such an opportunity to a child of 
 making himself important. If he had had his 
 share of the cake, with the rest of us at table, he 
 would have taken it quietly, and been thankful. 
 As it is, it will be harder work than ever to drive 
 out these wicked superstitions. — Go, get along !" 
 he cried to Oddo ; "I do not want to hear a word 
 you have got to say." 
 
 Oddo bowed, and proceeded to the great room, 
 where he took up his clarionet, as if it was a matter 
 of course that the dancing was to begin again 
 immediately. He blew upon his fingers, however, 
 observing that they were too stiff with cold to do 
 their duty well. And when he turned towards the 
 fire, every one made way for him, in a very differ- 
 ent manner from what they would have dreamed of 
 three hours before. Oddo had his curiosity gratified 
 as to how they would regard one who was believed 
 to have seen something supernatural. 
 
 Erlingsen saw that something must l)e done on 
 the spot, to clear up the affair. If his guests went 
 home without having heard the mysteries of the 
 night explained, the whole country would presently 
 be filled with wild and superstitious stories. He 
 requested Peder to examine the boy, as Oddo stood
 
 44 ODDO'S WALK. 
 
 more in awe of his grandfather than of any one 
 else ; and also because Peder was known to be so 
 firm a believer in Nipen, that his judgment would 
 be more readily received than that of an unbeliever. 
 When seriously questioned, Oddo had no wish to 
 say anything but the truth ; and he admitted the 
 whole, — that he had eaten the entire cake, drunk 
 all the ale, seen a fox and an owl, and heard 
 the echoes, in answer to himself. As he finished 
 his story, Hund, who was perhaps the most eager 
 listener of all, leaped thrice upon the floor, snap- 
 ping his fingers, as if in a passion of delight. He 
 met Erlingsen's eye, full of severity, and was quiet ; 
 but his countenance still glowed with exultation. 
 
 The rest of the company were greatly shocked 
 at these daring insults to Nipen : and none more so 
 than Peder. The old man's features worked with 
 emotion, as he said in a low voice that he should 
 be very thankful if all the mischief that might fol- 
 low upon this adventure might be borne by the kin 
 of him who had provoked it. If it should fall upon 
 those who were innocent, never surely had boy been 
 so miserable as his poor lad would then be. Oddo's 
 eyes filled with tears, as he heard this ; and he 
 looked up at his master and mistress, as if to ask 
 whether tliey had no word of comfort to say. 
 
 " Neighbour," said Madame Erlingsen to Peder, 
 " is there any one here who does not believe that 
 God is over all, and that he protects the innocent ?" 
 
 " Is there any one who does not feel," added 
 Erlingsen, " that the innocent should be gay, safe 
 as they are in the good-will of God and man? 
 Come, neighbours, — to your dancing again ! You 
 have lost too much time already. Now Oddo, play 
 your best,— and you, Hund."
 
 ODDO'S WALK. 45 
 
 " I hope," said Oddo, •* that, if any mischief is 
 to come, it will fall upon me. We'll see how I 
 shall bear it." 
 
 '• Mischief enough will befal you, boy. — never 
 doubt it," said his master, •'• as long as you trifle 
 with people's feelings as you have done to-night. 
 Go. Make up for it, all you can.' 
 
 The dancing was spiritless, and there was little 
 more it. The mirth of the meeting as destroyed. 
 The party broke up at three, instead of five or six ; 
 and it might have been earlier still, but for the un- 
 ^\^llingness of every family present to be the first to 
 go upon the lake, or to try the road. At last, all 
 understood one another's feelings by their own ; 
 and the whole company departed at once in two 
 bands, one by water and the other by laud. Those 
 who went in sleighs took care that a heavy stone 
 was fastened by a rope to the back of each carri- 
 age, that its bobbing and dancmg on the road might 
 keep off the wolves. Glad v.ould they have been 
 of any contrivance by which they might as certainly 
 distance NijDen. Eolf then took a parting kiss from 
 Erica in the porch, pushed Oddo on before, and 
 followed with Peder. Erica watched them quite 
 to the door of their own house, and tlien came in, 
 and busied herself in making a clearance of some 
 of the confusion which the guests had left behind. 
 
 " Oddo could not get a word from you. Erica," 
 observed her mistress ; " not even a look in answer 
 to his ' good night.' " 
 
 ''I could not, madam," answered Erica, tears 
 and sobs breaking forth. '•' When I think of it all, 
 I am so shocked, — so ashamed !" 
 " How ashamed ?" 
 " Nipen has been so favourable to us to-day,
 
 46 ODDO'S WALK. 
 
 madam ! not a breath of wind stirring all the morn- 
 ing, so that nobody was disappointed of coming ! 
 And then to serve it in this way ! To rob it, and 
 mock it, and brave it as we have done ! — So un- 
 grateful !^so very wrong !" 
 
 " We are very sorry for Oddo's trick, — your 
 master and I," said Madame Erlingsen ; '• but we 
 are not in the least afraid of any further harm 
 happening. You know we do not believe that God 
 permits his children to be at the mercy of evil or 
 capricious spirits. Indeed, Erica, we could not 
 love God as we should wish to love him, if we could 
 not trust in him as a just and kind protector. Go to 
 rest now. Erica. You have done quite enough 
 since you left your bed. Go to rest now. Rest 
 your heart upon Him who has blessed you exceed- 
 ingly this day. Whatever others do, do not you 
 be ungrateful to Him, Good sleep to you. Erica ! 
 Sleep off your troubles, that Rolf may see nothing 
 of them in the morning." 
 
 Erica smiled ; and when Orga and Frolich saw 
 the effect of what their mother had said, they too 
 went to rest without trembling at every one of the 
 noises with which a house built of wood is always 
 resoundinsr.
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS, 
 
 When M. Kollsen appeared the next morning, 
 the household had so much of its usual air that no 
 stranger would have imagined how it had been 
 occupied the day before. The large room was fresh 
 strewn with evergreen sprigs ; the breakfast-table 
 stood at one end, where each took breakfast, stand- 
 ing, immediately on coming down stairs. At the 
 bottom of the room was a busy group. The shoe- 
 maker, who travelled this way twice a-year, had 
 appeared this morning, and was already engaged 
 upon the skins which had been tanned on the farm, 
 and kept in readiness for him. He was instructing 
 Oddo in the making of the tall boots of the country ; 
 and Oddo was so eager to have a pair in which he 
 might walk knee-deep in the snow when the frosts 
 should be over, that he gave all his attention to 
 the work. Peder was twisting strips of leather, 
 thin and narrow, into whips. Rolf and Hund were 
 silently intent upon a sort of work which the Nor- 
 wegian peasant delights in, — carving wood. Tliey 
 spoke only to answer Peder's questions about the 
 progress of the work. Peder loved to hear about 
 their carving, and to feel it ; for he had been re- 
 markable for his skill in the art, as long as liis 
 sight lasted. 
 
 Erlingsen was reading the newspaper, whicli
 
 48 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 
 
 must go aM'ay in the pastor's pocket. Madame 
 ■was spinning ; "and her daughters sat busily plying 
 their needles -^vith Erica, in a corner of the apart- 
 ment. The three were putting the last stitches to 
 the piece of work which the pastor was also to 
 carry away with him, as his fee for his services of 
 yesterday. It Mas an eider-down coverlid, of 
 which Rolf had procured the down, from the islets 
 in the fiord frequented by the eider-duck, and 
 Erica had woven the cover, and quilted it, with 
 the a^ssistance of her young ladies, in an elegant 
 pattern. The other house-maiden was in the cham- 
 bers, hanging out the bedding in an upper gallery 
 to air, as she did on all days of fair weather. 
 
 The whole party rose when M. Kollsen entered 
 the room, but presently resumed their employments, 
 except Madame Erlingsen, who conducted the 
 pastor to the breakfast-table, and helped him plen- 
 tifully to reindeer ham, bread and butter, and corn- 
 brandy, — the usual breakfast. M. Kollsen carried 
 Jiis plate, and ate, as he went round to converse 
 with each group. First, he talked politics a little 
 with his host, ])y the fire-side ; in the midst of 
 which conversation Erlingsen managed to intimate 
 that nothing vrould be heard of !Nipen to-day, if 
 the subject was let alone by themselves : a hint 
 which the clergy-man was willing to take, as he 
 supposed it meant in deference to his views. Then 
 he complimented Madame Erlingsen on the excel- 
 lence of her ham, and helped himself again ; and 
 next drew near the girls. 
 
 Erica blushed, and was thinking how she should 
 explain that she wished his acceptance of her work, 
 when Frolich sa^ed her the awkwardness by 
 saying,
 
 OLAF AND HIS ^EWS. 49 
 
 " We hope you will like this coverlid, for we 
 have made an entirely new pattern, on purpose for 
 it. Orga, you liave the pattern. Do show M. 
 KoUsen how pretty it looks on paper." 
 
 M. Kollsen did not know much about such 
 things : but he admired as much as he could. 
 
 " That lily of the valley, see, is mamma's idea ; 
 and the barberry, answering to it, is mine. That 
 tree in the middle is all Erica's work, — entirely ; 
 but the squirrel upon it, w^e never should ha,ve 
 thought of. It was papa who put that into our 
 heads ! and it is the most original thing in the 
 whole pattern. Erica has worked it beautifully, 
 to be sure." 
 
 " I think we have said quite enough about it," 
 observed Erica, smiling and blushing. " I hope 
 M. Kollsen will accept it. The dow^n is Eolf 's 
 present." 
 
 Rolf rose, and made his bow, and said he had 
 had pleasure in preparing his small offering. 
 
 " And I think," said Erlingsen, " it is pretty 
 plain that my little girls have had pleasure in their 
 part of the work. It is my belief that they are 
 sorry it is so nearly done." 
 
 M. Kollsen graciously accepted the gift, — took 
 up the coverlid and weighed it in his hand, in order 
 to admire its lightness, compared with its handsome 
 size ; and then bent over the carvers, to see what 
 work was under their hands. 
 
 " A bell-collar, sir," said Hund, showing his 
 piece of wood. "lam makiu:!- a complete set for 
 our cows, against they go to the mountain, come 
 summer." 
 
 " A pulpit, sir," explained Rolf, showing his 
 work in his turn.
 
 50 » OLAF AND Ills NEWS. 
 
 " A pulpit ! Really ! And who is to preach in it ?" 
 
 " You, sir, of course," replied Erlingsen. " Long 
 before you came, — from the time the new church 
 was begun, we meant it should have a handsome 
 pulpit. Six of us, within a round of tM'enty miles, 
 undertook the six sides ; and Rolf has great hopes 
 of having the basement allotted to him afterwards. 
 The best workman is to do the basement ; and I 
 think Rolf bids fair to be the one. This is good 
 work, sir.'' 
 
 " Exquisite," said the pastor. " I question 
 whether our native carvers may not be found equal 
 to any whose works we hear so much of in popish 
 churches, in other countries. And there is no 
 doubt of the superiority of their subjects. Look at 
 these elegant twining flowers, and that fine brood- 
 ing eagle ! How much better to copy the beautiful 
 works of God that are before our eyes, than to 
 make durable pictures of the popish idolatries and 
 superstitions, which should all have been forgotten 
 as soon as possible ! I hope that none of the 
 impious idolatries which, I am ashamed to say, 
 still linger among us, will find their way into the 
 arts by which future generations will judge us." 
 
 The pastor stopped, on seeing that his hearers 
 looked at one another, as if conscious. A few words, 
 he judged, would be better than more ; and he went 
 on to Peder, passing by Oddo without a word of 
 notice. The party had indeed glanced consciously 
 at each other ; for it so happened that tlie very 
 prettiest piece Rolf had ever carved was a bowl on 
 which he had shown the water-sprite's hand (and 
 never was hand so delicate as the water-sprite's) 
 beckoning the heron to come and fish when the 
 river bes:ins to flow.
 
 OLAF AXD IIIS NEWS. 51 
 
 When Erica heard M. Kollsen inquiring of 
 Peder about his old wife, she started up from her 
 work, and said she must run and prepare Ulla for 
 the pastor's visit. Poor Ulla would think herself 
 forgotten this morning, it Mas growing so late, and 
 nobody had been over to see her. 
 
 Ulla, however, was far from having any such 
 thoughts. There sat tlie old woman, propped up 
 in bed, knitting as fast as fingers could move, and 
 singing, with her soul in her song, though her 
 voice was weak and unsteady. She was covered 
 with an eider-down quilt, like the first lady in the 
 land ; but this luxury was a consequence of her 
 being old and ill, and having friends who cared for 
 her infirmities. There was no other luxury. Her 
 window was glazed with thick flaky glass, tlirough 
 which notldng could be seen distinctly. The shelf, 
 the table, the clothes' chest, were all of rough fir- 
 wood ; and the walls of the house were of logs, 
 well stuffed with moss in all the crevices, to keep 
 out the cold. There are no dwellings so warm in 
 winter~and cool in summer as well built log-houses ; 
 and this house had eveiy thing essential to health 
 and comfort : but there was nothing more, unless 
 it was the green sprinkling of the floor, and the 
 clean appearance of everything the room contained, 
 from Ulla's cap to the wooden platters on the shelf. 
 
 " I thought you would come," said Ulla. " I 
 knew you would come, and take my blessing on 
 your betrothment, and my wishes that you may 
 soon be seen with the golden crown.* I must not 
 say that I hope to see you crowned ; for we all 
 know, — and nobody so well as I, that it is I that 
 
 * Peasant brides in Norway \vear, on their wedding-day, 
 a coronet of paste-board, covered Avitli gilt paper.
 
 52 OLAF AND HIS ?^E^YS. 
 
 stand between you and your crown. I often think 
 of it, my dear ." 
 
 " Then I wish you would not, Ulla : you know 
 that." 
 
 ^' I do know it, my dear : and I would not be 
 for hastening" God's appointments. Let all be in 
 his own time. And I know, by myself, how 
 happy you may be, — you and Rolf, — while Peder 
 and I are failing and dying. I only say that none 
 wish for your crowning more than we. — 0, Erica ! 
 vou have a fine lot in having Eolf." 
 
 " Indeed I know it, Ulla." 
 
 " Do but look about you, dear, and see how he 
 keeps the house. And if you were to see him give 
 me my cup of coffee, and watch over Peder, you 
 would consider what he is likely to be to a pretty 
 young thing like you, when he is M"hat he is to two 
 worn-out old creatures like us." 
 
 Erica did not need convincing about these 
 things ; but she liked to hear them. 
 
 '•AVhere is he now?" asked Ulla. '-I always 
 ask where eveiy body is, at this season ; people go 
 about staring at the snow, as if they had no eyes 
 to lose. That is the way my husband did. Do 
 make Rolf take care of his precious eyes. Erica. 
 Is he abroad to-day, my dear ?" 
 
 " By this time he is," replied Erica. '•' I left 
 him at work at the pulpit ." 
 
 '' Aye ! trying his eyes with fine carving, as 
 Peder did !" 
 
 " But," continued Erica, " there was news this 
 morning of a lodgment of logs at the top of the 
 foss ;* and they were all going except Peder, to 
 
 * Waterfall. Pine-trunks felled in the forest are draAvn 
 over the frozen snow to the banks of a river, or to the top of
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 53 
 
 slide them down the gully to the fiord. The gully 
 is frozen so slipper}^, that the work will not take 
 long. They will make a raft of the logs in the 
 fiord ; and either Rolf or Hund will carry them 
 out to the islands when the tide ebbs." 
 
 '•' Will it be Rolf, do you think, or Hund, 
 dear?" 
 
 " I wish it may be Hund. If it be Rolf, I shall 
 go with him. O, Ulla ! I cannot lose sight of 
 him, after what happened last night. Did you 
 hear ? I do wish Oddo would grow wiser." 
 
 Ulla shook her head, and then nodded, to inti- 
 mate that they would not talk of Nipen. And 
 she began to speak of something else. 
 
 " How did Hund conduct himself yesterday ? I 
 heard my husband's account : but you know Peder 
 could say nothing of his looks. Did you mark his 
 countenance, dear ?" 
 
 " Indeed there was no helping it, — any more 
 than one can help watching a storm-cloud as it 
 comes up." 
 
 '• So it was dark and wrathful, was it, — that ugly 
 face of his? "Well it might be, dear ; — well it might 
 be." 
 
 *' The worst was, — worse than all his dark looks 
 together, — O, Ulla! the worst was his leap and 
 cry of joy when he heard what Oddo had done, 
 and that Nipen was made our enemy. He looked 
 like au evil spirit when he fixed his eyes on me, 
 and snapped his fingers." 
 
 Ulla shook her head mournfully, and then asked 
 Erica to put another peat on the fire. 
 
 a -waterfall, whence they may be either slid dowu over the 
 ice, or left to be carried dowu by the floods, at the melting 
 of the snows in the spring.
 
 54 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 
 
 '• I really should like to know," said Erica in a 
 low voice, when she resumed her seat on the bed, 
 - — '' I am sure you can tell me if you would, what 
 is the real truth about Hund, — what it is that 
 weighs upon his heart." 
 
 '' I will tell you," replied UUa. " You are not 
 one that Mill go Jalabbing it, so that Hmid shall 
 meet with taunts, and have his sore heart made 
 sorer. I will tell you, my dear, though there is 
 no one else but our mistress that I would tell : and 
 she, no doubt, knows it already. Hund Mas born 
 and reared a good May to the south, — not far from 
 Bergen. In mid-M'inter, four years since, his 
 master sent him on an errand of twenty miles, to 
 carry some provisions to a village in the upper 
 country. He did his errand ; and, so far, all Mas 
 M'ell. The village people asked him, for charity, 
 to carry three orphan children on his sledge some 
 miles on the May to Bergen, and to leave them at 
 a house he had to pass on his road, Mhere they 
 would be taken care of till they could be fetched 
 from Bergen. Hund Mas an olDliging young fel- 
 low then, and he made no objection. Pie took the 
 little things, and saM- that the tMO elder Mere mcU 
 wrapped up from the cold. The third he took 
 within his arms, and on his knee as he drove, clasp- 
 ing it Marm against his breast. So those say M'ho 
 saw them set off; and it is confirmed by one mIio 
 met the sledge on the road, and heard the children 
 prattling to Hund, and Hund laughing merrily at 
 their little talk. Before they had got half May, 
 however, a pack of hungry Molves burst out upon 
 them from a holloM" to the right of the road. The 
 brutes folIoMcd close at the back of the sledge, 
 and "
 
 OL,AF AND HIS NEWS. 56 
 
 " 0, stop !" cried Erica, " I know that story. 
 Is it possible that Hand is the man ? No need to 
 go on, Ulla." 
 
 But Ulla thought there was always need to finish 
 a story that she had begun ; and she proceeded. 
 
 ^' Closer and closer the wolves pressed, and it is 
 thought Hund saw one about to spring at his 
 throat. It was impossible for the horse to go 
 faster than it did, for it went like the wind ; but 
 so did the beasts. Hund snatched up one of the 
 children behind him, and threvi it over the 
 back of the sledge ; and this stopped the pack for 
 a little. On galloped the horse; but the wolves 
 were soon crowding round again, with the blood 
 freezing on their muzzles. It was easier to throw 
 the second child than the first ; and Hand did it. 
 It was harder to give up the third, — the dumb in- 
 fant that nestled to his breast ; but Hund was in 
 mortal terror ; and a man beside himself with terror 
 has all the cruelty of a pack of wolves. Hund 
 flung away the infant, and just saved himself. No- 
 body at home questioned him, for nobody knew 
 about the orphans ; and he did not tell. But lie 
 was unsettled, and looked wild ; and his talk, when- 
 ever he did speak, night or day, was of wolves, for 
 the tliree days that he remained after his return. 
 Then there was a questioning along the road, about 
 the orphan children ; and Hund heard of it, and 
 started off into the woods. By putting things to- 
 gether, — what Hund had dropped in his agony of 
 mind, and what had been seen and heard on the 
 road, the whole was made out, and the country 
 rose to find Hund. He was hunted like a bear, in 
 the forest and on the mountain ; but he had got to 
 the coast in time, and was taken in a boat, it is
 
 56 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 
 
 thought, to Hammerfest. At any rate, he came 
 here as from the north, and wishes to pass for a 
 northern man." 
 
 " And does Erlingsen know all this?" 
 
 '• Yes. The same pei^scn who told me told him. 
 Erlingsen thinks he must meet with mercy ; for 
 that none need mercy so much as the weak ; and 
 Hund's act was an act of weakness." 
 
 '•' Wealmess !" cried Erica, with disgust. 
 
 *' He is a coward, my dear ; and death stared 
 him in the face." 
 
 '• I have often wondered," said Erica, ''- where 
 on the face of the earth that wretch was w^ander- 
 ing : and it is Hund ! And he w anted to live in 
 
 this very house ," she continued, looking round 
 
 the room. 
 
 '•And to many you, dear. Erlingsen would 
 never have allowed that. But the thought ha^ 
 plunged the poor fellow deeper, instead of saving 
 him, as he hoped. He now lias envy and jealousy 
 at his heart, besides the remorse which he will carry 
 to his grave." 
 
 '•And revenge?" said Erica, shuddering. "I 
 tell you he leaped for joy that ]Sipen was ofiiended. 
 Here is some one coming," she exclaimed, starting 
 from her seat, as a shadow flitted over the thick win- 
 dow pane, and a hasty knock was heard at the door. 
 
 " You are a coward, if ever there was one," said 
 Ulla, smiling. " Ilund never comes here; so you 
 need not look so frightened. What is to be done, 
 if you look so at dinner, or the next time you meet 
 him ? It will be the ruin of some of us. Go, — 
 open the door, and do not keep the pastor waiting." 
 
 There was another knock before Erica could 
 reach the door, and Frolich burst in.
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 57 
 
 <*Such news!" she cried, — ''You never heard 
 such news." 
 
 " I wish there never was any news," exclaimed 
 Erica, ahnost pettishly. 
 
 " Good or bad ?" enquired Ulla. 
 
 " O, bad, — very bad," declared Frolich, who yet 
 looked as if she would rather have it than none. 
 *' Here is company. Olaf, the diiig-merchant, is 
 come. Father did not expect him these three 
 weeks." 
 
 "This is not bad news, but good," said Ulla. 
 *' Who knows but he may bring me a cure ?" 
 
 " We will all beg him to cure you, dear Ulla," 
 said Frolich, stroking the old woman's white hair 
 smooth upon her forehead. " But he tells us 
 shocking things. There is a pirate vessel among 
 the islands. She was seen off Soroe, some time 
 ago ; but she is much nearer to us now. There 
 was a farm-house seen burning on Alten fiord, last 
 week ; and as the family are all gone, and nothing 
 but ruins left, there is little doubt tlie pirates lit 
 the torch that did it. And the cod has been car- 
 ried off from the beach, in the few places where 
 any has been caught yet." 
 
 " They have not found out our fiord yet ?" en- 
 quired Ulla. 
 
 " O, dear ! I hope not. But they may, any 
 day. And father says, the coast nmst be raised, 
 from Hammerfest to Tronyem, and a Matcli set till 
 this wicked vessel can be taken or drivcjn a^ay. 
 Pie was going to send a running message both 
 ways ; but here is something else to be done first." 
 
 " Another misfortune?" asked Erica, faintly. 
 
 " No : they say it is a piece of very good fortune ; 
 — at least for those who like bears' feet for dinner-
 
 58 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 
 
 Some body or other has lighted upon the great 
 bear that got away in the summer, and poked her 
 out of her den, on the fjelde. She is certainly 
 abroad m ith her two last year's cubs ; and their 
 traces have been found just above, near the foss. 
 Olaf had heard of her being roused ; and Rolf and 
 Hund have found her traces. Oddo has come run- 
 ning home to tell us : and father says he must get 
 up a hunt before more snow falls, and we lose the 
 tracks, or the family may establish themselves 
 among us, and make away with our first calves." 
 
 " Does he expect to kill them all ?" 
 
 " I tell you, we are all to grow stout on bears* 
 feet. For my part, I like bears' feet best on the 
 other side of Tronyem." 
 
 '• You will change your mind, Miss Frolich, 
 when you see them on the table," observed Ulla. 
 
 " That is just what father said. And he asked how 
 I thought Erica and Stiorna would like to have a 
 den in their neighbourhood when they got up to the 
 mountain for the summer. O, it will be all right 
 when the hunt is well over, and all the bears dead. 
 Meantime, I thought they were at my heels as I 
 crossed the yard." 
 
 '• And that made you burst in as you did. Did 
 Olaf say anything about coming to see me? Has 
 he plenty of medicines with him ?" 
 
 "0, certainly. That was the thing I came to 
 say. He is laying out his medicines, while he 
 warms liimself ; and then he is coming over, to see 
 what he can do for your poor head. He asked 
 about you, directly ; and he is frowning over his 
 drugs, as if he meant to let them know that they 
 must not trifle with you." 
 
 UJla was highly pleased, and gave her directions
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 59 
 
 very briskly about the arrangement of the room. 
 If it had been the grandest apartment of a palace, 
 she could not have been more particular as to where 
 every thing should stand. When all was to her 
 mind, she begged Erica to step over, and inform 
 Olaf that she was ready. 
 
 When Erica opened the door, she instantly drew 
 back, and shut it again. 
 
 *' What now ?" asked Frolich. " Are all the 
 bears in the porch ?" 
 
 " Olaf is there," replied Erica, in a whisper, 
 •' talking with Hund." 
 
 " Hund wants a cure for the heart-ache," Fro- 
 lich whispered in return ; " or a charm to make 
 some girl betroth herself to him ; — a thing which 
 no girl will do, but under a charm : for I don't 
 believe Stiorna would when it came to the point, 
 though she likes to be attended to." 
 
 When Olaf entered, and Hund walked away, 
 Frolich ran home, and Erica stood by the window, 
 ready to receive the travelling doctor's opinion and 
 directions, if he should vouchsafe any. 
 
 " So I am not the first to consult you to-day," 
 said Ulla. "It is rather hard that I should not have 
 the best chance of luck, having been so long ill." 
 Olaf assured her that he would hear no com- 
 plaints from another till he had given her the first- 
 fruits of his wisdom in this district of his rounds. 
 Hund was only enquiring of him where the pirate- 
 scliooner was, having slid down from the height, 
 as fast as his snow skaits Avould carry him, on 
 hearing the news from Oddo. He was also eager 
 to know whence these pirates came, — what nation 
 they were of, or whether a crew gathered from 
 many nations. Olaf had advised Hund to go
 
 60 OLAF AND HIS XEWS. 
 
 and ask tlie pirates tliomselves all that he wanted 
 to know ; for there was no one else who could 
 satisfy him. Wliereupon liund had smiled grimly, 
 and gone back to his work. 
 
 Erica observed that she had heard her master 
 say that it was foolish to boast that Norway need 
 not mind when Denmark went to war. because it 
 would be carried on far out of sight and hearing. 
 So far from this, Erlingsen had said, that Den- 
 mark never went to war but pirates came to ravage 
 the coast, from the North Cape to tlie Naze. 
 "Was not this the case now ? Denmark liad gone 
 to war ; and here were the pirates come to make 
 her poor partner suffer. 
 
 Olaf said this explained the matter ; and he 
 feared the business of the coast would suffer till a 
 time of peace. Meanwhile, he must mind his 
 business. When he had heard all Ulla's com- 
 plaints, and ordered exactly what she wished,— 
 large doses of camphor and corn-brandy to keep 
 off the night-fever and daily cough, he was ready 
 to hear whatever else Erica had to ask, for Ulia 
 had liinted that Erica wanted advice. 
 
 '•' I do not mind Ulla hearing my words," said 
 Erica. '• She knows my trouble." 
 
 '•' It is of the mind," observed Olaf, solemnly, 
 on discovering that Eric^ did not desire to have 
 her pulse felt. 
 
 " Yesterday was I was " Erica began. 
 
 " She was betrothed yesterday," said Ulla, '" to 
 tlie man of her heart. liolf is such a young 
 man ." 
 
 '' Olaf knows Rolf," observed Erica. " An un- 
 fortunate thing happened, at the end of the day^ 
 Olaf. Nipen was insulted." And she told the story' 
 
 I
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 61 
 
 of Oddo's prank, and implored the doctor to say if 
 anything could be done to avert bad consequences. 
 
 " No doubt," replied Olaf. <' Look here ! This 
 will preserve you from any particular evil that you 
 dread." And he took from the box he carried 
 under his arm a round piece of white paper, with a 
 hole in the middle, through which a string was to 
 be passed, to tie the charm round the neck. Erica 
 shook her head. Such a charm would be of no 
 use, as she did not know under what particular 
 shape of misfortune Nipen's displeasure would 
 show itself. Besides, she was certain that nothing 
 v/ould make Rolf wear a charm ; and she disdained 
 to use any security which he might not share. 
 Olaf could not help her in any other way ; but 
 enquired with sympathy when the next festival 
 would take place. Then, all might be repaired by 
 handsome treatment of Nipen. Till then, he 
 advised Erica to wear his charm ; as her lover 
 could not be the worse for her being so far safe. 
 Erica blushed : she knew, but did not say, that 
 harm would be done which no charm could repair 
 if her lover saw her trying to save herself from 
 dangers to which he remained exposed : and she 
 did not know what their betrothment was worth, if 
 it did not give them the privilege of suffering to- 
 gether. So she put back the charm into its place 
 in the box, and, with a sigh, rose to return to the 
 house. 
 
 In the porch she found Oddo, eating something 
 which caused him to make faces. Though it was 
 in the open air, there was a strong smell of cam- 
 phor, and of something else less pleasant. 
 
 "What are you doing, Oddo?" asked Erica:
 
 62 OLAF AND HIS NEW 9. 
 
 the question which Oddo was asked e^'e^y day of 
 his life. 
 
 Oddo had observed Olafs practice among his 
 patients of the household, and perceived that, for 
 all complaints, of body or mind, he gave the two 
 things, camphor and assafoetida, — sometimes to- 
 gether, and sometimes separately ; and always in 
 corn-brandy. Oddo could not refrain from trying 
 what these drugs were like ; so he helped himself 
 to some of each ; and, as he could get no corn- 
 brandy till dinner time, he was eating the medicines 
 without. Such was the cause of his wrj- faces. If 
 he had been any thing but a Norway boy, he would 
 liave been the invalid of the house to-day, from the 
 (juantity of rich cake he had eaten : but Oddo 
 seemed to share the privilege, common to Nor- 
 wegians, of being able to eat any thing, in any 
 quantity, without injur}^. His wr}' faces were from 
 no indigestion, but from the savour of assafoetida, 
 unrelieved by brandy. 
 
 Wooden dwellings resound so much as to be in- 
 convenient for those who have secrets to tell. In 
 the porch of Peder's house, Oddo had heard all 
 that passed within. It was good for him to have 
 done so. He became more sensible of the pain he 
 had given, and more anxious to repair it. 
 
 " Dear Erica," said he, " I want you to do a 
 veiy kind thing for me. Do get leave for me to 
 go with Rolf after the bears. If I get one stroke 
 at them, — if I can but wound one of them, I shall 
 have a paw for my share ; and I will lay it out for 
 Kipen. You will, will not you ?" 
 
 " It must be as Erlingsen chooses, Oddo : but I 
 fancy you will not be allowed to go just now. The
 
 OLAF AND HIS NEWS. 63 
 
 bears will think the doctor's physic-sledge is coming 
 through the woods, and they will be shy. Do 
 stand a little farther off. I cannot think how it is 
 that you are not choked." 
 
 " Suppose you go for an airing," said the doctor, 
 who now joined them. " If you must not go in 
 the way of the bears, there is a rein deer, " 
 
 "O, where?" cried Oddo. 
 
 " I saw one, — all alone,— on the Salten heights. 
 If you run that way, with the wind behind you, 
 the deer will give you a good run ; — up Sulitelma, 
 if you like, and you will have got rid of the cam- 
 phor before you come back. And be sure you 
 bring me some Iceland moss, to pay me for what 
 you have been helping yourself to." 
 
 When Oddo had convinced himself that Olaf 
 really had seen a reindeer on the heights, three 
 miles off, he said to himself that if deer do not like 
 camphor, they are fond of salt ; and he was pre- 
 sently at the salt-box, and then quickly on his 
 way to the hills with his bait. He considered his 
 chance of training home the deer much more pro- 
 bable than that Erlingsen and his grandfather 
 would allow him to hunt the bears : and he doubt- 
 less judged rightly.
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 EOVIXG HERE AND ROVING THERE. 
 
 The establishment was now in a great hurry and 
 bustle for an hour ; after which time, it promised 
 to be unusually quiet. 
 
 M. Kollsen began to be anxious to be on the 
 other side of the fiord. It was rather inconvenient ; 
 as the two men were wanted to go in different di- 
 rections, while their master took a third, to rouse 
 the farmers for the bear-hunt. The hunters were 
 all to arrive before night \\ithin a certain distance 
 of the thickets where the bears were now believed 
 to be. On calm nights, it was no great hardship 
 to spend the dark hours in tlie bivouac of the 
 country. Each party was to shelter itself under a 
 bank of snow, or in a pit dug out of it, an enor- 
 mous fire blazing in the midst, and brandy and 
 tobacco being plentifully distributed on such oc- 
 casions. Early in the morning the director of the 
 hunt was to go his rounds, and arrange the hunters 
 in a ring enclosing the hiding-place of the bears, 
 so that all miglit be prepared, and no waste made 
 of the few hours of daylight which the season 
 afibrded. As soon as it was liglit enough to see 
 distinctly among the trees, or bushes, or hole* of 
 the rocks where the bears might be couched, they 
 were to be driven from their retreat, and disposed 
 of as quickly as possible. Such was the plan, well
 
 KOVING HERE AND KOVING THEKE. 65 
 
 understood in such cases throughout the country. 
 On the present occasion, it might be expected that 
 the peasantry would be ready at the first summons, 
 as Olaf had told his storj^ of the bears all along the 
 road. Yet, the more messengers and helpers the 
 better; and Erlingsen was rather vexed to see 
 Hund go with alacrity to unmoor the boat, and 
 offer officiously to row the pastor across the fiord. 
 His daughters knew what he was thinking about ; 
 and, after a moment's consultation, Frolich asked 
 whether she and the maid Stiorna might not be 
 the rowers. 
 
 Nobody would have objected, if Hund had not. 
 The girls could row, though they could not hunt 
 bears ; and the weather was fair enough : but 
 Hund shook his head, and went on preparing the 
 boat. His master spoke to him ; but Huncl was 
 not remarkable for giving up his own m ay. He 
 would only say that there would be plenty of time 
 for both affairs, and that he could follow the hunt 
 when he returned ; and across the lake he went. 
 
 Erlingsen and Rolf presently departed, accom- 
 panied by Olaf, who was glad of an escort for a 
 few miles, though nothing was further from his 
 intention than going near the bears. The women 
 and Peder were thus left behind. 
 
 They occupied themselves, to keep aMay anxious 
 thoughts. One began some new nets, for the ap- 
 proaching fishing season ; another sat in the loom, 
 and the girls appealed to their mother, very fre- 
 quently, about the beauties of a new quilting pat- 
 tern they were drawing. Old Peder sang to them, 
 too ; but Peder's songs were rather melancholy, 
 and they had not the effect of cheering the party. 
 Hour after hour thev looked for Hund. His news 
 
 D 3
 
 66 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 
 
 of his voyage, and the sending him after his master, 
 wo'ald be something to do and to think of; but 
 Hund did not come. Stiorna at last let fall that 
 she did not think he would come yet ; for that he 
 meant to catch some cod before his return. Pie 
 had taken tackle with him for that purpose, she 
 knew ; and she should not wonder if he did not 
 appear till the morning. 
 
 Every one was surprised, and Madame Erlingsen 
 highly displeased. At the time when her husband 
 would be wanting every strong arm that could 
 be mustered, his servant choose to be out fishing, 
 instead of obeying orders. The girls pronounced 
 liim a coward ; and Peder observed that to a 
 coward, as well as a sluggard, there was ever a 
 lion in the path. Erica doubted whether this act of 
 disobedience arose from cowardice ; for there were 
 dangers in the fiord, — for such as went out as far 
 as the cod. She supposed Hund had heard 
 
 She stopped short, as a sudden flash of suspicion 
 crossed her mind. She had seen Hund inquiring 
 of Olaf about the pirates ; and his strange obsti- 
 nacy about this day's boating looked much as if he 
 meant to learn more. 
 
 " Danger in the fiord !" repeated Orga ; " 0, you 
 mean the pirates. They are far enough from our 
 fiord, I suppose. If ever they do come, I wish 
 they would catch Hund, and carry him off. I am 
 sure we could spare them nothing they would be 
 so welcome to." 
 
 Madame Erlingsen saw that Erica was turning 
 red and white, and resolved to ask, on the first 
 good opportunity, what -was in her mind about 
 Hund ; for no one was more disposed to distrust 
 and watcli him than the lady herself.
 
 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 67 
 
 The first piece of amusement that occurred was 
 the return of Oddo, who passed the windows, fol- 
 lowed at a short distance by a wistful-looking- deer, 
 which seemed afraid to come quite up to him, but 
 kept its branched head outstretched towards the salt 
 which Oddo displayed, dropping a few grains from 
 time to time. At the sight, all crowded to the 
 windows but Frolich, who left the room on the in- 
 stant. Before the animal had passed the servants' 
 house (a separate dwelling in the yard), she ap- 
 peared in the gallery which ran round the outside 
 of it, and showed to Oddo a cord which she held. 
 He nodded, and threw down some salt on the snow 
 immediately below where she stood. The rein-deer 
 stooped its head, instead of looking out for ene- 
 mies above, and thus gave Frolich a good oppor- 
 tunity to throw her cord over its antlers. She had 
 previously wound one end round the balustrade of 
 the gallery, so that she had not with her single 
 strength to sustain the animal's struggles. 
 
 The poor animal struggled violently when it 
 found its head no longer at liberty, and, by throw- 
 ing out its legs, gave Oddo an opportunity to catch 
 and fasten it by the hind leg, so as to decide its 
 fate completely. It could now only start from side 
 to side, and threaten with its head when the house- 
 hold gathered roimd to congratulate Oddo and 
 Frolich on the success of their hunting. The 
 women durst only hastily stroke the palpitating 
 sides of the poor beast ; but Peder, who had 
 handled many scores in his lifetime, boldly seized 
 its head, and felt its horns and the bones from 
 whence they grew, to ascertain its age. 
 
 " Do you fancy you have made a prize of a wild 
 deer, boy ?" he asked of his grandson.
 
 68 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 
 
 " To be sure," said Oddo. 
 
 " I thought you had had more curiosity than to 
 take such a thing for granted, Oddo. See here ! 
 Is not this ear slit ?" 
 
 " Why, yes," Oddo admitted : " but it is not a 
 slit of this year or last. It may have belonged to 
 the Lapps once upon a time ; but it has been wild 
 for so long that it is all the same as if it had never 
 been in a fold. It will never be claimed." 
 
 " I am of your opinion there, boy. I wish you 
 joy of your sport." 
 
 ''You may: fori doubt whether anybody will 
 do better to-day. Hund will not, for one, if it is 
 he who has gone out with the boat ; and I think I 
 cannot be mistaken in the liandling of his oar." 
 
 ''Have you seen him? Where? What is he 
 doing ?" asked one and another. 
 
 Before Oddo could answer, Madame Erlingsen 
 desired that he would go home with his grand- 
 father, and tell Ulla about the deer, while he 
 warmed himself. She did not wish her daughters 
 to hear what he might have to tell of Hund. Sti- 
 orna, too, was better out of the way. Oddo had 
 not half told the story of the deer to his grand- 
 mother, when his mistress and Erica entered. 
 
 " Did not you see M. KoUsen in the boat 
 with Hund ?" she enquired. 
 
 " No. Hund was quite alone, pulling with all 
 his might down the fiord. The tide was witli 
 liim, so that he sliot along like a fish." 
 
 " How do you know it was Hund that you 
 saw ?" 
 
 " Don't I know our boat ? And don't I know 
 his pull ? It is no more like Rolf's than Rolf's is 
 like majster's." 
 
 I
 
 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 69 
 
 •' Perhaps he was making for the best fishing- 
 ground as fast as he could." 
 
 " We shall see that by the fish he brings home." 
 
 " True. By supper-time we shall know." 
 
 *' Hund will not be home by supper-time," said 
 Oddo decidedly. 
 
 *' Why not ? Come, say out what you mean." 
 
 " Well : I will tell you what I saw. I watched 
 him rowing as fast as his arm and the tide would 
 carry him. It was so plain that there was a plan 
 in his head, that I forgot the deer in watching 
 him ; and I followed on from point to point, catch- 
 ing a sight now and then, till I had gone a good 
 stretch beyond Sal ten heights. I was just going 
 to turn back when I took one more look, and he 
 was then pulling in for the land." 
 
 " On the north shore or south ?" asked Peder. 
 
 " The north, — ^just at the narrow part of the 
 fiord, where one can see into the holes of the rocks 
 opposite." 
 
 " The fiord takes a wide sweep below there," 
 observed Peder. 
 
 '' Yes ; and that was why he landed," replied 
 Oddo. " He was then but a little way from the 
 fishing-ground, if he had wanted fisli. But he 
 drove up the boat into a little cove, — a narrow 
 dark creek, where it will lie safe enough, I have no 
 doubt, till he comes back : if he means to come back." 
 
 " Why, where should he go ? What should he 
 do but come back ?" asked Madame Erlingsen. 
 
 " He is now gone over the ridge to the north. 
 I saw him moor the boat, and begin to climb ; and 
 I watched his dark figure on the v/liite snow, 
 higher and higher, till it was a speck, and I could 
 not make it out."
 
 70 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 
 
 " That is the way you will lose your eyes," ex- 
 claimed Ulla. " How often have I warned you, — 
 and many others as giddy as you ? When you 
 have lost your eyes, you will think you had better 
 have minded my advice, and not have stared at 
 the snow after a runaway that is better there than 
 here." 
 
 " What do you think of this story, Peder ?" asked 
 his mistress. 
 
 " I think Hund has taken the short cut over 
 the promontoiy, on business of his own at the 
 islands. He is not on any business of yours, de- 
 pend upon it, Madame." 
 
 "■' And what business can he have among the 
 islands ?" 
 
 '• I could say that with more certainty if I knew 
 exactly where the pirate vessel is." 
 
 " That is 3-our idea. Erica," said her mistress. 
 " I saw what your thoughts were, an hour ago, be- 
 fore we knew all this." 
 
 '• I M'as thinking then, Madame, that if Hund 
 was gone to join the pirates, Nipen would be very 
 ready to give them a wind just now. A baffling 
 wind would be our only defence ; and we cannot 
 expect that much from Nipen to-day." 
 
 " I will do anything in the world," ciied Oddo, 
 eagerly. "Send me anywhere. Do think of some- 
 thing that I can do." 
 
 " What must be done, Peder ?" asked his mis- 
 tress. " There is quite enough to fear, Erica, 
 without a word of Nipen. Pirates on the coast, 
 and one farm-house seen burning already." 
 
 '• I will tell you what you must let me do, 
 Madame," said Erica. " Indeed you must not 
 oppose me. My mind is quite set upon going for
 
 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 71 
 
 the boat, — immediately, — this very minute. That 
 will give us time, — it Avill give us safety for this 
 night. Hund might bring seven or eight men 
 upon us over the promontory ; but if they find no 
 boat, I think they can hardly work up the wind- 
 ings of the fiord in their own vessel to-niglit ; — 
 unless, indeed," she added, with a sigh, " they have 
 a most favourable wind." 
 
 " All this is true enough," said her mistress ; 
 " but how will you go ? Will you sv. im ?" 
 
 " The raft, Madame." 
 
 " And there is the old skiff on Thor islet," said 
 Oddo. "It is a rickety little thing, hardly big 
 enough for two ; but it will carry down Erica and 
 me, if we go before the tide turns." 
 
 " But how will you get to Thor islet ?" enquired 
 Madam Erlingsen. " I wish the scheme were not 
 such a wild one. " 
 
 " A wild one must serve at such a time, Madame," 
 replied Erica. " Rolf had lashed several logs be- 
 fore he went. I am sure we can get over to the 
 islet. See, Madame, the fiord is as smooth as a pond." 
 
 " Let her go," said Peder. " She will never 
 repent.'* 
 
 " Then come back, I charge you, if you find 
 the least danger," said her mistress. " No one is 
 safer at the oar than you : but if there is a ripple 
 in the water, or a gust on the heights, or a cloud 
 in the sky, come back. Such is my command, 
 Erica." 
 
 " Wife," said Peder, '' give her your pelisse. 
 That will save her seeing the girls before she goes. 
 And she shall have my cap, and then there is not 
 an eye along the fiord that can tell whether she is 
 man or woman."
 
 72 ROVING HERE AND ROVING THERE. 
 
 Ulla lent her deerskin pelisse willingly enough ; 
 but she entreated that Oddo might be kept at home. 
 She folded her anus about the boy with tears ; but 
 Peder decided the matter with the words, 
 
 ^^ Let him go. It is the least he can do to make 
 up for last night. — Equip, Oddo." 
 
 Oddo equipped willingly enough. In two mi- 
 nutes, he and his companion looked like two walk- 
 ing bundles of fur. Oddo carried a frail basket, 
 containing rye bread, salt fish, and a flask of corn- 
 brandy : for in Norway no one goes on the short- 
 est expedition without carrj'ing provisions. 
 
 " Surely it must be dusk by this time," said 
 Peder. 
 
 It was dusk : and this was well, as the pair 
 could steal down to the sliore Mithout being per- 
 ceived from the house. Madame Erlingsen gave 
 them her blessing, saying, that if the enterprise 
 saved them from nothing worse than Hund's com- 
 pany this night, it would be a great good. There 
 could be no more comfort in having Hund for an 
 inmate ; for some improper secret he certainly had. 
 Her hope was that, finding the boat gone, he would 
 never show himself again. 
 
 " One would think," continued the lady, when 
 slie returned from watching Erica and Oddo dis- 
 appear in the dusk, — '• one would think Erica had 
 never known fear. Her step is as finu, and Iier 
 eye as clear, as if she had never trembled in the 
 course of her life." 
 
 " She knows how to act to-night," said Peder ; 
 " and she is going into danger for her lover, instead 
 of waiting at home wliile her lover goes into danger 
 for her. A Imndred pirates in the fiord would not 
 make hei tremble as she trembled last night.
 
 ROVING nERE AND ROVING THERE, 73 
 
 Rather a hundred pirates than Nipen angry, she 
 would say." 
 
 *' There is her ^yeakness," observed her mistress. 
 
 *' Can ve speak of weakness, after what we have 
 just seen, — if I may say so, Madame ?" 
 
 " I think so," replied Madame Erlingsen. " I 
 tliink it a weakness in those who believe that a 
 just and tender Providence watches over us all, to 
 fear v/hat any power in the universe can do to 
 them." 
 
 " M. Kollsen does not make progress in teaching 
 the people what you say, Madame. lie only gets 
 distrusted by it." 
 
 " When M. Kollsen has had more experience, 
 he will find that this is not a matter for displeasure. 
 He will not succeed while he is displeased at what 
 his people think sacred. When he is an older 
 man, he will pity the innocent for what they suffer 
 from superstition ; and this pity will teach him how 
 to speak of Providence to such as our Erica. — But 
 liere are my girls, coming to seek me. I must 
 meet them, to prevent their missing Erica." 
 
 " Get them to rest early, Madame." 
 
 '' Certainly. And you will watch in this house, 
 Peder, and I at home." 
 
 " Trust me for hearing the oars at a furlong off, 
 Madame." 
 
 " 1'hat is more than I can promise," said the 
 lady ; " but the owl shall not be more awake 
 than I."
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 
 
 Erica now profited by her lover's iacustry in 
 the morning. He had so far advanced with the 
 raft that, though no one would have thought of 
 taking it in its present state to the mouth of the 
 fiord for shipment, it would serve as a conveyance 
 in still water, for a short distance, safely enough. 
 
 And still indeed the waters were. As Erica 
 and Oddo were busily and silently employed in 
 tying moss round their oars, to muffle their sound, 
 the ripple of the tide upon the white sand could 
 scarcely be heard ; and it appeared to the eye as if 
 the lingering remains of the daylight brooded on 
 the fiord, unwilling to depart. The stars had, 
 however, been showing themselves for some time ; 
 and they might now be seen t^dnkling below almost 
 as clearly and steadily as overhead. As Erica and 
 Oddo put their little raft off from the shore, and 
 then waited, m ith their oars suspended, to observe 
 whether the tide carried them towards the islet 
 they must reach, it seemed as if some invisible 
 hand was pushing them fortli, to shiver the bright 
 pavement of constellations as it lay. Star after 
 star was shivered, and its bright fragments danced 
 in their wake ; and those fragments reunited and 
 became a star again, as the waters closed over the
 
 THE water-sprites' doixgs. 75 
 
 path of the raft, and subsided into perfect still 
 ness. 
 
 The tide favoured Erica's object. A fevr strokes 
 of the oar brought the raft to the right point for 
 landing on the islet. They stepped ashore, and 
 towed the raft along till they came to the skiff, and 
 then they fastened the raft with the boat-hook which 
 had been fixed there for the skiff. This done, Oddo 
 ran to turn over the little boat, and examine its 
 condition : but he found he could not move it. It 
 was frozen fast to the ground. It was scarcely 
 possible to get a firm hold of it, it was so slippery 
 with ice ; and all pulling and pushing of the two 
 together was in vain, though the boat was so light 
 that either of them could have lifted and carried it 
 in a time of thaw. 
 
 This circumstance caused a good deal of delay : 
 and, what was worse, it obliged them to make 
 some noise. They struck at the ice with sharp 
 stones ; but it was long before they could make 
 any visible impression ; and JErica proposed, again 
 and again, that they should proceed on the raft. 
 Oddo was unwilling. The skiff would go so in- 
 comparably faster, that it was worth spending some 
 time upon it : and the fears he had had of its leak- 
 ing were removed, now that he found what a sheet 
 of ice it was covered with, — ice which would not 
 melt to admit a drop of water while they were in 
 it. So he knocked and knocked away, wishing 
 that the echoes would be quiet for once, and then 
 laughing as he imagined the ghost-stories that would 
 spring up all round the fiord to-morrow, from the 
 noise he was then making. 
 
 Erica worked hard too ; and one advantage of 
 their labour was that they were well warmed before
 
 76 THE WATER-SrRITES' DOINGS. 
 
 they put off again. The boat's icy fastenings were 
 all broken at last : and it was launched : but all 
 was not yet ready. The skiff had lain in a direction 
 east and west ; and its north side had so much 
 thicker a coating of ice than the other, that its 
 balance was destroyed. It hung so low on one 
 side as to promise to upset with a touch. 
 
 " We must clear off more of the ice/' said Erica. 
 " But how late it is growing !" 
 
 "No more knocking, I say," replied Oddo. 
 " There is a quieter way of trimming the boat." 
 
 He fastened a few stones to the gunwale on the 
 lighter side, and took in a few more for the purpose 
 of shifting the weight, if necessary, while they 
 were on their way. 
 
 They did not leave quiet behind them, when they 
 departed. They had roused the multitude of eider- 
 ducks, and other sea-fowl, which thronged the islet, 
 and which now, being roused, began their night 
 feeding and flying, though at an earlier hour than 
 usual. When their discordant cries were left so 
 far behind as to be softened by distance, the flap- 
 ping of wings and swash of water, as the fowl 
 plunged in, still made the air busy all around. 
 
 The rowers were so occupied with the manage- 
 ment of their dangerous craft, that they had not 
 spoken since they left the islet. Tlie skiff would 
 have been unmanageable by any maiden and boy in 
 our countrj^ ; but on the coast of Norway it is as 
 natural to persons of all ages and degrees to guide 
 a boat as to walk. Swiftly but cautiously they shot 
 through the water, till, at length, Oddo uttered a 
 most hideous croak. 
 
 " What do you mean ?'* asked Erica, hastily 
 glancing round her.
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 77 
 
 Oddo laughed, and looked upwards as he croaked 
 again. He was answered by a similar croak, and 
 a large raven was seen flying homewards over the 
 fiord for the night. Then the echoes all croaked, 
 till the whole region seemed to be full of ravens. 
 
 '' Are you sure you know the cove ?" asked 
 Erica, who wished to put an end to this sound, 
 unwelcome to the superstitious. " Do not make 
 that bird croak so ; it will be quiet if you let 
 it alone. Are you sure you can find the cove 
 again ?" 
 
 " Quite sure. I wish I was as sure that Hund 
 would not find it again before me. Pull away." 
 
 " How much farther is it?" 
 
 " Farther than I like to think of. I doubt your 
 arm holding out. I wish Rolf was here." 
 
 Erica did not wish the same thing. She thought 
 that Rolf was, on the whole, safer waging war with 
 bears than with pirates ; especially if Hund was 
 among them. She pulled her oar cheerfully, ob- 
 serving that there was no fatigue at present ; and 
 tliat, when they were once afloat in the heavier boat, 
 and had cleared the cove, there need be no hurry, 
 — unless, indeed, they should see something of the 
 pirate schooner on the way : and of this she had 
 no expectation, as the booty that might be had 
 where the fishery was beginning was worth more 
 than anything that could be found higher up the 
 fiords : — to say nothing of the danger of running 
 up into the country so far as that getting away 
 again depended upon one particular wind. 
 
 Yet Erica looked behind her after every few 
 strokes of her oar ; and once, when she saw some- 
 thing, her start was felt like a start of the skiff 
 itself. There w?s a fire glancing and gleaming
 
 78 THE WATER-SFHITES' DOINGS. 
 
 and quivering' over the water, some May down the 
 fiord. 
 
 " Some people night-fishing," observed Oddo. 
 " What sport they will have ! I wish I was with 
 them. How fast we go ! How you can row when 
 you choose ! I can see the man that is holding the 
 torch. Cannot you see his black figure ? And 
 the spearman, — see how he stands at the bow, — 
 now going to cast his spear ! I wish I was there/' 
 
 " We must get farther away, — into the shadow 
 somewhere, — or wait," observed Erica. " I had 
 rather not wait, — it is growing so late. We might 
 creep along under that promontory, in the shadow, 
 if you would be quiet. I wonder whetlier you can 
 be silent in the sight of night-fishing." 
 
 " To be sure," said Oddo, disposed to be angrj^, 
 and only kept from it by the thought of last night. 
 He helped to bring the skiff into the shadow of the 
 overhanging rocks, and only spoke once more, to 
 whisper that the fishing-boat was drifting down 
 with the tide, and that he thought their cove lay 
 between them and the fishing-party. 
 
 It Mas so. As the skiff rounded the point of the 
 promontoiy, Oddo pointed out Mhat appeared like 
 a mere dark cliasm in the high perpendicular Mall 
 of rock that bounded the Maters. This chasm still 
 looked so narroM-, on approaching it, that Erica 
 hesitated to push her skiff into it, till certain that 
 there Mas no one there. Oddo, hoMcver, Mas so 
 clear that she might safely do this, so noiseless M-as 
 their roMing, and it Mas so plain that there Mas no 
 footing on the rocks by M'hich he might enter to 
 explore, that in a sort of desperation, and seeing 
 nothing else to be done. Erica agreed. She Mished 
 it had been summei", Mhen eitlier of them might
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 79 
 
 have learned what they wanted by swimming. This 
 was now out of the question ; and stealthily there- 
 fore she pulled her little craft into the deepest 
 shadow, and crept into the cove. 
 
 At a little distance from the entrance it widened ; 
 but it was a wonder to Erica that even Oddo's 
 eyes should have seen Hund moor his boat here 
 from the other side of the fiord ; though the fiord 
 was not more than a gunshot over in this part. 
 Oddo himself wondered, till he recalled how the 
 sun was shining down into the chasm at the time. 
 By starlight, the outline of all that the cove con- 
 tained might be seen ; the outline of the boat, 
 among other things. There she lay 1 But there 
 was something about her which was unpleasant 
 enough. There were three men in her. 
 
 What was to be done now ? Here was the very 
 worst danger that Erica had feared ; — worse than 
 finding the boat gone ; — worse than meeting it in 
 the wide fiord. What was to be done ? 
 
 There was nothing for it but to do nothing, — to 
 lie perfectly still in the shadow, ready, hoMCver, to 
 push out on the first movement of the boat to leave 
 the cove ; for, though the canoe might remain un- 
 noticed at present, it was impossible that anybody 
 could pass out of the cove without seeing her. In 
 such a case, there would be nothing for it but a 
 race, — a race for which Erica and Oddo held them- 
 selves prepared, without any mutual explanation ; 
 for they dared not speak. The faintest whisper 
 would have crept over the smooth water to the 
 ears in the larger boat. 
 
 One thing was certain, — that something must 
 happen presently. It is impossible for the hardiest 
 men to sit inactive in a boat, for any length of
 
 80 THE WATER-SPRITES DOINGS. 
 
 time, in a January night in Norway. In the 
 cahnest nights the cohl is only to be sustained by 
 means of the glow from strong exercise. It was 
 certain that these three men could not have been 
 long in their places, and that they would not sit 
 many moments more, without some change in their 
 arrangements. 
 
 They did not seem to be talking ; for Oddo, who 
 was the best listener in the world, could not dis- 
 cover that a sound issued from their boat. He 
 fancied they were drowsy ; and, being aware what 
 were the consequences of yielding to drowsiness in 
 severe cold, the boy began to entertain high hopes 
 of taking these three men prisoners. The whole 
 country would ring with such a feat, performed by 
 Erica and himself. 
 
 The men were, however, too much awake to be 
 made prisoners of at present. One was seen to 
 drink from a flask ; and the hoarse voice of another 
 Avas heard grumbling, as far as the listeners could 
 make out, at being kept waiting. The third then 
 rose to look about him ; and Erica trembled from 
 head to foot. He only looked upon the land, 
 however, declared he saw nothing of those he was 
 expecting, and began to warm himself as he stood, 
 by repeatedly clapping his arms across his breast, 
 in the way that hackney-coaclmien and porters do 
 in England. This was Hund. He could not have 
 been known by his figure ; for all persons look 
 alike in wolf-skin pelisses ; but the voice and the 
 action were his. Oddo saw how Erica shuddered. 
 He put his finger on his lips ; but Erica needed no 
 reminding of the necessity of quietness. 
 
 The other two men then rose ; and, after a con- 
 sultation, the Mords of wliich could not be heard,
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 81 
 
 all stepped ashore, one after another, and climbed 
 a rocky pathway. 
 
 " Now, now !" whispered Erica. " Now we can 
 get away." 
 
 " Not without the boat," said Oddo. ^' You 
 would not leave them the boat !" 
 
 " No, — not if — but they will be back in a mo- 
 ment. They are only gone to hasten their com- 
 panions." 
 
 " I know it," said Oddo. " Now two strokes 
 forward !" 
 
 While she gave these two strokes, which brought 
 the skiff to the stern of the boat. Erica saw that 
 Oddo had taken out a knife, which gleamed in the 
 star-light. It was for cutting the thong by which 
 the boat was fastened to a birch pole, the other end 
 of which was hooked on shore. This was to save 
 his going ashore to unhook the pole. It was well 
 for him that boat-chains were not in use, owing to 
 the scarcity of metal in that region. The clink of 
 a chain would certainly have been heard. 
 
 Quickly and silently he entered the boat and tied 
 the skiff to its stern ; and he and Erica took their 
 places where the men had sat one minute before. 
 They used their own muffled oars to turn the boat 
 round, till Oddo observed that the boat oars were 
 muffled too. Then voices were heard again. The 
 men were returning. Strongly did the two com- 
 panions draw their strokes till a good breadth of 
 water lay between them and the shore ; and then 
 till they had again entered the deep shadow which 
 shrouded the mouth of the cove. There they 
 paused. 
 
 " In with you !" some loud voice said, as man 
 after man was seen in outline, coming down the 
 
 E
 
 82 THE WATER-SPRITES* DOINGS. 
 
 pathway. '* In with you ! 'We Jiave lost tune 
 enough already." 
 
 '• Where is she? I can't see the boat," answered 
 the foremost man. 
 
 '' You can't miss her," said one belund, ^'unless 
 the brandy has got into your eyes." 
 
 '' So I should have said ; but I do miss her. It 
 is very incomprehensible to me." 
 
 Oddo shook with stifled laughter as he partly 
 saw and partly overheard the perplexity of these 
 men. At last one gave a 'deep groan, and another 
 declared that the spirits of the fiord were against 
 them, and there was no doubt that their boat was 
 now lying twenty fathoms deep, at the bottom of 
 the creek ; drawn down by the strong hand of an 
 angry water-spirit. Oddo squeezed Erica's little 
 hand as he heard this. If it had been light 
 enough, he would have seen that even she was 
 smiling. 
 
 One of the men mourned their having no other 
 boat ; so that they must give up their plan. 
 Another said that if they had a dozen boats, he 
 would not set foot in one, after what had happened, 
 lie should go straight back, the way he came, to 
 their own vessel. Another said he would not go 
 till he had looked abroad over the fiord, for some 
 chance of seeing the boat. This he persisted in, 
 though told by the rest that it was absurd to sup- 
 pose tliat ihe boat had loosed itself, and gone out 
 into the fiord, in the course of the two minutes 
 that they had been absent. He showed the frag- 
 ment of the cut thong, in proof of the boat not 
 having loosed itself, and set ofi:' for a point on the 
 heights which he said overlooked the fiord. One 
 or two went with him ; the rest returning up tlio
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 83 
 
 narrow pathway at some speed, — such speed that 
 Erica thought they were afraid of the hindmost 
 being caught by the same enemy that had taken 
 their boat. Oddo observed this too : and lie 
 quickened their pace by setting up very loud the 
 mournful cry with which he was accustomed to 
 call out to the plovers, on the mountain side, on 
 sporting days. No sound can be more melancholy ; 
 and now, as it rang from the rocks, it was so un- 
 suitable to the place, and so terrible to the already 
 frightened men, that they ran on as fast as the 
 slipperiness of the rocks would allow, till they 
 were all out of siglit over the ridge. 
 
 *' Now for it, ])efore the other two come out 
 above us there !" said Oddo : and in another 
 minute, they were again in the fiord, keeping as 
 much in the shadow as they could, however, till 
 they must strike over to the islet. 
 
 " Thank God that we came !" exclaimed Erica. 
 " We shall never forget what we owe you, Oddo. 
 You shall see, by the care we take of your grand- 
 father and Ulla, that we do not forget what you 
 have done this night. If Nipen -w ill only forgive, 
 for the sake of this ." 
 
 " We were just in the nick of time," observed 
 Oddo. " It was better than if we had been 
 earlier." 
 
 " I do not know," said Erica. " Here are their 
 brandy -bottles, and many things besides. I had 
 rather not have had to bring these away." 
 
 '' But if we had been earlier, they would not 
 have had their fright. That is the best part of it. 
 Depend upon it, some that have not said their 
 prayers for long will say them to-night." 
 
 " That will be good. But I do not like cany- 
 
 E 2
 
 S4 THE water-sprites' doingj. 
 
 ing home these things that are not ours. If they 
 are seen at Erlingsen's, they may bring the pirates 
 down upon us. I would leave them on the islet, 
 but that the skiff has to be left there too ; and that 
 would explain our trick." 
 
 Erica would not consent to throw the property 
 overboard. This would be robbing those who had 
 not actually injured her, whatever their intentions 
 might have been. She thought that if the goods 
 were left upon some barren, uninhabited part of 
 the shore, the pirates would probably be the first to 
 find them : and that, if not, the rumour of such an 
 extraordinary fact, spread by the simple country 
 people, would be sure to reach them. So Oddo 
 carried on shore, at the first stretch of white beach 
 they came to, the brandy flasks, the bear-skins, the 
 iObacco-pouch, the muskets and powder-horns, and 
 the tinder-box. He scattered these about, just 
 above high-water mark, laughing to think how 
 report would tell of the sprites' care in placing all 
 these articles out of reach of injury from the 
 water. 
 
 Oddo did not want for light while doing this. 
 "When he returned, he found Erica gazing up over 
 the towering precipices, at the Northern Lights, 
 which had now unfurled their broad yellow blaze. 
 She was glad that they had not appeared sooner, 
 to spoil the adventure of the night ; but she was 
 thankful to have the way liome thus illumined, 
 now that the business was done. She answered 
 with so much alacrity to Oddo's question whether 
 she was not veiy weary, that he ventured to say 
 two things which had before been upon his tongue, 
 without his having courage to utter them. 
 
 •' You will not be so afraid of Nipen any more,"
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 85 
 
 observed he, glancing at her face, of which he 
 could see every feature by the quivering light. 
 " You see how well everything has turned out." 
 
 '' 0. hush ! It is too soon yet to speak so. It 
 is never right to speak so. There is no knowing 
 till next Christmas, nor even then, that Nipen for- 
 gives; and the first twenty-four hours are not over 
 yet. Pray do not speak any more, Oddo." 
 
 " "Well, not about that. 13ut what was it exactly 
 that you thought Hund would do with this boat 
 and those people? — Did you think," he continued, 
 after a short pause, " that they would come up to 
 Erlingsen's to rob the place ?" 
 
 " Not for the object of robbing the place ; be- 
 cause there is very little that is worth their taking ; 
 far less than at the fishing-grounds. Not but they 
 might have robbed us, if they took a fancy to any- 
 thing we have. No : I thought, and I still think, 
 that they would have carried off Rolf, led on by 
 Hund " 
 
 " O, ho! carried off Rolf! So here is the 
 secret of your wonderful courage to-night, — you 
 who durst not look round at your own shadow last 
 night ! This is the secret of your not being tired, 
 — you who are out of breath with rowing a mile 
 sometimes !" 
 
 " That is in summer," pleaded Erica. " How- 
 
 •ever, you have my secret, as you say, — a thing 
 
 which is no secret at home. We all think that 
 
 Hund bears such a gi-udge against Rolf, for having 
 
 got the houseman's place " 
 
 '' And for nothing else?" 
 
 " That," continued Erica, " he would be glad 
 to— to—" 
 
 '• To get rid of Rolf, and be a houseman, and
 
 S6 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 
 
 get betrothed instead of him. Well : Hand is 
 baulked for this time. Rolf must look to himself 
 after to-day." 
 
 Erica sighed deeply. She did not believe that 
 Rolf would attend to his own safety: and the 
 future looked very dark, — all shrouded by her 
 fears. 
 
 By the time the skiff was deposited where it had 
 been found, both the rowers were so weary that 
 they gave up the idea of taking the raft in tow, as 
 for full security they ought to do. They doubted 
 whether they could get home, if they had more 
 weight to draw than their own boat. It was well 
 that they left this incumbrance behind : for there 
 was quite peril and difficulty enough without it ; and 
 Erica's strength and spirits failed the more, the 
 farther the enemy was left behind. 
 
 A breath of wind seemed to bring a sudden 
 darkening of the friendly lights which had blazed 
 up higher and brighter, from their first appearance 
 till now. Both rowers looked down the fiord, and 
 uttered an exclamation at the same moment. 
 
 " See the fog !" cried Oddo, putting fresh strength 
 into his oar. 
 
 *' Nipen ! Nipen !" mournfully exclaimed 
 Erica. " Here it is, Oddo, — the west wind !" 
 
 The west wind is, in winter, the great foe of the 
 fishermen of the fiords : it brings in the fog from • 
 the sea ; and the fogs of tlie Arctic Circle are no 
 trifling enemy. If Nipen really had the cliarge of 
 the winds, he could not more emphatically sliow 
 his displeasure towards any unhappy boatman than 
 by overtaking him with the west wind and fog. 
 
 ' '• The wind must have just changed," said Oddo, 
 pulling exhausting strokes, as the fog marched to-
 
 THE water-sprites' DOINGS. 87 
 
 wards them over the water, like a solid and im- 
 measurably lofty wall. " The wind must have gone 
 right round in a minute." 
 
 " To be sure, — since you said what you did of 
 Kipen," replied Erica, bitterly. 
 
 Oddo made no answer ; but he did what he could. 
 Erica had to tell him not to wear himself out too 
 quickly, as there was no saying now how long they 
 should be on the water. 
 
 How long they had been on the water, how far 
 they had deviated from their right course, they 
 could not at all tell, when, at last, more by accident 
 than skill, they touched the shore near home, and 
 heard friendly voices, and saw the light of torches 
 through the thick air. The fog had wrapped them 
 ix)und so that they could not even see the water, or 
 each other. They had rowed mechanically, some- 
 times touching the rock, sometimes grazing upon 
 the sand, but never knowing where they were till the 
 ringing of a bell, which they recognised as the farm 
 bell, roused hope in their hearts, and strengthened 
 them to throw off the fatal drowsiness caused by 
 cold and fatigue. They made towards the bell ; 
 and then heard Peder's shouts, and next saw the 
 dull light of two torches which looked as if tliey 
 could not burn in the fog. The old man lent a 
 strong hand to pull up the boat upon the beacli, 
 and to lift out the benumbed rowers ; and tliey 
 were presently revived by having their limbs chafed, 
 and by a strong dose of the universal medicine, — ■ 
 corn-brandy and camphor, — which in Norway, 
 neither man nor woman, young nor old, sick nor 
 well, thinks of refusing upon occasion. 
 
 When Erica was in bed, warm beneath an 
 eider-down coverlid, ber mistress bent over her and 
 wliispered,
 
 88 THE water-sprites' doings. 
 
 " You saw and heard Hund himself?" 
 
 " Hund himself, Madame." 
 
 " What shall we do if he comes back before my 
 husband is home from the bear-hunt ?" 
 
 '• If he comes, it will be in fear and penitence, 
 thinking that all the powers are against him. 
 But O, Madame, let him never know how it reallv 
 was !" 
 
 " He must not know. Leave that to me, and go 
 to sleep now. Erica. You ought to rest well ; for 
 there is no saying what you and Oddo have saved 
 us from. I could not have asked such a service. 
 My husband and I must see how we can reward it." 
 And her kind and grateful mistress kissed Erica's 
 cheek, though Erica tried to explain that she was 
 thinking most of some one else, when she undertook 
 this expedition. 
 
 " Then let him thank you in his own way," re- 
 plied Madame Erlingsen. " Meantime, why should 
 not I thank you in mine ?" 
 
 Stiorna here opened her eyes for an instant. 
 When she next did so her mistress was gone ; and 
 she told in the morning what an odd dream she had 
 had, of her mistress being in her room, and kissing 
 Erica. It was so distinct a dream that, if the thing- 
 had not been so ridiculous, she could almost have 
 declared that she had seen it.
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 Great was Stiorna's consternation at Hund's non- 
 appearance, the next day, seeing, as she did with 
 her own eyes, that the boat was safe in its proper 
 place. She had provided salt for his cod, and a 
 welcome for himself; and she watched in vain for 
 either. She saw too that no one wished him back. 
 He was rarely spoken of ; and then it was with dis- 
 like or fear : and when she wept over the idea of 
 his being drowned, or carried of by hostile spirits, 
 the only comfort offered her was that she need not 
 fear his being dead, or that he could not come back 
 if he chose. She was indeed obliged to suppose, at 
 last, that it was his choice to keep away ; for amidst 
 the flying rumours that amused the inhabitants of 
 the district for the rest of the winter, — rumours of 
 the movements of the pirate-vessel, and of the pranks 
 of the spirits of the region, there were some such 
 clear notices of the appearance of Hund, — so many 
 eyes had seen him in one place or another, by land 
 and water, by day and night, that Stiorna could not 
 doubt of his being alive, and free to come home or 
 stay away as he pleased. She could not conceal 
 from herself that he had probably joined the pirates ; 
 and heartily as these pirates were feared through- 
 out the Nordland coasts, they were not more heartily 
 hated by any than by the jealous Stiorna.
 
 90 SPRI^-G. 
 
 Her salt was wanted as much as if Hund had 
 brought liome a boat-full of cod ; and she might 
 have given her welcome to the hunting-party. 
 Erlin^-sen and Rolf came home sooner than mig-ht 
 reasonably have been expected, and well laden with 
 bear's flesh. The \\iiole family of bears had been 
 found and shot. The flesh of the cubs had been 
 divided among the hunters ; and Erlingsen was 
 complimented with the feet of the old bear, as it 
 was he M'ho had roused the neighbours, and led the 
 hunt. Busy was every farm-house (and none so 
 busy as Erlingsen's) in salting some of the meat, 
 freezing some, and cooking a part for a feast on the 
 occasion. 
 
 Erlingsen kept a keen and constant look-out 
 upon the fiord, in the midst of all the occupations 
 and gaieties of the rest of the winter. His wife's 
 account of the adventures of the day of his absence 
 made him anxious : and he never went a mile out 
 of sight of home, so vivid in his imagination was 
 the vision of his house burning, and his family at 
 the mercy of pirates. Kothing happened, however, 
 to confirm his fears. The enemy were never heard 
 of in the fiord ; and the cod-fishers who came up, 
 before the softening of the snoAv, to sell some of 
 their produce in tlie interior of the country, gave 
 such accounts as seemed to show that the fishing- 
 grounds were the object of the foreign thieves ; — 
 for foreign they were declared to be : — some said 
 Eiissian ; and others a mixture from hostile nations. 
 This last information gave more impulse to the love 
 of country for which the Norwegians are remark- 
 able, than all that had been reported from the seat 
 of war. The Nordlanders always drank success to 
 tlieir country's arms, in the first glass of corn-
 
 SPRING. 91 
 
 brandy at dinner. They paid their taxes clieerfully ; 
 and any newspaper that the clergyman put in cir- 
 culation was read till it fell to pieces : but the 
 neighbourhood of foreign pirates proved a more 
 powerful stimulant still. The standing toast, Ga?n II 
 Norgc (Old Norway), was drunk with such enthu- 
 siasm that the little children shouted and defied the 
 enemy ; and the baby in its mother's lap clapped 
 its hands when every voice joined in the national 
 song For Norge. Hitherto the war had gone 
 forward upon the soil of another kingdom : it 
 seemed now as if a sprinkling of it, — a little of its 
 excitement and danger, — was brought to their own 
 doors ; and vehement was the spirit that it roused ; 
 though some thefts of cod, brandy, and a little 
 money, were all that had really happened yet. 
 
 The interval of security gave Rolf a good op- 
 portunity to ridicule and complain of Erica's fears. 
 He laughed at the danger of an attack from Hund 
 and his comrades, as that danger Mas averted. He 
 laughed at the west wind and fog sent by Nipen's 
 wrath, as Erica had reached home in spite of it. 
 He contended that, so far fromNipen being offended, 
 there was either no Nipen, or it was not angry, or 
 it was powerless ; for everything had gone well ; 
 and he always ended witli pointing to the deer, — a 
 good thing led to the very door, — and to the result 
 of the bear-hunt, — a great event always in a Nord- 
 lander's life, and, in this instance, one of most for- 
 tunate issue. There was no saying how many of 
 the young of the farm-yard would live and flourish 
 this summer, on account of the timely destruction 
 of this family of bears. So Rolf worked away, 
 with a clieerful heart, as the days grew longer, — 
 now mending the boat, — now fishing, now plough-
 
 92 SPRING. 
 
 ing, — and then rolling logs into the melting streams, 
 to be carried down into the river, or into the fiord, 
 when the rush of waters should come from the 
 heights of Sulitelma. 
 
 Hard as Rolf worked, he did not toil like Oddo. 
 Between them, they had to supply Hund's place, — 
 to do his work. Nobody desired to see Hund back 
 again ; and Erlingsen would willingly have taken 
 another in his stead, to make his return impossible ; 
 but there was no one to he had. It was useless to 
 inquire till the fishing-season should be over : and 
 when that was over, the hay and harvest seasons 
 would follow so quickly, that it was scarcely likely 
 that any youth Mould offer himself till the first frosts 
 set in. It was Oddo's desire that the place should 
 remain vacant till he could show that he, young as 
 he was, was worth as much as Hund. If any one 
 was hired, he wished that it might be a herd-boy, 
 under him ; and strenuously did he toil, this spring, 
 to show that he was now beyond a mere herd-boy*s 
 place. It was he who first fattened, and then 
 killed and skinned the rein-deer, — a more than 
 ordinary' feat, as it was full two months past the 
 regular season. It was he who watched the making 
 of the first eider-duck's nest, and brought home the 
 first down. All the month of April, he never 
 failed in the double work of the farm-yard and 
 islet. He tended the cattle in the morning, and 
 turned out the goats, when the first patches of green 
 appeared from beneath the snow : and then he was 
 off to the islet, or to some one of the breeding sta- 
 tions among the rocks, punctually stripping the 
 nests of the down, as the poor ducks renewed the 
 supply from their breasts ; and as carefully staying 
 his hand, when he saw, by the yellow tinge of the
 
 SPRING. 93^ 
 
 down, that the duck had no more to give, and the 
 drake had now supplied what was necessary for 
 hatching the eggs. Then he watched for the eggs ; 
 and never had Madame Erlingsen had such a 
 quantity brought home ; though Oddo assured her 
 that he had left enough in the nests for every duck 
 to have her brood. Then he was ready to bring 
 home the goats again, long before sunset, — for, by 
 this time, the sun set late, — and to take his turn at 
 mending any fence that might have been injured 
 by the spring-floods : and then he never forgot to 
 wash and dress himself, and go in for his grand- 
 mother's blessing ; and after all, he was not too 
 tired to sit up as late as if he were a man, — even 
 till past nine sometimes,— spending the last hour of 
 the evening in working at the bell-collars which 
 Hund had left half done, and which must be finished 
 before the cattle went to the mountain ; or, if the 
 young ladies were disposed to dance, he was never 
 too tired to play the clarionet ; though it now and 
 then happened that the tune went rather oddly : 
 and when Orga and Frolich looked at him, to see 
 what he was about, his eyes were shut, and his 
 fingers looked as if they were moving of their own 
 accord. If this happened, the young ladies would 
 finish their waltz at once, and thank him, and his 
 mistress would wish him good night ; and when he 
 was gone, liis master would tell old Peder that that 
 grandson of his was a promising lad, and very dili- 
 gent ; and Peder would make a low bow, and say 
 it was greatly owing to Rolf's good example ; and 
 then Erica would blush, and be kinder than ever 
 to Oddo the next day. 
 
 Sa came on and passed away the spring of this 
 year at Erlingsen's farm. It soon passed ; for
 
 94 SPRING. 
 
 spring in Nordland lasts only a month. In that 
 short time had the snow first become soft, and tlien 
 ding}^, and then vanished, except on the lieights 
 and in places where it had drifted. The streams 
 had broken their long pause of silence, and now 
 leaped and rushed along, till every rock overhang- 
 ing both sides of the fiord was musical with falling 
 waters, and glittering with silver threads, — for the 
 cataracts looked no more than this in so vast a 
 scene. Every mill was going, after the long idle- 
 ness of winter : and about the bridges which spanned 
 the falls were little groups of the peasants gathered, 
 mending such as had burst with the floods, or 
 strengthening such as did not seem secure enough 
 for the passage of the herds to the mountain. 
 
 Busy as the maidens were with the cows that were 
 calving, and with the care of the young kids, they 
 found leisure to pr}' into the promise of the spring. 
 In certain warm nooks, where the sunshine was 
 reflected from the surrounding rocks, they daily 
 watched for what else might appear, when once 
 the grass, of brilliant green, had shown itself from 
 beneath the snow. There they found the straw- 
 berry, and the wild raspberry, promising to carpet 
 the ground with their white blossoms ; while in 
 one corner the lily of the \ alley began to push up 
 its pairs of leaves ; and from the crevices of the 
 rock, the barberry and the dwarf birch grew, every 
 twig showing swelling buds, or an early sprout. 
 
 "While these cheerful pursuits went on out of 
 doors during the one busy month of spring, a slight 
 shade of sadness was thrown over the household 
 within by the decline of old Ulla. It was hardly 
 sadness ; it was little more than gravity ; for Ulla 
 herself was glad to go ; Peder knew that he should
 
 SPRING. 95 
 
 soon follow ; and every one else was reconciled to 
 one who had suffered so long going to her rest. 
 
 " The winter and I are going together, my 
 dear," said she one day, when Erica placed on lier 
 pillow a green shoot of birch which she had taken 
 from out of the very mouth of a goat. " The hoary 
 winter and hoary I have lived out our time, and 
 we are departing together. I shall make way for 
 3"0u young people, and give yon your turn, as he 
 is giving Avay to spring ; and let nobody pretend 
 to be sorry for it. Who pretends to be sorry when 
 winter is gone ?" 
 
 " But winter will come again, so soon and so cer- 
 tainly, Ulla," said Erica, mournfully : " and when 
 it is come again, we shall still miss you." 
 
 " Well, my dear, I will say nothing against that. 
 It is good for the living to miss the dead, as long 
 OS they do not wish them back. As for me. Erica, 
 I feel as if I could not but miss you, go where I 
 may." 
 
 " O, do not say that, Ulla." 
 
 ^' Why not say it if I feel it ? Who could be 
 displeased with me for grasping still at the hand 
 that has smoothed my bed so long, when I am 
 going to some place that will be very good, no 
 doubt, but where everything must be strange at 
 first ? He who gave you to me, to be my nurse, 
 will not think the worse of me for missing you, 
 wherever I may be." 
 
 '' There will be little Henrica," observed Erica 
 
 *' Ah, yes ! there is nothing I think of more than 
 that. That dear child died on my shoulder. Fain 
 would her mother have had her in her arms at the 
 last ; but she was in such extremity that to move 
 her would have been to end all at once ; and so
 
 96 SPRING. 
 
 she died away, with her head on my shoulder. I 
 thought then it was a sign that I should be the 
 first to meet her again. But I shall take care and 
 not stand in the way of her mother's rights." 
 
 Here Ulla grew so earnest in imagining her 
 meeting with Henrica, still fancying her the depend- 
 ent little creature she had been on earth, that she 
 was impatient to be gone. Erica's idea was that 
 this child might now have become so wise and so 
 mighty in the wisdom of a better world, as to 
 be no such plaything as Ulla supposed ; but she 
 said nothing to spoil the old w^oman's pleasure. 
 
 When Peder came in, to sit beside his old com- 
 panion's bed, and sing her to sleep, she told him 
 that she hoped to be by when he opened his now 
 dark eyes upon the sweet light of a heavenly day ; 
 and, if she might, she would meantime make up 
 his dreams for him, and make him believe that he 
 saw the most glorious sights of old Norway, — more 
 glorious than are to be seen in any other part of 
 this lower world. There should be no end to the 
 gleaming lakes, and dim forests, and bright green 
 valleys, and silvery waterfalls that he should see in 
 his dreams, if she might have the making of them. 
 There was no end to the delightful things Ulla 
 looked forward to, and the kind things she hoped 
 to be able to do for those she left behind, when 
 once she should have quitted her present helpless 
 state : and she thought so much of these things, 
 that when M. KoUsen arrived, he found that in- 
 stead of her needing to be reconciled to death, she 
 was impatient to be gone. The first thing he 
 heard her say, when all was so dim before her 
 dying eyes, and so confused to her failing ears, 
 that she did not know the pastor had arrived, was
 
 SPRING. 97 
 
 that she was less uneasy now about Nipen's dis- 
 pleasure against the young people. Perhaps she 
 might be able to explain and prevent mischief: and 
 if not, the young people's marriage would soon be 
 taking place now, and then they might show such 
 attention to Nipen as would make the spirit for- 
 give and forget. 
 
 '' Hush, now, dear Ulla !" said Erica. " Here 
 is the pastor." 
 
 " Do not say ' hush !' " said M. Kollsen, sternly. 
 " Wiiatever is said of this kind I ought to hear, 
 that I may meet the delusion. I must have con- 
 versation with this poor woman, to prevent her very 
 last breath being poisoned with superstition. You 
 are a member of the Lutheran church, Ulla ?" 
 
 With humble pleasure, Ulla told of the satisfac- 
 tion which the bishop of Tronyem, of seventy years 
 ago, had expressed at her confirmation. It was 
 this which obtained her a good place, and Peder's 
 regard, and all the good that had happened in her 
 long life since. Yes : she was indeed a member 
 of the Lutheran church, she thanked God. 
 
 " And in what part of the Scriptures of our 
 
 church do you find mention of — of (I hate 
 
 the very names of these pretended spirits.) — Where 
 in the Scriptures are you bidden or permitted to 
 believe in spirits and demons of the wood and the 
 mountain ?" 
 
 Ulla declared that her learning in the Scriptures 
 was but small. She knew only what she had been 
 taught, and a little that slie had picked up : 
 but she remembered that the former bishop of 
 Tronyem himself had hung up an axe in the forest, 
 on Midsummer eve, for the wood-demon's use, if it 
 pleased.
 
 98 SPRING. 
 
 Peder observed, that we all believe so many- 
 tiling's that are not found mentioned in the Scrip- 
 ture, that perhaps it would be wisest and kindest, 
 by a dying- bed, where moments were precious, to 
 speak of those high things which the Scriptures dis- 
 course of, and which all Christians believe. These 
 were the subjects for Ulla now : the others might 
 be reasoned of when she was in her grave. 
 
 The pastor was not quite satisfied with this way 
 of attendino- the dvins;' ; but there was somethinsr 
 In the aged man's voice and manner quite irresis- 
 tible, as he sat calmly awaiting the departure of 
 the last companion of his own generation. M. Koll- 
 sen took out his Bible, and read what Ulla gladly 
 heard, till her husband knew by the slackened 
 clasp of her hand that she heard no longer. She 
 had become insensible, and before sunset had 
 departed. 
 
 Rolf had continued his kind offices to the old 
 couple with the utmost respect and propriety, to 
 the end refusing to go out of call during the last 
 few days of Ulla's decline : but he had observed, 
 with some anxiety, that there was certainly a shoal 
 of herrings in the fiord, and that it was high time 
 he was making use of the sunny days for his fish- 
 ing. In oi'der to go about this duty without any 
 delay, when again at liberty, he had brought the 
 skiff up to the beach for repair, and had it nearly 
 ready for use by the day of the funeral. The 
 family boat was too large for his occasions, now 
 tliat Hund was not here to take an oar : and he 
 expected to do great things alone in the little 
 manageable skiff. 
 
 When he had assisted Peder to lay Ulla's head 
 in the grave, and guided him back to the house,
 
 smiNG. 99 
 
 Rolf drew Erica's arm within his own, and led her 
 away as if for a walk. No one interfered with 
 them ; for the family knew that their hearts must 
 be very full, and that they must have much to say 
 to each other, now that the event had happened 
 which ^yas to cause their marriage very soon. They 
 would now wait no longer than to pay proper re- 
 spect to Ulla's memoiy, and to improve the house 
 and its furniture a little, so as to make it fit for the 
 bride. 
 
 Rolf would have led Erica to the beach ; but 
 she begged to go first to see the grave again, while 
 they knew that no one was there. The grave was 
 dug close by the little mound beneath which Hen- 
 rica lay. Henrica's was railed round, with a paling 
 which had been fresh painted, — a task which Er- 
 lingsen performed with his own hands every spring. 
 The forget-me-not, which the Nordlanders plant 
 upon the graves of those they love, overran the 
 hillock, and the white blossoms of the wild straw- 
 berry peeped out from under the thick grass ; so 
 that this grave looked a perfect contrast to that of 
 Ulla, newly made and bare. The lovers looked 
 at tliis last with dissatisfaction. 
 
 " It shall be completely railed in before to- 
 morrow night," said Rolf. 
 
 " But cannot we dress it a little now ? I could 
 transplant some flower-roots presently, and some 
 forget-me-not from Henrica's hillock, if we had 
 sods for the rest. Never mind spoiling any other 
 nook. The grass will soon grow again." 
 
 Rolf's spade v.as busy presently ; and Erica 
 planted and watered till the new grave, if it did 
 not compare with the child's, showed tokens of 
 ca'-e, and promise of beauty.
 
 100 SPRING. 
 
 " Now," said Rolf, when they had done, and put 
 away their tools, and sat down on the pine log 
 from which the pales were to be made, so that 
 their lengthening- shadows fell across the new grave, 
 — " Now, Erica, you know what she who lies there 
 would like us to be settling. She herself said her 
 burial-day would soon be over ; and then would 
 come our wedding-day." 
 
 " "When everything is ready," replied Erica, 
 " we will fix ; but not now. There is much to be 
 done ; — there are many uncertainties." 
 
 '^ Uncertainties ? What uncertainties ? I know 
 of none, — except indeed as to " 
 
 Rolf stopped to peel off, and pull to pieces, some 
 of the bark of the pine-trunk on which he was 
 sitting. Erica looked wistfully at him ; he saw it, 
 and went on. 
 
 "It is often an uncertainty to me. Erica, after 
 all that has happened, whether you mean to marry 
 me at all. There are so many doubts, and so many 
 considerations, and so many fears ! I often think 
 we shall never be any nearer than we are." 
 
 '' That is your sort of doubt and fear," said 
 Erica, smiling. "Who is there that entertains 
 worse ?" 
 
 " I do not want any rallying or joking. Erica. 
 I am quite serious." 
 
 " Seriously then, — are we not nearer than we 
 were a year ago ? We are betrothed ; and I have 
 shown you that I do believe we are to be married, 
 if " 
 
 " Ay, there. ' If again." 
 
 " If it shall please the Powers above us not to 
 separate us, by death or otherwise." 
 
 "• Death ! at our age ! And separation ! v/hen
 
 SPRING. 101 
 
 we have lived on the same farm foi years ! "What 
 have we to do with death and separation ?" 
 
 Erica pointed to the child's grave, in rebuke of 
 his rash words. She then quietly observed that they 
 had enemies, — one deadly enemy not very far off, 
 if nothing were to be said of any but human foes. 
 — Rolf declared that he had rather have Hund 
 for a declared enemy than for a companion. Erica 
 understood this very well ; but she could not 
 forget that Plund wanted to be houseman in 
 Rolf's stead, and that he desired to prevent their 
 marriage. 
 
 " That is the very reason," said Rolf, '' why 
 we should marry as soon as we can. Why not 
 fix the day, and engage the pastor while he is 
 here ?" 
 
 '' Because it would hurt Peder's feelings. There 
 «will be no difficulty in sending for the pastor when 
 everything is ready. But now, Rolf, that all 
 may go well, do promise not to run into needless 
 danger." 
 
 •' According to you," said Rolf, smiling, " one 
 can never get out of danger. Where is the use of 
 taking care, if all the powers of earth and air are 
 against us? You think me as helpless, under 
 Nipen's breath, as the poor infant that put out into 
 the fiord the other day in a tub." 
 
 *' I am not speaking of Nipea now, — (not be- 
 cause I do not think of it ;)— I am speaking of 
 Hund. Do promise me not to go more than four 
 miles down the fiord. After that, there is a long 
 stretch of precipices, without a single dwelling. 
 There is not a boat that could put off, — there is 
 not an eye or an ear that could bear witness what
 
 102 SPRING. 
 
 Iiad become of you, if you and Huiid sliould meet 
 there." 
 
 " If Hund and I should meet tliere, I would 
 bring him home, to settle what should become of 
 him." 
 
 " And all the pirates ? You would bring them 
 all in your right hand and row home with your 
 left ! For shame, Rolf, to be such a boaster ! 
 Promise me not to go beyond the four miles." 
 
 " Indeed I can only promise to go where the 
 shoal is. Four miles ! Suppose you say four 
 furlongs, love." 
 
 "I will engage to catch herrings within four 
 furlongs." 
 
 " Pray take me M-ith you ; and then I will carry 
 you four times four miles down, and show you 
 what a shoal is. Really, love, I should like to 
 prove to you how safe the fiord is^ to one who 
 knows every nook and hiding-place from the 
 entrance up. If fighting would not do, I could 
 always hide." 
 
 " And would not Hund know where to look for 
 you ?" 
 
 " Xot he. He was not brouglit up on the fiord, 
 to know its ways, and its holes and corners : and I 
 told him neither that nor anything else that I 
 could keep from him ; for I always mistrusted 
 Hund. — Now, I will tell you, love. I will pro- 
 mise you something, because I do not wish to hurt 
 you, as you sometimes hurt me with disregarding 
 what I say, — with being afraid, in spite of all I 
 can do to make you easy. I will promise you not 
 to go farther down, while alone, than Vogel islet, 
 unless it is quite certain that Hund and the pirates
 
 SPRING. 103 
 
 are far enough off in another direction. I partly 
 think as you do, and as Erlingsen does, that tliey 
 meant to come for me the night you carried oif 
 their boat : so I 'svill be on the watch, and go no 
 farther than where they cannot hurt me." 
 
 " Then why say Vogel islet ? It is out of all 
 reasonable distance." 
 
 " Not to those who know the fiord as I do. I 
 have my reasons. Erica, for fixing that distance 
 and no other ; and that far I intend to go, whether 
 my friends think me able to take care of myself or 
 not." 
 
 ^' At least," pleaded Erica, " let me go with 
 
 you." 
 
 " Not for the world, my love." And Erica 
 saw, by his look of horror at the idea of her going, 
 that he felt anything but secure from the pirates. 
 He took her liand, and kissed it again and again, 
 as he said that there was plenty for that little hand 
 to do at home, instead of pulling the oar in tlie 
 hot sun. " I shall think of you all while I am 
 fishing," he went on. " I shall fancy you making 
 ready for the seater.* As you go towards Sulitelma 
 any day now, you may hear the voices of a thou- 
 sand waterfalls, calling upon the herdmen and 
 
 * Each Norway farm which is situated within a certain 
 distance of the mountains has a mountain pasture, to which 
 the herds and flocks are driven in early summer, and where 
 they feed till the first frosts come on. The herdmen and 
 dairy-women live on the mountain, beside their cattle, during 
 this season, and enjoy the mode of life extremely. Tht 
 moimtain pasture belonging to a farm is called its Seater. 
 The procession of herds and flocks, and herdmen and dairy 
 women with their utensils, all winding up the mountain, — • 
 '* going to the seater," is a pretty sight on aa early smnmer's 
 day.
 
 104 SPRING. 
 
 maidens to come to the fresh pastures. Plow 
 happy we shall be, Erica, when we once get to 
 the seater !" 
 
 Erica sighed, and pressed her lover's hand as he 
 held hers. 
 
 '' While I am fishing," he went on, " I shall 
 fancy our young mistresses, and Stiorna and you, 
 washing all your bowls in juniper-water, ready for 
 your dairy. I know how the young ladies will 
 contrive that all of my carving shall come under 
 your hand. And I shall be back with my fish before 
 you are gone, that I may walk beside your cart. 
 I know just how far you will ride. When we get 
 the first sight of the grass waving, as the -wind 
 sweeps over it on the mountain side, you will 
 spring from the cart and walk with me all the rest 
 of the way." 
 
 " All this would be well," said Erica, '' if it 
 were not for " 
 
 " For what, love ? For Nipen again ! If you 
 will not mind what I say about your silly fears, you 
 shall hear from the pastor how wicked they are. I 
 see him yonder, in the garden. I will call him " 
 
 " No, no ! I know all he has to say," declared 
 Erica. 
 
 But Rolf carried tlie case before M. Kollsen : 
 and M. Kollsen, glad of every opportunity of dis- 
 coursing on this subject, came and took Rolf's 
 seat, and said all he could think of in contempt of 
 the spirits of the region, till Erica's blood ran cold 
 to hear him. It was not kind of Rolf to expose 
 her to tliis : but Rolf had no fears himself, and 
 was not aware how much she suffered under what 
 the clergyman said. The lover stood by watching, 
 and was so charmed with her o-entle and submissive
 
 SPRING. 105 
 
 countenance and manner, while slie could not own 
 herself convinced, that he almost admired her su- 
 perstition, and forgave her doubts of his being 
 able to take care of himself while his deadly enemy 
 on earth might possibly be assisted by the offended 
 powers of the air.
 
 ( 106 ) 
 
 CHAPTER yil. 
 
 VOGEL ISLET. 
 
 "Who ^vas ever happier than Rolf, when abroad in 
 his skiff, on one of the most glorious clays of the 
 year ? He found his ahgling tolerably successful 
 near home ; but the farther he went, the more the 
 herrings abounded : and he therefore dropped 
 down the fiord with the tide, fishing as he receded, 
 till all home objects had disappeared. First, the 
 farm-house, with its surroundinoc buildinocs, its 
 green paddock, and shining white beach, was 
 hidden behind the projecting rocks. Then Thor 
 islet appeared to join with the nearest shore, from 
 which its bushes of stunted birch seemed to spring. 
 Then, as the skift' dropped lower and lower down, 
 the interior mountains appeared to rise above the 
 rocks which closed in the head of the fiord, and 
 the snowy peak of Sulitelma stood up clear amidst 
 the pale blue sky ; the glaciers on its sides catch- 
 ing the sunlight on different points, and glittering 
 so that the eye could scarcely endure to rest upon 
 the mountain. When he came to the narrow part 
 of the fiord, near the creek which had been the 
 scene of Erica's exploit, Rolf laid aside his rod, 
 with the bright hook that herrings so much admire, 
 to guide his canoe through the currents caused by 
 the approach of the rocks and contraction of the 
 passage ; and he then wished he had brouglit Erica
 
 VOGEL ISLET. 107 
 
 with him, so lovely was the scene. Every crevice 
 of the rocks, even where there seemed to be no 
 soil, was tufted with bushes, every twig of which 
 was bursting into the greenest leaf, while here and 
 there a clump of dark pines overhung some busy 
 cataract, which, itself overshadowed, sent forth its 
 little clouds of spray, dancing and glittering in 
 the sun-light. A pair of fishing eagles were 
 perched on a high ledge of rock, screaming to the 
 echoes, so that the dash of the currents was lost in 
 the din. Rolf did wish that Erica was here when 
 he thought how the colour would have mounted 
 into her cheek, and how her eye would have 
 sparkled at such a scene. 
 
 Lower down, it was scarcely less beautiful. 
 The waters spread out again, to a double width. 
 The rocks were, or appeared to be, lower ; and 
 now and then, in some space between rock and 
 rock, a strip of brilliant gTeen meadow lay open 
 to the sunshine ; and there were large flocks of 
 fieldfares, flying round and round, to exercise the 
 newly -fledged young. There were a few habita- 
 tions scattered along the margin of the fiord ; and 
 two or three boats might be seen far off*, with di- 
 minutive figures of men drawing their nets. 
 
 ''I am glad I brought my net too," thought 
 Bolf. " My rod has done good duty ; but if I am 
 coming upon a shoal, I will cast my net, and be 
 home laden with fish, before they think of looking 
 for me." 
 
 Happy would it have been if Rolf had cast his 
 net where others were content to fish, and had 
 given up all idea of going farther than was ne- 
 cessary : but his boat was still droppino^ down 
 towards the islet which he had fixed in his own 
 
 f2
 
 108 VOGEL ISLET. 
 
 mind as the limit of his trip ; and the long solitary 
 reach of tlie fiord which now lay between liim and 
 it was tempting both to the eye and the mind. It 
 is difficult to turn back from the first summer-day 
 trip, in countries where summer is less beautiful 
 than in Nordland ; and on went Eolf, beyond the 
 bounds of prudence, as many have done before him. 
 lie soon found himself in a still and somewhat 
 dreary region, where there was no motion but of 
 the sea-birds which were leading their broods 
 down the shores of the fiords, and of the air which 
 appeared to quiver before the eye, from the evapo- 
 ration caused by the heat of the sun. More slowly 
 went the canoe here, as if to suit the quietness of 
 the scene, and leisurely and softly did Eolf cast 
 his net : and then steadily did he draw it in, so 
 rich in fish, that when they lay in the bottom of 
 the boat, they at once sank it deeper in the water 
 and checked its speed by their weight. 
 
 Rolf then rested awliile, and looked ahead for 
 Yogel islet, thinking that he could not now be very 
 far from it. There it lay looming in the heated at- 
 mosphere, spreading as if in the air, just above the 
 surface of the water, to which it appeared joined 
 in the middle by a dark stem, as if it gi-ew like a 
 huge sea-flower. There is no end to the strange 
 apj)earances presented in northern climates by an 
 atmosphere so different from our own. Holf gazed 
 and gazed, as the island grew more like itself on 
 his approach ;. and lie was so occupied with it as 
 not to look about him as he ought to have done, at 
 such a distance from home. He was roused at 
 length by a shout, and looked towards the point 
 from which it came ; and tliere, in a little harbour 
 of the fiord, a recess which now actuallv lav behind
 
 VOGEL ISLET. 109 
 
 him, — between him and home, — lay a vessel ; and 
 that vessel, he knew by a second glance, was tlie 
 pirate-schooner. 
 
 Of the schooner itself he had no fear ; for there 
 was so little wind that it could not have come out 
 in time to annoy him ; but there was the schooner's 
 boat, with five men in it, — four rowing and one 
 steering, — already in full pursuit of him. He 
 knew, by the general air and native dress of the 
 man at the helm, that it was liund ; and he fancied 
 he heard Ilund's malicious voice in the shout 
 which came rushing over the water from their boat 
 to his. How fast they seemed to be coming ! 
 How the spray from their oars glittered in the sun ; 
 and hov/ their wake lengthened with every stroke ! 
 No spectator from the shore (if there had been 
 any) could have dou])ted that the boat was in pur- 
 suit of the skiff, and would snap it up presently. 
 Eolf saw that he had five determined foes, gaining 
 upon him every instant ; and yet he was not 
 alarmed. He had had his reasons for thinking 
 himself safe near Vogel islet : and, calculating for 
 a moment the time of the tide, he was quite at his 
 ease. As he took his oars, he smiled at the hot 
 haste of his pursuers, and at the thought of the 
 amazement they would feel when he slipped through 
 their fingers ; and then he began to row. 
 
 Rolf did not over-heat himself with too much 
 exertion. He permitted his foes to gain a little 
 upon him, though he might have preserved tlie dis- 
 tance for as long as his strengtli could have held 
 out against that of tlie four in the other boat. 
 They ceased their sliouting when they saw how 
 quietly he took his danger. They really believed 
 that he was not aware of being their object, and
 
 110 VOGEL ISLET. 
 
 hoped to seize him suddenly, before he had time to 
 resist. 
 
 Wlien very near the islet, however, Rolf became 
 more active ; and his skiff disappeared behind its 
 southern point while the enemy's boat was still two 
 furlongs off. The steersman looked for the re- 
 appearance of the canoe beyond the islet ; but he 
 looked in vain. He thought, and his companions 
 agreed with him, that it was foolish of Rolf to land 
 upon the islet, where they could lay hands on him 
 in a moment ; but they could only suppose he had 
 done tliis, and prepared to do the same. They 
 rowed quite round the islet ; but, to their amaze- 
 ment, they could not only perceive no place to 
 land at, but there was no ti-ace of the canoe. It 
 seemed to them as if those calm and clear waters 
 had swallowed up the skiff and Rolf, in a few 
 minutes after they had lost sight of him. Hand 
 thought the case was accounted for, when he re- 
 called Nipen's displeasure. A thrill ran through 
 him as he said to himself that the spirits of the 
 region had joined with him against Rolf, and swal- 
 lowed up, almost before his eyes, the man he hated. 
 He put his hands before his face, for a moment, 
 while his comrades stared at him : then, thinking 
 he must be under a delusion, he gazed earnestly 
 over the waters, as far as he could see. They lay 
 calm and bright ; and there was certainly no kind 
 of vessel on their surface, for miles round. 
 
 The rowers Mondered, questioned, uttered shouts, 
 spoke all together, and then looked at Hund in 
 silence, struck by his countenance ; and finished by 
 rowing two or three times round the islet, slowly, 
 and looking up its bare rocky sides, which rose 
 like walls from the water; but nothing could
 
 VOGEL ISLET. Ill 
 
 they see or hear. When tired of their fruitless 
 search they returned to the schooner, ready to 
 report to the master that the fiord was enchanted. 
 
 Meantime, Rolf had heard every plash of their 
 oars, and every tone of their voices, as they rowed 
 round his place of refuge. He was not on the islet, 
 but in it. This was such an island as Swein, the 
 sea-king of former days, took refuge in ; and Rolf 
 was only following his example. Long before, he 
 had discovered a curious cleft in the rock, very 
 narrow, and all but invisible at high water, even if 
 a bush of dwarf ash and birch had not hung doAvn 
 over it. At high water, nothing larger than a bird 
 could go in and out beneath the low arch; but 
 there was a cavern within, whose sandy floor sloped 
 up to some distance above high-water mark. In 
 this cavern was Rolf. He had thrust his little skiff 
 between the walls of rock, crushing in its sides as 
 he did so. The bushes drooped behind him, hang- 
 ing naturally over the entrance, as before. Rolf 
 pulled up his broken vessel upon the little sandy 
 beach within the cave ; saved a pile of his fish, and 
 returned a good many to the water ; and then sat 
 down upon the sea-weeds to listen. There ysas no 
 light but a little which found its w^ay through the 
 bushy screen, and up from the green water ; and 
 the sounds, — the tones of the pirates' voices, and 
 the splash of the waters against the rocky walls of 
 his singular prison, — came deadened and changed 
 to his ear. Yet he heard enougli to be aware how 
 long his enemies remained, and when they were 
 really gone. 
 
 It was a prison indeed, as Rolf reflected when he 
 looked upon his broken skiff. He could not ima- 
 gine how lie was to get away; for his friends would
 
 112 VOGEL ISLET. 
 
 certainly uever think of coming to look for him 
 here : but he put off the consideration of tliis 
 point for the present, and turned away from the 
 image of Erica's distress when he should fail to 
 return. He amused himself now v.ith imagining 
 Hund's disappointment, and the reports which 
 would arise from it : and he found this so very en- 
 tertaining, that he laughed aloud : and then the 
 echo of his laughter sounded so very merr}', that it 
 set him laughing again. This, in its turn, seemed 
 to rouse the eider-ducks that thronged the island ; 
 and their clatter and commotion Mas so great over- 
 head, that any spectator might have been excused 
 for believing that Vogel islet was indeed be- 
 witched.
 
 ( 113 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 
 
 *•' Humph ! How little did the rare old sea-kiiig 
 think," said Rolf to himself, as he surveyed his 
 cave, — " how little did Sweiii think, when he 
 played this very trick, six hundred years ago, that 
 it would save a poor farm-servant from being mur- 
 dered, so many centuries after ! Many thanks to 
 my good grandmother for being so fond of that 
 story ! She taught it thoroughly to me before she 
 died ; and that is the reason of my being safe at 
 this moment. I wish I had told the people at 
 home of my having found this cave : for, as it is, 
 they cannot but think me lost ; and how Erica will 
 bear it, I don't know. And yet, if I had told 
 them, Hund would have heard it ; or, at least, 
 Stiorna, and she would have managed to let him 
 know. Perhaps it is best as it is, if only I can get 
 back in time to save Erica's heart from breaking. 
 — But for her, I should not mind the rest being in 
 a fright for a day or two. They are a little apt to 
 fancy that the affairs of the farm go by nature, — 
 that the fields and the cattle take care of tliem- 
 selves. They treat me liberally enough ; but they 
 are not fully aware of the value of a man like me ; 
 and now they will learn. They will hardly know 
 how to make enougli of me when I go back. — 
 Oddo will be the first to see me. I think, Iiow- 
 
 F 3
 
 114 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 
 
 ever, I should let them hear my best song from a 
 distance. Let me see, — which song shall it be? 
 It must be one which will strike Peder ; for he 
 will be the first to hear, as Oddo always is to see. 
 Some of them will think it is a spirit mocking, and 
 some that it is my ghost : and my master and 
 madame will take it to be nothing but my own self. 
 And then, in the doubt among all these, my poor 
 Erica will faint away : and while they are throwing 
 water upon her face, and putting some camphorated 
 brand}' into her mouth, I shall quietly step in 
 among them, and grasp Peder's arm, and pull 
 Oddo's hair, to show that it is I myself; and when 
 Erica opens her eyes, she shall see ray face at its 
 very merriest ; so that she cannot possibly take me 
 for a sad and solemn ghost. And the next thing 
 ^vill be " 
 
 He stopped with a start, as his eye fell upon his 
 crushed boat, lying on its side, half iu the water 
 and half out. 
 
 " Ah !" thought he, in a changed mood, — " this 
 is all very fine, — this planning how one pleasant 
 thing %vill follow upon another ; but I forgot the 
 first thing of all. I must learn first how I am to 
 get out." 
 
 He turned his boat about and about, and shook 
 his head over every bruise, hole, or crack that he 
 found, till he finished with a nod of decision that 
 nothing could be done with it. — He was a good 
 swimmer ; but the nearest point of the shore was 
 so far ofT that it would be all he could do to reach 
 it when the waters were in their most favourable 
 state. At present, they were so chilled with the 
 melted snows that were pouring down from eveiy 
 steep along the fiord, that he doubted the safety of
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 115 
 
 attempting to swim at all. What chance of release 
 had he then ? 
 
 If he could by any means climb upon the rocks, 
 in whose recesses he was now hidden, he might 
 possibly fall in with some fishing-boat which would 
 fetch liim off: but, besides that the pirates were 
 more likely to see hira than anybody else, he be- 
 lieved there was no way by which he could climb 
 upon the islet. It had always been considered the 
 exclusive property of the aquatic birds with which 
 it swarmed, because its sides rose so abruptly from 
 the water, so like the smooth stone walls of a lofty 
 building, that there was no hold for foot or hand, 
 and the summit seemed unattainable by anything 
 that had not wings. Rolf remembered, howe^-er, 
 having heard Peder say that when he was young, 
 there might be seen hanging do^yn one part of the 
 precipice the remains of a birchen ladder, M'hich 
 must have been made and placed there by Iiunian 
 hands. Rolf determined that he would try the 
 point. He would wait till the tide was flowing in, 
 as the waters from the open sea were somewhat less 
 chilled than when returning from the head of the 
 fiord : — he Avould take the waters at their warmest, 
 and try and try again to make a footing upon the 
 islet. Meantime, he would not trouble himself with 
 thoughts of being a prisoner. 
 
 His cave was really a very pretty place. As its 
 opening fronted the west, he found that even here 
 there miglit be sunshine. The golden light which 
 blesses the high and low places of the earth did not 
 disdain to cheer and adorn even this humble cham- 
 ber, which, at the bidding of nature, the waters 
 had patiently scooped out of the hard rock. Some 
 hours after darkness had settled down on the lands
 
 116 A SUMMER ArARTMEXT. 
 
 of the tropics, and long- after the stars had come 
 out in the skies over English heads, this cave was 
 at its brightest. As the sun drew to its setting, 
 near tlie middle of the Xordland simimer night, it 
 levelled its golden rays through the cleft, and made 
 the place far more brilliant than at noon. The 
 projections of the rough rock caught tlie beam, 
 during the few minutes that it stayed, and shone with 
 a bright orange tint. The beach suddenly appeared 
 of a more dazzling white, and the waters of a 
 deeper green, while, by their motion, they cast 
 quivering circles of reflected light upon the roof, 
 which had before been invisible. Eolf took this 
 brief opportunity to survey his abode carefully. 
 He had supposed, from the pleasant freshness of the 
 air, that the cave was lofty ; and he now saw that 
 the roof did indeed spring up to a vast height. He 
 saw also tliat there was a great deal of drift-wood 
 accumulated ; and some of it tlirown into such dis- 
 tant corners as to prove that the waves could dash 
 up to a much liigher water-line, in stormy weather, 
 than he had supposed. No matter ! He hope<-l to 
 be gone before there were any more storms. Tired 
 and sleepy as he was, so near midnight, he made 
 an exertion, while there was plenty of ligh.t, to 
 clear away the sea-weeds from a space on the sand 
 where he must to-morrow make his fire, and broil 
 his fish. The smell of the smallest quantity of 
 burnt weed would be intolerable in so confined a 
 place : so he cleared away eveiy sprout of it, and 
 laid some of tlie drift-wood on a spot above high- 
 water mark ; picking out the driest pieces of lire- 
 wood he could find for kindling a flame. 
 
 When this was done, he could have found in his 
 heart to pick up shells, — so various and beautiful
 
 A SUMMER ArARTMENT. IlT 
 
 were those v.Iiich strewed the floor of his eaire :: 
 but the sunbeam was rapidly climbing the "wal},^ 
 and would presently be gone : so he let the shells?- 
 lie till the next night (if he should still be heAr«)j, 
 and made haste to heap up a bed of fine dry ^arws 
 in a corner ; and here lie lay down as the twilight 
 darkened, and thought he had never rested os. so 
 soft a bed. He knew it was near high wat-erj aiifl: 
 lie tried to keep awake, to ascertain how neaj:ly tiLe^ 
 tide filled up the entrance : but he was too w^jfy„ 
 and his couch was too comfortable for this> Hi&- 
 eyes closed in spite of him ; and he dreamed thaS 
 he was broad awake watchinof the heig-ht of tlm- 
 tide. For this one night, he could rest M'it]ao»it 
 any veiy painful thoughts of poor P^rica : for &Ii£- 
 was prepared for his remaining out till tlie mkldle 
 of the next da.y, at least. 
 
 When he awoke in the morning, the scene 'w.vls^ 
 marvellously changed from that on which he hsah 
 closed his eyes. His cave was so dim that he cault:! 
 scarcely distinguish its white floor from its lo^ky: 
 sides. The water was low, and the cleft theref^fc* 
 enlarged ; so that he saw at once that now was- tlx£'.- 
 tiine for making his fire, — now when there v.as the- 
 freest access for the air. Yet he could not help- 
 pausing to admire what he saw. He could see wy^ir 
 a long strip of the fiord, — a perspective of waters- 
 and of shores, ending in a lofty peak still capp^tl 
 with snow, and glittering in the sunlight. Tbie 
 whole landscape was bathed in light, as wann a^ 
 noon ; for, though it was only six in the moiTiin:gv 
 the sun had been up for several hours. As E.'»L€ 
 gazed, and reckoned up the sum of what he sa!v?> 
 — the many miles of water, and the long range &£ 
 rocks, he felt, for a moment, as if not yet secuxs:
 
 118 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 
 
 from Huiid, — as if he must be easily visible while 
 he saw so much. But it was not so, and Rolf 
 smiled at his own momentary fear when he re- 
 membered how, as a child, he had tried to count 
 the stars he could see at once through a hole 
 pricked by a needle in a piece of paper, and how, 
 for that matter, all that we ever see is through the 
 little circle of the pupil of the eye. He smiled 
 A^■hen he considered that while, from his recess, he 
 could see the united navy of Norway and Denmark, 
 if anchored in the fiord, his enemy could not see 
 even his habitation, otherwise than by peeping 
 under the bushes which overhung the cleft ; and 
 this only at low water. So he began to sing, 
 while rubbing together, with all his might, the dry 
 sticks of fir with which his fire was to be kindled. 
 First they smoked ; and then, by a skilful breath 
 of air, they blazed, and set fire to the heap ; and 
 by the time the herrings were ready for broiling, 
 the cave was so filled Mith smoke that Rolf's 
 singing was turned to coughing. 
 
 Some of the smoke hung in soot on the roof and 
 walls of the cave, curling up so Avell at first that 
 Rolf almost thought there must be some opening 
 in the lofty roof which served as a chimney. But 
 there was not : and some of the smoke came down 
 again, issuing at last from the mouth of the cave. 
 Rolf observed this ; and, seeing the danger of his 
 place of retreat being thus discovered, he made 
 haste to finish his cookery, resolving that, if he 
 had to remain here for any length of time, he 
 would always make his fire in tlie night. He pre- 
 sently threw water over his burning brands, and 
 hoped that nothing had been seen of the process of 
 preparing his breakfast.
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 119 
 
 The smoke had been seen, however, and by 
 several people ; but in such a way as to lead to no 
 discovery of the cave. From the schooner, Hund 
 kept his eyes fixed on the islet, at every moment 
 he had to spare. Either he was the murderer of 
 his fellow-servant, or the islet was bewitched ; and 
 if Rolf was under the protection and favour of the 
 powers of the region, he, Hund, was out of favour, 
 and might expect bad consequences. Whichever 
 might be the case, Hund was very uneasy ; and he 
 could think of nothing but the islet, and look no 
 other way. His companions had at first joked him 
 about his luck in getting rid of his enemies ; but, 
 being themselves superstitious, they caught the 
 infection of his gravity, and watched the spot 
 almost as carefully as he. 
 
 As their vessel lay higher up in the fiord than 
 the islet, they were on the opposite side from the 
 crevice, and could not see from whence the smoke 
 issued. But they saw it in the form of a light 
 cloud hanging over the place. Hund's eyes were 
 fixed upon it, when one of his comrades touched 
 him on the shoulder. Hund started. 
 
 " You see there," said the man, pointing. 
 
 "To be sure I do. What else was I looking 
 at?" 
 
 " Well, what is it ?" inquired the man. '' Has 
 your friend got a visitor, — come a great way this 
 morning? They say the mountain-sprite travels 
 in mist. If so, it is now going. See, there it sails 
 off, — melts away. It is as like common smoke as 
 anything that ever I saw. What say you to taking 
 the boat, and trying again whether there is no 
 place where your friend might not land, and be now 
 making a fire among the birds' nests ?"
 
 i20 A SUMMER ArAKTMENT. 
 
 ^ ISToiisense !" cried Hund. '' What became of 
 elie skiff, then ?" 
 
 •'^ True," said the man ; and, shaking his head, 
 lie ^Dsssed on, and spoke to the master. 
 
 In his own secret mind, the master of the 
 •setooijer did not quite like his present situation. 
 The little harbour was well sheltered and hidden 
 £rom the observation of the inhabitants of the 
 aigper part of the fiord: but, after hearing the 
 ^rmdj? dropped by his crew, the master did not 
 ai'elish being stationed between the bewitched islet 
 and the head of the fiord, where all the residents 
 iR"<ere, of course, enemies. He thought tliat it 
 •svoiild be wiser to have a foe only on the one hand, 
 Siwl the open sea on the other, even at the sacrifice 
 «.f the best anchorage. As there was now a light 
 9311x1, -enough to take his vessel down, he gave 
 c^ndei's accordingly. 
 
 Slowly, and at some distance, the schooner 
 |3Bjssed the islet, and all on board crowded together 
 to .see what they could see. None, — not e's en the 
 EsstLster with his glass, — saw anything remarkable: 
 SmsI all heard something. There was a faint 
 Bsuffled sound of knocks : — blows such as were 
 sjevBT heard in a mere haunt of sea-birds. It was 
 ievb\ent that the lairds were disturbed by it. They 
 2»ae and fell, made short flights and came back 
 agxiE, fluttered, and sometimes screamed so as to 
 fr7irer^,OM'eT all other sounds. But if they Mere 
 qiM.et for a minute, tlie knock, knock, was heard 
 ag^ii, ivith great regularity, and every knock went 
 t» ELulkI's heart. 
 
 The fact msls that, after breakfast, Eolf soon 
 fceoame tired of having nothing to do. The water 
 «Bras so veiy cold, that he deferred till noon the
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 121 
 
 attempt to swim round the islet. He once more 
 examined his boat ; and, thong-h the injuries done 
 seemed irreparable, he thought lie had better try 
 to mend his little craft than do nothing. After 
 collecting from the wood in the cave all the nails 
 that happened to be sticking in it, and all the 
 pieces that were sound enough to patch a boat 
 "with, he made a stone serve him for a hammer, 
 straightened his nails upon another stone, and 
 tried to fasten on a piece of wood o^'er a hole. It 
 was discouraging work enough ; but it helped to 
 pass the hours till the restless waters should have 
 reached tlieir highest mark in the cave ; when he 
 would know that it was noon, and time for his little 
 expedition. 
 
 He sighed as he threw down his awkward new 
 tools and pulled off his jacket, for his heart now 
 began to grow very heavy. It was about the time 
 when Erica would be beginning to look for his 
 return ; and when or how he was ever to return he 
 became less able to imagine, the more he thought 
 about it. As he fancied Erica gazing down the 
 fiord from the gallery, or stealing out, hour after 
 hour, to look forth from the beach, and only to be 
 disappointed every time, till she would be obliged 
 to give him quite up, and yield to despair, Rolf 
 shed tears. It was the first time for some years, — 
 the first time since he had been a man ; and when 
 he saw liis own tears fall upon the sand, he was 
 ashamed. He blushed, as if he had not been all 
 alone, daslied away the drops, and threw himself 
 into the water. 
 
 It was too cold by ilir for safe swimming. All 
 the snows of Sulitelma could hardly have made the 
 waters more chilly to the swimmer than they felt
 
 122 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 
 
 at the first plunge. But Rolf would not retreat 
 for this reason. He tliought of the sunshine out- 
 side, and of the free open view he should enjoy, 
 dived beneath the almost closed entrance, and came 
 up on the other side. The first thing he saw was 
 the schooner, now lying" below his island ; and the 
 next thing was a small boat between him and it, 
 evidently making towards him. AYhen convinced 
 that Hund was one of the three men in it, he saw- 
 that he must go back, or make haste to finish his 
 expedition. He made haste, swam round so close 
 as to touch the warm rock m many places, and 
 could not discover, any more than before, any trace 
 of a footing by which a man might climb to the 
 summit. There was a crevice or two, however, 
 from wdiich vegetation hung, still left unsearched. 
 He could not search them now ; for he must make 
 haste home. 
 
 The boat was indeed so near when he had 
 reached the point he set out from, that he used 
 every effort to conceal himself ; and it seemed that 
 he could only have escaped by the eyes of his 
 enemies being fixed on the summit of the rock. 
 "When once more in the cave, he rather enjoyed 
 hearing them come nearer and nearer, so that the 
 bushes which hung doTN'n between him and them 
 shook with tlie wind of their oars, and dipped into 
 the waves. He laughed silently when he heard 
 one of tliem s^ear that he would not leave the spot 
 till he had seen something : upon which another 
 rebuked liis presumption. Presently, a voice 
 which he knew to be Hund's, called upon his name, 
 at first gently, and then more and more loudly, as 
 if taking courage at not being answered. 
 
 " I will wait till he rounds the point," thought
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 123 
 
 Rolf, " and then give him such an answer as may- 
 send a guilty man away quicker that he came." 
 
 He waited till they were on the opposite side, so 
 that his voice might appear to come from the sum- 
 mit of the islet, and then began with the melan- 
 choly sound used to lure the plover on the moors. 
 The men in the boat instantly observed that this 
 was the same sound used when Erlingsen's boat 
 was spirited away from them. It was rather sin- 
 gular that Rolf and Oddo should have used the 
 same sound ; but they probably chose it as the 
 most mournful they knew. Rolf, iiov/ever, did 
 not stop there. He moaned louder and louder, till 
 the sound resembled the bellowing of a tormented 
 spirit enclosed in the rock : and the consequence 
 was, as he had said, that his enemies retreated faster 
 than they came. Never had they rowed more 
 vigorously than now, fetching a large circuit, to 
 keep at a safe distance from the spot, as they passed 
 westward. 
 
 For the next few days, Rolf kept a close watch 
 upon the proceedings of the pirates, and saw 
 enough of their thievery to be able to lay informa- 
 tions against them, if ever he should again make 
 his way to a town or village, and see the face of a 
 magistrate. He was glad of the interest and occu- 
 pation thus afforded him, — of even this slight hope 
 of being useful ; for he saw no more probability 
 than on the first day, of release from his prison. 
 The worst of it was that the season for boating was 
 nearly at an end. The inhabitants were day by 
 day driving their cattle up the mountains, there to 
 remain for the summer ; and the lieads of families 
 remained in the farm-houses, almost alone, and 
 little likely to put out so far into the fiord as to
 
 124 A SUMMER ATARTMENT. 
 
 pass near liim. So poor Rolf could only catch fish 
 for his support, swim round and round his prison, 
 and venture a little farther on days when the 
 water felt rather less cold than usual. To drive 
 off thoughts of his poor distressed Erica, he some- 
 times hammered a little at his skiff; but it was too 
 plain that no botching that he could perform in the 
 cave would render the broken craft safe to float in. 
 
 One sunny day, when the tide was flowing in 
 warmer than usual, Rolf amused himself with 
 more evolutions in bathing than he had hitherto 
 indulged in. He forgot his troubles and his foes in 
 diving, floating, and swimming. As he dashed 
 round a point of a rock, he saw something, and 
 Mas certain he was seen. Ilund appeared at least 
 as much bewitched as the islet itself; for he could 
 not keep away from it. He seemed irresistibly 
 drawn to the scene of his guilt and terror. Here 
 he was now, M'ith one other man, in the schooner's 
 smallest boat. Rolf had to determine in an instant 
 what to do ; for they were within a hundred yards, 
 and Hund's starting eyes showed that he saw what 
 he took for the ghost of his fellow-servant. Rolf 
 raised himself as high as he could out of the water, 
 throwing his arms up above his head, fixed his 
 eyes on Hund, uttered a shrill cry, and dived, 
 hoping to rise to the surface at some point out of 
 sight. Hund looked no more. After one shriek 
 of terror and remorse had burst from his white 
 lips, he sank his head upon Ids knee, and let his 
 comrade take all the trouble of rowing home again. 
 
 This vision decided Hund's proceedings. Half- 
 crazed M'ith remorse, lie left the pirates that night. 
 After long consideration where to go, he decided 
 upon returning to Erlingsen's. He did not know
 
 A SUMMER APARTMENT. 125 
 
 to what extent they suspected him : he M-as pretty 
 sure that they held no proofs against him. No- 
 where else could he be sure of honest work, — the 
 first object with him now, in the midst of Iiis re- 
 morse. He felt irresistibly drawn towards poor 
 Erica, now that no rival was there ; and if, mixed 
 with all these considerations, there were some 
 thoughts of the situation of houseman being vacant, 
 and needing much to be filled up, it is no wonder 
 that such a mingling of motives took place in a 
 mind so selfish as Hund's.
 
 ( 126 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HuND performed his journey by uiglit, — a jour- 
 ney perfectly unlike any that was ever performed 
 by night in England. He did not for a moment 
 think of going by the fiord, short and easy as it 
 would have been in comparison with the land road. 
 He would rather have mounted all tlie steeps and 
 crossed the snows of Sulitelma itself, many times 
 over, than have put himself in the way a second 
 time of such a vision as he had seen. Laboriously 
 and diligently, therefore, he overcame the diffi- 
 culties of the path, crossing ravines, wading through 
 swamps, scaling rocks, leaping across watercourses, 
 and only now and then throwing himself down on 
 some tempting slope of grass, to wipe his brows, 
 and, where opportunity offered, to moisten his 
 parched throat with the wild strawberries which 
 were fast ripening in the sheltered nooks of the 
 liills. It was now so near midsummer, and the 
 niglits were so fast melting into the days, that Hund 
 could at the latest scarcely see a star, though tliere 
 was not a fleece of cloud in the Avhole circle of the 
 heavens. While yet the sun Avas sparkling on the 
 fiord, and glittering on ever}^ farm-house window 
 that fronted the west, all around was as still as if 
 the deepest darkness had settled down. The eagles 
 were at rest on their rocky ledge, a thousand feet 
 above the waters. The herons had left their stand
 
 HUND*S REPORT. 127 
 
 on their several promontories of the fiord, and the 
 flapping of their wings overhead was no more 
 heard. The raven was gone home ; the cattle 
 were all far away on the mountain pasture ; the 
 goats were hidden in the -w^oods which yielded the 
 tender shoots on which they subsisted. The round 
 eyes of a white owl stared out upon him here and 
 there, from under the eaves of a farm-house ; and 
 these seemed to be the only eyes besides his own 
 that were open. Hund knew as he passed one 
 dwelling after another, — knew as well as if he had 
 looked in at the windows, — that the inhabitants 
 were all asleep, even with the sunshine lying across 
 their very faces. 
 
 Every few minutes he observed how his shadow 
 lengthened, and he longed for the brief twilight 
 which would now soon be coming on. Now, his 
 shadow stretched quite across a narrow valley, as 
 he took breath on a ridge crossed by the soft breeze. 
 Then the shadow stood up against a precipice, taller 
 than the tallest pine upon the steep. Then the 
 yellow gleam grew fainter, the sparkles on the water 
 went out, and he saw the large pale circle of the 
 sun sink and sink into the waves, where the fiord 
 spread out wide to the south-west. Even the 
 weary spirit of this unhappy man seemed now to 
 be pervaded with some of the repose which ap- 
 peared to be shed down for the benefit of all that 
 lived. He walked on and on ; but he felt the grass 
 softer under his feet,— the air cooler upon his 
 brow ; and he began to comfort himself with 
 thinking that he had not murdered Rolf. He said 
 to himself that he had not laid a finger on him, and 
 that the skiff might have sunk exactly as it did, if 
 he had heen sitting at home, carving a bell-collar.
 
 128 huxd's report. 
 
 There could be no doubt that the skiiF had been 
 pulled do^Mi fathoms deep by a strong- hand from 
 below ; and if the spirits were angry with Rolf, 
 that was no concern of Rolf's human enemies. 
 — Thus Hund strove to comfort himself; but it 
 would not do. The more he tried to put away the 
 thought, the more obstinately it returned, that he 
 had been speeding on his way to injure Rolf when 
 the strange disappearance took place ; and that he 
 had long hated and envied his fellow-servant, how- 
 ever marvellously he had been prevented from cap- 
 turing or slaying him. These thoughts had no 
 comfort in them ; but better came after a time. 
 
 He had to pass very near M. Kollsen's abode ; 
 and it crossed his mind that it would be a great re- 
 lief to open his heart to a clergyman. He halted 
 for a minute, in sight of the house, but presently 
 went on, saying to himself that he could not say all 
 to M. Kollsen, and v.ould therefore say nothing. 
 He should get a lecture against superstition, and 
 hear hard words of the powers he dreaded ; and 
 there would be no consolation in this. It was 
 said that the Bishop of Tronyem wa-s coming round 
 this way soon, in liis regular progress through his 
 diocese, and everybody bore testimony to liis 
 gentleness and mercy. It would be best to wait 
 for his coming. Then Hund began to calculate 
 liow soon he would come ; for aching hearts are 
 impatient of relief; and the thought how near 
 midsummer was, made him look up into the sky, — 
 that beautiful index of the seasons in a northern 
 climate. There were a few extremely faint stars, 
 — a very few, — for only the brightest could now 
 sIjow tliemselves in the sky where daylight lin- 
 gered so as never quite to depart. A pale-green
 
 hund's report. 129 
 
 hue remained where the sun had disappeared, and 
 a deep red glow wa^ even now beginning to kindle 
 where he was soon to rise. Just here, Hund's ear 
 caught some tones of the soft harp music which the 
 winds make in their passage through a wood of 
 pines ; and there was a fragrance in the air from a 
 new thatch of birch-bark just laid upon a neigh- 
 bouring roof. This fragi-ance, that faint vibrating 
 music, and the soft veiled light, were soothing; 
 and when, besides, Hund pictured to himself his 
 mind relieved by a confession to the good bishop, 
 — perhaps cheered by words of pardon and of pro- 
 mise, the tears burst from his eyes, and the fever 
 of his spirit was allayed. 
 
 Then up came the sun again, and the new thatch 
 reeked in his beams, and the birds shook off sleep 
 and plumed themselves, and the peak of Sulitelma 
 blushed with the softest rose-colour, and the silvery 
 fish leaped out of the water, and the blossoms in the 
 gardens opened, though it was only an hour after 
 midnight. Every creature except man seemed 
 eager to make the most of the short summer sea- 
 son, — to waste none of its bright hours, which 
 would be gone too soon : — every creature except 
 man ; but man must have rest, be the sun liigli or 
 sunk beneath the horizon : so that Hund *aw no 
 face, and lieard no human voice, before he found 
 himself standing at the top of the steep rocky path- 
 way which led down to Erlingsen's abode. 
 
 Hund might have known tliat he should find 
 everything in a different state from that in which 
 he had left the place : but yet he was rather sur- 
 prised at the aspect of the farm. The stable-doors 
 stood wide ; and there was no trace of milk-pails. 
 The hurdles of the fold were piled upon one another
 
 130 HUND*S REPORT. 
 
 in a corner of the yard. It was plain that herd, 
 flock, and dairy-women were gone to the mountain : 
 and, though Plund dreaded meeting Erica, it struck 
 upon his heart to think that she was not here. He 
 felt now how much it was for her sake that he had 
 come back. 
 
 He half resolved to go away again : but from 
 the gallery of the house some snow-white sheets 
 Mere hanging to dry ; and this showed that some 
 neat and busy female liands were still here. Next, 
 his eye fell upon tlie boat which lay gently rocking 
 with the receding tide in its tiny cove ; and he re- 
 solved to lie dov.n in it and rest, while considering 
 what to do next. He went down, stepping gently 
 over the pebbles of tlie beach, lest his tread should 
 reach and waken any ear through the open win- 
 dow's, lay down at the bottom of the boat, and, as 
 might have been expected, fell asleeji as readily as 
 an infant in a cradle. 
 
 Of course he was discovered ; and, of course, 
 Oddo was the discoverer. Oddo was the first to 
 come fortli, to water the one horse that remained 
 at the farm, and to give a turn and a shake to the 
 two or three little cocks of liay which had been 
 mown behind the house. His quick eye noted the 
 deep marks of a man's feet in the sand and pebbles, 
 below high-water mark, proving that some one had 
 been on tiie premises during the night. He fol- 
 lowed these marks to the boat, where he Mas 
 amazed to find the enemy (as he called Hund) fast 
 a^sleep. Oddo Mas in a great hurry to tell his 
 grandfather (Erlingsen being on the mountain) ; 
 but he thought it only proper caution to secure his 
 prize from escaping in his absence. 
 
 He summoned his companion, the dog Mhich had
 
 hund's report. 131 
 
 warned him of many dangers abroad, and helped 
 him faithfully with his work at home ; and nothing 
 could be clearer to Skorro than that he was to 
 crouch on the thwarts of the boat, with his nose 
 close to Hund's face, and not to let Hund stir till 
 Oddo came back. Then Oddo ran, and wakened his 
 grandfather, who made all haste to rise and dress. 
 Erica now lived in Peder's house. She had taken 
 her lover's place there, since his disappearance ; as 
 the old man must be taken care of, and the house 
 kept ; and her mistress thought the interest and 
 occupation good for her. Hearing Oddo's story, 
 she rushed out, and her voice was soon heard in 
 passionate entreaty, above the bark of the dog, 
 which was trying to prevent the prisoner Irom 
 rising. 
 
 *' Only tell me," Erica Mas heard to say, " only 
 tell me where and how he died. I knoAv he is 
 dead, — I knew he would die ; from that terrible 
 night when we were betrothed. Tell me who did 
 it, — for I am sure you know. WasitNipen? — 
 Yes, it was Nipen, whether it was done by wind or 
 water, or human hands. But speak, and tell me 
 where he is. O, Hund, speak ! Say only where 
 
 his body is, and I will try I will try never 
 
 to speak to you again — never to " 
 
 Hund looked miserable ; he moved his lips ; but 
 no sound was heard mingling with Erica's rapid 
 speech. 
 
 Madame Erlingsen, who, with Orga, had by this 
 time reached the spot, laid her hand on Erica's 
 arm, to beg for a moment's silence, made Oddo call 
 his dog out of the boat, and then spoke, in a 
 severe tone, to Hund. 
 
 " Why do you shake your head, Hund, and 
 
 G 2
 
 132 hund's report. 
 
 speak no word ? Say what you know, for the sake 
 of those whom, we grievously suspect, you have 
 deeply injured. Say what you know, Hund." 
 
 " What I say is, that I do not know," replied 
 Hund, in a hoarse and agitated voice. *' I only 
 know that we live in an enchanted place, here by 
 this fiord, and that the spirits tr}^ to make us an- 
 swer for their doings. The \evy first night after I 
 went forth, this very boat was spirited away from 
 me, so that I could not come home. Nipen had a 
 spite against me there, — to make you all suspect 
 me. I declare to you that the boat was gone, in a 
 twinkling, by magic, and I heard the cry of the 
 spirit that took it." 
 
 " What was the cry like ?" asked Oddo, gravely. 
 
 '' Where were you, that you were not spirited 
 away with the boat ?" asked his mistress. 
 
 " I was tumbled out upon the shore, I don't 
 know how," declared Hund : — '' found myself 
 sprawling on a rock, while the creature's cries 
 brought my heart into my mouth as I lay." 
 
 " Alone ? — Were you alone ?" asked his mis- 
 tress. 
 
 " I had landed the pastor some hours before, 
 madame ; and I took nobody else \\ith me, as 
 Stiorna can tell ; for she saw me go." 
 
 '' Stiorna is at the mountain," observed madame, 
 coolly. 
 
 " But Hund," said Oddo, " how did Nipen take 
 hold of you when it laid you sprawling on the 
 rock? Neck and heels? Or did it bid you go 
 and hearken whether the pirates were coming, and 
 wliip away the boat before }ou came back ? Are 
 you quite sure that you sprawled on the rock at all 
 before you ran a^ay from the horrible cry you
 
 hund's report 133 
 
 speak of? Our rocks are very slippery when Nipen 
 is at one's heels." 
 
 Hund stared at Oddo, and his voice was yet 
 hoarser when he said that he had long thought that 
 boy was a favourite with Nipen ; and he was sure 
 of it now. 
 
 Erica had thrown herself down on the sand 
 hiding her face on her hands, on the edge of the 
 boat, as if in despair of her misery being attended to, 
 — her questions answered. Old Peder stood beside 
 her, stroking her hair tenderly ; and he now spoke 
 the things she could not. 
 
 '' Attend to me, Hund," said Peder, in the 
 grave quiet tone which every one regarded. 
 " Hear my words, and, for your own sake, answer 
 them. We suspect you of being in communication 
 Avith the pirates yonder : we suspect that you went 
 to meet them when you refused to go hunting the 
 bears. We know that you have long felt ill-will 
 towards Rolf, — envy of him, — jealousy of him ; 
 and " 
 
 Here Erica looked up, pale as ashes, and said, 
 
 " Do not question him further. There is no 
 truth in his answers. He spoke falsehood even 
 now." 
 
 Peder saw how Hund shrank under this, and 
 thought the present the moment to get truth out of 
 him, if he ever could speak it. He therefore went 
 on to say — 
 
 " We suspect you of having done something to 
 keep your rival out of the way, in order that you 
 might obtain the house and situation, — and perhaps 
 something else that you wish." 
 
 " Have you killed him ?" asked Erica, abruptly, 
 lookino^ full in his face.
 
 134 
 
 " No," returned Hund, firmly. From his man- 
 ner everybody believed this much. 
 
 " Do you know that anybodv else has killed him?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Do you know whether he is alive or dead ?" 
 
 To tliis Plund could, in the confusion of his 
 ideas about Rolf's fate and condition, fairly say 
 '• No :" as also to the question, " Do you know 
 where he is ?" 
 
 Then they all cried out, 
 
 '• Tell us what you do know about him." 
 
 " Ay, there you come," said Hund, resuming 
 some courage, and putting on the appearance of 
 more than he had. •' You load me with foul ac- 
 cusations ; and when you find yourselves all in the 
 wrong, you alter your tone, and put yourselves 
 under obligation to me for what I will tell. I will 
 treat you better than you treat me ; and I will tell 
 you plainly why. I repent of my feelings towards 
 my fellow-servant, now that evil has befallen him — " 
 
 '' What? what?" cried Erica. 
 
 '• He was seen fishing on the fiord, in that poor 
 little worn-out skiflT. I myself saw liim. And 
 Avhen I looked next for the skiff, it was gone, — it 
 had disappeared." 
 
 '• And where were you ?" 
 
 " Never mind where I was. I was not Mith 
 hina, but about my own business. And I tell you, 
 I no more laid a finger on liim or his skiff than any 
 one of you." 
 
 ^' Where was it ?" 
 
 '' Close by Vogel islet !" 
 
 Erica started, and, in one moment's flusli of 
 hope, told that Rolf had said, he sliould be safe at 
 any time near Vogel islet. Hund caught at her
 
 Hu^'D's HEroRT. 135 
 
 words so eagerly as to make a favouraljle impres- 
 sion on all, who saw, what was indeed the truth, 
 that he would have been glad to know that Rolf 
 was alive. Their manner so changed towards Hund, 
 that if Stiorna had been there, she would have 
 triumphed. But the more they considered the case, 
 the more improbable it seemed that Rolf should 
 have escaped drowning. 
 
 " Mother, wliat do you think ?" whispered the 
 gentle Orga. 
 
 " I think, my dear, that we shall never forgive 
 ourselves for letting Rolf go out in that old skiff." 
 
 '• Then you think, — you feel quite sure, — mother, 
 that Nipen had nothing to do with it." 
 
 " I feel confident, my dear, that there is no sucli 
 being as Nipen." 
 
 " Even after all that has happened? — after this, 
 following u23on Oddo's prank that night ?" 
 
 " Even so, Orga. We suffer by our own care- 
 lessness and folly, my love : and it makes us neither 
 wiser nor better to charge the consequences upon 
 evil spirits ; — to charge our good God with per- 
 mitting revengeful beings to torment us, instead of 
 learning from his chastisements to sin in the same 
 way no more." 
 
 '• But, mother, if you are right, how very far 
 wrong all these others are !" 
 
 '' It is but little, my child, that the wisest of us 
 know ; but there is a whole eternity before us, 
 every one, to grow wise in. Some," and she looked 
 towards Oddo, " may outgrow their mistakes here : 
 and others," looking at old Peder, " are travelling 
 fast towards a place where everybody is v/iser than 
 years or education can make us here. Your father 
 and I do wish, for Frolich and you, that you should
 
 136 HUXD S REPOJRT. 
 
 Test your reverence, your hopes and fears, on none 
 but the good God. Do we not know that not 
 even a sparrow falleth to the ground without his 
 will ?" 
 
 " Poor Erica would be less miserable if she 
 could think so," sighed Orga. *' She will die soon, 
 if she goes on to suffer as she does. I wish tlie 
 good bishop would come : for I do not think M. 
 Kollsen gives her any comfort. Look now ! what 
 can she have to say to Hund ?" 
 
 What Erica had to say to Hund was, 
 
 *' I believe some of the things you have told. I 
 believe that you did not lay liands on Rolf." 
 
 "• Bless you ! Bless you for that !" interrupted 
 Hund, almost forgetting how far he really was 
 guilty in the satisfaction of hearing these words 
 from the lips that spoke them. 
 
 " Tell me then," proceeded Erica, '• how you 
 believe he really perished. — Do you fully believe he 
 perished ?" 
 
 ^' I believe," whispered Hund, '• that the strong 
 hand pulled him down do^vn to the bottom.' 
 
 " I knew it," said Erica, turning away. 
 
 " Erica, — one word," exclaimed Hund. " I 
 
 must stay here 1 am very miserable, and I must 
 
 stay here, and work, and work till I get some com- 
 fort. But you must tell me how you think of me 
 — you must say that you do not hate me." 
 
 " 1 do hate you," said Erica, with disgust, as 
 her suspicions of his wanting to fill Kolf's place 
 were renev/ed. '• I mistrust you, Hund, more 
 deeply than I can tell." 
 
 " Will no penitence change your feelings, Erica? 
 I tell you I am as miserable as you." 
 
 " That is false, like everj'thing else that you
 
 nUND's REPORT. 137 
 
 say," cried Erica. " I wish you would go, — go 
 and seek Rolf under the waters — '* 
 
 Hund shuddered at the thought, as it recalled 
 what he had seen and heard at the islet. Erica 
 saw this, and sternly repeated, 
 
 *' Go and bring back Rolf from the deeps ; and 
 then I will cease to hate you. Ah ! I see the 
 despair in your face. Such despair never came 
 from any woman's words where there was not a bad 
 conscience to back them." 
 
 Hund felt that this was true, and made no reply. 
 
 As Erica slowly returned into Peder's house, 
 Oddo ran past, and was there before her. He 
 closed the door when she had entered, put his hand 
 within hers, and said, 
 
 " Did Rolf really tell you that he should be safe 
 anywhere near Vogel islet ?" 
 
 " Yes," sighed Erica, — " safe from the pirates. 
 That was his answer Avhen I begged him not to go 
 so far down the fiord : but Rolf always had an 
 answer when one asked him not to go into danger. 
 You see how it ended ; — and he never would believe 
 in that danger." 
 
 *• I shall never be happy again, if this is Nipen's 
 doing," said Oddo. " But, Erica, you went one 
 trip with me, and I know you are brave. Will 
 you go another? Will you go to the islet, and see 
 what Rolf could have meant about being safe 
 there?" 
 
 Erica brightened for a moment ; and perhaps 
 would have agreed to go : but Peder came in ; 
 and Peder said he knew the islet well, and that it 
 was universally considered that it was now inacces- 
 sible to human foot, and that that was the reason 
 why the fowl flourished there as they did in no 
 
 G 3
 
 138 HUND S REPORT. 
 
 other place. Erica must not be permitted to go 
 go far down among the haunts of the pirates. In- 
 stead of this, her mistress had just decided that, as 
 there were no present means of getting rid of 
 Hund, — as indeed his depressed state of spirits 
 seemed to give him some title to be received ag-ain, 
 — and as Erica could not be expected to remain 
 just now in liis presence, she should set off imme- 
 diately for the mountain, and request Erlingsen to 
 come home. This w as only hastening her depar- 
 ture by two or three days. At the seater she would 
 find less to try her spirits than here : and, when 
 Erlingsen came, he would, if he thought proper, 
 have Hund carried before a magistrate ; and would, 
 at least, set such inquiries afloat through tlie whole 
 region as would bring to light anything that might 
 chance to be known of Rolf's fate. 
 
 Erica could not deny that this was the best plan 
 that could be pursued, though slie had no heart for 
 going to the seater, any more than for doing 
 anything else. Under Peder's urgency, however, 
 she made up her bundle of clothes, took in her 
 hand her lure,* with which to call home the 
 cattle in the evenings, bade her mistress farewell 
 privately, and stole away without Hund's know- 
 ledge, while Oddo was giving him meat and drink 
 
 * The lure is a wooden trumpet, nearly five feet long, 
 made of two hollow pieces of birch-wood, bound together 
 throughout the whole length Avith slips of willow.^ It is used 
 to call tlie cattle together on a wide pasture : and is also car- 
 ried by travelling "parties, to save the risk of any one being 
 lost in the wilds." Its notes, which may be heard to a great 
 distance, are extremely harsh and discordant ; having none 
 of the musical tone of the Alp-honi— (the cow-hora used by 
 the Swiss for the same purposes}, — which sounds well at a 
 distance.
 
 IIUXD*S REPORT. 139 
 
 within the house. Old Peder listened to her part- 
 ing footsteps ; and her mistress watched her up the 
 first liill, thinking to herself how unlike this was 
 to the usual cheerful departure to the mountain 
 dairies. Is ever, indeed, had a heavier heart bur- 
 dened the footsteps of the wayfarer about to climl) 
 the slopes of Sulitelma.
 
 ( 140 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 Now that the great occasion was come, — that 
 brightest day of the year, — the day of going to the 
 seater, how unlike was it to all that the lovers had 
 imagined and planned ! How unlike was the situ- 
 ation of the two ! There was Rolf cooped up in 
 a dim cave, his heart growing heavy as his ear 
 grew weary of the incessant dash and echo of the 
 waters ! And here was Erica on the free moun- 
 tain side, where all was silent except the occasional 
 rattle of a brook over the stones, and the hum of 
 a cloud of summer flies. The lovers were alike 
 in their unhappiness only : and hardly in this, so 
 much the most wretched of the two was Erica. 
 
 The sun was hot ; and her path occasionally lay 
 under rocks which reflected the heat upon the pas- 
 senger. She did not heed this, for the aching of 
 her heart. Then she had to pass through a swamp, 
 Avhence issued a host of mosquitoes, to annoy any 
 who intruded upon their domain. It just occurred 
 to Erica that Rolf made her pass this place on 
 horseback last year, well veiled, and completely 
 defended from these stinging tormentors : but she 
 did not heed them now. When, somewhat higher 
 up, she saw in the lofty distance a sunny slope of 
 long grass undulating in the wind, like the surface 
 of a lake, tears sprang into her eyes : for Rolf had
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 141 
 
 said that when they came in sight of the waving 
 pasture, she would alight, and walk the rest of the 
 way with him. Instead of this, and instead of the 
 gay procession from the farm, musical with the 
 singing of boys and girls, the lowing of the cows, 
 and the bleating of the kids, all rejoicing together 
 at going to the mountain, here she was alone, 
 carrying a widowed heart, and wandering with un- 
 willing steps farther and farther from the spot 
 where she had last seen Rolf. 
 
 She dashed the tears from her eyes, and looked 
 behind her, at the entrance of a ravine which would 
 hide from her the fiord and the dAvelling she had 
 left. Thor islet lay like a fragment of the leafy- 
 forest cast into the blue waters : but Yogel islet 
 could not be seen. It was not too far down to be 
 seen from an elevation like tliis : but it was hidden 
 behind the promontories by which the fiord was 
 contracted. Erica could see what she next looked 
 for, — knowing, as she did, precisely where to look. 
 She could see the two graves belonging to the 
 household, — the two hillocks which were railed in 
 behind the house : but she turned away sickening 
 at the thought that Rolf could not even have a 
 grave ; that that poor consolation was denied her. 
 She looked behind her no more ; but made her way 
 rapidly through the ravine ; the more rapidly 
 because she had seen a man ascending by the same 
 path at no great distance, and she had little incli- 
 nation to be joined by a party of wandering Lap- 
 landers, seeking a fresh pasture for their reindeer ; 
 still less by any neighbour from the fiord, who 
 might think civility required that he should es- 
 cort her to the seater. This wayfarer was walk- 
 ing at a pace so much faster than hers, that he
 
 142 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 wovild soon pass ; and she would liide among the 
 rocks beside the tarn* at the head of the ravine till 
 he had gone by. 
 
 It was refreshing to come out of the hot steep 
 ravine upon the grass at the upper end of it. Such 
 grass ! A line of pathway was trodden in it 
 straiglit upwards, by tliose who had before ascended 
 the mountain : but Erica left this path, and turned 
 to the right, to seek the tarn which there lay hidden 
 among the rocks. The herbage was knee-deep, 
 and gay with flowers, — with wild geranium, pan- 
 sies, and especially with the yellow blossoms which 
 give its peculiar hue and flavour to the Gammel 
 cheese, and to the butter made in the mountain 
 dairies of Norway. Through this rich pasture 
 Erica waded till she reached the tarn which fed 
 the stream that gambolled down the ravine. The 
 death-cold unfathomed waters lay calm and still 
 under the shelter of the rocks which nearly sur- 
 rounded them. Even v.here crags did not rise 
 abruptly from the water, huge blocks were scat- 
 tered ; masses which seemed to have lain so long as 
 to have seen the s^jringing herbage of a thousand 
 summers. 
 
 In the shadow of one of these blocks, Erica sank 
 down into the grass. There she, and her bundle, 
 and her long lure were half-buried ; and this, at 
 last, felt sometliing like rest. Here she would re- 
 main long enough to let the other wayfarer have a 
 good start up the mountain ; and by that time she 
 should be cool and tranquillized : — yes, tranquillized ; 
 for here slie could seek that peace which never 
 failed when she sought it as Cliristians may. 
 She hid her face in the fragrant grass, and did not 
 
 * Small lake upon a mouutain.
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 143 
 
 look up again till the grief of her soul was stilled. 
 — Then her eye and her heart were open to tlie 
 beauty of the place which she had made her temple 
 of worship ; and she gazed around till she saw some- 
 thing that surprised her. A reindeer stood on 
 the ridge, his whole form, from his branching head 
 to his slender legs, being clearly marked against 
 the bright sky. He was not alone. lie was the 
 sentinel, set to watch on behalf of several com- 
 panions, — two or three being perched on ledges of 
 the rock, browsing, — one standing half buried in 
 the lierbage of the pasture, and one on the margin 
 of the water, drinking as it would not liave dreamed 
 of doing if the wind had not been in the wrong 
 quarter for letting him know how near the hidden 
 Erica was. 
 
 This pretty sight was soon over. In a few mo- 
 ments, the whole company appeared to take flight 
 all at once, without her having stirred a muscle. 
 Away they went, with such speed and noiselessness 
 that they appeared not to touch the ground. From 
 point to point of the rock they sprang, and the last 
 branchy head disappeared over the ridge, almost 
 before Erica could stand upright, to see all she 
 could of them. 
 
 She soon discovered the cause of their alarm. 
 She thought it could not have been herself; and 
 it was not. The traveller who, she had hoped^ 
 was now some way up the mountain, was standing 
 on the margin of the tarn, immediately opposite to 
 her, so that the wind had carried the scent to the 
 herd. The traveller saw her at the same moment 
 that she perceived him ; but Erica did not discover 
 this, and sank down again into the grass, hoping so 
 to remain undisturbed. She could not thus ob-
 
 144 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 serve vliat his proceedings were ; but her ear soon 
 informed her that he was close by. His feet were 
 rustling in the grass. 
 
 She sat up, and took her bundle and her lure, 
 believing now that she must accept the unwelcome 
 civility of an escort for the whole of the rest of the 
 way, and thinking that she might as well make 
 ha^te, and get it over. The man, however, seemed 
 in no hurry. Before she could rise, he took his 
 seat on the huge stone beside her, crossed his arms, 
 made no greeting, but looked her full in the face. 
 
 She did not know the face ; nor was it like any 
 that she had ever seen. There was such long hair, 
 and so much beard, that the eyes seemed the only 
 feature which made any distinct impression. Erica's 
 heart now began to beat violently. Though wish- 
 ing to be alone, she had not dreamed of being 
 afraid till now : but now it occurred to her tliat 
 she was seeing the rarest of sights, — one not seen 
 twice in a century ; no other than the mountain- 
 demon. Sulitelma, as the highest mountain in 
 Norway, was thought to be his favourite haunt ; 
 and considering his strange appearance, and his 
 silence, it could hardly be other than himself. 
 
 The test would be whether he would speak first ; 
 a test which she resolved to try, tliough it was 
 rather difficult to meet and return the stare of such 
 a neighbour without speaking. She could not keep 
 this up for more than a minute : so she sprang to 
 her feet, rested her lure upon her shoulder, took 
 her bundle in her hand, and began to wade back 
 through the high grass to the pathway, almost ex- 
 pecting, when she thought of her mother's fate, to 
 be seized by a strong hand, and cast into the un- 
 fathomable tarn, whose waters were said to well up
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 145 
 
 from the centre of the earth. Her companion, 
 however, merely walked by her side. As he did 
 not offer to carry her bundle, he could be no coun- 
 tryman of hers. There was not a peasant in Nord- 
 land who would not have had more courtesy. 
 
 They walked quietly on till the tarn was left some 
 way behind. Erica found she was not to die that 
 way. Presently after, she came in sight of a settle- 
 ment of Lapps — a cluster of low and dirty tents, 
 round which some tame reindeer were feeding. 
 Erica was not sorry to see these ; though no one 
 knew better than she the helpless cowardice of 
 these people ; and it was not easy to say what as- 
 sistance they could afford against the mountain- 
 demon. Yet they were human beings, and would 
 appear in answer to a cry. She involuntarily 
 shifted her lure, to be ready to utter a call. The 
 stranger stopped to look at the distant tents, and 
 Erica went on, at the same pace. He presently 
 overtook her, and pointed towards the Lapps with 
 an inquiring look. Erica only nodded. 
 
 " Why you no speak?" growled the stranger, in 
 broken language. 
 
 '' Because I have nothing to say," declared Erica, 
 in the sudden vivacity inspired by the discovery 
 that this was probably no demon. Her doubts 
 were renewed, however, by the next question. 
 
 *' Is the bishop coming ?" 
 
 Now, none were supposed to have a deeper in- 
 terest in the holy bishop's travels than the evil 
 spirits of any region through which he was to pass. 
 
 " Yes, he is coming," replied Erica. " Are 
 you afraid of him ?" 
 
 .. The stranofcr burst into a loud lauorh at her 
 question : and very like a mocking fiend he looked,
 
 146 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 as his thick beard parted to show his wide mouth, 
 witli its two ranges of teeth. "When he finished 
 laughing, he said •' No, no — we no fear bishop." 
 
 " ' We I ' " repeated Erica to herself. " He 
 speaks for his tribe, as well as himself." 
 
 " We no fear bishop," said the stranger, still 
 
 laughing. '• You no fear ?" and he pointed 
 
 to the long stretch of path, — the prodigious ascent 
 before them. 
 
 Erica said there wa,s nothing to fear on the 
 mountain for those who did their duty to the 
 powers, as it was her intention to do. Her first 
 Gammel cheese was to be for him whose due it 
 was ; and it should be the best she could make. 
 
 This speech she thought would suit, whatever 
 might be the nature of her companion. If it was 
 the demon, she could do no more to please him 
 than promise him his cheese. 
 
 Iler companion seemed not to understand or 
 attend to what she said. He again asked if she 
 was not afraid to travel alone in so dreary a place, 
 adding that if his countrywomen were to be over- 
 taken by a stranger like him, on the wilds of a 
 mountain, tliey would scream and fly ; — all whicii 
 he acted very vividly, by way of making out his 
 imperfect speech, and trying her courage at the 
 same time. 
 
 AVhen Erica saw that she had no demon for a 
 companion, but only a foreigner, she was so mucJi 
 relieved as not to be afraid at all. She said that 
 nobody thought of being frightened in summer 
 time in her country. Winter was the time 
 for that. AVhen the days were long, so that 
 travellers knew their ^^■ay, and Mhen every 
 body was abroad, so that you could not go faV
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 147 
 
 without meeting a friend, there was nothing to 
 fear. 
 
 " You go abroad to meet friends, and leave your 
 enemy behind." 
 
 At the moment, he turned to look back. 
 Erica could not now help Matching him, and she 
 cast a glance homewards too. They were so high 
 up the mountain that the fiord and its shores were 
 in full view ; and more ; — for the river was seen 
 in its windings from the very skirts of the mountain 
 to the fiord, and the town of Saltdalen standing on 
 its banks. In short, the whole landscape to the 
 west lay before them, from Sulitelma to the point 
 of the horizon where the islands and rocks melted 
 into the sea. 
 
 The stranger had picked up an eagle's feather 
 in his walk ; and he now pointed with it to the 
 tiny cove in which Erlingsen's farm might be seen, 
 looking no bigger than an infant's toy, and said, 
 
 " Do you leave an enemy there, or is Plund now 
 your friend ?" 
 
 " Hund is nobody's friend, unless he happens to 
 be yours," Erica replied, perceiving at once tliat 
 her companion belonged to the pirates. " Hund 
 is everybody's enemy ; and, above all, he is an 
 enemy to himself. He is a wretched man." 
 
 " The bishop will cure that," said the stranger. 
 " He is coward enough to call in the bishop to 
 cure all. When comes the bishop ?" 
 
 " Next week." 
 
 '•' What day, and what hour?" 
 
 Erica did not choose to gratify so close a curi- 
 osity as this. She did not reply ; and while silent, 
 was not sorry to hear tlie distant sound of cattle- 
 bells ; — and Erlingsen's cattle-bells too. The
 
 148 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 stranger did not seem to notice the sound, even 
 though quickening his pace, to suit Erica's, wlio 
 pressed on faster when she believed protection was 
 at hand. And yet the next thing the stranger said 
 brought her to a full stop. — He said he thought a 
 part of Hund's business with the bishop would be to 
 get him to disenchant the fiord, so that boats might 
 not be spirited away almost before men's eyes ; and 
 that a rower and his skiff might not sink like lead 
 one day^ and the man may be heard the second 
 day, and seen the third, so that there was no satis- 
 factory knowledge as to whether he was really 
 dead. Erica stopped, and her eager looks made 
 the enquiry which her lips could not speak. Her 
 eagerness put her companion on his guard, and he 
 would explain no further than by saying that the 
 fiord was certainly enchanted, and that strange 
 tales were circulating all round its shores, — very 
 striking to a stranger; — a stranger had nothing 
 more to do with the wonders of a country than to 
 listen to them. He wanted to turn the conversa- 
 tion back to Hund. Having found out that he 
 was at Erlingsen's, he next tried to discover what 
 he had said and done since his arrival. Erica told 
 the little there was to tell,— that he seemed full of 
 sorrow and remorse. She told this in hope of a 
 further explanation about drowned men being seen 
 alive : but the stranger stopped when the bells 
 were heard again, and a woman's voice singing, 
 nearer still. He complimented Erica on her 
 courage, and turned to go back, the way he came. 
 
 " Stay," said Erica. '• Do come to the dairy, 
 now you are so near.'* 
 
 The man walked away rapidly. 
 
 '' My master is here close at hand, — he will be
 
 SEEKING THE UP1.ANDS. 149 
 
 glad to see a stranger," she said, following him, 
 with the feeling that her only chance of hearing 
 something of Rolf was departing. The stranger 
 did not turn, but only walked on faster, and \^itli 
 longer strides, down the slope. 
 
 The only thing now to be done was to run for- 
 wards and send a messenger after him. Erica forgot 
 heat, weariness, and the safety of Iier property, and 
 ran on towards the singing voice. In five minutes 
 she found the singer, Frolich, lying along the 
 ground and picking cloud-berries, with which she 
 was filling her basket for supper. 
 
 *' Where is Erlingsen? — quick — quick!" cried 
 Erica. 
 
 " My father? You may just see him with your 
 good eyes, — up there." 
 
 And Frolich pointed to a patch of verdure on a 
 slope high up the mountain, where the gazer might 
 just discern that there were hay-cocks standing, 
 and two or three moving figures beside them. 
 
 " Stiorna is there to-day, besides Jan. They 
 hope to finish this evening," said Frolich ; " and 
 so here I am, all alone : and I am glad you have 
 come, to help me to have a good supper ready for 
 them. Their hunger will beat all my berry- 
 gathering." 
 
 " You are alone ?" said Erica, discovering that 
 it -was well that the pirate had turned back when 
 he did. " You alone, and gatliering berries, instead 
 of having an eye on the cattle ! Who has an eye on 
 the cattle ?" * 
 
 * It is a popular belief iu Norway tliat there is a race of 
 fairies or magicians, living underground, Avho are very cove- 
 tous of cattle ; and that to gratify their taste for large herds 
 and flocks, they help themselves with such as graze ou the
 
 150 SEEKING THE LTLANDS. 
 
 '• Why, no one," answered Frolich. '•' Come 
 now, do not tease me with bidding me remember 
 the Bishop of Tronyem's cattle. The undergiound 
 ])eople have something to do elsewhere to-day ; 
 they give no heed to us." 
 
 " We must give heed to them, however." said 
 Erica. '• Show me where the cattle are. and I will 
 collect them, and have an eye on them till supper 
 is ready." 
 
 '■' You shall do no such thing, Erica. You 
 shall lie down here and pick berries with me, and 
 tell me the news. That will rest you and me at 
 the same time ; for I am as tired of being alone, 
 as you can be of climbing the mountain. — But 
 why are your hands empty ? Who is to lend you 
 clothes ? And what will the cows say to your leav- 
 ing your lure behind, when they know you like it 
 so much better than Stiorna's ?" 
 
 Erica explained that her bundle and lure were 
 lying on the grass, a little way below ; and Frolich 
 sprang to her feet, saying that she would fetch 
 them presently. Erica stopped her, and told her 
 she must not go : nobody should go but herself. 
 She could not answer to Erlingsen for lettinof one 
 
 mountains : making dwarfs of them to enable them to enter 
 crevices of the ground, in order to descend to the subter- 
 ranean pastures. This practice may be defeated, as the 
 Norwegian herdsman believes, by his keeping his eye con- 
 stantly on the cattle. 
 
 A certain bishop of Tronyem lost his cattle by the herds- 
 men Laving looked away from them, beguiled by a spirit in 
 the shape of a noble elk. The herdsmen, looking towards 
 their charge again, saw them reduced to the size of mice, 
 just vanisliing through a crevice in the hill-side. Hence 
 the Norwegian proverb used to warn any one to look after 
 his property, " Remember the Bishop of Tronyem's cattle V*
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 151 
 
 of his children follow the steps of a pirate, who 
 might return at any moment. 
 
 Frolich had no longer any wish to go. She 
 started off towards the sleeping shed, and never 
 stopped till slie had entered it, and driven a provision- 
 chest against the door, leaving Erica far behind. 
 
 Erica, indeed, was in no hurry to follow. She 
 returned for lier bundle and lure ; and then, uneasy 
 about the cattle being left without an eye upon 
 them, and thus confided to the negligence of the 
 underground people, she proceeded to an eminence 
 where two or three of her cows were grazing, and 
 there sounded her lure. She put her whole 
 strength to it, in hope that others, besides the 
 cattle, might appear in answer ; for she was really 
 anxious to see her master. 
 
 The peculiar and far from musical sounds did 
 spread wide over the pastures, and up the slopes, 
 and through the distant woods, so that the cattle 
 of another seater stood to listen, and her own cows 
 began to move, — leaving the sweetest tufts of 
 grass, and rising up from their couches in the 
 richest herbage, to converge towards the point 
 whence she called. Tlie far-off herdsman ob- 
 served to his fellow that there was a new call 
 among the pastures ; and Erlingsen, on the upland, 
 desired Jan and Stiorna to finish cocking the hay, 
 and began his descent to his seater, to learn whether 
 Erica had brought any news from home. 
 
 Long before he could appear, Frolich stole out 
 trembling, and looking round her at eveiy step. 
 When she saw Erica, she flew over the grass, and 
 threw herself down in it at Erica's feet. 
 
 " Where is he ?" she whispered. " Has he 
 come back ?'*
 
 152 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 " I have not seen him. 1 dare say he is far off 
 by this time at the Black Tarn, where I met with 
 him." 
 
 '• The Black Tarn ! And do you mean that — 
 no, you cannot mean that you came all the way 
 together from the Black Tarn hither. Did you run ? 
 Did you fly ? Did you shriek ? O, what did you 
 do? — with a pirate at your heels ! " 
 
 " By my side," said Erica. " ^Ve walked and 
 talked." 
 
 '' With a pirate ! But how did you know it 
 was a pirate ? Did he tell you so ?" 
 
 " No : and at first I thought," and she sank her 
 voice into a reverential whisper, — "I thought 
 for some time it Mas the demon of this place. 
 When I found it was only a pirate, I did not 
 mind." 
 
 " Only a pirate ! Did not mind ! " exclaimed 
 Frolich. " You are the strangest girl ! You are 
 the most perverse creature ! You think nothing 
 of a pirate walking at your elbow for miles, and 
 you would make a slave of yourself and me about 
 these underground people, that my father laughs 
 at, and that nobody ever saw. — Ah ! you say no- 
 thing aloud ; but I know you are saying in your 
 own mind ' Remember the Bishop of Tronyem's 
 cattle.' " 
 
 " You want news," said Erica, avoiding, as usual, 
 all conversation about her superstitions. '* How 
 will it please you that the bishop is coming ?" 
 
 " Very much, if we had any chance of seeing 
 him. Very much, whether we see him or not, if 
 he can give any help, — any advice . . . My poor 
 Erica, I do not like to ask ; but you have had no 
 good news, I fear."
 
 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 153 
 
 Erica shook her head. 
 
 " I saw that in your face, in a moment. Do 
 not speak about it till you tell my father. He 
 may help you — I cannot : so do not tell me any 
 thing." 
 
 Erica was glad to take her at her word. She 
 kissed Frolich's hand, which lay on her knee, in 
 token of thanks, and then inquired whether any 
 gammel cheese was made yet. 
 
 " No," said Frolich, inwardly sighing for ne\vs. 
 *^ We have the whey ; but not sweet cream enough 
 till after this evening's milking. So you are just 
 in time." 
 
 Erica was glad, as she could not otherwise have 
 been sure of the demon having his due. 
 
 '' There is your father," said Erica. " Now do 
 go and gatlier more berries, Frolich. There are 
 not half enough ; and you cannot be afraid of the 
 pirate, with your father within call. Now, do go." 
 
 " You want me not to hear what you have to 
 tell my father," said Frolich, unwilling to depart. 
 
 ^' That is very true. I shall tell him nothing 
 till you are out of hearing. He can repeat to you 
 what he pleases afterwards : and he will indulge 
 you all the more for your giving him a good sup- 
 per." 
 
 " So he will ; and I will fill his cup myself," 
 observed Frolich. " He says the corn-brandy is 
 uncommonly good : and I will fill his cup till it 
 will not hold another drop." 
 
 " You will not reach his heart that way, Frolich. 
 He knows to a drop what his quantity is ; and there 
 lie stops." 
 
 " I know where there are some manyberries* 
 
 ♦ The Moltebceer, or Manyberries, so called from iis
 
 154 SEEKING THE UPLANDS. 
 
 ripe," saict Frolich ; " and he likes them above all 
 berries. They lie this way, at the edge of the 
 swamp, where the pirate will never think of 
 coming." 
 
 And off she went, as Erica rose from the grass 
 to curtsey to Erlingsen on his approach. 
 
 clustered appearance. It is a delicious fruit, amber- coloured 
 when ripe, and growing in marshy ground.
 
 ( 155 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 dairy-maids' talk. 
 
 It may be supposed that Erlingsen was anxious to 
 be at home, when he had heard Erica's story. He 
 was not to be detained by any promise of berries 
 and cream for supper. Pie put away the thought 
 even of his hay, yet unfinished on the upland, and 
 would hear nothing that Frolich had to say of his 
 fatigue at the end of a long working day. He 
 took some provision with him, drank off a glass of 
 corn-brandy, kissed Frolich, promised to send news, 
 and, if possible, more helping hands, and set off, at 
 a good pace, down the mountain. 
 
 The party he left behind was but a dull one. 
 When Jan came in to suj^per, lie became angry 
 that he was left to get in the hay alone. Even 
 Stiorna could not help him to-morrow ; for the 
 cheese-making had already been put off too long 
 while waiting for Erica's arrival ; and it must now 
 be delayed no longer. It was true, some one was 
 to be sent from below ; but such an one could not 
 arrive before the next evening ; and Jan would 
 meauM'hile have a long day alone, instead of having, 
 as hitherto, his master for a comrade. — Stiorna, for 
 her part, was offended at the wish, openly expressed 
 by all, that Hund might not be the person sent. 
 She was sure he v/as the only proper person, but 
 
 h2
 
 156 dairy-maids' talk. 
 
 she saw that he would meet with no welcome, 
 except from her. 
 
 Scarcely a word was spoken (though the moun- 
 tain-dairies have the reputation of being the 
 merriest places in the Morld, till Erica and Frolich 
 ■were about their cheese-making the next morning. 
 Erica had rather have kept the cattle : but Frolich 
 so earnestly begged that she would let Stiorna do 
 that, as she could not destroy the cattle in lier ill- 
 humour, while slie might easily spoil the cheese, 
 that Erica put away her knitting, tied on her apron, 
 tucked up her sleeves, and prepared for the great 
 ^york. 
 
 " There ! Let her go T' cried Frolich, looking 
 after Stiorna, as she walked away slowly, trailing 
 her lure after her. " She may knit all her ill- 
 humour into her stocking, if she likes, as Hund is 
 to wear it ; and that is better than putting it into 
 our cheese. Erica," said '/he kind-hearted girl, 
 " you are worth a hundred of her. What has she 
 to disturb her, in comparison with you ? — and yet 
 you do just what I ask you, and work at our buei- 
 ness, as if nothing was the matter. If you chose 
 to cry all day on the two graves down there at 
 home, nobody could think it unreasonable." 
 
 Erica was washing the bowls and cheese-moulds 
 in juniper water at this moment ; and her tears 
 streamed down upon them at Frolich's kind words. 
 
 " VTe had better not talk about such things, 
 dear," said she, as soon as she could speak. 
 
 " Nay, now, I think it is the best thing we can 
 do, Erica. Here, pour me this cream into the 
 oan over the fire, and I will stir, while you strain 
 some more whey. My back is towards you, and I
 
 dairy-maids' talk. 157 
 
 cannot see you ; and you can cry as you like, -s^hile 
 I tell you all I think." 
 
 Erica found that this free leave to cry unseen 
 was a great help towards stopping her tears ; and 
 she ceased weeping entirely while listening to all 
 that Frolich had to say in favour of Rolf being 
 still alive and safe. It was no great deal that 
 could be said : only that Hund's news was more 
 likely to be false than true, and that there was no 
 other evidence of any accident having happened. 
 
 "My dear!" exclaimed Erica, "where is he 
 now, then, — why is he not here? O, Frolich! I 
 can hardly wonder that we are punished when I 
 think of our presumption. When mc were talking 
 beside those graves on the day of Ulla's funeral, he 
 laughed at me for even speaking of death and 
 separation. ' What ! at our age !' he said. ' Death 
 at our age, — and separation!' — and that with 
 Henrica's grave before our eyes !" 
 
 " Then perhaps this will prove to be a short and 
 gentle separation, to teach him to speak more hum- 
 bly. There is no being in the universe that would 
 send death to punish light gay words, spoken from 
 a joyful heart. If there were, I and many others 
 should have been in our graves long since. Why, 
 Erica I this is even a worse reason than Hund's 
 word. — Now just tell me, Erica, would you believe 
 anything else that Hund said ?" 
 
 " In a common way, perhaps not : but you can- 
 not think what a changed man he is, Frolich. He 
 is so humbled, so melancholy, so awe-struck, that 
 he is not like the same man." 
 
 " He may not be the better for that. He was 
 more frightened than anybody at the moment the 
 owl cried, on your betrothment night, when you
 
 158 dairy-maids' talk. 
 
 fancied that Kipen had carried off Oddo. Yet 
 never did I see Hund more malicious than lie was 
 half an hour afterwards. I doubt whether any such 
 fright would make a liar into a truthful man, in a 
 moment." 
 
 Erica now remembered and told the falsehood of 
 Hund about what he was doing when the boat 
 was spirited away : — a falsehood told in the very 
 midst of the humiliation and remorse she had de- 
 scribed. 
 
 " Why there now !*' exclaimed Frolich, ceasing 
 her stirring for a moment to look round ; " what 
 a capital stor}' that is ! and how few people know 
 it ! and how neatly you catch him in his lib ! And 
 why should not something like it be happening now 
 with Eolf? Eolf knows all the ins and outs of the 
 fiord : and if he has been playing bo-peep with his 
 enemies among the islands, and fiightening Hund 
 (as he well knows how), is it not the most natural 
 thing in the world that Hund should come scam- 
 pering home, and get his place, and say that he is 
 lost, while waiting to see whether he is or not? — 
 O dear!" she exclaimed after a pause, during 
 which Erica did not attempt to speak, " I know 
 what I wish." 
 
 " You wish something kind, dear, I am sure," 
 said Erica, ^ith a deep sigh. 
 
 *' "SYe have so many, — so very many nice, useful 
 things, — we can go up the mountains and sail 
 away over the seas, — and look far abroad into the 
 sky, — I only wish we could do one little thing 
 more. I really think, having so many things, we 
 might have had just one little thing more given 
 US; — and that is wings. I grudge them to yonder 
 screaming eagles when I want them so much."
 
 dairy-maids' talk. 159 
 
 " My dear child, what strange things you say !'* 
 
 *' I do so very much want to fly abroad, just for 
 once, over the fiord. If I could but look dov, ii 
 into every nook and cove between Thor islet ?aid 
 the sea, I would not be long in bringing you news. 
 If I did not see Eolf, I would tell you plainly. 
 Eeally, at such times, it seems very odd that v>e 
 have not wings." 
 
 ^' Perhaps the time may come, dear." 
 
 " I can never want tJiem so much again." 
 
 " My dear, }ou cannot want them as I do, if I 
 dared to say such bold things as you do. You are 
 not weary of the world, Frolich." 
 
 " What ! this beautiful world ? Are you weary 
 of it all, Erica ?" 
 
 " Yes, dear." 
 
 '' What ! of the airy mountains, and the silent 
 forests, and the lonely lakes, and the blue glaciers, 
 with flowers fringing them ! Are you quite weary 
 of all these ?" 
 
 "0, that I had wings like a dove ! Then would 
 I flee away, and be at rest." Erica hardly mur- 
 mured these words ; but Frolich caught them. 
 
 " Do you know," said she, softly, after a pause, 
 *' I doubt whether we can find rest by going to 
 
 any place, in this world or out of it, unless if 
 
 . The truth is. Erica, I know my father and 
 
 mother think that people who are afraid of selfish 
 and revengeful spirits, such as demons and Kipen, 
 can never have any peace of mind. Eeally religi- 
 ous people have their way straight before them ; — 
 they liave only to do right, and God is their friend, 
 and they can bear everything, and need fear 
 nothing. But the people about us are always in a
 
 160 DAIRY-MAIDS TALK. 
 
 fright about some selfish being or another not 
 being properly humoured, and so being displeased. 
 I would not be in such bondage, Erica — no, not 
 for the wings I was longing for just now. I should 
 ]ye freer if I were rooted like a tree, and without 
 superstition, than if I had the wings of an eagle, 
 with a belief in selfish demons." 
 
 '' Let us talk of something else," said Erica, 
 who was at the very moment considering where 
 the mountain-demon would best like to have his 
 gammel cheese laid. " What is the quality of 
 the cream, Frolich ? Is it as good as it ought to 
 be ?" 
 
 " Stiorna would say that the demon will smack 
 his lips over it. Come and taste." 
 
 '• Do not speak so, dear." 
 
 '• I was only quoting Stiorna ." 
 
 '' What are you saying about me ?" inquired 
 Stiorna, appearing at the door. " Only talking 
 about the cream and the cheese ? Are you sure of 
 that ? Bless me ! what a smell of the yellow 
 flov/ers ! It will be a prime cheese." 
 
 '• How can you leave the cattle, Stiorna ?" 
 cried Erica. '• If they are all gone when you get 
 back ." 
 
 " Well, come, then, and see the sight. I get 
 scolded either way, always. You would have 
 scolded me finely to-night if I had not called you 
 to see the sight. — " 
 
 " What sight ?" 
 
 '* Why, there is such a procession of boats on 
 the fiord, that you would suppose there were three 
 weddings happening at once." 
 
 " What can we do ?" exclaimed Frolich, dole-
 
 dairy-maids' talk. 161 
 
 fully looking at the cream, which had reached such 
 a point as that the stirring could not cease for a 
 minute without risk of spoiling the cheese. 
 
 Erica took the long wooden spoon from Frolich's 
 hand, and bade her run and see where the bishop 
 (for no doubt it was the bishop) was going to land. 
 The cream should not spoil while she was absent. 
 
 Frolich bounded aAvay over the grass, declaring 
 that if it was the bishop going to her father's, she 
 could not possibly stay on the mountain for all the 
 cheeses in Nordland.— Erica remained alone, pati- 
 ently stirring the cream, and hardly heeding the 
 heat of the fire, while planning how the bishop 
 would be told her story, and how he would examine 
 Hund, and perhaps be able to give some news of 
 the pirates, and certainly be ready with his advice. 
 Some degree of hope arose within her as she thought 
 of the esteem in which all Nor\vay held the wisdom 
 and kindness of the bishop of Tronyem : and then 
 again she felt it hard to be absent during the visit 
 of the only person to whom she looked for comfort. 
 
 Frolich returned after a long while, to defer her 
 hopes a little. The boats had all drawn to shore 
 on the northern side of the fiord, where, no doubt, 
 the bishop had a visit to pay before proceeding to 
 Erlingsen's. The cheese-making miglit yet be 
 done in time, even if Frolich should be sent for 
 home, to see and be seen by the good bishop. 
 
 k3
 
 ( 162 ) 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PEDER ABROAD. 
 
 The day after Erica's dej^arture to tlie dairy, 
 Peder was sitting alone in his house, weaving a 
 frail-basket. Sometimes he sighed to think how 
 emptj' and silent the house appeared to what he had 
 ever known it before. Ulla's wheel stood in the 
 corner, and was now never to be heard, any more 
 than her feeble, aged voice, which had sung ballads 
 to the last. Erica's light, active step was gone for 
 the present ; and would it ever again be as light 
 and active as it had been? Eolf's hearty laugh 
 was silent ; perhaps for ever, Oddo was an inmate 
 still, but Oddo was much altered of late : and who 
 could wonder? Though the boy was strangely 
 unbelieving about some things, he could not but feel 
 how wonders and misfortunes had crowded upon 
 one another since the night of his defiance of Nipen. 
 
 From the hour of Hund's return, the boy had 
 hardly been heard to speak. All these thoughts 
 were too melancholy for old Peder ; and, to break 
 the silence, he began to sing as he wove his basket. 
 
 He had nearly got througli a ballad of a hun- 
 dred and five stanzas, when he heard a footstep on 
 the floor. 
 
 " Oddo, my boy," said he, " surely you are in 
 early. Can it be dinner time yet?" 
 
 " No, not this hour," replied Oddo, in a low
 
 PEDER ABROAD. 163 
 
 voice, which sank to a whisper as he said, " I have 
 left Hund laying the troughs to water the mea- 
 dow ;* and if he misses me I don't care. I could 
 not stay ; I could not help coming ; and if he kills 
 me for telling you, he may ; for tell you I must." 
 
 And Oddo went to close and fasten the door ; 
 and then he sat down on the ground, rested his 
 arms on his grandfather's knees, and told his story 
 in such a low tone that no " little bird" under the 
 eaves could " carry the matter." 
 
 *' O grandfather, what a mind that fellow has ! 
 He will go ciazy with horror soon. I am not sure 
 that he is not crazy now." 
 
 " He has murdered Rolf, has he ?" 
 
 " I can't be sure : but the oddest thing is tliat 
 he mixes up wolves m ith his rambling talk. Rolf 
 can hardly have met with mischief from any vrolf 
 at this season." ^ 
 
 " No, boy ; not Rolf. But did not Hund speak 
 of orphan children, and how wolves have been 
 known to devour them when snow was on the 
 ground ?" 
 
 " Why, yes," said Oddo, surprised at such a 
 guess. 
 
 " There was a reason for Hund's talking so of 
 wolves, my dear. Tell me quick what he said of 
 Rolf; and what made him say anything to you, — 
 to an inquisitive boy like you." 
 
 * The strips of meado-w which lie between high rocks in 
 Norway would be parched by the reflection of the long Slim- 
 mer sunshine, and unproductive, if the inhabitants did not 
 use great industry in the irrigation of their lauds. They 
 conduct water from the spring heads, by means of hollow 
 trunks of trees laid end to end, through which water flows in 
 the directions in which it is wanted, sometimes for an extent 
 of fifty miles from one spring.
 
 164 TEDER ABROAD. 
 
 '• He is like one bewitched that cannot hold his 
 tongue. AVhile I was bringing the troughs, one by- 
 one, for him to lay, where the meadow was driest, 
 he still kept muttering and muttering to himself. 
 As often as I came Avithin six yards of him, I 
 heard him mutter, mutter. Then, when I helped 
 him to lay the troughs, he began to talk to me. I 
 was not in the mind to make him many answers ; 
 but on he went, just the same as if I had asked 
 him a hundred questions." 
 
 " It was such an opportunity for a curious boy, 
 that I wonder you did not." 
 
 " Perhaps I might, if he had stopped long- 
 enough. But if he stopped for a moment to wipe 
 his brows (for he was all trembling with the heat), 
 he began again before I could well speak. He 
 asked me whether I had ever heard that drowned 
 men could show their heads above water, and stare 
 with their eyes, and throw their arms about, a 
 whole day, — t^ o days, after they were drowned." 
 '' Ay !" indeed ! Did he ask that ?" 
 " Yes, and several other things. He asked whe- 
 ther I had ever heard that the islets in the fiord 
 were so many prison houses." 
 ^' And what did you say ?" 
 *' I wanted him to explain : so I said they were 
 prison-houses to the eider-ducks when they were 
 sitting, for they never stir a yard from their nests. 
 But he did not heed a word I spoke. He went on 
 about drowned men being kept prisoners in the 
 islets, moaning because they can't get out. And 
 he says they will knock, knock, as if they could 
 cleave the thick hard rock." 
 
 " What do you think of all this, my boy ?" 
 
 " Why, when I said I had not heard a word of
 
 PEDER ABROAD. 165 
 
 any such thing, even from my grandmother or 
 Erica, he declared he had heard the moans himself, 
 — moaning and crying; but then he mixed up 
 something about the barking of wolves that made 
 confusion in the story. Though he had been hot 
 just before, there he stood shivering, as if it v/as 
 winter, as he stood in the broiling sun. Then I 
 asked him if he had seen dead men swim and stare, 
 as he said he had heard them moan and cry." 
 
 "And what did he say then?" 
 
 " He started bolt upright, as if I had been pick- 
 ing his pocket. He was in a passion for a minute,. 
 I know, if ever he was in his life. Then he tried 
 to laugh as he said what a lot of new stories, — 
 stories of spirits, such stories as people love, — he 
 should have to carry home to the north, whenever 
 he went back to his own place." 
 
 " In the north, — his own place in the north ! 
 He wanted to mislead you there, boy. Hund was- 
 born some way to the south." 
 
 " No, was he really ? how is one to believe a 
 word he says, except when he speaks as if he was 
 in his sleep, — straight out from his conscience, I 
 suppose ? He began to talk about the bishop next, 
 wanting to know when I thought he would come, 
 and whether he was apt to hold private talk with 
 every sort of person at the houses he stayed at." 
 
 "How did you answer him? You know no- 
 thing about the bishop's visits." 
 
 "So I told him : but, to try him, I said I knew 
 one thing, — that a quantity of fresh fish would be 
 wanted when the bishop comes with his train : and 
 I asked him whether he would go fishing with me 
 as soon as we should hear that the bishop was draw- 
 ing near."
 
 166 PEDEK ABROAD. 
 
 *' He ^A'oiild not agree to that, I fancy." 
 '•He asked how far out I thought of going. 
 Of course, I said to Yogel islet, — at least as far as 
 Vogel islet. Do you know, grandfather, I thought 
 he would have knocked me down at the word. He 
 muttered something, I could not hear what, to get 
 oif. By that time we were laying the last trough. 
 I asked him to go for some more ; and the minute 
 he was out of sight I scampered here. Now, what 
 sort of a mind do you think this fellow has ?" 
 
 '• Xot an easy one, it is plain. It is too clear 
 also that he thinks Rolf is drowned.'^ 
 '•But do you think so, grandfather?" 
 '* Do you think so, grandson ?" 
 '• iSTot a bit of it. Depend upon it, Eolf is all 
 alive, if he is swimming and staring, and throwing 
 his arms about in the water. I think I see him 
 novr. And I will see him, if he is to be seen alive, 
 or dead." 
 
 " And pray, how ?" 
 
 '• I ought to have said if you will help me. You 
 say sometimes, grandfather, that you can pull a 
 good stroke with the oar still : and I can steer as 
 well as our master himself: and the fiord never was 
 stiller than it is to-day. Think what it would be 
 to bring home Rolf, or some good news of him ! 
 We would have a race up to the seater afterwards 
 to see who could be the first to tell Erica." 
 
 " Gently, gently, boy ! What is Rolf about not 
 to come home, if he is alive ?" 
 
 " That we shall learn from him. Did you hear 
 that he told Erica he should go as far as Yogel 
 islet, dropping something about being safe there 
 from pirates and everything ?" 
 
 Peder really thought there Mas something in this.
 
 TEDER ABROAD. 16T 
 
 He sent ofi Oddo to his work in the little meadow, 
 and himself sought out Madame Erlingsen, who 
 having less belief in spirits and enchantments than 
 Peder, was in proportion more struck with the ne- 
 cessity of seeing whether there was any meaning 
 in Hund's revelations, lest Rolf should be perishing 
 for want of help. The story of his disappearance 
 had spread through the whole region ; and there 
 was not a fisherman on the fiord who had not, by 
 this time, given an opinion as to how he was 
 drowned. But Madame was well aware that, if 
 he were only wrecked, there was no sign that he 
 could make that would not terrify the superstitious 
 minds of the neighbours, and make them keep aloof, 
 instead of helping him. In addition to all this, it 
 was doubtful v>'hether his signals would be seen by 
 anybody, at a season when every one who could 
 be spared was gone up to the dairies. 
 
 As soon as Hund was gone out after dinner, the 
 old man and his grandson put off in the boat carry- 
 ing a note from Madame Erlingsen to her neigh- 
 bours along the fiord, requesting the assistance of 
 one or two rowers on an occasion which might prove 
 one of life and death. The neighbours were oblig- 
 ing. The Holbergs sent a stout farm-servant with 
 directions to call at a cousin's, lower down, for a 
 boatman ; so that the boat was soon in fast career 
 dov/n the fiord, — Oddo full of expectation, and of 
 pride in commanding such an expedition ; and 
 Peder being relieved from all necessity of rowing 
 more than he liked. 
 
 Oddo had found occasionally the truth of a com- 
 mon proverb : — he had easily brought his master's 
 horses to the water but could not make them drink. 
 He now found that he had easily got rowers into
 
 168 TEDER ABROAD. 
 
 the boat, but that it was impossible to make them 
 TOW, beyond a certain point. He had used as much 
 discretion as Peder himself about not revealing the 
 precise place of their destination : and vrhen Yogel 
 islet came in sight, the two helpers at once gave 
 him hints to steer so as to keep as near the shore, 
 and as far from the island, as possible. Oddo 
 gravely steered for the island, notwithstanding. 
 "When the men saw that this was liis resolution, 
 they shipped their oars, and refused to strike an- 
 other stroke, unless one of them might steer. That 
 island had a bad reputation : it was bewitched or 
 haunted ; and in that direction the men would not 
 go. They were willing to do all they could to 
 oblige : they would row t\^enty miles without rest- 
 ing, with pleasure : but they would not brave 
 !N^ipen, nor any other demon, for any considera- 
 tion. 
 
 -" How far off is it, Oddo ?" asked Peder. 
 
 -'' Two miles, grandfather. Can you and I 
 manage it by ourselves, think you ?" 
 
 " Ay, surely ; if we can land these friends of 
 ours. They will wait ashore till we call for them 
 ag-ain." 
 
 *' I will leave you my supper, if you will wait 
 for us here, on this head-land," said Oddo to the 
 men. 
 
 The men could make no other objection than that 
 they were certain the boat would never return. 
 They were very civil, — would not accept Oddo's 
 supi^er on any account, — would remain on the 
 watch, — wished their friends would be persuaded ; 
 and, when they found all persuasion in vain, de- 
 clared they would bear testimony to Erica, and, as 
 long as they should live, to the bravery of the old
 
 TEDER ABROAD. 169 
 
 man and boy who thus threw away their lives in 
 search of a comrade who had fallen a victim to 
 Nipen. 
 
 Amidst these friendly words, the old man and 
 his grandson put off once more alone, making 
 straight for the islet. Of the two Peder was the 
 greater hero, for he saw the most ground for fear. 
 
 " Promise me, Oddo," said he, " not to take 
 advantage of my not seeing. As sure as you ob- 
 serve anything strange, tell me exactly what you 
 see." 
 
 " I Avill, grandfather. There is nothing yet but 
 what is so beautiful that I could not, for the life 
 of me, find out anything to be afraid of. The 
 water is as green as our best pasture, as it washes 
 up against the grey rock. And that grey rock is. 
 all crested and tufted with green again, wherever 
 a bush can spring. It is all alive with sea-birds^ 
 as white as snow, as they wheel above it in the 
 sun." 
 
 " 'Tis the very place," said Peder, putting new 
 strength into his old arm. Oddo rowed stoutly 
 too, for some way : and then he stopped to ask on 
 what side the remains of a birch ladder used to 
 hang down, as Peder had often told him. 
 
 "On the north side ; but there is no use in 
 looking for that, my boy. That birch ladder must 
 have rotted away, with frost and wet, long and 
 long ago." 
 
 "It is likely," said Oddo : " but, thinking that 
 some man must have put it there, I should like to 
 see whether it really is impossible for one with a 
 strong hand and light foot to mount this wall. I 
 brought our longest boat-hook, on purpose to try. 
 "Where a ladder hung before, a foot must have
 
 170 PEDER ABROAD. 
 
 climbed : and if I mount, Kolf may have mounte<i 
 before me." 
 
 It chilled Peder's heart to remember tlie aspect 
 of the precipice which his boy talked of climbing : 
 but he said nothing-, feeling' that it would be in 
 vain. This forbearance touched Oddo's feelings. 
 
 " I will run into no folly, trust me," said he. 
 " I do not forget that you depend on me for get- 
 ting home ; and that the truth, about Nipen and 
 such things, depends, for an age to come, on our 
 being seen at home again safe. But I have a 
 pretty clear notion that Eolf is somewhere on the 
 top there." 
 
 " Suppose you call him, then." 
 
 Oddo had much rather catch him. He pictured 
 to himself the pride and pleasure of mastering the 
 ascent ; the delight of surprising Eolf asleep in his 
 solitude, and the fun of standing over him to waken 
 him, and witness his suiprise. He could not give 
 up the attempt to scale the rock : but he would do 
 it very cautiously. 
 
 Slowly and watchfully they passed round the 
 islet, Oddo seeking Avith his eye any ledge of the 
 rock on which he might mount. Pulling otf his 
 shoes, that his bare feet might have the better hold, 
 and stripping off almost all his clothes, for light- 
 ness in climbing and perhaps swimming, he clam- 
 bered up to more than one promising spot, and then, 
 finding that further progress was impossible, had to 
 come down agaia. At last, seeing a narrow chasm 
 filled with leafy shrubs, he determined to try how 
 high he could reach by means of these. He swung 
 himself up by means of a bush which grew down- 
 wards, having its roots firmly fixed in a crevice of 
 the rock. This gave him liold of another, which
 
 PEDER ABROAD. 171 
 
 brought liim in reach of a third ; so that, making his 
 way like a squirrel or a monkey, he found himself 
 hanging at such a height, tliat it seemed easier to 
 go on than to turn back. For some time after 
 leaving his grandfather, he had spoken to him, as 
 an assurance of his safety. When too far off to 
 speak, he had sung aloud, to save the old man from 
 fears ; and now that he did not feel at all sure 
 whether he should ever get up or down, he began 
 to whistle cheerily. He was pleased to hear it 
 answered from the boat. The thought of the old 
 man sitting there alone, and his return wholly de- 
 pending upon the safety of his companion, ani- 
 mated Oddo afresh to find a way up the rock. It 
 looked to him as like a wall as any other rock 
 about the islet. There was no footing where he 
 was looking ; — that was certain. So he advanced 
 farther into the chasm, where the rocks so nearly 
 met that a giant's arm might have touched the 
 opposite wall. Here there was promise of release 
 from his dangerous situation. At the end of a 
 ledge, he saw something like poles hanging on the 
 rock, — some work of human hands, certainly. 
 Having scrambled towards them, he found the re- 
 mains of a ladder, made of birch poles, fastened 
 together with thongs of leather. This ladder had 
 once, no doubt, hung from top to bottom of the 
 chasm ; and its lower part, now gone, was tliat 
 ladder of which Peder had often spoken as a proof 
 that men had been on the island. 
 
 With a careful hand, Oddo pulled at the lad- 
 der ; and it did not give way. He tugged harder, 
 and still it only shook. He must try it ; there 
 was nothing else to be done. It was well for him 
 now that lie was used to dangerous climbing, — that
 
 172 PEDER ABROAD. 
 
 lie had had adventures on the slipper}', cracked 
 glaciers of Sulitelma, and that being on a height, 
 with precipices below, was no new situation to him. 
 He climbed, trusting as little as possible to the 
 ladder, setting his foot in preference on any pro- 
 jection of the rock, or any root of the smallest 
 shrub. More than one pole cracked : more than 
 one fastening gave way, wlien he had barely time 
 to shift his weight upon a better support. He 
 heard his grandfather's voice calling, and he could 
 not answer. It disturbed him, now that his joints 
 'were strained, his limbs trembling, and his mouth 
 parched so that his breath rattled as it came. 
 
 He reached the top, however. He sprang from 
 the edge of the precipice, unable to look down, 
 threw himself on his face, and panted and trembled, 
 as if he had never before climbed anything less safe 
 than a staircase. Is ever before, indeed, had he done 
 anything like this. The feat was performed, — the 
 islet was not to him inaccessible. This thought 
 gave him strength. He sprang to his feet again, 
 and whistled, loud and shrill. He could imagine 
 the comfort this must be to Peder ; and he v/histled 
 more and more merrily till he found himself rested 
 enough to proceed on his search for Rolf He 
 went briskly on his way, not troubling himself 
 with any thoughts of how he Wcis to get down 
 again. 
 
 Is ever had he seen a place so full of water-birds 
 and their nests. Their nests strewed all the ground ; 
 and they themselves M-ere strutting and waddling, 
 fluttering and vociferating, in every direction. 
 They were perfectly tame, knowing nothing of 
 men, and having had no experience of disturbance. 
 The ducks that were leadhis: theii* broods allowed-
 
 TEDER ABROAD. 173 
 
 Oddo to stroke their feathers ; and the drakes looked 
 on, without taking any offence. 
 
 " If Rolf is here," thought Oddo, " he has been 
 living on most amiable terms with his neighbours.'* 
 
 After an anxious thought or two of Nipen, — 
 after a glance or two round the sky and shores for 
 a sign of wind, — Oddo began in earnest his quest 
 of Rolf. He called his name, — gently, — then 
 louder. 
 
 There was some kind of answer. Some sound 
 of human voice he heard, he was certain ; but so 
 muffled, so dull, that whence it came he could not 
 tell. It might even be his grandfather, calling 
 from below. So he crossed to quite the verge 
 of the little island, wishing with all his heart thai 
 the birds would be quiet, and cease their civility 
 of all answering when he spoke. When quite out 
 of hearing of Peder, Oddo called again, with scarcely 
 a hope of any result, so plain was it to his eyes that 
 no one resided on the island. On its small summit 
 there was really no intermission of birds' nests ; — 
 no space where any one had lain down ; — no sign of 
 habitation, — no vestige of food, dress, or utensils. 
 With a saddened heart, therefore, Oddo called 
 again ; and again he was sure there was an answer ; 
 though whence and what he could not make out. 
 
 He then sang a part of a chant tliat he had 
 learned by Rolf singing it as he sat carving his 
 share of the new pulpit. He stopped in the middle, 
 and presently believed that he heard the air con- 
 tinued, though the voice seemed so indistinct, and 
 the music so much as if it came from underground, 
 that Oddo began to recall, with some doubt and fear, 
 the stories of the enchantment of the place. It was 
 not long before he heard a cry from the water
 
 174 PEDER ABROAD. 
 
 below. Looking over the precipice he saw what 
 made him draw back in terror : he saw the very- 
 thing Hund had described. — the swimming and 
 staring head of Rolf, and the arms thrown up in 
 the air. Not having Hund's conscience, however, 
 and having much more curiosity, he looked again ; 
 and then a third time. 
 
 " Are you Rolf, really ?" asked he, at last. 
 
 '•Yes: but who are you. — Oddo or the demon, 
 — up there where nobody can climb ? Who are 
 you ?" 
 
 " I will show you. "We will find each other 
 out," thought Oddo, with a determination to take 
 the leap, and ascertain the truth. 
 
 He leaped, and struck the water at a sufficient 
 distance from Rolf. When he came up again, 
 they approached each other, staring, and each with 
 some doubt as to whether the other was human or 
 a demon. 
 
 " Are you really alive, Rolf?" said the one. 
 
 '• To be sure I am, Oddo," said the other : '' but 
 v.'hat demon cari'ied you to the top of that rock, that 
 no man ever climbed ?" 
 
 Oddo looked mysterious, suddenly resolving to 
 keep his secret for the present. 
 
 "Xot that way," said Rolf. '-I have not 
 the strength I had, and I can't swim round the 
 place now. I was just resting myself when I 
 heard you call, and came out to see. Follow me 
 home." 
 
 He turned, and began to swim homewards. 
 Oddo had the strongest inclination to go with him,* 
 to see what would be revealed : but there were two 
 objections. liis grandfather must be growing 
 anxious ; and he was not perfectly &ure yet whether
 
 TEDER ABROAD. 175 
 
 liis guide might not be Nipen in Eolf s likeness, 
 about to lead him to some hidden prison. 
 
 ''Give me your hand, Rolf," said the boy, bravely. 
 
 It was a real, substantial, warm hand. 
 
 " I don't wonder you doubt," said Rolf, " I 
 can't look much like myself, — unshaven, and 
 shrunk, and haggard as my face must be." 
 
 Oddo was now quite satisfied ; and he told of 
 the boat and his grandfather. The boat was 
 scarcely farther off than the cave ; and poor Rolf 
 was almost in extremity for drink. The water 
 and brandy he brought with him had been 
 finished nearly two days, and he was suffering ex- 
 tremely from thirst. He thought he could reach 
 the boat, and Oddo led the way, bidding him not 
 mind his being without clothes till they could 
 find him some. 
 
 Glad was the old man to hear his boy's call 
 from the water : and his face lighted up Avith 
 wonder and pleasure when he heard that Rolf was 
 not far behind. He lent a hand to help him into 
 the boat, and asked no questions till he had given 
 him food and drink. He reproached himself for 
 having brought neither camphor nor assafoetida, 
 to administer with the corn-brandy. Here was 
 the brandy, however ; and some water, and fish, 
 and bread and cloud-berries. Great was the amaze- 
 ment of Peder and Oddo at Rolfs pushing aside 
 the brandy, and seizing the water. When he had 
 drained the last drop, he even preferred the cloud- 
 berries to the brandy. A transient doubt thence 
 occurred, whether this was Rolf, after all. Rolf 
 saw it in their faces, and laughed : and when they had 
 heard his story of what he had suffered from thirst, 
 they were quite satisfied, and wondered no longer
 
 176 PEDER ABROAD. 
 
 He was all impatience to be gone. It tried him 
 more now to think how long it would be before 
 Erica could hear of his preservation than to bear 
 all that had gone before. Being without clothes, 
 however, it was necessary to visit the cave, and 
 bring away what was there. In truth, Oddo was 
 not sorry for this. His curiosity about the cave 
 was so great that he felt it impossible to go home 
 without seeing it ; and the advantage of holding 
 the secret knowledge of such a place was one 
 which he would not give up. He seized an 
 oar, gave another to Rolf; and they were presently 
 off the mouth of the cave. Peder sighed at their 
 having to leave him again : but he believed what 
 Rolf said of there being no danger, and of their 
 remaining close at hand. One or the other came 
 popping up beside the boat, every minute, with 
 clothes, or net, or lines, or brandy -flask, and finally 
 wuth the oars of the poor broken skiff; being 
 obliged to leave the skiff itself behind. Rolf did 
 not forget to bring away whole handsftd of 
 beautiful shells, which he had amused himself with 
 collecting for Erica. 
 
 At last, they entered the boat again ; and wliile 
 they were dressing, Oddo charmed his grandfather 
 with a description of the cave, — of the dark, sound- 
 ing walls, the lofty roof, and the green tide break- 
 ing on the white sands. It almost made tlie 
 listener cool to hear of these things : but, as Oddo 
 had remarked, the heat had abated. It was near 
 midnight, and the sun was going to set. Their 
 row to the shore would be in the cool twilight : 
 and then they should take in companions, who, 
 fresh from rest, would save them the trouble of 
 rowing home.
 
 PEDER ABROAD. 177 
 
 When all were too tired to talk, and the oars 
 were dipping somewhat lazily, and the breeze had 
 died away, and the sea-birds were quiet, old Peder, 
 who appeared to his companions to be asleep, raised 
 his head, and said, 
 
 " I heard a sob. Are you crying, Oddo ?" 
 *' Yes, grandfather." 
 ** What is your grief, my boy ?" 
 ''No grief, — anything but grief now. I have 
 felt more grief than you know of though, or any- 
 body. I did not know it fully myself till now." 
 " Right, my boy : and right to say it out too." 
 " I don't care now Avho kno'svs how miserable I 
 have been. I did not believe, all the time, that Ki- 
 
 pen had anything to do with these misfortunes " 
 
 " Right, Oddo !" exclaimed Rolf, now. 
 " But I was not quite certain ; and how could I 
 say a word against it when I was the one to pro- 
 voke Nipen ? Now Rolf is safe, and Erica will be 
 happy again, and I shall not feel as if everybody's 
 eyes were upon me, and know that it is only out of 
 kindness tliat they do not reproach me as having 
 done all the mischief, I shall hold up my head 
 again now, — as some may think I have done all 
 along : but I did not, in my own eyes, — no, not 
 in my own eyes, for all these weary days tliat are 
 gone." 
 
 '' Well, they are gone now," said Rolf. '' Let 
 them go by and be forgotten." 
 
 " Nay,— not forgotten," said Peder. " How is 
 
 my boy to learn if he forgets " 
 
 "Don't fear that for me, grandfather," said 
 Oddo, as the tears still streamed down his face. 
 ''No fear of that. I shall not forget these last 
 days ;— no, not as long as I live." 
 
 I
 
 ( ITS ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 
 
 The comrades who were waiting and watcliing 
 pn the point were duly amazed to see three heads 
 in the boat, on her return ; and duly delighted to 
 find that the third was Rolf, — alive, and no ghost. 
 They asked question upon question, and Rolf an- 
 swered some fully and truly, while he showed re- 
 serve upon others ; and at last when closely 
 pressed, he declared himself too much exhausted to 
 talk, and begged permission to lie down in the 
 bottom of the boat and sleep. Upon this a long 
 silence ensued. It lasted till the farmhouse was in 
 siglit at wliich one of tiie rowers Mas to be landed. 
 Oddo then exclaimed, 
 
 •• I Avonder v.hat we have all been thinking about. 
 "We have not settled a single thing about what is 
 to be said and done ; and here we are almost 
 in sight of home, and Hund's cunning eyes." 
 
 " I have settled all about it," replied Rolf, 
 raising himself up from the bottom of the boat, 
 where they all thought he had been sleeping soundly. 
 '•My mind," said he, ''is quite clear. The first 
 thing I have decided upon is that I may rely on 
 the honour of our friends here. You have proved 
 your kindness, friends, in coming on this expedi- 
 tion, but for which I should have died in my hole,
 
 PLOT AXD COUNTERPLOT. 179 
 
 like a superannuated bear in its den. This is a 
 story that the whole country Avill Iiear of; and our 
 grandchildren Mill tell it, on winter nights, when 
 there is talk of the war that brought the pirates on 
 our coasts. Your names will go abroad with the 
 story, comrades, and, on one condition, with liigh 
 honour : and that condition is, tliat you say not a 
 word beyond the family you live in, for the next 
 few days, of the adventure of this night, or of your 
 having seen me. More depends on this than you 
 know of now ; more than I will tell, this day, to 
 any person but \nj master. My good old friend 
 there will help me to a meeting with my master, 
 without asking a question as to what I have to say 
 to him. Will you not, Peder ?" 
 
 '' Surely. I have no doubt you are right, " re- 
 plied Peder. 
 
 The neighbours were rather soriy ; but they 
 could not object. They smiled at Oddo, and 
 nodded encouragement, when he implored Eolf to 
 fix a time when everything might be known, and 
 to answer just this, and just that little inquiry. 
 
 " Oddo," said his grandfather, " be a man among 
 us men. Show that your honour is more to you 
 than your curiosity." 
 
 " Thank you, grandfather, I will. I will ask 
 only one more question ; and that Rolf will thank 
 me for. Had we not better fix some place, far 
 away from Hund's eyes and thoughts, for my 
 master and Eolf to have their talk ; and then I 
 will guide my master " 
 
 " Guide your master," cried Rolf, laughing, 
 " when your master knew every rock and every 
 track in the country vears enough before vou were 
 born!" 
 
 I 2
 
 180 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 
 
 '• You did not let me finish," said Oddo. *'•' You 
 may want a messenger, — he or you ; and / know 
 every track in the country : and there is no one 
 swifter of foot or that can keep counsel better." 
 
 " That is true, Rolf," said Peder. " If tlie boy 
 is too curious to know everything, it is not for tlie 
 sake of telling it again. If you should happen to 
 want a messenger, it may be worth attending to 
 what he says." 
 
 '' I have no objection to add that to my plan, if 
 Erlingsen pleases," said Rolf. '•' I must see Er- 
 lingsen ; but there is another person that I must 
 make haste to see, — that I would fly to, if I could. 
 What I wish is, that my master would meet me on 
 the road to where she is ; supposing Hund to re- 
 main at home." 
 
 He was told that there was no fear of Hund's 
 roving while the bishop was daily expected. Rolf 
 having been out of the way, the whole storj- of the 
 journey of the bishop of Tronyem had to be told 
 him. It made him thoughtful ; and he dropped a 
 word or two of satisfaction, as if it had thrown 
 new light upon what he was tliinking of. 
 
 '' All this," said he, " only makes me wish the 
 more to see Erlingsen immediately. I s-hould say 
 the best way will be for you to set me ashore some 
 way sliort of home, and ask Erlingsen to meet me 
 at the Black Tarn. There cannot be a quieter 
 place ; and I shall be so far on my way to the seater." 
 
 " If you will just make a looking-glass of the 
 Black Tarn," said Oddo, " You Avill see that you 
 have no business to carry such a face as yours to 
 the seater. Erica will die of terror at you for the 
 mountain-demon, before you can persuade lier it is 
 only you."
 
 PLOT AKD COUNTERPLOT. 181 
 
 " I was thinking," observed one of the rowers, 
 who relished the idea of going- down to posterity in 
 a wonderful story, — " I was just thinking that your 
 Avisest way will be to take a rest in my bed at 
 Holberg's, without anybody knowing, and shave 
 yourself with my razor, and dress in my Sunday 
 clothes, and so show yourself to your betrothed in 
 such a trim as that she will be glad to see you." 
 
 " Do so, Rolf," urged Peder. Every body said 
 *' do so," and agreed that Erica would suffer far 
 less by remaining five or six hours longer in her 
 present state of mind, than by seeing her lover 
 look like a ghastly savage, or perhaps hearing that 
 he was lying by the road side, dying of his exer- 
 tions to reach her. Rolf tried to laugh at all this ; 
 but he could not contradict it. He would not hear 
 a word of any messenger being sent. He declared 
 that it would only tonnent her, as she would not 
 believe in his return till she saw him : and he 
 dropped something about every body being so 
 wanted at home that nobody ought to stray. 
 
 All took place as it was settled in the boat. 
 Before the people on Plolberg's farm had come in 
 to breakfast, Rolf was snug in bed, with a large 
 pitcher of whey by the bedside, to quench his still 
 insatiable thirst. No one but the Holbergs knew 
 of his being there ; and he got away unseen in the 
 afternoon, rested, shaven, and dressed, so as to look 
 more like himself, though still haggard. Packing 
 his old clothes into a bundle, which he carried 
 with a stick over his shoulder, and laden Avith no- 
 thing else but a few rye-cakes, and a flask of the 
 everlasting corn-brandy, he set forth, tlianking his 
 hosts very heartily for their care, and somewhat 
 mysteriously a.ssuring them that they would hear
 
 182 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 
 
 something soon, and that meantime they had better 
 not have to be sought far from home. 
 
 As he expected, he met no one whom lie knew. 
 Isine-tenths of the neighbours were far away on 
 the seaters ; and of the small remainder, almost all 
 were attending the bishop on the opposite shore of 
 the lake. Rolf shook his head at every deserted 
 farm-house that he passed, thinking how the pirates 
 might ransack the dwellings if they should happen 
 to discover that few inhabitants lemained in them 
 but those whose limbs Mere too old to climb the 
 mountain. He shook his head again when he 
 thought what consternation he might spread through 
 these dwellings by dropping at the doors the news 
 of how near the pirate schooner lay. It seemed to 
 be out of the people's minds now because it was 
 out of sight, and the bishop liad become visible in- 
 stead. As for the security which some talked of 
 from there being so little worth taking in the 
 Kordland farm-houses, — this might be true if only 
 one house was to be attacked, and tliat one defended ; 
 but half a dozen ruffians, coming ashore, to search 
 eight or ten undefended houses in a day, might 
 gather enough booty to pay them for their trouble. 
 Of money they would lind little or none; but in 
 some families there were gold chaiiis, crosses, and 
 ear-rings, which had come down from a remote 
 generation ; or silver goblets and tankards. There 
 were goats worth carrying away for their milk, 
 and spirited horses and their harness, to sell at a 
 distance. There were stores of the finest bed and 
 table linen in the world ; sacks of flour, cellars full 
 of ale, kegs of brandy, and a mass of tobacco in 
 every house. Fervently did Rolf wish, as he passed 
 by these comfortable dwellings, that the enemy
 
 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 183 
 
 voulil cast no eye or thought uj^oii their comforts 
 till he should have given such information in the 
 proper quarters as should deprive them of the 
 power of dohig mischief in tliis neighbourhood. 
 
 Leaving- the last of the farm-houses behind, he 
 ascended the ravine, and came out upon the ey pause 
 of rich herbage which Erica had trodden but a 
 few days before. He thought, as she had done, of 
 his own description of their journeying together to 
 the seater, and of the delight with which she woidd 
 leap from the cart to walk with him, on the first 
 sight of the Avaving grass upon the upland. His 
 heart beat joyously at the thought, instead of 
 mourning like hers. He was transported with hap- 
 piness when he thought how near he was to her 
 now, and on the eve of a season of delight, — a few 
 balmy summer weeks upon the pastures, to be fol- 
 lowed by his marriage. This aftair of the pirates 
 once finished, was ever man so happy as he was 
 going to be ? The thought made him spring as 
 lightly through the tall grass that lay between him 
 and the Black Tarn as the reindeer from point to 
 point of the mountain steep. 
 
 The breeze blew in his face, refreshing him with 
 its coolness, and with the fragrance of the birch, 
 with which it was loaded. But it brought some- 
 thing else, — a transient sound which surprised 
 Rolf, — voices of men, who seemed, if he could 
 judge from so rapid a hint, to be talking angrih^ 
 He began to consider whom, besides Oddo, Erling- 
 sen could have thought it safe or necessary to bring 
 with him, or whether it was somebody met with 
 by chance. At all events, it would be wisest not 
 to show himself, and to approach with all possible 
 caution. Cautiously therefore he drew near, keep-
 
 184 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 
 
 ing a vigilant watch all around, and ready to pop 
 down into the grass on any alarm. Being unable 
 to see any one near the tarn, he was convinced the 
 talkers must be seated under the crags on its mar- 
 gin ; and he therefore made a circuit, to get be- 
 hind the rocks, and then climbed a huge fragment, 
 v/hich seemed to have been toppled down from 
 some steep, and to have rolled to the brink of the 
 M'ater. Two stunted pines grevr out from the sum- 
 mit of this crag; and betv^een these pines Rolf 
 placed himself, and looked down from thence. 
 
 Two men sat on the ground in the shadow of the 
 rock. One was Hund, and the other must un- 
 doubtedly be one of the pirate crew. His dress, 
 arms, and broken language all showed him to be 
 so : and it was, in fact, the same man that Erica 
 had met near the same place ; though that she had 
 had such an adventure was the last thing her lover 
 dreamed of as he surveyed the man's figure from 
 above. 
 
 This man appeared surly. Hund was extremely 
 agitated. 
 
 '• It is very hard," said he, '^ when all I want is 
 to do no harm to anybody, — neither to my okl 
 friends nor my new acquaintances, — that I cannot 
 be let alone. I have done too much mischief in 
 my life already. The demons have made sport of 
 me ; — it is their sport that I have as many lives to 
 answer for as any man of twice my age in Is ord- 
 land ; and now that I M'ould be harmless for the 
 rest of my days " 
 
 •• Don't trouble yourself to talk about your 
 days," interrupted the pirate; '•' they will be too 
 few to be worth speaking of, if you do not put 
 yourself under our orders again. You are a de-
 
 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 185 
 
 serter, — and as a deserter you go back with me, 
 unless you choose to go as a comrade." 
 
 " And what might I expect that your orders 
 would be, if I went with you ?" 
 
 '' You know very well that we want you for a 
 guide. That is all you are worth. In a fight, 
 you would only be in the way — unless indeed you 
 could contrive to get out of the way." 
 
 " Then you would not expect me to light against 
 my master and his people ?" 
 
 " Nobody was ever so foolish as to expect you 
 to fight, more or less, I should think. JSTo, your 
 business would be to pilot us to Erlingsen's, and 
 answer truly all our questions about their ways and 
 doings." 
 
 " Surprise them in their sleep !" muttered Hund. 
 " Wake them up with the light of their own burn- 
 ing roofs ! And they would know me by that 
 light ! They would point me out to the bishop ; — 
 they would find time in their hurry to mark me for 
 the monster they might well think me !" 
 
 " Yes : you would be in the front, of course," 
 observed the pirate. " But there is one comfort 
 for you ; — if you are so earnest to see the bishop 
 as you told me you were, my plan is the best. 
 When once we lock him down on board our 
 schooner, you can have him all to yourself. You 
 can confess your sins to him the whole da,y long; 
 for nobody else will want a word with either of 
 you. You can show him your enchanted island, 
 down in the fiord, and see if he can lay the ghost 
 for you." 
 
 Hund sprang to his feet in an agony of passion. 
 The well-armed pirate was up as soon as he. Rolf 
 
 i3
 
 186 PLOT AND COUNTEEFLOT. 
 
 drew back two paces, to be out of sight, if by 
 chance they should look up, and armed himself 
 v\ith a heavy stone. He heard the pirate say 
 
 '• You can tr\^ to run away, if you like : I shall 
 shoot you through the head before you have gone 
 five yards. And you may refuse to return with 
 me ; and then I shall know how to report of you 
 to my captain. I shall tell him that you are lying 
 at the bottom of this lake, — if it has a bottom, — 
 M-ith a stone tied round your neck, like a drowned 
 Avild cat. I hope you may chance to find your 
 enemy there, to make the place the pleasanter." 
 
 Rolf could not resist the impulse to send his 
 lieavy stone into the middle of the tarn, to see the 
 effect upon the men below. He gave a good cast, 
 on the very instant ; and prodigious was the splash, 
 as the stone hit the ^^ ater, precisely in the middle 
 of the little lake. The men did not see the cause 
 of the commotion that followed ; but, starting and 
 turning at the splash, they saw the rings spreading 
 in the dark waters which had lain as still as the 
 heavens but a moment before. How could two 
 guilty, superstitious men doubt that the waters 
 were thrown into agitation by the pirate's last 
 words. Yet they glanced fearfully round the 
 whole landscape, far and near. They saw no 
 living thing but a hawk which, startled from its 
 perch on a scathed pine, was wheeling round in 
 the air in an unsteady flight. The pirate pointed 
 to the bird with one hand, while he laid the other 
 on the pistol in his belt. 
 
 " Yes," said Hund trembling, " t'ne bird saw it. 
 Did vou see it ?" 
 
 *' See what ?"
 
 PLOT AND COUNTERrLOT. 187 
 
 *' The water- sprite, Ulclra. Before you throw 
 me in to the water-sprite, we will see which is the 
 strongest." 
 
 And in desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, 
 threw himself upon the pirate, — sprang at his 
 throat, — and both wrestled with all their force. 
 Rolf could not but look ; and he saw that the 
 pirate had dra\vn forth his pistol, and that all 
 would be over with Hund in a moment if he did 
 not interfere. He stood forward between the two 
 pine stems, on the ridge of the rock, and uttered 
 very loud the mournful cry which had so terrified 
 his enemies at Vogel islet. The combatants flew 
 asunder, as if parted by a flash of lightning. Both 
 looked up to the point whence the sound had come ; 
 and there they saw what they supposed to be Rolf's 
 spectre, pointing at them, and the eyes staring as 
 when looking up from the waters of the fiord. 
 How could these guilty and superstitious men 
 doubt that it was Rolf's spectre which, rising 
 through the centre of the tarn, had caused the late 
 commotion in its waters? Away they fled, — at 
 first in diflerent directions : but it amused Rolf to 
 observe that, rather than be alone, Hund turned to 
 follow the track of the tyrant who had just been 
 threatening and insulting him, and driving him to 
 struggle for his life. 
 
 " Ay," tliought Rolf, " it is his conscience that 
 makes me so much more terrible to him than that 
 ruflflan. I never hurt a hair of his head ; and yet, 
 through his conscience, my face is worse than the 
 blasting lightning to his eyes. — When will all the 
 people hereabouts find out, as my mistress said 
 when I was a boy (apt, as boys are, to remember 
 the wise things that such a gentle mistress says) —
 
 188 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 
 
 when will people find out that the demons and 
 sprites they live in fear of all come out of their 
 own heads and hearts? Here, in Hund's case, is 
 guilt shaping out visions whichever way he turns. 
 Not one of his ghost-stories is there, for months 
 past, but I am at the bottom of; and that only 
 through his consciousness of hating and wanting to 
 injure me. Then, in the opposite case, — of one as 
 innocent as the whitest flower in all this pasture, — 
 in my Erica's case, — the ghosts she sees are all 
 from passions that leave her heart pure, but be- 
 wilder her eyes. It is the fear that she was early 
 made subject to, and the grief that she feels for her 
 mother, that create demons and sprites for her. 
 The day may come, if I can make her happy 
 enough, v/hen I may convince her tliat, for all 
 she now thinks, she never yet saw a token of any 
 evil spirit : — of any spirit iDut the Good One that 
 rules all things. What a sigh she will give, — 
 what a free breathing hers ^^dll be, the day when I 
 can show her, as plainly as I see myself, that it is 
 nothing but her own fears and griefs that have 
 crossed her path, and she never doubting that they 
 were demons and sprites ! Heigh-ho ! Wliere is 
 Erlingsen ? It is nothing short of cruel to keep 
 me waiting to-day, of all clays ; and in this spot, of 
 all places, — almost within sight of the seater where 
 my poor Erica sits pining, and seeing nothing of 
 the pastures, but only, with her mind's eye, the 
 sea-caves where she thinks these limbs are stretched, 
 cold and helpless, as in a grave. A pretty story I 
 shall have to tell her, if she will only believe it, of 
 another sort of sea-cave." 
 
 To pass the time, he took out the shells he had 
 collected for Erica, and admired them afresh, and
 
 PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. 189 
 
 planned where she would place them, so as best to 
 adorn their sitting-room, wlien they were married. 
 Erlingsen arrived before he had been thus engaged 
 five minutes ; and indeed before he had been more 
 than a quarter of an hour altogether at the place 
 of meeting. 
 
 " My dear master !" exclaimed Rolf, on seeing 
 him coming, " have pity on Erica and me ; and 
 hear what I have to tell you, that I may be gone;"^ 
 
 " You shall be gone at once, my good fellow ! 
 I will walk with you, and you shall tell your story 
 as we go." 
 
 Rolf shook his head, and objected that he could 
 not, in conscience, take Erlingsen a step further 
 from home than was necessary, as he was only too 
 much wanted there. 
 
 '' Is that Oddo yonder?" he asked. " He said 
 you would bring him." 
 
 " Yes ; he has grown trustworthy of late. We 
 have had fewer heads and hands among us than the 
 times require since Peder grew old and blind, and 
 you were missing, and Ilund had to be watched 
 instead of trusted. So we have been obliged to 
 make a man of Oddo, though he has the years of a 
 boy, and the curiosity of a woman. I brought him 
 now, thinking that a messenger might be ^vanted, 
 to raise the country against the pirates : and I be- 
 lieve Oddo, in his present mood, will be as sure as 
 we know he can be swift." 
 
 " It is well we have a messenger. Where is tlie 
 bishop ?" 
 
 " Just going to his boat, at this moment, I doubt 
 not," replied Erlingsen, measuring with his eye the 
 length of the shadows. " The bishop is to sup 
 with us this evening."
 
 ISO PLOT AND COUNTERrLOT. 
 
 *' And how long to stay?" ' 
 
 '• Over to-morrow night, at the least. If many of 
 the neighbours should bring their business to him, 
 it may be longer. jMy little Frolich will be vexed 
 that he should come while she is absent. Indeed I 
 should not much wonder if she sets out homeward 
 when she hears the news you will carry, so tliat we 
 shall see her at breakfast." 
 
 "It is more likely," observed Rolf, '• that v.e 
 shall see the bishop up the mountain at breakfast. 
 Ah ! you stare : but you will find I am not out of 
 my wits when you hear what has come to my 
 knowledge since we parted, and especially within 
 this hour." 
 
 Erlingsen was indeed presently convinced that 
 it was the intention of the pirates to carry off tlie 
 bishop of Tronyem, in order that his ransom might 
 make up to them for the poverty of the coasts. 
 He heard besides such an ample detail of the plun- 
 dering practices whicli Eolf had witnessed from his 
 retreat as convinced him that the strangers, though 
 in great force, must be prevented by a vigorous 
 effort from doing further mischief. The first thing 
 to be done was to place the bisliop in safety on the 
 mountain ; and the next was so to raise the country 
 as that these pirates should be certainly taken when 
 they should come within reach. 
 
 Oddo was called, and entrusted with the informa- 
 tion vvhich had to be conveyed to the magistrate at 
 Saltdalen. He carried his master's tobacco-pouch 
 as a token, — this pouch, of Lapland make, being 
 well known to the magistrate as Erlingsen's. Oddo 
 was to tell him of the danger of the bishop, and to 
 request him to send to the spot whatever force 
 could be mustered at Saltdalen ; and moreover to
 
 PLOT AXD COUNTEIIPLOT. 191 
 
 issue the budstick,* to raise the countn-. The 
 pirates having once entered the upper reach of tlie 
 liord, might thus be prevented from ever going 
 back again, and from annoying any more the 
 neighbourhood which they had so long infested. 
 
 Erlingsen promised to be wary on his return 
 homewards, so as not to fall in with the two whom 
 Rolf had put to flight. He said, however, that if 
 by chance he should cross their path, he did not 
 doubt he could also make them run, by acting the 
 ghost or demon, though he had not had Rolf's ad- 
 vantage of disappearing in the fiord before their 
 eyes. They were already terrified enough to fly 
 from anything that called itself a ghost. 
 
 The three then vrent on their several w^ays, — 
 Oddo speeding over the ridges like a sprite on a 
 night errand, and Rolf striding up the grassy slopes 
 like (what he Mas) a lover anxious to be beside his 
 betrothed, after a perilous absence. 
 
 * When it is desired to send a summons or other message 
 over a district iu Noi-way w here the dwellings are scattered, 
 the budstick is sent round by running messengers. It is a 
 stick made hollow, to hold the magistrate's order, and a 
 screw at one end to secure the paper in its place. Each 
 messenger runs a certain distance, and then delivers it to 
 another, who must carry it forward. If any one is absent, 
 the budstick must be laid upon the " housefather's great 
 chair, by the fire-side ;" and if the house is locked, it must 
 be fastened outside the door, so as to be seen as soon as the 
 host returns. Upon great occasions^ it was formerly found 
 that a whole region could be raised in a very short time. 
 The method is still in use for appointments on public 
 business.
 
 ( 192 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MIDNIGHT. 
 
 This was the clay when the first cheese of the sea- 
 son was found to be perfect and complete. Frolich, 
 Stiorna, and Erica examined it carefully, and pro- 
 nounced it a well-pressed, excellent gammel cheese, 
 such as they should not be ashamed to set before 
 the bishop, and therefore one which ought to 
 satisfy the demon. It now only remained to carry 
 it to its destination ; — to the ridge where the first 
 cheese of the season was always laid for the demon, 
 and where, it appeared, he regularly came for his 
 offering, as no vestige of the gift was ever to be 
 found the next morning, — only the round place in 
 the grass where it had lain, and the marks of some 
 feet which had trodden the herbage. 
 
 *' Help me up with it upon^ my head, Stiorna," 
 said Erica. " If Frolich looks at it any longer, 
 she will grudge such a cheese going where it 
 ought. Is not that the thought that is in your 
 mind at this moment, Frolich, dear ?" 
 
 '•'^Xo. I do not grudge it," replied Frolich. 
 " My mother says it is right freely to give what- 
 ever the feelings of those who help us require." 
 
 *' And you do thus freely give, — my mistress 
 and all who belong to her, without a sign of 
 grudging," declared Erica. '•' But would you not
 
 MIDNIGHT. 193 
 
 be better pleased if the gift required was a bunch 
 of moss-fiowers, or a basket of cloud-berries ?" 
 
 " Perhaps so ; — yet, no ; I think not. Our good 
 cheeses are not wasted. They do not lie and rot 
 in the sun and the mists. Somebody has the 
 benefit of them, whether it be the demon or not." 
 
 " Who else should it be ?" asked Stiorna. 
 '' There is not a man, woman, or child, on any 
 seater in Sulitelma, who would touch a cheese laid 
 out for the mountain-demon." 
 
 " Perhaps not. I never watched to see what 
 liappens when the gammel cheese is left alone. I 
 only say I do not grudge our cheese, as somebody 
 lias it. I will carry it myself, in token of good- 
 will, if you will let me. Erica. Here, — shift it 
 upou my head." 
 
 Erica would not hear of this, and began to walk 
 away with her load, begging Stiorna to watch the 
 cattle, — not once to take her eye off them, till she 
 should return to assume her watch for the night 
 hours. 
 
 " I know why you will not let me carry the 
 cheese," said Frolich, smiling. " You are think- 
 ing of Oddo with the cake and ale. Nobody but 
 you must deposit offerings henceforward. You 
 are afraid I should eat up that cheese, almost as 
 heavy as myself. You think there would not be a 
 paring left for the demon, by the time I got to the 
 ridge." 
 
 " Not so," replied Erica. '' I think that he to 
 whom this cheese is destined had rather be served 
 by one who does not laugh at him. And it is a 
 safer plan for you, Frolich." 
 
 And off went Erica with her cheese. 
 
 The ridge on whicli she laid it would have
 
 194 MID^■IGHT. 
 
 tempted her at any other time to sit down. It 
 was green and soft with mosses, and offered as 
 comfortable a couch to one tired with the labours 
 of the day as any to be found at the farm. But 
 to-night it was to be haunted : so Erica merely 
 staid to do her duty. She selected the softest tuft 
 of moss on which to lay the cheese, put her offer- 
 ing reverently down, and then diligently gathered 
 the brightest blossoms from the herbage around, and 
 strewed them o^•er the cheese. She then walked 
 rapidly homewards, without once looking behind 
 her. If she had had the curiosity and courage to 
 watch for a little wliile, she would have seen her 
 offering carried off by an odd little figure, with 
 nothing very terrible in its appearance ; namely, a 
 v>oman about four feet high, with a flat face, and 
 eves wide apart, wearing a reindeer garment like a 
 v.aggoner's frock, a red comforter about her neck, 
 a red cloth cap on her head, a blue worsted sash, 
 and leather boots up to the knee : — in short, such 
 a Lapland girl as Erica would have given a rye- 
 cake to as charity, but v.'ould not have thought of 
 asking to sit down even in her master's kitchen ; — 
 for the Norwegian servants are very high and saucy 
 tov>'ards tlie Lapps who wander to their doors. It 
 is not surprising that the Lapps who pitch their 
 tents on the mountain should like having a fine 
 gammel cheese for the trouble of picking it up : 
 and the company whose tents Erica had passed on 
 her way up to the seater kept a good look-out upon 
 all the dairy people round, and carried off every 
 cheese meant for the demon. While Erica was 
 gathering and strewing the blossoms, this girl was 
 hidden near ; and, trusting to Erica's not looking 
 behind her, the rogue swept off the blossoms, ajid
 
 MIDNIGHT. 195 
 
 tlirew them at her, before she had gone ten yards, 
 trundled the cheese down the other side of the ridge, 
 made a circuit, and was'at the tents with her prize 
 before supper time. What would Erica have 
 thought if she had beheld this fruit of so many 
 miikings and skimmings, so much boiling and 
 pressing, devoured by greedy Lapps, in their dirty 
 tent ? 
 
 On her way homewards Erica remembered that 
 this was Midsummer Eve, — a season when her 
 mother was in her thoughts more than at any other 
 time ; for Midsummer Eve is sacred in Korway to 
 the wood-demon, whose victim she believed her 
 mother to have been. Every woodman sticks his 
 axe into a tree that night, that the demon may, if 
 he pleases, begin the work of the year by felling 
 trees, or making a faggot. Erica hastened to the 
 seater, to discover whether Erlingsen had left his 
 axe behind, and whether Jan had one with him. 
 
 Jan liad an axe, and, remembering his duty, 
 though tired and sleepy, was just going to the 
 nearest pine-grove with it when Erica reached 
 home. She seized Erlingsen's axe and went also, 
 and stuck it in a tree, just within the verge of the 
 grove, which was in that part a thicket, from the 
 growth of underwood. This thicket was so near 
 the back of the daiiy that the two were home in 
 five minutes. Yet they found Frolich almost as 
 impatient as if they had been gone an hour. She 
 asked whetlier their heathen worship was done at 
 last, so that all might go to bed ; or whether they 
 were to be kept awake till midnight by more mum- 
 meiy ? 
 
 Erica replied by showing that Jan was already 
 gone to his loft over the shed, and begging leave to
 
 196 MIDNIGHT. 
 
 comb and curl Frolich's hair,* and see her to rest 
 at once. Stiorna was asleep ; and Erica herself 
 meant to watch the cattle this night. They lay- 
 couched in the grass, all near each other, and 
 within view, in the mild slanting sunshine : and 
 here she intended to sit, on the bench outside the 
 home-shed, and keep her eye on them till morning. 
 
 '• You are thinking of the bishop of Tronyem's 
 cattle," said Frolich. 
 
 " I am, dear. This is Midsummer Eve, you 
 know, — when, as we think, all the spirits love to 
 be abroad." 
 
 '' You will die before your time. Erica," said the 
 weary girl. " These spirits give you no rest of 
 body or mind. What a day's work we have done ! 
 And now you are going to watch till twelve, 
 one, two o'clock ! I could not keep awake," she 
 said, yawning, " if there was one demon at the 
 head of the bed, and another at the foot, and the 
 underground people running like mice all over the 
 floor." 
 
 '• Then go and sleep, dear. I will fetch your 
 comb, if you will just keep an eye on the cattle for 
 the moment I am gone." 
 
 As Erica combed Frolich's long fair hair, and 
 admired its shine in the sunlight, and twisted it ui 
 behind, and curled it on each side, the weary girl 
 leaned her head against her, and dropped asleep. 
 When all was done, she just opened her eyes to 
 find her way to bed, and say 
 
 '' You may as well go to bed comfortably ; for 
 you will certainly drop asleep here, if you don't 
 there." 
 
 * Hair-brushes -^-ere unknoAvn at the date of tliis story.
 
 MIDNIGHT. 197 
 
 " Not with my pretty Spiel in sight. I would 
 not lose my white heifer for seven nights' sleep. 
 You will thank me when you find your cow, and 
 all the rest, safe in the morning. Good night, 
 dear." 
 
 And Erica closed the door after her young mis- 
 tress, and sat down on the bench outside with her 
 face towards the sun, her lure by her side, and her 
 knitting in her hands. She was glad that the herd 
 lay so that by keeping her eye on them she could 
 watch that wonder of Midsummer night within the 
 Arctic Circle, the dipping of the sun below the 
 horizon, to appear again immediately. She had 
 never been far enough to the north to see the sun 
 complete its circle without disappearing at all ; 
 but she did not wish it. She thought the soften- 
 ing of the light M'hich she was about to witness, 
 and the speedy renewing of day, more wonderful 
 and beautiful. 
 
 She sat, soothed by her employment and by the 
 tranquillity of the scene, and free from fear. She 
 had done her duty by the spirits of the mountain 
 and the wood ; and in case of the appearance of 
 any object that she did not like, she could slip into 
 the house in an instant. Her thoughts were there- 
 fore wholly Rolf's. She could endure now to con- 
 template a long life spent in doing honour to his 
 memory by the industrious discharge of duty. She 
 would watch over Peder, and receive his last 
 breath, — an office which should have been Eolf 's. 
 She would see another houseman arrive, and take 
 possession of that house, and become betrothed and 
 marry : and no one, — not even her watchful mis- 
 tress, should see a trace of repining in her coun- 
 tenance, or hear a tone of bitterness from her lips.
 
 198 MIDXIGHT. 
 
 It should l)e her part to see that others were happier 
 than she had been ; that no presumption or care- 
 lessness should bring on them the displeasure of 
 powerful beings. However weary her heart miofht 
 be, she would dance at every wedding, — of fellow- 
 servant or of young mistress. She would cloud 
 nobody's liappiness, but avouM do all she could to 
 make Rolf's memory pleasant to those who had 
 known him, and Avished him well. She tliouglit 
 she could do all this in prospect of the day when 
 her grave should be dug beside those of Peder and 
 XJlla, and when her spirit should meet Rolf, and 
 learn at length liow he had died, and be assured 
 that he had watclied over her as faithfully as she 
 had remembered him. 
 
 As these thoughts passed through her mind, 
 making her future life appear shorter and less 
 dreary than she could have imagined possible a 
 few hours before, her fingers were busily at v.ork, 
 and her eyes rested on the lovely scene before her, 
 — the flowery pasture in which the dappled herd 
 were lying, while far, far beyond, a yelloAv glitter- 
 ing expanse of craters spread as if to receive the 
 sinking sun. From the elevation at vvhich she 
 was, it appeared as if the ocean swelled up into the 
 very sky. so liigh Mas tlie horizon line ; and between 
 lay a vast region of rock and river, hill and dale, 
 forest, fiord, and town, part in golden sunlight, 
 part in deep sliadow, but all, though bright as the 
 skies could make it, silent as became the hour. 
 As Erica found that she could glance at the sun 
 itself witliout losing sight of the cattle, which still 
 lay within her indirect vision, she carefully watched 
 the descent of the orb, anxious to observe precisely 
 when it should disappear, and how soon its golden
 
 MIDNIGHT. 199 
 
 spark would kindle up again from the waves. 
 When its lower rim was just touching the waters, 
 its circle seemed to be of an enormous size, and its 
 whole mass to be flaming. Its appearance was 
 very unlike that of the comparatively small, com- 
 pact, brilliant luminary which rides the sky at 
 noon. Erica was just thinking so, when a rustle 
 in the thicket, within the pine grove, made her in- 
 voluntarily turn her head in that direction. In- 
 stantly remembering that it was a common device 
 of the underground people for one of them to 
 make the watcher look away, in order that others 
 might drive off the cattle, she resumed her duty, 
 and gazed stedfastly at the herd. They were safe 
 — neither reduced to the size of mice, nor wander- 
 ing off, though she had let her eye glance away 
 from them. 
 
 The sky, however, did not look itself. There 
 were two suns in it. Now, Erica really did quite 
 forget the herd for some time, even her dear white 
 heifer, — while she stared bewildered at the spectacle 
 before her eyes. There Mas one sun, the sun 
 she liad always known, — half sunk in the sea, 
 while above it hung another, round and complete, 
 somewhat less bright, perhaps, but as distinct and 
 plain before her eyes as any object in heaven or 
 earth had ever been. Her work dropped from her 
 hands, as she covered her eyes for a moment. 
 She started to her feet, and then looked again. It 
 was still there, though the lower sun was almost 
 gone. As she stood gazing, she once more heard 
 the rustle in the Mood. Though it crossed her 
 mind that the MOod-demon M^as doubtless there 
 making choice of his axe and his tree, she could 
 not move, and had not even a wish to take refuge
 
 200 MIDNIGHT. 
 
 in the house, so wonderful was this spectacle,— 
 the clearest instance of enchantment she had ever 
 seen. Was it meant for good, — a token that the 
 coming year was to be a doubly bright one ? If 
 not, how was she to understand it ? 
 
 " Erica I" cried a voice at this moment from 
 the wood, — a voice which thrilled her whole frame. 
 <' My Erica !" 
 
 She not only looked towards the wood now, but 
 sprang forwards : but her eyes were so dazzled by 
 having gazed at the sun that she could see nothing. 
 Then she remembered how many forms the cunning 
 demon could assume, and she turned back thinking 
 how cruel it was to delude her with her lover's 
 voice, when instead of his form she should doubt- 
 less see some horrid monster ; most likely a hippo- 
 potamus, or, at best, an overgrown bear, showing- 
 its long, sharp, white teeth, to terrify her. She 
 turned in haste, and laid her hand on the latch of 
 the door, glancing once more at the horizon. 
 
 There was now no sun at all. The burnish was 
 gone from every point of the landscape, and a mild 
 twilight reigned. 
 
 One good omen liad vanished ; but there was 
 still enchantment around ; for again she heard the 
 thrilling "• Erica !" 
 
 There was no huge beast glaring through the 
 pine stems, and trampling down the thicket ; but, 
 instead, there Mas the figure of a man advancing 
 from the shadow into the pasture. 
 
 '' AVhy do you take that form ?" said the trem- 
 bling girl, sinking down on the bench. " I had 
 rather have seen you as a bear. Did you not find 
 the axe ? I laid it for you. Pray, — pray, come 
 no nearer."
 
 MIDNIGHT, 201 
 
 *' I must, my love, to show you that it is your 
 own Rolf. Erica, do not let your superstition 
 come for ever between us." 
 
 She held out her arms; — she could not rise, 
 though she strove to do so. Rolf sat beside her, 
 — she felt his kisses on her forehead, — she felt his 
 heart beat, — she felt that not even a spirit could 
 assume the very tones of that voice. 
 
 " Do forgive me," she murmured : but it is 
 Midsummer Eve ; and I felt so sure " 
 
 " As sure of my being the demon as I am sure 
 there is no cruel spirit here, though it is Midsum- 
 mer Eve. Look, love ! see how the day smiles 
 upon us !" 
 
 And he pointed to where a golden star seemed 
 to kindle on the edge of the sea. It was the sun 
 again, rising after its few minutes of absence. 
 
 '' I saw two just now," ciied Erica, — " two suns. 
 Where are we, really ? And how is all this ? 
 And where do you come from ?' 
 
 And she gazed, still wistfully, — doubtfully, in 
 her lover's face. 
 
 " I will show you," said he smiling. And while 
 he still held her with one arm, lest, in some sudden 
 fancy, she should fly him as a ghost, he used the 
 other hand to empty his pockets of the beautiful 
 shells he had brought, tossing them into her lap. 
 
 ^' Did you ever see such, Erica ? I have been 
 where they lie in heaps. Did you ever see such 
 beauties ?" 
 
 " I never did, Rolf; you have been at the bot- 
 tom of the sea." 
 
 And once more she shrank from what she took for 
 the grasp of a drowned man. 
 
 *' Kot to the bottom, love," replied he, still 
 
 K
 
 202 MIDXIGHT. 
 
 clasping her hand. " Our fiord is deep ; perhaps 
 as deep as tliey say. I di^•ed as deep as a man 
 may, to come up with the breath in his body ; but 
 I could never find the bottom. Did I not tell you 
 that I should go down as far as Vogel island ; and 
 that I should there be safe ?" 
 
 " Yes ! You did— you did !" 
 
 *' Well ! I went to Vogel island ; and here I 
 am safe !" 
 
 '• It is you ! We are together again !" she ex- 
 claimed, now in full belief. '• Thank God ! Thank 
 God !" 
 
 As she M'ept upon his shoulder, he told her 
 where he had been, what perils he had met, how 
 he had been saved, and how he had arrived the 
 first moment he could ; and then he went on to de- 
 clare that their enemies would soon be disposed of, 
 that they would be married, that they would 
 take possession of Peder's house, and make him 
 comfortable, and would never be separated again as 
 long as they lived. 
 
 They did not heed the time, as they talked and 
 talked ; and Rolf was just telling how he had more 
 than once seen a double sun, without finding any 
 remarkable consequences follow, when Stiorna 
 came forth with her milk-pails, just before four 
 o' clock. She started and dropped one of her pails, 
 •when she saw who was sitting on the bench ; and 
 Erica started no less at the thought of how com- 
 pletely she had forgotten the cattle and the under- 
 ground people all this time. The herd was all 
 safe, however, — every cow as large as life, and 
 looking exactly like itself: so that the good for- 
 tune of this Midsummer Eve had been perfect
 
 ( 203 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE. 
 
 The appearance of Stiorna reminded the lovers 
 that it was time to begin the business of the morn- 
 ing. They startled Stiorna with the news that a 
 large company was coming to breakfast. Being in 
 no very amiable temper towards happy lovers, she 
 refused after a moment's thought to believe what 
 they said, and sat down sulking to her task of 
 milking. So Rolf proceeded to rouse Jan ; and 
 Erica stepped to Frolich's bedside, and waked her 
 with a kiss. 
 
 " Erica ! No, can it be ?" said the active girl, 
 up in a moment. " You look too happy to be 
 Erica." 
 
 " Erica never was so happy before, dear ; that 
 is the reason. You were right, Frolich, — bless 
 your kind heart for it ! Rolf was not dead. He 
 is here." 
 
 Frolich gallopaded round the room, like one 
 crazy, before proceeding to dress. 
 
 *' Whenever you like to stop," said Erica, 
 laughing, ^* I have some good news for you too." 
 
 " I am to go and see the bishop !" cried Frolich, 
 clapping her hands, and whirling round on one 
 foot like an opera-dancer. 
 
 '' Not so, Frolich." 
 
 " There now ! you promise me good news ; and 
 
 K 2
 
 204 MOUNTAIN FARE. 
 
 then you won't let me go and see the bishop, when 
 you know that is the only thing in the world I 
 want or wish for !" 
 
 " Would it not be a great compliment to you, 
 and save you a great deal of trouble, if the bishop 
 were to come here to see you ?" 
 
 " Ah ! that would be a pretty sight ! . The 
 bishop of Tronyem over the ankles in the sodden, 
 trodden pasture, — sticking in the mud of Sulitelma ! 
 The bishop of Tronyem sleeping upon hay in the 
 loft, and eating his dinner off a wooden platter ! 
 That would be the most wonderful sight that 
 Isordland ever saw." 
 
 ^' Prepare, then, to see the bishop of Tronyem 
 drink his morning coffee out of a wooden bowl. 
 Meantime, I must go and gi'ind his cofiee. — 
 Seriously, Frolich, you must make haste to dress 
 and help. The pirates want to carry off the bishop 
 for ransom. Erlingsen is raising the country. 
 Tlund is coming here as a prisoner ; and the bishop, 
 and my mistress, and Orga, to be safe ; and if you 
 do not help me, I shall have nothing ready ; for 
 Stiorna does not like the news." 
 
 Kever had Frolich dressed more quickly. She 
 thought it very hard that the bishop should see her 
 when she liad nothing but her dairy dress to wear ; 
 but she was ready all the sooner for this. Erica 
 consoled her with her belief that the bishop -vvas 
 the last person who could be supposed to make a 
 point of a silk gown for a mountain maiden. 
 
 A consultation about the arrangements was held 
 before the door by the four who were in a good 
 humour ; for Stiorna remained aloof. This, like 
 other mountain dwellings, was a mere sleeping and 
 eating shed, only calculated for a bare shelter, at
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE. 203 
 
 uight, at meals, and from occasional rain. There 
 was no apartment at the seater in which the bishop 
 could hold an audience, out of the way of the 
 cooking and other household transactions. It 
 could not be expected of him to sit on the bench 
 outside, or on the grass, like the people of the 
 establishment ; for, unaccustomed as he was to 
 spend his days in the open air, his eyes would be 
 blinded, and his face blistered, by the sun. The 
 young people cast their eyes on the pine-wood, as 
 the fittest summer parlour for him, if it could be 
 provided with seats. 
 
 Erica sprang forward, to prevent any one from 
 entering the wood till she should have seen what 
 state the place was in on this particular morning. 
 No trees had been felled, and no branches cut since 
 the night before ; and the axes remained where they 
 had been hung. The demon had not wanted them, it 
 seemed, and there -vvas no fear of intruding upon 
 him now. So the two young men set to work to 
 raise a semicircular range of turf seats in the 
 pleasantest part of the shady grove. The central 
 seat, which was raised above the rest, and had a 
 footstool, was well cushioned with dry and soft 
 moss ; and the rough bark was cut from the trunk 
 of the tree against which it was built ; so that the 
 stem served as a comfortable back to the chair 
 Rolf tried the seat when finished ; and as he leaned 
 back, feasting his eyes on the vast sunny landscape 
 which was to be seen between the trees of the grove, 
 he declared that it was infinitely better to sit here 
 than in the bishop's stall in Tronyem cathedral. 
 
 " Surely," said Erica, whom he had summoned 
 to see the work. ''When God plants a lofty 
 mountain, overlooking the glorious sea, with the
 
 206 MOUNT-4IX FARE. 
 
 heavens themselves for a roof, He makes a temple 
 with which no church built by men can compare. 
 I suppose men build cathedrals in cities because 
 they are not so happy as to have a mountain to 
 worship on." 
 
 " How I pity the countries that have no glori- 
 ous mountains !" cried Frolich ; " especially if few 
 of their people live in sight of the vast sea, or in 
 the heart of deep forests." 
 
 And, by one impulse, they all struck up the na- 
 tional air JFor Norge, — a tlianksgiving for their 
 home being planted in the midst of the northern seas. 
 
 All being done now for which a strong arm was 
 wanted, Rolf declared that he and Jan must be 
 gone to the farm. Not a man could be spared from 
 the shores of the fiord, till the affairs of the pirates 
 should be settled. Erica ought to have expected 
 to hear this ; but her cheek grew white as it was 
 told. She spoke no word of objection, however, 
 seeing plainly what her lover's duty was. 
 
 She turned towards the dairy when he was gone, 
 instead of indulging herself with watching him 
 down the mountain. She was busy skimming bowl 
 after bowl of rich milk, when Frolich ran in to say 
 that Stiorna had dressed herself, and put up her 
 bundle, and was setting forth homewards, to see, 
 as she said, the truth of things there ; — which meant, 
 of course, to learn Hund's condition and prospects. 
 It was now necessary to tell her that she would 
 presently see Hund brought up to the seater a pri- 
 soner ; and that the farm was no place for any but 
 fighting-men this day. To save her feelings and 
 temper, Erica asked her to watch the herd, leading 
 them to a point whence she could soonest see the 
 expected company mounting the uplands.
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE. 207 
 
 Frolich shook her head often and mournfully 
 over the breakfast. The skill and diligent hands 
 of two people could not, up in the clouds here, 
 cover the long table in a way which appeared at 
 all creditable to Nordland eyes. Do what they 
 would, it was only bread, cheese, butter, berries, 
 and cream ; and then berries and cream, butter, 
 cheese, and bread. They garnished with moss, 
 leaves, and flowers ; they disposed their few bowls 
 and platters to the best advantage, — taking some 
 from the dairy which could ill be spared. It 
 was still but a poor apology for a feast ; and Fro* 
 lich looked so ready to cry as to make Erica laugh. 
 
 Presently, however, there were voices heard 
 from the hill above. Some traveller who had met 
 the budstick had reported the proceedings below, 
 and the news had spread to a northern seater. 
 The men had gone down to the fiord ; and here 
 were the women with above a gallon of straw- 
 berries, fresh gathered, and a score of plovers' eggs. 
 — Next appeared a pony, coming westward over 
 the pasture, laden with panniers containing a tender 
 kid, a packet of spices, ajar of preserved cherries, 
 and a few of the present season, early ripe ; and a 
 stone bottle of ant-vinegar.* — Frolich's spirits rose 
 higher and higher, as more people came from be- 
 low, sent by Kolf on his way down. A deputation 
 of Lapps came from the tents, bringing reindeer 
 venison, and half of a fine gammel cheese. Before 
 Erica had had time to pour out a glass of corn- 
 brandy for each of this dwarfish party, in token of 
 
 * Ants abound in Norway, both in the forests and on the 
 mountains. Some, of a large kind, are boiled for the sake 
 of the (formic) acid tliey contain ; and the water when 
 strained is used for vinefrar.
 
 208 MOUNTAIN FARE. 
 
 thanks, and because it is considered unlucky (o 
 send away Lapps without a treat, other mountain 
 dwellers came with offerings of tydder, roer, ryper, 
 and jerper ;* so that the dresser was loaded M'ith 
 game enough to feed half a hundred hungry men. 
 
 Some of these willing neighbours stayed to help. 
 One went to pick more cloud-berries on the edge 
 of the nearest bog. Another rode off, on the pony, 
 to beg a supply of sugar from a house where it 
 was known to abound. Two or three more cleared 
 a space for a fire behind a thicket, and prepared to 
 broil the venison, and stew the kid, while others 
 sat down to pluck the game. The Lapps, as being 
 dirty and despised, were got rid of as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 Erica and Frolich returned to their breakfast- 
 table, to make the new arrangements now ne- 
 cessary, and place the fruit and spices. Erica 
 closely examined the piece of gammel cheese 
 brought by the Lapps, and then, with glowing 
 cheeks, called Frolich to her. 
 
 " What now ?" said Frolich. " Have you found 
 a way of telling fortunes with the hard cheese, as 
 some pretend to do with the soft curds ?" 
 
 *' Look here," said Erica. *' What stamp is 
 this ? The cheese has been scraped, — almost pared, 
 you see : but they have left one little corner. And 
 whose stamp is there ?" 
 
 " Ours," said Frolich, coolly. " This is the 
 cheese you laid out on the ridge last night." 
 
 " I believe it. I see it," exclaimed Erica. 
 
 * Tydder and roer are the cock and hen of the ^vild bird 
 called in Scotland the capercailzie. The ryper is the ptar- 
 migan. The jerper is of the grouse species. — (Lloyd's Field 
 Sports of the North of Europe.)
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE. 209 
 
 " Now, dear Erica, do not let us have the old 
 story of your being frightened about what the 
 demon will say and do. Nobody but you will be 
 surprised that the Lapps help themselves with good 
 things that lie strewing the ground. You know I 
 gave you a hint, just twelve hours since, of what 
 would become of this same cheese." 
 
 " You did," admitted Erica. To Frolich's de- 
 light and surprise, she appeared too busy, — or was 
 rather, perhaps, too happy, — to lament this mis- 
 chance, as she would formerly have done. Possibly 
 she comforted herself with thinking, that if the 
 demon had set its heart upon the cheese, it might 
 have been beforehand with the Lapps. She con- 
 tented herself with setting apart the dish till her 
 mistress should decide what ought to be done with 
 it. Just when a youth from the highest pasture 
 on Sulitelma had come running and panting, to 
 present Frolich >vith a handful of fringed pinks and 
 blue gentian, plucked from the very edge of the 
 glacier, so that their colours were reflected in the 
 ice, Stiorna appeared, in haste, to tell that a party 
 on horseback and on foot were winding out of the 
 ravine, and coming straight up over the pasture. — 
 All was now certainty ; and great was the bustle, 
 to put out of sight all unseemly tokens of prepa- 
 ration. In the midst of the hurry, Frolich found 
 time to twist some of her pretty flowers into her pretty 
 hair ; so that it might easily chance that the bishop 
 would not miss her silk gown. — When, however, 
 were unfashionable mothers known to forget the 
 interests of their daughters ? Madame Erlingsen 
 never did : and she now engaged one of the bishop's 
 followers to ride forward with a certain bundle 
 wliich Orga had carried on her lap. The man dis- 
 
 K 3
 
 210 MOUNTAIN FARE. 
 
 charged his errand so readily that, on the arrival 
 of the train, Frolich was seen so dressed, walking 
 *' in silk attire," as to appear to all eyes as the 
 daughter of the hostess. 
 
 The bishop's reputation preceded him, as is usual 
 in such cases. 
 
 " Where is he now ?'* *' How far off is he ?" 
 " Why does he not come ?" asked one and another 
 of the expectant people, of those who first appeared 
 before the seater. 
 
 " He is at the tents, speaking to the Lapps." 
 
 '• Speaking to the Lapps ! impossible ! What 
 Lapp would ever dream of being spoken to by a 
 bishop of Tronyem ?" 
 
 '' He is with them, however. When I left him, 
 he was just stooping to enter one of their tents." 
 
 " Kow you must be joking. The Lapps are 
 low people enough in the open pasture ; but in 
 their tents, — pah !" 
 
 He did not go in without a reason. There was 
 a sick child in the tent, who could not come out to 
 him. The mother wished him to see and pronounce 
 upon the charms she was employing for her child's 
 benefit, and he himself chose to be satisfied whether 
 any medical knowledge which he possessed could 
 avail to restore the sick. Nothing was more cer- 
 tain than that the bishop of Tronyem was in a 
 Lapland tent. The fact was confirmed by M. 
 Kollsen, wlio next appeared, musing as he rode, 
 with countenance of extreme gravity (to say the 
 least of it). He would fain have denied that his 
 bishop was smiling upon Lapps who wore charms ; 
 but he could not. He muttered that it was very 
 extraordinary. 
 
 " Quite as much so," whispered Erica to Frolich,
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE. 211 
 
 " as that the Holiest should be found in the house 
 of a publican." 
 
 " What is that?" inquired the vigilant M. Koll- 
 sen. " What was your remark ?" 
 
 Erica blushed deeply ; but Frolich readily de- 
 clared what it was that she had said ; and in return 
 M. Kollsen remarked on the evil of ignorant per- 
 sons applying Scripture according to their own 
 narrow notions. 
 
 " Two — four — eight horses," observed a herds- 
 man. " I think the neighbours should each take 
 one or two ; or here will soon be an end of Erling- 
 sen's new hay. This lot of pasture will never feed 
 eight horses, besides his own and the herd." 
 
 " Better than having them carried off by the 
 pirates," said a neighbour. ''But I will run 
 home and send a load of grass." 
 
 In such an amiable mood did the bishop find all 
 who were awaiting him at his place of refuge. On 
 their part, they were persuaded that he deserved 
 all their love, even if he had some low notions 
 about the Lapps. 
 
 As the bishop's horse, followed by those which 
 bore the ladies, reached the house door, all present 
 ciied, 
 
 "Welcome to the mountain!" " Welcome to 
 Sulitelma !" 
 
 The bishop observed that, often as he had wished 
 to look abroad from Sulitelma, and to see with his 
 own eyes what life at the seaters was like, he should 
 have grown old without the desire being gratified, 
 but for the design of the enemy upon him. It was 
 all he could do to go the rounds of his diocese, 
 from station to station below, without thinking oi 
 journeys of pleasure. Yet here he was on Sulitelma !
 
 212 MOUNTAIN FARE. 
 
 When he and M. Kollsen and the ladies had dis- 
 mounted, and were entering the house to breakfast, 
 the gazers found leisure to observe the hindmost of 
 the train of riders. It was Hund, with his feet 
 tied under his horse, and the bridle held by a man 
 on each side. He had seen and heard too much 
 of the preparations against the enemy to be allowed 
 to remain below, or at large anywhere, till the 
 attack should be over. He could not dismount till 
 some one untied his legs ; and no one would 
 do that till a safe place could be found, in which to 
 confine him. It M'as an awkward situation enough, 
 sitting there bound before every body's eyes ; and 
 not the less for Stiorna's leaning her head against 
 the horse, and crying at seeing him so treated : 
 and yet Hund had often been seen, on small occa- 
 sions, to look far more black and miserable. His 
 face now was almost cheerful. Stiorna praised this 
 as a sign of bravery ; but the truth was, the party 
 had been met by Rolf and Jan, going down the 
 mountain. It was no longer possible to take Rolf 
 for a ghost : and though Hund was as far as pos- 
 sible from understanding the matter, he was un- 
 speakably relieved to find that he had not the death 
 of his rival to answer for. It made his counte- 
 nance almost gay to think of this, even while stared 
 at by men, women, and children, as a prisoner. 
 
 " What is it ?" whimpered Stiorna, — " what are 
 you a prisoner for, Hund ?" 
 
 " Ask them that know," said Hund. " I thought 
 at first that it was on Rolf's account ; and now 
 that they see with their own eyes that Rolf is 
 safe, they best know what they have to bring against 
 me." 
 
 ''It is no secret," said Madame Erlingsen.
 
 MOUNTAIN FARE, 213 
 
 ^' Hund was seen with the pirates, acting with and 
 assisting- them, when they committed various acts 
 of thievery on the shores of the fiord. If the 
 pirates are taken, Hund will be tried with them for 
 robberies at Thore's, Kyril's, Tank's, and other 
 places along the shore, about which information has 
 been given by a witness." 
 
 " Thore's, Kyril's, and Tank's !" repeated Hund 
 to himself; " then there must be magic in the case. 
 I could have sworn that not an eye on earth wit- 
 nessed the doings there. If Rolf turns out to be 
 the witness, I shall be certain that he has the 
 powers of the region to help him." 
 
 So little is robbery to be dreaded at the seaters, 
 that there really was no place where Hund could 
 be fastened in ; — no lock upon any door ; — not a 
 window from which he might not escape. The 
 zealous neighbours therefore, whose interest it was 
 to detain him, offered to take it in turn to be beside 
 him, his right arm tied to the left of another man. 
 And thus it was settled. 
 
 After breakfast, notice was given that the party 
 who had travelled all night wished to repose for a 
 lew hours. All others therefore withdrew to 
 secure quiet, some within the pine-wood ; others to 
 the nearest breezy hill, to gossip and sport ; while 
 some few took the opportunity of going home, to 
 see after their cattle, or other domestic affairs, in- 
 tending to return in the afternoon.
 
 ( 214 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OLD TALES AXD BETTER TIDINGS. 
 
 Whex the bishop came forth in the afternoon to 
 take his seat in the shade of the wood, those who 
 were there assembled were singing For NorgL 
 Instead of permitting them to stop, on account of 
 liis arrival, he joined in the song ; and solely be- 
 cause his heart was in it. Seldom had he witnessed 
 such a scene as this : and as he looked around him, 
 and saw deep shades and sunny uplands, blue gla- 
 ciers above, green pastures and glittering waters 
 below ; and all around, herds on every hill-side, he 
 felt his love of old Norway, and his thankfulness 
 for being one of her sons, as warm as that of any 
 one of the singers in the wood. Out of the fulness 
 of his heart, the good bishop addressed his com- 
 panions on the goodness of God in creating such a 
 land, and placing them in it, with their happiness 
 so far in their own hands as that little worthy of 
 being called evil could befall them, except through 
 faults of their own. M. Kollsen, who had before 
 uttered his complaints of the superstition of his 
 flock, hoped that his bishoj) was now about to attack 
 the mischief vigorously. 
 
 The bishop, however, only took his seat, — the 
 mossy seat prepared for him, — and declared himself 
 to be now at the service of any who wished to con- 
 sult or converse with him. Instead of thrusting
 
 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 215 
 
 his own opinions and reproofs upon them, as it was 
 M. KoUsen's wont to do, he waited for the people 
 to open their minds to him in their own way ; and 
 by this means, whatever he found occasion to say 
 had double influence from coming naturally. The 
 words dropped by him that day to the anxious 
 mother awaiting the confirmation of her child, — to 
 the young person preparing for that important 
 event, — to the bereaved, — to the penitent, — to the 
 thoughtless, — and to those who wondered why God 
 had given them so many rich blessings, — what the 
 good bishop said to all these was so fit and so wel- 
 come, that not a word was forgotten through long 
 years after ; and he was quoted half a century after 
 he had been in his grave, as old Ulla had quoted 
 the good bishop of Tronyem of her day. 
 
 In a few hours, many of the people were gone 
 for the present, — some being wanted at home, and 
 others for the expected affair on the fiord. The 
 bishop and M. Kollsen had thought themselves 
 alone in their shady retreat when they saw Erica 
 lingering near among the trees. With a kind 
 smile, the bishop beckoned to her, and bade her sit 
 down, and tell him whether he had not been right 
 in promising, a while ago, that God would soothe 
 her sorrows with time, as is the plan of his kind 
 providence. He remembered well the story of the 
 death of her mother. Erica replied that not only 
 had her grief been soothed, but that she was now 
 so blessed that her heart was burdened with its 
 gratitude. She wished, — she needed to pour out 
 all that she felt ; but M. Kollsen was there ; and 
 she could not speak quite freely before him. He, 
 for his part, observed that, if she was now so happy, 
 she must have given up some of her superstitions ; 
 for certainly he had never known any one less
 
 216 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 
 
 likely to enjoy peace than Erica, on all occasions 
 on which he had seen her, — so great was her dread 
 of evil spirits on every hand. 
 
 '• I wish," said Erica, with a sigh, — " I do wish 
 I knew what to think about Kipen." 
 
 ^' Ay ! here it comes," observed M. Kollsen, 
 folding his arms as if for an argument. 
 
 Encouraged by the bishop, Erica told the whole 
 story of the last few months, from the night of 
 Oddo's prank to that which found her at the feet 
 of her friend; — for she had cast herself down at 
 the bishop's feet, sitting as she had done in her 
 childhood, looking up in his face. 
 
 '• You want to know what I think of all this?" 
 said the bishop, when she had done. " I think that 
 you could hardly help believing as you have be- 
 lieved, amidst these strange circumstances, and with 
 your mind full of the common accounts of Nipen. 
 Yet I do not believe there is any such spirit as 
 JS^ipen, or any demon in the forest, or on the moun- 
 tain. Did you ever hear what spirits ever\" body 
 in this country believed in before the blessed gospel 
 was brought to old Norway ?" 
 
 '• I have heard of Thor,— that yonder islet was 
 named after ; and that, when there was a tempest, 
 with rolling thunder, such as we never hear in 
 this region,* the people used to say it was Thor 
 driving his chariot over the mountain-ridge." 
 
 '• That was what people said of the thunder. 
 "What they said of fire and frost was that they were 
 giants called Loke and Thrym, who dwelt in a 
 dreadful tempestuous place, at the end of the earth, 
 and came abroad to do awful things among men. 
 
 * Erica knew thunder only by report, as there is none so 
 far north as the part of Nordland where she lived. Thunder 
 ceases at 6G degrees of latitude.
 
 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 2l7 
 
 The giant Frost drove home his horses at night, — 
 the hail-cloucls that sped through the air ; and 
 there sat the giant on the frost winds, combing the 
 manes of his horses as they went. Fire was a cunning 
 demon that stole in where it was not wanted ; and 
 when once in, it devoured all that it chose, till it 
 rose into the sky at last in smoke. — Then there 
 was the giant ^gir, who brought in squalls from 
 the sea, and made whirlpools in the fiords." 
 
 " Why, that is like Nipen." 
 
 " Very like Nipen ; — perhaps the same. Then 
 there was the good god Balder (the white god), 
 who made everything bright and beautiful, and 
 ripened the fruits of the earth. This god Balder 
 was the sun. Then there were the three maQ;-ical 
 women, the Fates, who made men's lives happy or 
 miserable. Did you ever hear how these giants 
 and Fates were worshipped before Jehovah and 
 Christ were known in this land ?" 
 
 " I have heard Ulla sing many old songs about 
 these, and more ; and how Thor and two companions 
 as mighty as himself were travelling, and entered 
 a curious house for the night ; and wandered about 
 in the great house, being frightened at a strange 
 loud noise outside : and how they found in the 
 morning that this house was the mitten of a giant 
 infinitely greater than themselves ; and that what 
 they had taken for a separate chamber in the great 
 house was the thumb of his mitten ; and that the 
 strange noise was the snoring of this giant Skrymir, 
 who was asleep close by, after having pulled oflf his 
 mittens." 
 
 " That is one of the many tales belonging to the 
 old religion of this country. And how did this 
 old religion arise? — Why, the people saw grand 
 spectacles every day, and heard wonders which-
 
 218 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 
 
 ever way they turned ; and they supposed that the 
 whole universe was alive. The sun as it travelled 
 they thought was alive, and kind and good to men. 
 The tempest they thought was alive, and angry 
 with men. The fire and frost tliey thought were 
 alive, pleased to make sport with men." 
 
 " As people who ought to know better," ob- 
 served M. Kollsen, "• now think the wind is alive, 
 and call it !Nipen, or the mist of the lake and river, 
 which they call the sprite Uldra." 
 
 "It is true," said the bishop, " that we now 
 have better knowledge, and see that the earth, and 
 all that is in it, is made and moved by One Good 
 Spirit, who, instead of sporting with men, or being 
 angry with them, rules all things for their good. 
 But I am not surprised that some of the old stories 
 remain, and are believed in still, — and by good and 
 dutiful Christians too. The mother sings the old 
 songs over the cradle ; and the child hears tell of 
 sprites and demons before it hears of the good God 
 who ' sends forth the snow and rain, the hail and 
 vapour, and the stormy winds fulfilling his word.' 
 And when the cliild is grown to be a man or 
 woman, the northern lights shooting over the sky, 
 and the sighing of the winds in the pine-forest, 
 bring back those old songs and old thoughts about 
 demons and sprites ; and the stoutest man trembles. 
 I do not wonder ; nor do I blame any man or 
 woman for this ; though I wish they were as happy 
 as the weakest infant, or the most worn-out old man, 
 who has learned from the gentle Jesus to fear no- 
 thing at any time, because his Father was with him." 
 
 " But what is to be done ?" asked M. Kollsen. 
 
 " The time will come," said the bishop, '' when 
 the mother will sing to her babe of the gentle 
 Jesus ; and tell lier gi-o\\ ing child of how he loved
 
 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 219 
 
 to be alone with his Father in the waste and howl- 
 ing wilderness ; and bade his disciples not be afraid 
 when there was a tempest on the wide lake. Then, 
 when the child grows up to be a man, if he finds 
 himself alone on the mountain or in the forest, he 
 will think of Jesus, and fear no demon ; and if a 
 west wind and fog should overtake a woman in her 
 boat on the fiord," he continued, looking with a 
 smile at Erica, '' she will never think of Nipen, 
 but rather that she hears her Saviour saying, * Why 
 are ye afraid, O ye of little faith ?' " 
 
 Erica hid her face, ashamed under the good 
 man's smile. 
 
 " In our towns," continued he, " much of this 
 blessed change is already wrought. No one in my 
 city of Tronyem now fears the angry and cunning 
 fire-giant Loke ; but every citizen closes his eyes 
 in peace, when he hears the midnight cry of the 
 watch, 'Except the Lord keepeth the city, the 
 watchman waketh but in vain.'* In the wilds of 
 the country, every man's faith will hereafter be his 
 watchman, crj'ing out upon all that happens, ' It 
 is the Lord's hand : let him do what seemeth to him 
 good !' This might have been said, Erica, as it 
 appears to me, at every turn of your story, where 
 you and your friends were not in fault." 
 
 He went on to remark on the story she had told 
 him ; and she was really surprised to find that there 
 was not the slightest reason to suppose that any 
 spirit had been employed to vex and alarm her. 
 The fog and the pirates had overtaken and fright- 
 ened many in the fiord with whom Nipen had no 
 quarrel. Rolf's imprisonment, and all the sorrows 
 that belonged to it, had been owing to his own 
 imprudence. The appearance of a double sun the 
 * The watchman's call in the towns of Norway.
 
 220 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 
 
 night before was nothing uncommon, and was 
 known to take place when the atmosphere was in a 
 particular state. She herself had seen that no 
 wood-demon had touched the axes in this very 
 grove, last night ; and that it was no mountain 
 bprite, but a Laplander, who had taken up the first 
 gammel cheese. She had also witnessed hoM- ab- 
 surdly mistaken Hund had been about the boat 
 having been spirited away, and Yogel island being 
 enchanted, and Rolfs ghost being allowed to haunt 
 him. Here was a case before her very eyes of the 
 way in which people with superstitious minds may 
 misunderstand M-hat happens to themselves. 
 
 " O !" exclaimed Erica, dropping her hands 
 from before her glowing face, " if I dared but 
 think there were no bad spirits, — if I dared only 
 hope that everything that happens is done by God's 
 own hand, I could bear everything ! I would never 
 be afraid again !" 
 
 ^' It is what I believe," said the bishop. Laying 
 his hand on her head, he continued, 
 
 *' We know that the very hairs of your head are 
 all numbered. I see that you are weary of your 
 fears,— that you have long been heavy laden with 
 anxiety. It is you then that he invites to trust him 
 when he says by the lips of Jesus, ' Come ye that 
 are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' '* 
 
 *' Rest, — rest is what I have wanted," said Erica, 
 while her tears flowed gently; ''but Peder and 
 Ulla did not believe as you do, and could riot ex- 
 plain things ; and " 
 
 " You should have asked me," said M. Kollsen ; 
 *' I could have explained everything." 
 
 " Perhaps so, sir : but — but, M. Kollsen, you 
 always seemed angry ; and you said you despised 
 us for believing anything that you did not : and it
 
 OLD TALES AND BETTER TIDINGS. 22l 
 
 is the most difficult thing in the world to ask ques- 
 tions which one knows will be despised." 
 
 M. Kollsen glanced in the bishop's face, to see 
 how he took this, and how lie meant to support the 
 pastor's authority. The bishop looked sad, and said 
 nothing. 
 
 " And then," continued Erica, ^' there were 
 others who laughed : — even Rolf himself laughed : 
 and what one fears becomes only the more terrible 
 when it is laughed at." 
 
 " Very true," said the bishop. " When Jesus sat 
 on the well in Samaria, and taught how the true 
 worship was come, he neither frowned on the 
 woman who inquired, nor despised her, nor made 
 light of htr superstition about a sacred mountain." 
 
 There was a long silence, which v,ajs broken at last 
 by Erica asking the bishop whether he could not 
 console poor Hund, who wanted comfort more than 
 she had ever done. The bishop replied that the 
 demons who most tormented poor Hund were not 
 abroad on the earth or in the air, but within his 
 breast: — his remorse, his envy, his covetousness, 
 his fear. He meant, however, not to lose sight of 
 poor Hund, either in the prison to which he was to 
 travel to-morrow, or after he should come out of it. 
 
 Here Frolich appeared running to ask whether 
 those who were in the grove would not like to look 
 forth from the ridge, and see what good the bud- 
 stick had done, and how many parties were on their 
 way, from all quarters, to the farm. 
 
 M. Kollsen was glad to rise and escape from 
 what he thought a schooling ; and the bishop him- 
 self was as interested in what was going on as if 
 the farm had been his home. He was actually 
 the first at the rid^e.
 
 ( 222 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 
 
 This part of the mountain was a singularly 
 favourable situation for seeing what was doing on 
 the spot on which every one's attention was fixed 
 this day. While the people on the fiord could not 
 see what was going forward at Saltdalen, nor those 
 at Saltdalen what were the movements at the farm, 
 the watchers on the ridge could observe the pro- 
 ceedings at all the three points. The opportunity 
 was much improved by the bishop having a glass ; 
 — ^a glass of a quality so rare at that time, that 
 there would probably have been some talk of magic 
 and charms, if it had been seen in Olaf *s hands, 
 instead of the bishop*s. 
 
 By means of this glass, the bishop, M. Kollsen, 
 or Madame Erlingsen announced, from time to 
 time, what was doing, as the evening advanced ; — 
 how parties of two or three were leaving Saltdalen, 
 creeping towards the farm under cover of rising 
 grounds, rocks, and pine-woods ; how small com- 
 panies, well armed, were hidden in every place of 
 concealment near Erlingsen's ; and how there 
 seemed to be a great number of women about the 
 place. This was puzzling. Who these women 
 could be, and why they should choose to resort to 
 the farm when its female inhabitants had left it for 
 safety, it was difficult at first to imagine. But the
 
 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 223 
 
 truth soon occurred to Frolich. . . .No doubt some 
 one had remembered how strange and suspicious it 
 would appear to the pirates, who supposed the 
 bishop to be at the farm, that there should be no 
 women in the company assembled to meet him. 
 No doubt, these people in blue, white, and green 
 petticoats, who were striding about the yards, and 
 looking forth from the galleries, were men dressed 
 in their wives* clothes, or in such as Erlingsen 
 furnished from the family chests. This disguise 
 was as good as an ambush, while it also served to 
 give the place the festive appearance looked for by 
 the enemy. It was found afterwards that Oddo 
 had acted as lady's-maid, fitting the gowns to the 
 shortest men, and dressing up their heads, so as 
 best to hide the shaggy hair. Great numbers were 
 certainly assembled before night ; yet still a little 
 group might be seen now and then, winding down 
 from some recess of the wide-spreading mountain, 
 making circuits by the ravines and water-courses, 
 so as to avoid crossing the upland slopes, which 
 the pirates might be surveying by means of such 
 a glass as the bishop's. 
 
 The bishop was of opinion that scarcely a blow 
 would be struck, so great was the country force 
 compared with that of the pirates. He believed that 
 the enemy would be overpowered and disarmed, 
 almost without a struggle. Erica, who could not 
 but tremble with fear as well as expectation, 
 blessed his words in her heart : and so, in truth, 
 did every woman present. 
 
 No one thought of going to rest, though Madame 
 Erlingsen urged it upon those over whom she had 
 influence. Finding that Erica had sat up to watch 
 the cattle the night before, she compelled her to
 
 224 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 
 
 go and lie down : but no compulsion could make 
 her sleep ; and Orga and Frolich did the best they 
 could for her, by running to her with news of any 
 fresh appearance below. Just after midnight they 
 brought her word that the bishop had ordered every 
 one but M. Kollsen away from the ridge. The 
 schooner had peeped out from behind the promon- 
 tory, and was stealing up with a soft west wind. 
 
 " A west wind !" exclaimed Erica. " Any 
 fog?" 
 
 " No, not a flake of mist. Neither you nor any 
 one will say that Nipen is favourable to the enemy 
 to-night. Erica." | 
 
 *' You will hear me say less of Nipen hence- i 
 forward," said Erica. 
 
 " That is wise for to-night, at least. Here is 
 the west wind ; but only to waft the enemy into 
 our hands. But have you really left off believing 
 in Nipen, and the w hole race of sprites ?" 
 
 These words jarred on Erica's yet timid feelings. 
 She replied that she must take time for thought, as 
 she had much to think about : but the bishop had 
 to-day spoken words which slie believed would, 
 when well considered, lift a heavy load from her 
 heart. 
 
 The girls kindly left this impression undisturbed, 
 and went on to describe how the schooner was 
 working up, and why the bishop thought that the 
 people at the farm were aware of every inch of her 
 progress. 
 
 Erica sprang from the bed, and joined the group 
 who were sitting on the grass, awaiting the sunrise, 
 and eagerly listening for every word from their 
 watchman, the bishop. He told when he saw two 
 boats ftdl of men put off from the schooner, and
 
 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 225 
 
 creep towards Erlingsen's cove under the shadow 
 of the rocks. He told how the country -people im- 
 mediately gathered behind the barn and the house, 
 and every outbuilding ; and at length, when the 
 boats touched the shore, he said, 
 
 " Now come and look yourselves. They are too 
 busy now to be observing us." 
 
 Then how eyes were strained, and what silence 
 there was, broken only by an occasional exclama- 
 tion, as it became certain that the decisive moment 
 was come ! The glass passed rapidly from hand to 
 hand ; but it revealed little. There was smoke, 
 covering a struggling crowd : and such gazers as 
 had a husband, a father, or a lover there, could look 
 no longer. The bishop himself did not attempt to 
 comfort them, at a moment when he knew it would 
 be in vain. 
 
 In the midst of all this, some one observed two 
 boats appearing from behind the promontory, and 
 making directly and rapidly for the schooner ; and 
 presently there was a little smoke there too ; only a 
 puff or two ; and then all was quiet till she began 
 to hang out her sails, which had been taken in, and 
 to glide over the waters in the direction of a small 
 sandy beach, on which she ran straight up, till she 
 was evidently fast grounded. 
 
 " Excellent !" exclaimed M. Kollsen. '' How 
 admirably they are conducting the whole affair ! 
 The retreat of these fellows is completely cut off, — 
 their vessel taken, and driven ashore, while they 
 are busy elsewhere. 
 
 " That is Oddo's doings," observed Orga, quietly. 
 
 " Oddo's doings ! How do you know ? Are 
 you serious ? Can you see ? Or did you hear ?" 
 
 " I was by when Oddo told his plan to my
 
 226 THE WATCH OX THE HILX.. 
 
 father, and begg-ed to be allowed to take the 
 schooner. My lather laughed so that I thought 
 Oddo Mould be for going over to the enemy." 
 
 " No fear of that," said Erica. " Oddo has a 
 brave, faitliful heart." 
 
 " And." said his mistress, " a conscience and 
 temper which will keep him meek and patient till 
 he has atoned for mischief that he thinks he has 
 done." 
 
 *• I must see more of tliis boy," observed the 
 bishop. " Did your father grant his request ?" lie 
 inquired of Orga. 
 
 ** At last he did. Oddo said that a young boy 
 could do little good in the fight at the farm ; but 
 tliat he might lead a party to attack the schooner, 
 in the absence of almost all her crew. He said it 
 was no more than a boy might do, with half a 
 dozen lads to help him ; for he had reason to feel 
 sure that only just hands enough to manage her 
 would be left on board : and those the weakest 
 of the pirate-party. My father said there were 
 men to spare; and he put twelve, well armed, 
 under Oddo's orders." 
 
 '' AYIio M-ould submit to be under Oddo's com- 
 mand?" asked Frolich, laughing at the idea. 
 
 " Twice twelve, if he had wanted so many," 
 replied Orga. " Between the goodness of the joke 
 and their zeal, there were volunteers in plenty, 
 — mv father told me, as he was putting me on my 
 horse." 
 
 In a very few minutes, all signs of fighting were 
 over at the farm. But there was a fire. The barn 
 was seen to smoke and then to flame. It was plain 
 that the neighbours were at liberty to attend to the 
 fire, and had no fighting on their hands. They
 
 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 227 
 
 were seen to form a line from the burning barn to 
 the brink of the water, and to hand buckets 
 till the fire was out. The barn had been nearly 
 empty; and the fire did not spread farther; so 
 that Madame Erlingsen herself did not spend one 
 grudging thought on this small sacrifice, in return 
 for their deliverance from the enemy, who, she had 
 feared, would ransack her dwelling, and fire it over 
 her children's heads. She was satisfied and thank- 
 ful, if indeed the pirates were taken. 
 
 At the bishop's question about who ^^ ould go 
 down the mountain for news, each of Hund's guards 
 begged to be the man. The swiftest of foot was 
 chosen ; and off he went, — not without a barley- 
 cake and brandy-flask, — at a pace which promised 
 speedy tidings. 
 
 As Madame Erlingsen hoped in her heart, he 
 met a messenger despatched by her husband ; so 
 that all who had lain down to sleep, — all but her- 
 self, that is, — were greeted by good news as they 
 appeared at the breakfast-table. The pirates were 
 all taken, and on their way, bound, to Saltdalen, 
 tliere to be examined by the magistrate, and, no 
 doubt, thence transferred to the jail at Tronyem. 
 Hund was to follow immediately, either to take 
 his trial with them, or to appear as evidence against 
 them. 
 
 One of the pirates was wounded, and two of the 
 country people ; but not a life was lost ; and Er- 
 lingsen, Rolf, Peder, and Oddo ^vere all safe and 
 unhurt. 
 
 Oddo was superintending the unlading of the 
 sciiooner, and was appointed by the magistrate, at 
 his master's desire, head-guard of tlie property, as 
 it lay on the beach, till the necessary evidence of 
 
 L 2
 
 228 THE WATCH ON THE HILL. 
 
 its having been stolen by the pirates was taken, and 
 the owners could be permitted to identify and 
 resume their property. Oddo was certainly the 
 greatest man concerned in the affair, after Erling- 
 sen. And like a really great man, Oddo's head 
 was not turned ^\dth his importance, but intent on 
 the perfect discharge of his office. When it was 
 finished, and he returned to his home, he found he 
 cared more for the pressure of his grandfather's 
 hand upon his head, as the old man blessed his 
 boy, than for all the praises of the whole country 
 round.
 
 ( 229 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TO CHURCH. 
 
 An idea occurred to everybody but one, within the- 
 next few hours, which occasioned some consultation^ 
 Everybody but Erica felt and said that it would 
 be a great honour and privilege, but one not un- 
 deserved by the district, for the bishop of Tron- 
 yem to marry Rolf and Erica before he left Nord- 
 land. The bishop wished to make some acknow- 
 ledgment for the zealous protection and hospitality 
 which had been afforded him ; and he soon found 
 that no act would be so generally acceptable as his 
 blessing the union of these young people. He 
 spoke to Madame Erlingsen about it : and her only 
 doubt was whether it was not too soon after the 
 burial of old Ulla. If Peder, however, should not 
 object on this ground, no one else had a right to 
 do so. 
 
 So far from objecting, Peder shed tears of plea- 
 sure at the thought. He was sure Ulla would be 
 delighted, if she knew ;: — would feel it an honour 
 to herself that her place should be filled by one 
 whose marriage- crown should be blessed by the 
 bishop himself. Erica was startled, and had several 
 good reasons to give why there should be no hurry : 
 but she was brought round to see that Rolf could 
 go to Tronyem,. to give his evidence against the 
 pirates, even better after his marriage than before,
 
 230 TO CHURCH. 
 
 because he would leave Peder in a condition of 
 greater comfort : and she even smiled to herself as 
 she thouglit how rapidly she mig-ht improve the 
 appearance of the Iiouse during his absence, so that 
 he sliould delio^ht in it on his return. When the 
 bishop assured her that she should not be hurried 
 into her marriage within two days, but that he 
 v.'ould appoint a day and hour when he should be 
 at the distant church, to confirm the young people 
 resident lower down the fiord, she gratefully con- 
 sented, wondering at the interest so high and 
 revered a man seemed to feel in her lot. When it 
 was once settled that the wedding was to be next 
 week, she gave hearty aid to the preparations, as 
 freely and openly as if she was not herself to be the 
 bride. 
 
 The bishop embarked immediately on descending 
 the mountain. His considerate eye saw, at a glance, 
 that there was necessarily much confusion at the 
 farm, and that his further presence would be an 
 inconvenience. So he bade his host and the neigh- 
 bours farewell for a short time, desiring them not 
 to fail to meet him again at the church, on his 
 summons. 
 
 The kindness of the neighbours did not cease 
 when danger from the enemy was over. Some 
 oftered boats for the wedding procession ; several 
 sent gilt paper to adorn the bridal crown which 
 Orga and Frolich were making ; and some yielded 
 a more important assistance still. They put trusty 
 persons into the seater, and over the herd, for two 
 days ; so that all Erlingsen's household might be 
 at the wedding. Stiorna preferred making butter, 
 and gazing southwards, to attending the wedding 
 of Hand's rival j but every one else was glad to
 
 TO CHURCH. 231 
 
 go. Nobody would have thought of urging Peder's 
 presence; but he chose to do his part — (a part 
 which no one could discharge so well), — singing 
 bridal songs in the leading boat. 
 
 The summons arrived quite as soon as it could 
 have been looked for ; and the next day there was 
 as pretty a boat-procession on the still waters of 
 the fiord as had ever before glided over its surface. 
 Within the memory of man, no bride had been 
 prettier, — no crown more glittering, — no bride- 
 groom more happy ; — no chanting was ever more 
 soothing than old Peder's, — no clarionet better 
 played than Oddo's, — no bridesmaids more gay and 
 kindly than Orga and Frolich. The neighbours 
 were hearty in their cheers as the boats put off; 
 and the cheers were repeated from every settlement 
 in the coves and on the heights of the fiord, and 
 were again taken up by the echoes, till the summer 
 air seemed to be full of gladness. The birds of 
 the islands, and the leaping fish, might perhaps 
 wonder as the train of bowery boats floated down ; 
 — for every boat was dressed with green boughs 
 and garlands of flowers ;— but the matter was un- 
 derstood and rejoiced in by all others. 
 
 To conclude, the bishop was punctual, and kindly 
 in his welcome of Erica to the altar. He was also 
 graciously pleased with Rolf's explanation that he 
 had not ventured to bring a gift for so great a 
 dignitary ; but that he hoped the bishop would 
 approve of his giving his humble offering to the 
 church instead. The six sides of the new pulpit 
 were nearly finished now ; and Rolf desired to take 
 upon himself the carving of the basement, as his 
 marriage-fee. As the bishop smiled approbation, 
 M. Kollsen bowed acquiescence ; and Rolf found
 
 232 TO CHURCH. 
 
 himself in prospect of indoor work for some time 
 to come. 
 
 Erica carried home in her heart, and kept there 
 for ever, certain words of the bishop's address, 
 wldch he uttered M'ith his eye kindly fixed upon 
 hers. " Go, and abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty. So shall you not be afraid for the 
 terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, 
 nor for the pestilence that Malketh in darkness; 
 nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 
 When you shall have made the Lord your habita- 
 tion, you shall not fear that evil may befall you, 
 or that any plague shall come nigh your dwelling. 
 Go : and peace be on your house !" 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London : Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.
 
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