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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Feats on the Fiord
+
+Author: Harriet Martineau
+
+Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
+
+Release Date: May 13, 2011 [EBook #35892]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FEATS ON THE FIORD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the
+can of ale.]
+
+
+
+
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+
+
+BY
+
+HARRIET MARTINEAU
+
+
+
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BY ARTHUR RACKHAM
+
+
+
+LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
+
+NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+
+
+1914
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Miss Martineau's Norwegian romance won its way long since into the
+hearts of children in this country.  The unhackneyed setting to the
+incidents of the tale distinguish it from thousands of more ordinary
+children's stories; nor is there any other tale so well-known having
+its scenes laid in the land of the fiords.  It is quite safe to add
+that perhaps no other author has felt so strongly and communicated so
+convincingly the mystic charm of these northern lagoons with their
+still depths and reflections, their inaccessible walls of rock and
+their teeming wild-fowl life.
+
+This mystic charm is deepened in the book by the thread of popular
+superstition which runs throughout the episodes and, in fact, gives
+rise to them.  Miss Martineau's _dénouements_ were calculated to
+shatter the follies of belief in Nipen and other supernatural agents;
+but her own crusading traffic in them rather endears them to the
+imagination of the reader and certainly supplies a fascination which
+the most sceptical of young readers would be sorry to miss.
+
+The author also brings home to the youthful mind the wonder of the
+physiographical peculiarities of northern latitudes.  The book opens
+with the long nights and ends with the long days.  The midnight sun and
+the northern lights play their parts, whilst the beautiful simplicity
+of farm-life in the Arctic circle is unfolded with authoritative
+interest.
+
+As for the hero, young Oddo, he is a prince among dauntless boys, yet
+he never oversteps the bounds of true boyishness.  He would be a hero
+anywhere; but as a leading character in this romance, combined with all
+the charm of natural effect in which he moves, he makes _Feats on the
+Fiord_ a book to be classed among the few best of its kind.
+
+F. C. TILNEY.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can
+  of ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+In the porch she found Oddo
+
+And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner
+
+He sometimes hammered at his skiff
+
+No other than the Mountain-Demon
+
+At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder
+  made of birch-poles
+
+In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself
+  upon the pirate
+
+It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the
+  bridle held by a man on each side
+
+
+
+
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+
+
+
+Every one who has looked at the map of Norway must have been struck
+with the singular character of its coast.  On the map it looks so
+jagged; a strange mixture of land and sea.  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 together, they 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 summer, they glitter with golden sunshine; and
+purple and green shadows from the mountain and forest lie on them; and
+these may be more lovely than the faint light of the winter noons of
+those latitudes, 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 glorious 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 fisherman, as he unmoors his
+boat for his evening task, feels as if he were about to shoot forth his
+vessel into another heaven, and to cleave his way among the stars.
+
+Still as everything 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
+cataracts 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 clouds 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 themselves seem
+to be asleep, there is occasionally a sweet music heard, too soft for
+even the listening ear to catch by day.  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.  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 habitation, 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, 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 who had fixed his abode within the Arctic circle,
+in Nordland, 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.  The occasion, on the particular January day
+mentioned above, was the betrothment of one of the house-maidens to a
+young farm servant of the establishment.  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 become engaged, and another
+when they are married.
+
+As Madame Erlingsen had two daughters growing up, and they were no less
+active than the girls of a Norwegian household usually are, she had
+occasion 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 her 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 conduct or temper towards the family.  But
+she had sustained a shock which hurt her spirits, and increased 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 very
+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 surprising that she should have
+reached.  Erica never believed that she did reach this spot of her own
+accord.  Having had some fears before of the Wood-Demon having been
+offended by one of the family, Erica regarded this accident as a token
+of his vengeance.  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 mistress, 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 that she doubted whether there was a
+Wood-Demon, or that she was not afraid of what he would do if offended.
+
+Erlingsen and his wife always treated her superstition as a weakness;
+and when she was not present, 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 districts 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 Mountain-Demon, familiar to all who lived so near Sulitelma;
+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 parents hoped that this
+taste of theirs might die away if once Erica, with her sad, serious
+face and subdued voice, were removed to a house of her own, where they
+would see her supported by her husband'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.
+
+For this marrying, however, the young people must wait.  There was no
+house, or houseman's place, vacant for them at present.  The old
+houseman Peder, who had served Erlingsen's father and Erlingsen himself
+for fifty-eight years, could now no longer do 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.  Houseman 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 houseman'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 marriage 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 endure travelling in
+a wind in Nordland on a January 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.  Erlingsen and some of his
+servants went out to the 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.
+
+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.  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 was a token
+that there was to be dancing; and indeed, 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.
+
+[Illustration: In the porch she found Oddo.]
+
+The whole company walked about the large room, sipping their strong
+coffee, and helping one another to the good things on the trays which
+were carried round.  When these trays disappeared, 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 down to talk, two or three together.  Others withdrew to
+a smaller room, where card-tables were sets out, while the younger men
+selected their partners.  The dance was led by the blushing Erica,
+whose master was her partner.  It had never occurred to her that she
+was not to take her usual place; and she was greatly embarrassed, not
+the less so that she knew that her mistress was immediately behind,
+with Rolf for her partner.  All the women in Norway dance well, being
+practised in it from their infancy.  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 his pipe in his mouth, looking on.  "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 frightened."
+
+"Did you say she looks frightened, sir?" asked Peder.
+
+"Yes.  When does she not?  Some ghost from the grave has scared her, I
+suppose.  It is her great fault 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."
+
+"Pray, sir, who plays the violin at this moment?" said Peder.
+
+"A fellow who looks as if he did not like this business.  He is
+frowning with his red brows, as if he would frown out the lights."
+
+"His red brows!  Oh, then it is Hund.  I was 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 heels 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."
+
+"How goes it, Rolf?" said his master, who, having done his duty in the
+dancing-room, was now making his way to the card-tables, in another
+apartment, to see how his guests there were entertained.  Thinking that
+Rolf looked very absent as he stood, in the pause of the dance, in
+silence by Erica's side, Erlingsen clapped him on the shoulder and
+said, "How goes it?  Make your friends merry."
+
+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 replied.  "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 to-day is, that is all.  Nobody that
+looked at you, love, would fancy it to be your own day.  You look
+anything but merry.  O Erica!  I wish you would trust me.  I could take
+care of you, and make you quite happy, if you would only believe it.
+Nothing in the universe shall touch you to your hurt, while----"
+
+"Oh, 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 Water-Sprite planning
+vengeance in its palace under the ice--and the Mountain-Demon laughing
+in scorn, till the echoes shouted again--and the Wood-Demon waiting
+only for summer to see how he could beguile the rash lover.
+
+Long was the supper, and hearty was the mirth round the table.  People
+in Norway have universally a hearty appetite--such an appetite as we
+English have no idea of.
+
+At last appeared the final dish of the long feast, the sweet cake, with
+which dinner and supper in Norway usually conclude.
+
+It is the custom in the country regions of Norway 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 the morning.  Everybody knew, therefore, why Rolf
+rose from his seat, though some were too far off to hear him say that
+he would carry 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 behind 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.  Erica eagerly put an 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 somebody else; for Oddo, though a good boy,
+was inquisitive, and apt to get into mischief by looking too closely
+into everything, having never a thought of fear.  Everybody knew this
+to be true; though Oddo himself declared that he was as frightened as
+anybody sometimes.  Moreover, he asked what there was to pry into, on
+the present occasion, in the middle of the night; and appealed to the
+company whether Nipen was not best pleased to be served by the youngest
+of a party.  This was allowed; and he was permitted to go, when Peder's
+consent was obtained.
+
+The place where Nipen liked to find his offerings was 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
+surface of the yard.  He looked more like a prowling cub then a boy,
+wrapped as he was in his wolf-skin coat, and his fox-skin cap doubled
+down over his ears.
+
+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 house tasted such, for Nipen would be offended if his cake was
+not richer than anybody's else.  He broke a piece off and ate it, and
+then wondered 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 was left.  He
+stood listening whether Nipen was coming in a gust of wind; and when he
+heard no breeze stirring, he looked about for a cloud where Nipen might
+be.  There was 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 thought Nipen would certainly be angry at finding so very
+small a piece of cake.  It might be better to let the ale stand by
+itself, and Nipen would perhaps suppose that Madame Erlingsen's stock
+of 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 upon 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 gallery, whence he could watch what would happen.  To
+remain on the very spot where Nipen 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, growing 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, unwilling 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 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 grasped 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
+Nipen 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 succession.
+
+"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 something 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 then I expected.  Grandfather told me that it
+sometimes came like an enormous elephant or hippopotamus, and never
+smaller than a large bear.  But this is no bigger then--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
+the ale good, Nipen?"
+
+Off went the dark creature without a word, as quick as it could go.
+
+"It is 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 is only a fox."
+
+He presently let himself down to the ground by the way 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, which it might well be, after
+being brought warm from the fireside.  It was so.  The vessel had sunk
+an inch into the snow, and was there fixed by the frost.
+
+None 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 would be entirely spoiled
+by the frost if it stood 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 Nipen was here now, he could not doubt; and, at length, Oddo fled.
+He 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 which had, for a moment, scared him.  He
+hushed his mirth, however, when he perceived that lights were wandering
+in the yard, and that there were voices approaching.  He saw that the
+household were 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, with which they
+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 followed; 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."
+
+"Never 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 saw, 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 heard 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 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 youth, the gayest dancer
+of the evening.
+
+"Oh, there is no doubt about that; any 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 the wind flies,
+without resting, or stopping to warm himself at any fire in the
+country."
+
+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
+perhaps as Nipen could do.  Come down, and bring my can, and the ale
+and the cake.  The more pranks you play the more you will repent it."
+
+Most of the company thought Erlingsen very bold to talk in this way;
+but he was presently justified by Oddo's appearance on the balustrade.
+His master seized him as he touched the ground, while the others stood
+aloof.
+
+"Where is my ale can?" said Erlingsen.
+
+"Here, sir;" and Oddo held it up dangling by the handle.
+
+"And the cake--I bade you bring it down 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 without speaking.  He could not
+have spoken without laughing.
+
+"Bring this gentleman home," said Erlingsen presently to Rolf; "and do
+not let him out of your hands.  Let no one ask him any questions till
+he is in the house."  Rolf 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 missing.  The old
+man made no such question, but hastened back with many expressions of
+thanksgiving.
+
+As the search-party crowded in among the women, and pushed all before
+them into the large warm 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.
+
+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
+different 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.
+
+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, snapping 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 follow 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 they 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 goodwill 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."
+
+"I hope," said Oddo, "that, if any mischief is to come, it will fall
+upon me.  We'll see how I shall bear it."
+
+
+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, standing, immediately on coming downstairs.  At the bottom
+of the room was a busy group.  Peder was twisting strips of leather,
+thin and narrow, into whips.  Rolf and Hund were silently intent upon a
+sort of work which the Norwegian peasant delights in--carving wood.
+They 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 remarkable for his skill in the art, as long as his sight
+lasted.
+
+The whole party rose when M. Kollsen entered the room.  He talked
+politics a little with his host, by the fireside; in the midst of which
+conversation Erlingsen managed to intimate that nothing would be heard
+of Nipen to-day, if the subject was let alone by themselves: a hint
+which the clergyman was willing to take, as he supposed it meant in
+deference to his views.
+
+Erica heard M. Kollsen inquiring of Peder about his old wife, so 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 was growing so late, and nobody had been over to see her.
+
+Ulla, however, was far from having any such thoughts.  There sat the
+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.
+
+"I thought you would come," said Ulla.  "I knew you would come, and
+take my blessing on your betrothment.  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 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."
+
+"There was news this morning," said Erica, "of a lodgment of logs at
+the top of the foss;[1] and they were all going, except Peder, to slide
+them down the gully to the fiord.  The gully is frozen so slippery,
+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."
+
+
+
+[1] Waterfall.  Pine-trunks felled in the forest are drawn over the
+frozen snow to the banks of a river, or to the top of a waterfall,
+whence they may be either slid down over the ice, or left to be carried
+down by the floods, at the melting of the snows in the spring.
+
+
+
+"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.  "How did Hund conduct himself yesterday?  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?"  There
+was a knock, and before Erica could reach the door, Frolich burst in.
+
+"Such news!" she cried--"You never heard such news."
+
+"Good or bad?" inquired Ulla.
+
+"Oh, bad--very bad," declared Frolich; "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 farmhouse seen burning on Alten fiord
+last week, and as the family are all gone and nothing but ruins left,
+there is little doubt the pirates lit the torch that did it.  And the
+cod has been carried off from the beach in the few places where any has
+been caught yet."
+
+"They have not found out our fiord yet?" inquired Ulla.
+
+"Oh dear!  I hope not.  But they may, any day.  And father says the
+coast must be raised, from Hammerfest to Tronyem, and a watch set till
+this wicked vessel can be taken or driven away.  He was going to send a
+running message both ways, but there 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.  Somebody 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 with her two last year's
+cubs, and their traces have been found just above, near the foss.  Oddo
+has come running 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."
+
+Erica with a sigh rose to return to the house.  In the porch she found
+Oddo.
+
+Wooden dwellings resound so much as to be inconvenient for those who
+have secrets to tell.  In the porch of Peder's house Oddo had heard all
+that passed within.
+
+"Dear Erica," said he, "I want you to do a very 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 Nipen.  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 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 directions, while their master took a third, to rouse the
+farmers for the bear-hunt.  The hunters were all to arrive before night
+within 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 the bivouac of the country.  Each party was to shelter
+itself under a bank of snow, or in a pit dug out of it, an enormous
+fire blazing in the midst, and brandy and tobacco being plentifully
+distributed on such occasions.  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 might be prepared,
+and no waste made of the few hours of daylight which the season
+afforded.  As soon as it was light enough to see distinctly among the
+trees, or bushes, or holes 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 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.  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 Hund was not remarkable for giving up his own way.  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.  The women and Peder were left
+behind.
+
+They occupied themselves, to keep away anxious thoughts.  Old Peder
+sang to them, too.  Hour after hour they looked for Hund.  His news of
+his voyage, and the sending him after his master, would 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.  He 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 chose to be out fishing, instead of obeying
+orders.  The girls pronounced him 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
+obstinacy about this day's boating looked much as if he meant to learn
+more.
+
+"Danger in the fiord!" repeated Orga; "oh, 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."
+
+"Did not you see M. Kollsen in the boat with Hund?" Madame Erlingsen
+inquired of Oddo when he came in.
+
+"No, Hund was quite alone, pulling with all his might down the fiord.
+The tide was with him, so that he shot 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 then Rolf's is like master's."
+
+"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 followed on from point to point, catching a
+sight now and then, till I had gone a good stretch beyond Salten
+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 fish.  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."
+
+[Illustration: And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner.]
+
+"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 white snow,
+higher and higher, till it was a speck, and I could not make it out."
+
+"What do you think of this story, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+
+"I think Hund has taken the short cut over the promontory, on business
+of his own at the islands.  He is not on any business of yours, depend
+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 your idea, Erica," said her mistress.  "I saw what your
+thoughts were an hour ago, before we knew all this."
+
+"I was 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," cried Oddo eagerly.  "Send me
+anywhere.  Do think of something that I can do."
+
+"What must be done, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+
+"There is quite enough to fear, Erica, without a word of Nipen.
+Pirates on the coast, and one farmhouse 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 the
+boat--immediately--this very minute.  That will give us time, it will
+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 windings of the fiord in their own vessel to-night;
+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 swim?"
+
+"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?" inquired Madame 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 before 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 that fiord that can tell whether she is man or
+woman."
+
+Ulla lent her deer-skin pelisse willingly enough; but she entreated
+that Oddo might be kept at home.  She folded her arms 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 minutes he and his companion
+looked like two walking 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 shortest expedition without carrying
+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
+shore without being perceived from the house.  Madame Erlingsen gave
+them her blessing, saying that if the enterprise saved them from
+nothing worse than Hund's company 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.
+
+
+Erica now profited by her lover's industry 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
+twinkling below almost as clearly and steadily as overhead.  As Erica
+and Oddo put their little raft off from the shore, and then waited with
+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 forth, 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 path of the raft, and subsided into perfect
+stillness.
+
+The tide favoured Erica's object.  A few 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 great 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 Erica proposed again and again that they should proceed on the
+raft.  Oddo was unwilling.  The skiff would go so incomparably faster,
+that it was worth spending some time upon it; and the fears he had had
+of its leaking 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 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
+flapping 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 management of their dangerous
+craft, that they had not spoken since they left the islet.  The skiff
+would have been unmanageable by any maiden and boy in our country; 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.
+
+"Are you sure you know the cove?" asked Erica.
+
+"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, observing that
+there was no fatigue at present; and that 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 something, her start was felt like a start of the
+skiff itself.  There was a fire glancing and gleaming and quivering
+over the water, some way 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 whether you can be silent in the sight of
+night-fishing."
+
+"To be sure," said Oddo, disposed to be angry, 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 was so.  As the skiff rounded the point of the promontory, Oddo
+pointed out what appeared like a mere dark chasm in the high
+perpendicular wall of rock that bounded the waters.  This chasm still
+looked so narrow on approaching it, that Erica hesitated to push her
+skiff into it, till certain that there was no one there.  Oddo was so
+clear that she might safely do this, so noiseless was their rowing, and
+it was so plain that there was no footing on the rocks by which he
+might enter to explore, that in a sort of desperation, and seeing
+nothing else to be done, Erica agreed.  She wished it had been summer,
+when either of them might have learned what they wanted by swimming.
+This was now out of the question; and stealthily therefore 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 contained might be seen, the outline of
+the boat among other things.  There she lay!  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, however, to push out on the first movement of the
+boat to leave the cove; for, though the canoe might remain unnoticed 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 themselves 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 time in a January night in Norway.  In the calmest nights the
+cold 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 discover 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 too much awake to be made prisoners of at present.  One
+was seen to drink from a flask, and the hoarse voice of another was
+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.  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 consultation, the words of
+which could not be heard, 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 moment.  They are only gone to
+hasten their companions."
+
+"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 starlight.  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
+companions 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 pathway.  "In with you!  We have lost time
+enough already."
+
+"Where is she?  I can't see the boat," answered the foremost man.
+
+"You can't miss her," said one behind, "unless the brandy has got into
+your eyes."
+
+"So I should have said; but I do miss her."
+
+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-sprite.  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.  He 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 suppose that the 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 fragment of the cut thong in proof of the boat
+not having loosed itself, and set off for a point on the heights which
+he said overlooked the fiord.  One or two went with him, the rest
+returning up the 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 he 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 unsuitable 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 sight over the ridge.
+
+"Now for it, before 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
+grandfather and Ulla, that we do not forget what you have done this
+night.  If Nipen will 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 carrying 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
+tobacco-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 home thus illumined now that the
+business was done.  She answered with so much alacrity to Oddo's
+question whether she was not very weary, that he ventured to say two
+things which had before been upon his tongue without his having the
+courage to utter them.
+
+"You will not be so afraid of Nipen any more," 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."
+
+"Oh, hush!  It is too soon yet to speak so.  It is never right to speak
+so.  Pray do not speak any more, Oddo."
+
+"Well, not about that.  But 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, because 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 anything we
+have.  No; I thought, and I still think, that they would have carried
+off Rolf, led on by Hund----"
+
+"Oh, 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.  "However, you have my secret, as
+you say, a thing which is no secret at home.  We all think that Hund
+bears such a grudge 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 get betrothed instead of
+him.  Well; Hund 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 encumbrance 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.
+
+"O Nippen!  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 the Arctic
+Circle are no trifling enemy.  If Nipen really had the charge of the
+winds, he could not more emphatically show 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 towards them over the water, like a solid
+and immeasurably lofty wall.  "The wind must have gone right round in a
+minute."
+
+"To be sure, since you said what you did of Nipen," 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 round so that they could not even see the
+water, or each other.  They had rowed mechanically, sometimes 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 they could not burn in the fog.  The old man
+lent a strong hand to pull up the boat upon the beach, and to lift out
+the benumbed rowers; and they 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, her
+mistress bent over her and whispered--
+
+"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 oh, madame, let him never know how it
+really was!"
+
+"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.
+
+
+Great was Stiorna's consternation at Hund's non-appearance the next
+day, seeing us she did with her own eyes that the boat was safe in its
+proper place.  She saw that no one wished him back.  He was rarely
+spoken of, and then it was with dislike or fear; and when she wept over
+the idea of his being drowned, or carried off 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.
+
+Erlingsen and Rolf came home sooner than might reasonably have been
+expected, and well laden with bears' flesh.  The whole family of bears
+had been found and shot.
+
+[Illustration: He sometimes hammered at his skiff.]
+
+Erlingsen kept a keen and constant look-out upon the fiord.  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.
+
+So came on and passed away the spring of this year at Erlingsen's farm.
+It soon passed, for spring in Nordland lasts only a month.  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.
+
+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 soon follow, and every one else
+was reconciled to one who had suffered so long going to her rest.
+
+One day Rolf led Erica to the grave when they knew that no one was
+there.
+
+"Now," he said, "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."
+
+"What uncertainties?  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!"
+
+Erica 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 Hund 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?"
+
+"I am not speaking of Nipen now--(not because 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 had become of you if
+you and Hund should meet there."
+
+"I will promise you not to go farther down, while alone, than Vogel
+islet, unless it is quite certain that Hund and the pirates are far
+enough off in another direction.  I partly think as you do, and as
+Erlingsen does, that they meant to come for me the night you carried
+off their boat; so I will 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 hand, 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 the hot sun.  "I shall think of you all while I am
+fishing," he went on.  "I shall fancy you making ready for the
+seater.[2]  How happy we shall be, Erica, when we once get to the
+seater!"
+
+
+
+[2] The mountain pasture belonging to a farm is called its seater.
+
+
+
+Erica sighed, and pressed her lover's hand as he held hers.
+
+
+Who was ever happier than Rolf, when abroad in his skiff, on one of the
+most glorious days of the year!  He found his angling 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.  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 brought Erica with him, so lovely was the scene.
+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 sunlight.  A pair of fishing eagles were
+perched on a high ledge of rock, screaming to the echoes.  On went
+Rolf, beyond the bounds of prudence, as many have done before him.  He
+soon found himself in a still and somewhat dreary region, where there
+was no motion but of the sea-birds, and of the air which appeared to
+quiver before the eye, from the evaporation caused by the heat of the
+sun.  Leisurely and softly did Rolf 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 awhile.  There lay Vogel islet looming in the heated
+atmosphere.  He was roused at length by a shout, and looked towards the
+point from which it came; and there, in a little harbour of the fiord,
+a recess which now actually lay behind him--between him and home--lay a
+vessel; and that vessel he knew, by a second glance, was the
+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 Hund; and he
+fancied he heard Hund'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 how
+their wake lengthened with every stroke!  No spectator from the shore
+(if there had been any) could have doubted that the boat was in pursuit
+of the skiff, and would snap it up presently.  Rolf 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.
+
+When very near the islet, however, he 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 reappearance 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 this, and prepared to do the same.  They
+rowed quite round the islet; but, to their amazement, they could not
+only perceive no place to land at, but there was no trace 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.
+Hund thought the case was accounted for, when he recalled Nipen's
+displeasure.
+
+The rowers wondered, 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 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 splash 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 down 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, hanging 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 was
+no light but a little which found its way 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
+enough 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 imagine how he was to get away; for his
+friends would certainly never think of coming to look for him here; but
+he put off the consideration of this point for the present, and turned
+away from the image of Erica's distress when he should fail to return.
+He amused himself now with imagining Hund's disappointment, and the
+reports which would arise from it; and he found this so very
+entertaining that he laughed aloud; and then the echo of his laughter
+sounded so very merry 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 was so great overhead, that any spectator
+might have been excused for believing that Vogel islet was indeed
+bewitched.
+
+
+Rolf 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 off 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 every steep along the fiord, that he doubted the
+safety of 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 him off; but, besides that the pirates were more likely to
+see him than anybody else, he believed 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, however, having heard Peder say that when he was young,
+there might be seen hanging down one part of the precipice the remains
+of a birchen ladder, which must have been made and placed there by
+human 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 would take the waters at their warmest, and try and try
+again to make a footing upon the islet.
+
+His cave was really a very pretty place.  The golden light which
+blesses the high and low places of the earth did not disdain to cheer
+and adorn even this humble chamber, which the waters had patiently
+scooped out of the hard rock.  As the sun drew to its setting, near the
+middle of the Nordland summer night, it levelled its golden rays
+through the cleft, and made the place far more brilliant than at noon.
+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.  Rolf
+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 that there was a great deal of driftwood
+accumulated; and some of it thrown into such distant corners as to
+prove that the waves could dash up to a much higher water-line, in
+stormy weather, than he had supposed.  No matter!  He hoped 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 light, 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 every sprout of it, and laid some of the drift-wood on
+a spot above high-water mark, picking out the driest pieces of firewood
+he could find for kindling a flame.
+
+When this was done, he made haste to heap up a bed of fine dry sand in
+a corner; and here he lay down as the twilight darkened.  For this one
+night he could rest without any very painful thoughts of poor Erica;
+for she was prepared for his remaining out till the middle of the next
+day, at least.
+
+When he awoke in the morning, the scene was marvellously changed.  His
+cave was so dim that he could scarcely distinguish its white floor from
+its rocky sides.  The water was low, and the cleft therefore enlarged;
+so that he saw at once that now was the time for making his fire--now
+when there was the freest access for the air.  Yet he could not help
+pausing to admire what he saw.  He could see now a long strip of the
+fiord--a perspective of waters and of shores, ending in a lofty peak
+still capped with snow, and glittering in the sunlight.  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
+with 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 well 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 the night.  He presently threw
+water over his burning brands, and hoped that nothing had been seen of
+the process of preparing his breakfast.
+
+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?"
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Hund.  "What became of the skiff, then?"
+
+"True," said the man; and, shaking his head, he passed on, and spoke to
+the master.
+
+In his own secret mind, the master of the schooner did not quite like
+his present situation.  After hearing the words dropped by his crew, he
+did not relish being stationed between the bewitched islet and the head
+of the fiord, where all the residents were, of course, enemies.  As
+there was now a light wind, enough to take his vessel down, he gave
+orders accordingly.
+
+Slowly, and at some distance, the schooner passed the islet, and all on
+board crowded together to see what they could see.  None saw anything
+remarkable; but all heard something.  There was a faint muffled sound
+of knocks--blows such as were never heard in a mere haunt of sea-birds.
+It was evident that the birds were disturbed by it.  They rose and
+fell, made short flights and came back again, fluttered, and sometimes
+screamed.  But if they were quiet for a minute, the knock, knock, was
+heard again, with great regularity, and every knock went to Hund's
+heart.
+
+The fact was that, after breakfast, Rolf soon became tired of having
+nothing to do.  The water was so very cold that he deferred till noon
+the attempt to swim round the islet.  He thought he 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 over a hole.  It was discouraging
+work enough; but it helped to pass the hours till the restless waters
+reached their highest mark in the cave, when he knew that it was noon,
+and time for his little expedition.
+
+It was too cold by far for safe swimming.  All the snows of Sulitelma
+could hardly have made the waters more chilly to the swimmer than they
+felt at the first plunge.  But Rolf would not retreat for this reason.
+He thought of the sunshine outside, 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.  When 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 in 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 which 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 down
+between him and them shook with the wind of their oars, and dipped into
+the waves.  He laughed silently when he heard one of them swear that he
+would not leave the spot till he had seen something, upon which another
+rebuked his 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 Rolf, "and then give
+him such an answer as may send a guilty man away quicker than he came."
+
+He waited till they were on the opposite side, so that his voice might
+appear to come from the summit of the islet, and then began with the
+melancholy 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 singular
+that Rolf and Oddo should have used the same sound; but they probably
+chose it as the most mournful they knew.  Rolf 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.
+
+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
+information against them, if ever he should again make his way to a
+town or village, and see the face of a magistrate.  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 heads of families remained in the farmhouses almost
+alone, and little likely to put out so far into the fiord as to pass
+near him.  To drive off thoughts of his poor distressed Erica, he
+sometimes 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 was certain he was seen.  Hund 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, with 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
+his knee and let his comrade take all the trouble of rowing home again.
+
+This vision decided Hund's proceedings.  Half-crazed with remorse, he
+left the pirates that night.  After long consideration where to go, he
+decided upon returning to Erlingsen's.  He did not know to what extent
+they suspected him; he was pretty sure that they held no proofs against
+him.  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.
+
+Hund performed his journey by night.  He did not for a moment think of
+going by the fiord.  Laboriously and diligently therefore he overcame
+the difficulties of the path, crossing ravines, wading through swamps,
+scaling rocks, leaping across water-courses, and only now and then
+throwing himself down on some tempting slope of grass, to wipe his
+brows, and to moisten his parched throat with the wild strawberries
+which were fast ripening in the sheltered nooks of the hills.  It was
+now so near midsummer, and the nights were so fast melting into the
+days, that Hund could at the latest scarcely see a star, though there
+was not a fleece of cloud in the whole circle of the heavens.  While
+yet the sun was sparkling on the fiord, and glittering on every
+farmhouse window that fronted the west, all around was as still as if
+the deepest darkness had settled down.  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.  There were a
+few extremely faint stars--a very few--for only the brightest could now
+show themselves in the sky where daylight lingered so as never quite to
+depart.  A pale green hue remained where the sun had disappeared, and a
+deep red glow was even now beginning to kindle where he was soon to
+rise.  But man must have rest, be the sun high or sunk beneath the
+horizon; so that Hund saw no face, and heard no human voice, before he
+found himself standing at the top of the steep rocky pathway which led
+down to Erlingsen's abode.
+
+He found everything in a different state from that in which he had left
+the place.  The stable-doors stood wide, and there was no trace of
+milk-pails.  The hurdles of the fold were piled upon one another in a
+corner of the yard.  It was plain that herd, flock, and dairy-women
+were gone to the mountain; and though Hund 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.
+
+His eye fell upon the boat which lay gently rocking with the receding
+tide in its tiny cove; and he resolved to lie down in it and rest,
+while considering what to do next.  He went down, stepping gently over
+the pebbles of the beach lest his tread should reach and waken any ear
+through the open windows, lay down at the bottom of the boat, and fell
+asleep.
+
+Oddo was the first to come forth, 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 hay 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 the premises during the night.
+He followed these marks to the boat, where he was amazed to find the
+enemy (as he called Hund) fast asleep.  Oddo was 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 which had 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.
+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 from rising.
+
+"Only tell me," Erica was heard to say, "only tell me where and how he
+died.  I know 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.
+Was it Nipen?  O Hund, speak!  Say only where his body is, and I will
+try--I will try never to speak to you again--never to----"
+
+[Illustration: No other than the Mountain-Demon.]
+
+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 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 try to make us answer for their
+doings.  The very 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 mistress.
+
+"I had landed the pastor some hours before, madame; and I took nobody
+else with 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 whip away the boat before
+you came back?  Are you quite sure that you sprawled on the rock at all
+before you ran away from the horrible cry you 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 with 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 knew 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, looking full in his face.
+
+"No," returned Hund firmly.  From his manner everybody believed this
+much.
+
+"Do you know that anybody else has killed him?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you know whether he is alive or dead?"
+
+To this Hund 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
+accusations, 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?  Oh, what?" cried Erica.
+
+"He was seen fishing on the fiord in that poor little worn-out skiff.
+I myself saw him.  And when I looked next for the skiff, it was gone."
+
+"And where were you?"
+
+"Never mind where I was.  I was about my own business.  And I tell you,
+I no more laid a finger on him than any one of you."
+
+"Where was it?"
+
+"Close by Vogel islet."
+
+Erica started, and in one moment's flush of hope told that Rolf had
+said he should be safe at any time near Vogel islet.  Hund caught at
+her words so eagerly as to make a favourable impression on all, who
+saw, what was indeed the truth, that he would have been glad to know
+that Rolf was alive.
+
+"I believe some of the things you have told.  I believe that you did
+not lay hands on Rolf."
+
+"Bless you!  Bless you for that!" interrupted Hund, almost forgetting
+how far he really was guilty.
+
+"Tell me then," proceeded Erica, "how you believe he really perished."
+
+"I believe," whispered Hund, "that the strong hand pulled him
+down--down to the bottom."
+
+"I knew it," said Erica, turning away.
+
+"Erica--one word," exclaimed Hund.  "I must stay here--I am very
+miserable, and I must stay here and work, and work till I get some
+comfort.  But you must tell me how you think of me--you must say that
+you do not hate me----"
+
+"I do hate you," said Erica with disgust, as her suspicions of his
+wanting to fill Rolf's place were renewed, "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 everything else that you 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."
+
+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 when
+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."
+
+"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 inaccessible to human foot, and
+that that was the reason why the fowl flourished there as they did in
+no other place.  Erica must not be permitted to go so far down among
+the haunts of the pirates.  Instead of this, her mistress had just
+decided that, as there were no present means of getting rid of Hund,
+and as Erica could not be expected to remain just now in his presence,
+she should set off immediately for the mountain, and request Erlingsen
+to come home.
+
+Under Peder's urgency she made up her bundle of clothes, took in her
+hand her lure,[3] with which to call home the cattle in the evenings,
+bade her mistress farewell privately, and stole away without Hund's
+knowledge.
+
+
+
+[3] The lure is a wooden trumpet, nearly five feet long, made of two
+hollow pieces of birch-wood, bound together throughout the whole length
+with slips of willow.  It is used to call the cattle together on a wide
+pasture.
+
+
+
+Wandering with unwilling steps farther and farther from the spot where
+she had last seen Rolf, Erica 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 dwelling she had left.  Thor islet lay like a
+fragment of the leafy forest cast into the blue waters, but Vogel islet
+could not be seen.  It was not too far down to be seen from an
+elevation like this, but it was hidden behind the promontories by which
+the fiord was contracted.  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
+inclination to be joined by a party of wandering Laplanders, still less
+by any neighbour from the fiord who might think civility required that
+he should escort her to the seater.  This wayfarer was walking at a
+pace so much faster than hers that he would soon pass, and she would
+hide among the rocks beside the tarn at the head of the ravine till he
+had gone by.
+
+Through the 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 surrounded them.
+
+In the shadow of one of these rocks, Erica sank down into the long
+grass.  Here she would remain long enough to let the other wayfarer
+have a good start up the mountain, and by that time she should be cool
+and tranquillised.  She hid her face in the fragrant grass, and did not
+look up again till the grief of her soul was stilled.  Then her eye and
+her heart were open to the beauty of the place which she had made her
+temple of worship, and she gazed around till she saw something that
+surprised her.
+
+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.
+
+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 haste and get
+it over.  The man approached and 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 wishing to be alone, she had not
+dreamed of being afraid till now; but now it occurred to her that she
+was seeing the rarest of sights--one not seen twice in a century, no
+other than the mountain-demon.
+
+She sprang to her feet, and began to wade back through the high grass
+to the pathway, almost expecting to be seized by a strong hand and cast
+into the unfathomable tarn, whose waters were said to well up 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
+countryman of hers.
+
+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 settlement 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 assistance 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 interest 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 stranger burst into a loud laugh at her question: and very like a
+mocking fiend he looked, as his thick beard parted to show his wide
+mouth, with its two ranges of teeth.  When he finished laughing, he
+said, "No, no--we no fear bishop."
+
+"'We!'" 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 was 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.
+
+Her companion seemed not to understand or attend to what she said.
+
+When Erica saw that she had no demon for a companion, but only a
+foreigner, she was so much relieved as not to be afraid at all.
+
+The stranger pointed 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 Hund now your friend?"
+
+"Hund is nobody's friend, unless he happens to be yours," Erica
+replied, perceiving at once that 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 curiosity as this.  She did
+not reply; and while silent, was not sorry to hear the distant sound of
+cattle-bells--and Erlingsen's cattle-bells too.  The stranger did not
+seem to notice the sound, even though quickening his pace to suit
+Erica's, who 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 satisfactory knowledge as
+to whether he was really dead.  Erica stopped, and her eager looks made
+the inquiry 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 conversation 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, and walked away rapidly.
+
+The only thing now to be done was to run forwards.  Erica forgot heat,
+weariness, and the safety of her 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 haycocks
+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 gathering berries,
+instead of having an eye on the cattle!"
+
+"But why are your hands empty?" asked Frolich.  "Who is to lend you
+clothes?  And what will the cows say to your leaving your lure behind,
+when you know they like it so much better than Stiorna's?"
+
+Erica returned for her bundle and lure; and then 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 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.  The
+far-off herdsman observed 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 threw herself down at Erica's feet.
+
+"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."
+
+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 anything."
+
+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 news.  "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 gather more
+berries, Frolich.  There are not half enough."
+
+
+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.  He 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, and set off at a
+good pace down the mountain.
+
+Scarcely a word was spoken (though the mountain-dairies have the
+reputation of being the merriest places in the world), 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 her
+ill-humour, while she might easily spoil the cheese, that Erica put
+away her knitting, tied on her apron, tucked up her sleeves, and
+prepared for the great work.
+
+"Frolich," said Erica, "is the cream good?"
+
+"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 flowers!  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, dolefully looking at the cream,
+which had reached such a point 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 away 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,
+patiently 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 Norway 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 might yet be done in time, even if
+Frolich should be sent for from home to see and be seen by the good
+bishop.
+
+
+The day after Erica's departure to the dairy, Peder was sitting alone
+in his house weaving a frail basket.  He sighed to think how empty and
+silent the house appeared.  Erica's light, active step was gone.
+Rolf's hearty laugh was silent, perhaps for ever.  Oddo was an inmate
+still, but Oddo was much altered of late; and who could wonder?
+
+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 through a ballad of a hundred 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 voice, which sank to a
+whisper as he said, "I have left Hund laying the troughs to water the
+meadow;[4] 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."
+
+
+
+[4] The strips of meadow which lie between high rocks in Norway would
+be parched by the reflection of the long summer sunshine, and
+unproductive, if the inhabitants did not use great industry in the
+irrigation of their lands.  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.
+
+
+
+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 crazy with
+horror soon.  I am not sure that he is not crazy now."
+
+"He has murdered Rolf, has he?"
+
+"I can't be sure.  He is like one bewitched, that cannot hold his
+tongue.  While 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 within 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 brow (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--two days
+after they were drowned."
+
+"Ay!  Indeed!  Did he ask that?"
+
+"Yes, and several other things.  He asked whether 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 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 was 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 picking 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 nothing about the bishop's visits."
+
+[Illustration: At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder
+made of birch-poles.]
+
+"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 could hear that the bishop was drawing near."
+
+"He would not agree to that, I fancy."
+
+"He asked how far out I thought of going.  Of course I said to Vogel
+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 off.  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?"
+
+"Not 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?"
+
+"Not a bit of it.  Depend upon it, Rolf is all alive, if he is swimming
+and staring, and throwing his arms about in the water.  I think I see
+him now.  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 Vogel islet, dropping something about being safe
+there from pirates and everything?"
+
+Peder really thought there was something in this.  He sent off 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 necessity 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 whether 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, carrying a note from Madame Erlingsen to her
+neighbours 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 obliging; so that the boat was soon in fast career down
+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 common 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 the boat,
+but that it was impossible to make them row beyond a certain point.  He
+had used as much discretion as Peder himself about not revealing the
+precise place of their destination; and when Vogel 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 his
+resolution they shipped their oars, and refused to strike another
+stroke, unless one of them might steer.  That island had a bad
+reputation, it was betwitched or haunted; and in that direction the men
+would not go.  They were willing to do all they could to oblige; they
+would row twenty miles without resting with pleasure; but they would
+not brave Nipen, nor any other demon, for any consideration.
+
+"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 again."
+
+"I will leave you my supper, if you will wait for us here, on this
+headland," said Oddo to the man.
+
+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
+supper on any account--would remain on the watch--wished their friends
+would be persuaded; and, when they found all persuasion in vain,
+declared they would bear testimony to Erica, and as long as they should
+live, to the bravery of the old 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 observe anything strange, tell me exactly what you see."
+
+"I will, 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."
+
+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 climbed; and if I mount, Rolf may have mounted before
+me."
+
+It chilled Peder's heart to remember the 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 getting 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 Rolf 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 Rolf asleep
+in his solitude, and the fun of standing over him to waken him, and
+witness his surprise.  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 with
+his eye any ledge of the rock on which he might mount.  Pulling off his
+shoes that his bare feet might have the better hold, and stripping off
+almost all his clothes, for lightness in climbing and perhaps swimming,
+he clambered up to more than one promising spot, and then, finding that
+further progress was impossible, had to come down again.  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 downwards, having its roots firmly fixed in
+a crevice of the rock.  This gave him hold of another, which brought
+him in reach of a third, so that, making his way like a squirrel or a
+monkey, he found himself hanging at such a height that 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 depending upon the safety of his
+companion, animated 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 remains 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 that 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 ladder, 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 he was used to
+dangerous climbing--that he had had adventures on the slippery, 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
+projection of the rock, or any root of the smallest shrub.  More than
+one pole cracked, more than one fastening gave way, when 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.  Never 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 whistled 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 was to get down again.
+
+Never had he seen a place so full of water-birds and their nests.
+Their nests strewed all the ground, and they themselves were 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 leading their broods
+allowed 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 that 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 that he had learnt 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 continued, 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 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 what demon carried you to
+the top of that rock, that no man ever climbed?"
+
+Oddo looked mysterious, suddenly resolving to keep his secret for the
+present.
+
+"Not 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.  His grandfather must be growing anxious, and he
+was not perfectly sure yet whether his guide might not be Nipen in
+Rolf'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 extremely 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 with 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 amazement of Peder
+and Oddo at Rolf's 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.
+
+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 with the oars of the poor broken
+skiff, being obliged to leave the skiff itself behind.  Rolf did not
+forget to bring away whole handfuls of beautiful shells, which he had
+amused himself with collecting for Erica.
+
+At last they entered the boat again; and while they were dressing, Oddo
+charmed his grandfather with a description of the cave--of the dark,
+sounding walls, the lofty roof, and the green tide breaking on the
+white sands.  It almost made the 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.
+
+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 anybody.  I did not know it fully myself till now."
+
+"Right, my boy; and right to say it out too."
+
+"I don't care now who knows how miserable I have been.  I did not
+believe, all the time, that Nipen 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 provoke 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 that 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 that 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."
+
+The comrades who were waiting and watching on 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 answered some fully and truly,
+while he showed reserve 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 sight at which one
+of the rowers was to be landed.  Oddo then exclaimed--
+
+"I wonder what we all have 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 to
+say nothing yet.  You have proved your kindness, friends, in coming on
+this expedition, but for which I should have died in my hole, like a
+superannuated bear in its den.  This is a story that the whole country
+will hear of; and our grandchildren will tell it, on winter nights,
+when there is talk of the war that brought the pirates on our coasts.
+The best way will be for you to set me ashore some way short 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 will 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 her it is only you."
+
+"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 wisest 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 show yourself to your betrothed in such a trim as
+that she will be glad to see you."
+
+"Do so, Rolf," urged Peder.  Everybody 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 roadside, dying of
+his exertions to reach her.  Rolf tried to laugh at all this; but he
+could not contradict it.
+
+All took place as it was settled in the boat.  Before the people on a
+neighbour'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 neighbours 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 with nothing else but a few rye-cakes and a flask of the
+everlasting corn-brandy, he set forth, thanking his hosts very heartily
+for their care, and somewhat mysteriously assuring them that they would
+hear something soon, and that meantime they had better not have to be
+sought far from home.
+
+As he expected, he met no one whom he knew.  Nine-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 farmhouse that he passed,
+thinking how the pirates might ransack the dwellings if they should
+happen to discover that few inhabitants remained in them but those
+whose limbs were 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 had become visible instead.  As for
+the security which some talked of from there being so little worth
+taking in the Nordland farmhouses--this might be true if only one house
+was to be attacked, and that 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
+find little or none; but in some families there were gold chains,
+crosses, and earrings, 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 would cast no eye or
+thought upon their comforts till he should have given such information
+in the proper quarters as should deprive them of the power of doing
+mischief in this neighbourhood.
+
+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
+something else--a transient sound which surprised Rolf--voices of men,
+who seemed, if he could judge from so rapid a hint, to be talking
+angrily.  He began to consider whom, besides Oddo, Elringsen 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, keeping a vigilant watch all around, and ready
+to pop down into the grass on any alarm.  Being unable to see anyone
+near the tarn, he was convinced the talkers must be seated under the
+crags on its margin; and he therefore made a circuit to get behind the
+rocks, and then climbed a huge fragment, which seemed to have been
+toppled down from some steep, and to have rolled to the brink of the
+water.  Two stunted pines grew out from the summit of this crag; and
+between 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 undoubtedly 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 old 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 Nordland; and
+now that I would 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 deserter--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 fight against my master and his
+people?"
+
+"Nobody was ever so foolish as to expect you to fight, more or less, I
+should think.  No, 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 burning 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 day 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."
+
+[Illustration: In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself
+upon the pirate.]
+
+Hund sprang to his feet in an agony of passion.  The well-armed pirate
+was up as soon as he.  Rolf drew back two paces, to be out of sight, if
+by chance they should look up, and armed himself with a heavy stone.
+He heard the pirate say--
+
+"You can try 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--with a stone tied round your neck, like a drowned wild 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 heavy 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 water, precisely in the middle of the little lake.  The
+men did not see the cause of the commotion that followed; but, staring
+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, "the bird saw it.  Did you see it?"
+
+"See what?"
+
+"The water-sprite, Uldra.  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 drawn 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 different 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," thought Rolf, "it is his conscience that makes me so much more
+terrible to him than that ruffian.  I never hurt a hair of his head;
+and yet, through his conscience, my face is worse than the blasting
+lightning to his eyes.  Heigh-ho!  Where is Erlingsen?  It is nothing
+short of cruel to keep me waiting to-day, of all days; 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 minds' 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 planned where she would place them, so as best
+to adorn their sitting-room, when 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 Hund 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 wanted to raise the country against the
+pirates; and I believe 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 the 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."
+
+"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.  My 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 that we shall see her at breakfast."
+
+"It is more likely," observed Rolf, "that we 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 the 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 plundering practices which Rolf 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 bishop
+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 information which 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 issue the budstick,[5]
+to raise the country.  The pirates having once entered the upper reach
+of the fiord, might thus be prevented from ever going back again, and
+from annoying any more the neighbourhood which they had so long
+infested.
+
+
+
+[5] When it is desired to send a summons or other message over a
+district in Norway where 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
+fireside;" 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.
+
+
+
+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 advantage 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 went on their several ways--Oddo speeding over the
+ridges like a sprite on a night errand, and Rolf striding up the grassy
+slopes like (what he was) a lover anxious to be beside his betrothed
+after a perilous absence.
+
+
+This was the day when the first cheese of the season was found to be
+perfect and complete.  Frolich, Stiorna, and Erica examined it
+carefully, and pronounced 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.
+
+"I know why you will not let me carry the cheese," said Frolich,
+smiling.  "You are thinking 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 which she laid it would have 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 stayed to do her duty.  She selected the softest tuft of moss on
+which to lay the cheese, put her offering reverently down, and then
+diligently gathered the brightest blossoms from the herbage around, and
+strewed them over 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 while, she would have seen her offering
+carried off by an odd little figure, with nothing very terrible in its
+appearance--namely, a woman about four feet high, with a flat face, and
+eyes wide apart, wearing a reindeer garment like a waggoner'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
+would not have thought of asking to sit down even in her master's
+kitchen; for the Norwegian servants are very high and saucy towards the
+Laps 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, and threw 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
+milkings 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 Norway 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 had 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
+dairy 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
+whether 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
+mummery?
+
+Erica replied by showing that Jan was already gone to his loft over the
+shed, and begging leave to 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 crouched 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 up 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."
+
+"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 mistress, 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 softening of the light which 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 therefore wholly Rolf's.  She could endure now to
+contemplate 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 Rolf'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 mistress
+should see a trace of repining in her countenance, or hear a tone of
+bitterness from her lips.  However weary her heart might be, she would
+dance at every wedding--of fellow-servant or of young mistress.  She
+would cloud nobody's happiness, but would do all she could to make
+Rolf's memory pleasant to those who had known him, and wished him well.
+
+Her eyes rested on the lovely scene before her.  From the elevation at
+which she was, it appeared as if the ocean swelled up into the very
+sky, so high was the 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 shadow, 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 without 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 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,
+compact, 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 involuntarily turn her head in that direction.  Instantly
+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 steadfastly at
+the herd.  They were safe--neither reduced to the size of mice, nor
+wandering 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 was one sun, the sun she had 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 wood.
+Though it crossed her mind that the wood-demon was doubtless there
+making choice of his axe and his tree, she could not move, and had not
+even a wish to take refuge in the house, so wonderful was his
+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!" 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 doubtless
+see some horrid monster.  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 had 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 was the figure of a man advancing
+from the shadow into the pasture.  "Why do you take that form?" said
+the trembling 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."
+
+"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 Mid-summer 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 Midsummer 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," cried 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 bottom of the sea."
+
+And once more she shrank from what she took for the grasp of a drowned
+man.
+
+"Not to the bottom, love," replied he, still clasping her hand.  "Our
+fiord is deep, perhaps as deep as they say.  I dived 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 exclaimed, now in full belief.
+"Thank God!  Thank God!"  And she wept upon his shoulder.
+
+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 completely she had forgotten the
+cattle and the underground 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 fortune of this Midsummer Eve had been perfect.
+
+The appearance of Stiorna reminded the lovers that it was time to begin
+the business of the morning.  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 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 Nordland ever saw."
+
+"Prepare, then, to see the Bishop of Tronyem drink his morning coffee
+out of a wooden bowl.  Meantime, I must go and grind his coffee.
+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.  Hund 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."
+
+Never had Frolich dressed more quickly.  She thought it very hard that
+the bishop should see her when she had 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 was 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 night, 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 was 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 foot-stool, 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.
+
+All being done now for which a strong man 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 prisoner, 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.
+
+[Illustration: It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the
+bridle held by a man on each side.]
+
+Presently 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 strawberries,
+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, a jar 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
+below, sent by Rolf 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 thanks, and because it is
+considered unlucky to send away Lapps without a treat, other mountain
+dwellers came with offerings of various wild fowl, so that the dresser
+was loaded with game enough to feed half a hundred hungry men.
+
+Erica and Frolich returned to their breakfast-table, to make the new
+arrangements now necessary, 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.
+
+"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."
+
+To Frolich's delight and surprise she appeared too busy--or was rather,
+perhaps, too happy--to lament this mischance, as she would formerly
+have done.  Just when a youth from the highest pasture on Sulitelma had
+come running and panting, to present Frolich with 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 preparation.  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.
+
+The bishop's reputation preceded him, as is usual in such cases.  As
+his horse, followed by those which bore the ladies, reached the house
+door, all present cried--
+
+"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
+of journeys of pleasure.  Yet here he was on Sulitelma!
+
+When he and M. Kollsen and the ladies had dismounted, 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 was
+an awkward situation enough, sitting there bound before everybody'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 occasions, 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 possible from understanding the
+matter, he was unspeakably relieved to find that he had not the death
+of his rival to answer for.  It made his countenance 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.  "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 There's, Kyril's, Tank's,
+and other places along the shore, about which information has been
+given by a witness."
+
+"There'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
+witnessed 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.
+
+
+When 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
+Norgé_.  Instead of permitting them to stop, on account of his arrival,
+he joined in the song; solely because his heart was in it.  As he
+looked around him, and saw deep shades and sunny uplands, blue glaciers
+above, green pastures and glittering waters below, and all around,
+herds on every hillside, 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 companions 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 bishop
+was now about to attack the mischief vigorously.
+
+The bishop only took his seat--the mossy seat prepared for him--and
+declared himself to be now at the service of any who wished to consult
+or converse with him.  Instead of thrusting his own opinions and
+reproofs upon them, as it was M. Kollsen'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 were not 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.
+
+"I wish," said Erica, with a sigh--"I do wish I knew what to think
+about Nipen."
+
+"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 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
+believed, 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 Nipen, or any demon in the forest, or on the mountain.
+
+"This 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 whichever 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
+they thought were alive, pleased to make sport with them."
+
+"As people who ought to know better," observed 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 child
+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
+nothing at any time, because His Father was with Him."
+
+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.'[6]  In the wilds of the country every
+man's faith will hereafter be his watchman, crying 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."
+
+
+
+[6] The watchman's call in the towns of Norway.
+
+
+
+"Oh!" 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 not
+explain 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 is the most difficult thing in the world to ask questions which one
+knows will be despised."
+
+M. Kollsen glanced in the bishop's face, to see how he took this, and
+how he 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 her
+superstition about a sacred mountain."
+
+There was a long silence, which was 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 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 budstick 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 himself was as interested in what was going
+on as if the farm had been his home.  He was actually the first at the
+ridge.
+
+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
+proceedings 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 any hands but 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
+companies, 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
+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 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 promontory, and was stealing up
+with a soft west wind.
+
+The girls 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, full of
+men, put off from the schooner, and creep towards Erlingsen's cove
+under the shadow of the rocks.  He told how the country people
+immediately 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 exclamation, 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 father, and begged to be
+allowed to take the schooner.  My father laughed so that I thought Oddo
+would be for going over to the enemy."
+
+"No fear of that," said Erica.  "Oddo has a brave, faithful 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 this boy," observed the bishop.  "Did your father
+grant his request?" he inquired of Orga.
+
+"At last he did.  Oddo said that a young boy could do little good in
+the fight at the farm; but that 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."
+
+"Who would submit to be under Oddo's command?" 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--my 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 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
+thankful, if indeed the pirates were taken.
+
+At the bishop's question about who would 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
+herself, 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, there 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 Erlingsen, Rolf, Peder, and Oddo were all safe and
+unhurt.
+
+Oddo was superintending the unlading of the schooner, and was appointed
+by the magistrate, at his master's desire, head guard of the property,
+as it lay on the beach, till the necessary evidence of 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 Erlingsen.  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.
+
+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 undeserved by the
+district, for the Bishop of Tronyem to marry Rolf and Erica before he
+left Nordland.  The bishop wished to make some acknowledgment 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 pleasure 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,
+because he would leave Peder in a condition of greater comfort; and she
+even smiled to herself as she thought how rapidly she might improve the
+appearance of the house during his absence, so that he should delight
+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 would 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 consented,
+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 neighbours 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 offered 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 Hund's rival; but every one else was glad to 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
+bridegroom 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.
+
+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 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 which he uttered with 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 walketh in darkness; nor for the
+destruction that wasteth at noon-day.  When you shall have made the
+Lord your habitation, 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 TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
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+<HEAD>
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+<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+
+<TITLE>
+The Project Gutenberg E-text of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
+</TITLE>
+
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+BODY { color: Black;
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+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Feats on the Fiord
+
+Author: Harriet Martineau
+
+Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
+
+Release Date: May 13, 2011 [EBook #35892]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FEATS ON THE FIORD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can of ale." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can of ale.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t1">
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+BY
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="t2">
+HARRIET MARTINEAU
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+<BR>
+BY ARTHUR RACKHAM
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t4">
+LONDON: J. M. DENT &amp; SONS LIMITED
+<BR>
+NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON &amp; COMPANY
+<BR><BR>
+1914
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t2">
+INTRODUCTION
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Miss Martineau's Norwegian romance won its way long since into the
+hearts of children in this country.  The unhackneyed setting to the
+incidents of the tale distinguish it from thousands of more ordinary
+children's stories; nor is there any other tale so well-known having
+its scenes laid in the land of the fiords.  It is quite safe to add
+that perhaps no other author has felt so strongly and communicated so
+convincingly the mystic charm of these northern lagoons with their
+still depths and reflections, their inaccessible walls of rock and
+their teeming wild-fowl life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This mystic charm is deepened in the book by the thread of popular
+superstition which runs throughout the episodes and, in fact, gives
+rise to them.  Miss Martineau's <I>dénouements</I> were calculated to
+shatter the follies of belief in Nipen and other supernatural agents;
+but her own crusading traffic in them rather endears them to the
+imagination of the reader and certainly supplies a fascination which
+the most sceptical of young readers would be sorry to miss.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The author also brings home to the youthful mind the wonder of the
+physiographical peculiarities of northern latitudes.  The book opens
+with the long nights and ends with the long days.  The midnight sun and
+the northern lights play their parts, whilst the beautiful simplicity
+of farm-life in the Arctic circle is unfolded with authoritative
+interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As for the hero, young Oddo, he is a prince among dauntless boys, yet
+he never oversteps the bounds of true boyishness.  He would be a hero
+anywhere; but as a leading character in this romance, combined with all
+the charm of natural effect in which he moves, he makes <I>Feats on the
+Fiord</I> a book to be classed among the few best of its kind.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+F. C. TILNEY.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t2">
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can of ale</A> . . . . . . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I><BR>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-014">
+In the porch she found Oddo
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-033">
+And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-048">
+He sometimes hammered at his skiff
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-065">
+No other than the Mountain-Demon
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-080">
+At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder
+made of birch-poles
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-097">
+In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself
+upon the pirate
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<A HREF="#img-112">
+It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the
+bridle held by a man on each side
+</A>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P>
+Every one who has looked at the map of Norway must have been struck
+with the singular character of its coast.  On the map it looks so
+jagged; a strange mixture of land and sea.  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 together, they 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is difficult to say whether these fiords are the most beautiful in
+summer or in winter.  In summer, they glitter with golden sunshine; and
+purple and green shadows from the mountain and forest lie on them; and
+these may be more lovely than the faint light of the winter noons of
+those latitudes, 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&mdash;the glorious 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 fisherman, as he unmoors his
+boat for his evening task, feels as if he were about to shoot forth his
+vessel into another heaven, and to cleave his way among the stars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Still as everything 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
+cataracts 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 clouds 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 themselves seem
+to be asleep, there is occasionally a sweet music heard, too soft for
+even the listening ear to catch by day.  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.  Wherever there is
+a nook between the rocks on the shore, where a man may build a house,
+and clear a field or two;&mdash;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 habitation, 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, and they hold their gay meetings in
+defiance of their Arctic climate, through every season of the year.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On a January night, a hundred years ago, there was great merriment in
+the house of a farmer who had fixed his abode within the Arctic circle,
+in Nordland, 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.  The occasion, on the particular January day
+mentioned above, was the betrothment of one of the house-maidens to a
+young farm servant of the establishment.  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&mdash;one when a couple become engaged, and another
+when they are married.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Madame Erlingsen had two daughters growing up, and they were no less
+active than the girls of a Norwegian household usually are, she had
+occasion for only two maidens to assist in the business of the dwelling
+and the dairy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 her 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 conduct or temper towards the family.  But
+she had sustained a shock which hurt her spirits, and increased 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 very
+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 surprising that she should have
+reached.  Erica never believed that she did reach this spot of her own
+accord.  Having had some fears before of the Wood-Demon having been
+offended by one of the family, Erica regarded this accident as a token
+of his vengeance.  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 mistress, 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 that she doubted whether there was a
+Wood-Demon, or that she was not afraid of what he would do if offended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erlingsen and his wife always treated her superstition as a weakness;
+and when she was not present, 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 districts of Norway&mdash;about Nipen, the spirit that is
+always so busy after everybody's affairs&mdash;about the Water-Sprite, an
+acquaintance of every one who lives beside a river or lake&mdash;and about
+the Mountain-Demon, familiar to all who lived so near Sulitelma;
+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 parents hoped that this
+taste of theirs might die away if once Erica, with her sad, serious
+face and subdued voice, were removed to a house of her own, where they
+would see her supported by her husband'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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For this marrying, however, the young people must wait.  There was no
+house, or houseman's place, vacant for them at present.  The old
+houseman Peder, who had served Erlingsen's father and Erlingsen himself
+for fifty-eight years, could now no longer do 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.  Houseman 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 houseman'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 marriage with
+Erica should take place whenever the old people should die.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 endure travelling in
+a wind in Nordland on a January 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.  Erlingsen and some of his
+servants went out to the 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.  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 was a token
+that there was to be dancing; and indeed, 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.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-014"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-014.jpg" ALT="In the porch she found Oddo." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+In the porch she found Oddo.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+The whole company walked about the large room, sipping their strong
+coffee, and helping one another to the good things on the trays which
+were carried round.  When these trays disappeared, 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 down to talk, two or three together.  Others withdrew to
+a smaller room, where card-tables were sets out, while the younger men
+selected their partners.  The dance was led by the blushing Erica,
+whose master was her partner.  It had never occurred to her that she
+was not to take her usual place; and she was greatly embarrassed, not
+the less so that she knew that her mistress was immediately behind,
+with Rolf for her partner.  All the women in Norway dance well, being
+practised in it from their infancy.  Every woman present danced well;
+but none better than Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well! very pretty! very good!" observed the pastor, M. Kollsen,
+as he sat, with his pipe in his mouth, looking on.  "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 frightened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you say she looks frightened, sir?" asked Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  When does she not?  Some ghost from the grave has scared her, I
+suppose.  It is her great fault 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&mdash;abolish their superstitions&mdash;and then there
+may be a chance for her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pray, sir, who plays the violin at this moment?" said Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A fellow who looks as if he did not like this business.  He is
+frowning with his red brows, as if he would frown out the lights."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His red brows!  Oh, then it is Hund.  I was 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 heels 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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, with Rolf.  What sort of a man is Rolf&mdash;with regard to these
+superstitions, I mean?  Is he as foolish as Erica&mdash;always frightened
+about something?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With all my heart, sir.  They are nobody's business but his own; and,
+may be, Erica's."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How goes it, Rolf?" said his master, who, having done his duty in the
+dancing-room, was now making his way to the card-tables, in another
+apartment, to see how his guests there were entertained.  Thinking that
+Rolf looked very absent as he stood, in the pause of the dance, in
+silence by Erica's side, Erlingsen clapped him on the shoulder and
+said, "How goes it?  Make your friends merry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rolf bowed and smiled, and his master passed on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How goes it?" repeated Rolf to Erica, as he looked earnestly into her
+face.  "Is all going on well, Erica?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly.  I suppose so.  Why not?" she replied.  "If you see
+anything wrong&mdash;anything omitted, be sure and tell me.  Madame
+Erlingsen would be very sorry.  Is there anything forgotten, Rolf?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think you have forgotten what to-day is, that is all.  Nobody that
+looked at you, love, would fancy it to be your own day.  You look
+anything but merry.  O Erica!  I wish you would trust me.  I could take
+care of you, and make you quite happy, if you would only believe it.
+Nothing in the universe shall touch you to your hurt, while&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;and the Water-Sprite planning
+vengeance in its palace under the ice&mdash;and the Mountain-Demon laughing
+in scorn, till the echoes shouted again&mdash;and the Wood-Demon waiting
+only for summer to see how he could beguile the rash lover.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Long was the supper, and hearty was the mirth round the table.  People
+in Norway have universally a hearty appetite&mdash;such an appetite as we
+English have no idea of.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last appeared the final dish of the long feast, the sweet cake, with
+which dinner and supper in Norway usually conclude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is the custom in the country regions of Norway 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 the morning.  Everybody knew, therefore, why Rolf
+rose from his seat, though some were too far off to hear him say that
+he would carry out the treat for old Nipen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 behind you.  Promise me, Rolf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.  Erica eagerly put an 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 somebody else; for Oddo, though a good boy,
+was inquisitive, and apt to get into mischief by looking too closely
+into everything, having never a thought of fear.  Everybody knew this
+to be true; though Oddo himself declared that he was as frightened as
+anybody sometimes.  Moreover, he asked what there was to pry into, on
+the present occasion, in the middle of the night; and appealed to the
+company whether Nipen was not best pleased to be served by the youngest
+of a party.  This was allowed; and he was permitted to go, when Peder's
+consent was obtained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The place where Nipen liked to find his offerings was 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
+surface of the yard.  He looked more like a prowling cub then a boy,
+wrapped as he was in his wolf-skin coat, and his fox-skin cap doubled
+down over his ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 house tasted such, for Nipen would be offended if his cake was
+not richer than anybody's else.  He broke a piece off and ate it, and
+then wondered 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 was left.  He
+stood listening whether Nipen was coming in a gust of wind; and when he
+heard no breeze stirring, he looked about for a cloud where Nipen might
+be.  There was 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 thought Nipen would certainly be angry at finding so very
+small a piece of cake.  It might be better to let the ale stand by
+itself, and Nipen would perhaps suppose that Madame Erlingsen's stock
+of 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 upon 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 gallery, whence he could watch what would happen.  To
+remain on the very spot where Nipen 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!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There he stood in the shadow, growing 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, unwilling to miss this opportunity of seeing Nipen.  Then
+he called the spirit&mdash;actually begged it to appear.  His first call was
+almost a whisper; but he called louder and louder till he was suddenly
+stopped by hearing an answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The call he heard was soft and sweet.  There was nothing terrible in
+the sound itself; yet Oddo grasped 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
+Nipen 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 succession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leaned in silence on his folded arms, and had not so waited for many
+seconds before he saw something moving on the snow at a little
+distance.  It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can
+of ale.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am glad I stayed," thought Oddo.  "Now I can say I have seen Nipen.
+It is much less terrible then I expected.  Grandfather told me that it
+sometimes came like an enormous elephant or hippopotamus, and never
+smaller than a large bear.  But this is no bigger then&mdash;let me see&mdash;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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So he began gently&mdash;"Is that Nipen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The thing moved its bushy tail, but did not answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no cake for you to-night, Nipen.  I hope the ale will do.  Is
+the ale good, Nipen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Off went the dark creature without a word, as quick as it could go.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is 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 is only a fox."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He presently let himself down to the ground by the way 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, which it might well be, after
+being brought warm from the fireside.  It was so.  The vessel had sunk
+an inch into the snow, and was there fixed by the frost.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+None 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 would be entirely spoiled
+by the frost if it stood 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;like what he
+fancied would be the cry of a person in the act of being murdered.
+That Nipen was here now, he could not doubt; and, at length, Oddo fled.
+He 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo tossed up his cap, cold as the night was, so delighted was he to
+have scared away the bird which had, for a moment, scared him.  He
+hushed his mirth, however, when he perceived that lights were wandering
+in the yard, and that there were voices approaching.  He saw that the
+household were 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+First came Rolf and his master, carrying torches, with which they
+lighted up the whole expanse of snow as they came.  They looked round
+them without any fear, and Oddo heard Rolf say&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If it were not for that cry, sir, I should think nothing of it.  But
+my fear is that some beast has got him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Search first the place where the cake and ale ought to be," said
+Erlingsen.  "Till I see blood, I shall hope the best."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will not see that," said Hund, who followed; 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo repented of his prank when he saw, 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 heard 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 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?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder where he is now," said a shivering youth, the gayest dancer
+of the evening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, there is no doubt about that; any 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 the wind flies,
+without resting, or stopping to warm himself at any fire in the
+country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo had thus far kept his laughter to himself; but now he could
+contain himself no longer.  He laughed aloud&mdash;and then louder and
+louder as he heard the echoes all laughing with him.  The faces below,
+too, were so very ridiculous&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come down, sir," cried Erlingsen, looking up at the gallery.  "Come
+down this moment.  We shall make you remember this night, as well
+perhaps as Nipen could do.  Come down, and bring my can, and the ale
+and the cake.  The more pranks you play the more you will repent it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Most of the company thought Erlingsen very bold to talk in this way;
+but he was presently justified by Oddo's appearance on the balustrade.
+His master seized him as he touched the ground, while the others stood
+aloof.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is my ale can?" said Erlingsen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here, sir;" and Oddo held it up dangling by the handle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the cake&mdash;I bade you bring it down with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I did, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the ale in the same place?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo bowed, and Erlingsen turned away without speaking.  He could not
+have spoken without laughing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bring this gentleman home," said Erlingsen presently to Rolf; "and do
+not let him out of your hands.  Let no one ask him any questions till
+he is in the house."  Rolf 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 missing.  The old
+man made no such question, but hastened back with many expressions of
+thanksgiving.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the search-party crowded in among the women, and pushed all before
+them into the large warm room, M. Kollsen was seen standing on the
+stair-head, wrapped in the bear-skin coverlid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is the boy there?" he inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo showed himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How much have you seen of Nipen, hey?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nobody ever had a better sight of it, sir.  It was as plain as I see
+you now, and no farther off."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense&mdash;it is a lie," said M. Kollsen.  "Do not believe a word he
+says," advised the pastor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+different 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When seriously questioned, Oddo had no wish to say anything but the
+truth; and he admitted the whole&mdash;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, snapping 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 follow 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 they had
+no word of comfort to say.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there any one who does not feel," added Erlingsen, "that the
+innocent should be gay, safe as they are in the goodwill of God and
+man?  Come, neighbours&mdash;to your dancing again!  You have lost too much
+time already.  Now, Oddo, play your best&mdash;and you, Hund."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope," said Oddo, "that, if any mischief is to come, it will fall
+upon me.  We'll see how I shall bear it."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+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, standing, immediately on coming downstairs.  At the bottom
+of the room was a busy group.  Peder was twisting strips of leather,
+thin and narrow, into whips.  Rolf and Hund were silently intent upon a
+sort of work which the Norwegian peasant delights in&mdash;carving wood.
+They 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 remarkable for his skill in the art, as long as his sight
+lasted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The whole party rose when M. Kollsen entered the room.  He talked
+politics a little with his host, by the fireside; in the midst of which
+conversation Erlingsen managed to intimate that nothing would be heard
+of Nipen to-day, if the subject was let alone by themselves: a hint
+which the clergyman was willing to take, as he supposed it meant in
+deference to his views.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica heard M. Kollsen inquiring of Peder about his old wife, so 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 was growing so late, and nobody had been over to see her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ulla, however, was far from having any such thoughts.  There sat the
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought you would come," said Ulla.  "I knew you would come, and
+take my blessing on your betrothment.  I must not say that I hope to
+see you crowned; for we all know&mdash;and nobody so well as I&mdash;that it is I
+that stand between you and your crown.  I often think of it, my
+dear&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I wish you would not, Ulla&mdash;you know that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do know it, my dear; and I would not be for hastening God's
+appointments.  Let all be in His own time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was news this morning," said Erica, "of a lodgment of logs at
+the top of the foss;[<A NAME="chap01fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn1">1</A>] and they were all going, except Peder, to slide
+them down the gully to the fiord.  The gully is frozen so slippery,
+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."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn1"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn1text">1</A>] Waterfall.  Pine-trunks felled in the forest are drawn over the
+frozen snow to the banks of a river, or to the top of a waterfall,
+whence they may be either slid down over the ice, or left to be carried
+down by the floods, at the melting of the snows in the spring.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"Will it be Rolf, do you think, or Hund, dear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ulla shook her head.  "How did Hund conduct himself yesterday?  Did you
+mark his countenance, dear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed there was no helping it, any more than one can help watching a
+storm-cloud as it comes up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So it was dark and wrathful, was it, that ugly face of his?"  There
+was a knock, and before Erica could reach the door, Frolich burst in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such news!" she cried&mdash;"You never heard such news."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good or bad?" inquired Ulla.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, bad&mdash;very bad," declared Frolich; "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 farmhouse seen burning on Alten fiord
+last week, and as the family are all gone and nothing but ruins left,
+there is little doubt the pirates lit the torch that did it.  And the
+cod has been carried off from the beach in the few places where any has
+been caught yet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They have not found out our fiord yet?" inquired Ulla.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh dear!  I hope not.  But they may, any day.  And father says the
+coast must be raised, from Hammerfest to Tronyem, and a watch set till
+this wicked vessel can be taken or driven away.  He was going to send a
+running message both ways, but there is something else to be done
+first."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Another misfortune?" asked Erica faintly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; they say it is a piece of very good fortune&mdash;at least for those
+who like bears' feet for dinner.  Somebody 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 with her two last year's
+cubs, and their traces have been found just above, near the foss.  Oddo
+has come running 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does he expect to kill them all?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will change your mind, Miss Frolich, when you see them on the
+table," observed Ulla.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica with a sigh rose to return to the house.  In the porch she found
+Oddo.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Wooden dwellings resound so much as to be inconvenient for those who
+have secrets to tell.  In the porch of Peder's house Oddo had heard all
+that passed within.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear Erica," said he, "I want you to do a very kind thing for me.  Do
+get leave for me to go with Rolf after the bears.  If I get one stroke
+at them&mdash;if I can but wound one of them, I shall have a paw for my
+share, and I will lay it out for Nipen.  You will, will not you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It must be as Erlingsen chooses, Oddo, but I fancy you will not be
+allowed to go just now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The establishment was now in a great hurry and bustle for an hour,
+after which time it promised to be unusually quiet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 directions, while their master took a third, to rouse the
+farmers for the bear-hunt.  The hunters were all to arrive before night
+within 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 the bivouac of the country.  Each party was to shelter
+itself under a bank of snow, or in a pit dug out of it, an enormous
+fire blazing in the midst, and brandy and tobacco being plentifully
+distributed on such occasions.  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 might be prepared,
+and no waste made of the few hours of daylight which the season
+afforded.  As soon as it was light enough to see distinctly among the
+trees, or bushes, or holes 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 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.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 Hund was not remarkable for giving up his own way.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erlingsen and Rolf presently departed.  The women and Peder were left
+behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They occupied themselves, to keep away anxious thoughts.  Old Peder
+sang to them, too.  Hour after hour they looked for Hund.  His news of
+his voyage, and the sending him after his master, would 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.  He had taken tackle with him for that
+purpose, she knew, and she should not wonder if he did not appear till
+the morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 chose to be out fishing, instead of obeying
+orders.  The girls pronounced him 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&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+obstinacy about this day's boating looked much as if he meant to learn
+more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Danger in the fiord!" repeated Orga; "oh, 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did not you see M. Kollsen in the boat with Hund?" Madame Erlingsen
+inquired of Oddo when he came in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Hund was quite alone, pulling with all his might down the fiord.
+The tide was with him, so that he shot along like a fish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you know it was Hund that you saw?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't I know our boat?  And don't I know his pull?  It is no more like
+Rolf's then Rolf's is like master's."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps he was making for the best fishing-ground as fast as he could."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall see that by the fish he brings home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True.  By supper-time we shall know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hund will not be home by supper-time," said Oddo decidedly,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?  Come, say out what you mean."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 followed on from point to point, catching a
+sight now and then, till I had gone a good stretch beyond Salten
+heights.  I was just going to turn back when I took one more look, and
+he was then pulling in for the land."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the north shore or south?" asked Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The north&mdash;just at the narrow part of the fiord, where one can see
+into the holes of the rocks opposite."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The fiord takes a wide sweep below there," observed Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; and that was why he landed," replied Oddo.  "He was then but a
+little way from the fishing-ground, if he had wanted fish.  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&mdash;if he means
+to come back."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-033"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-033.jpg" ALT="And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Why, where should he go?  What should he do but come back?" asked
+Madame Erlingsen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 white snow,
+higher and higher, till it was a speck, and I could not make it out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you think of this story, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think Hund has taken the short cut over the promontory, on business
+of his own at the islands.  He is not on any business of yours, depend
+upon it, madame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what business can he have among the islands?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I could say that with more certainty if I knew exactly where the
+pirate vessel is."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is your idea, Erica," said her mistress.  "I saw what your
+thoughts were an hour ago, before we knew all this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will do anything in the world," cried Oddo eagerly.  "Send me
+anywhere.  Do think of something that I can do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What must be done, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is quite enough to fear, Erica, without a word of Nipen.
+Pirates on the coast, and one farmhouse seen burning already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 the
+boat&mdash;immediately&mdash;this very minute.  That will give us time, it will
+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 windings of the fiord in their own vessel to-night;
+unless, indeed," she added with a sigh, "they have a most favourable
+wind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All this is true enough," said her mistress; "but how will you go?
+Will you swim?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The raft, madame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how will you get to Thor islet?" inquired Madame Erlingsen.  "I
+wish the scheme were not such a wild one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A wild one must serve at such a time, madame," replied Erica.  "Rolf
+had lashed several logs before he went.  I am sure we can get over to
+the islet.  See, madame, the fiord is as smooth as a pond."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let her go," said Peder.  "She will never repent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 that fiord that can tell whether she is man or
+woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ulla lent her deer-skin pelisse willingly enough; but she entreated
+that Oddo might be kept at home.  She folded her arms about the boy
+with tears; but Peder decided the matter with the words&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let him go.  It is the least he can do to make up for last night.
+Equip, Oddo."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo equipped willingly enough.  In two minutes he and his companion
+looked like two walking 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 shortest expedition without carrying
+provisions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely it must be dusk by this time," said Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was dusk; and this was well, as the pair could steal down to the
+shore without being perceived from the house.  Madame Erlingsen gave
+them her blessing, saying that if the enterprise saved them from
+nothing worse than Hund's company 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.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Erica now profited by her lover's industry 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+twinkling below almost as clearly and steadily as overhead.  As Erica
+and Oddo put their little raft off from the shore, and then waited with
+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 forth, 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 path of the raft, and subsided into perfect
+stillness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The tide favoured Erica's object.  A few 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This circumstance caused a great 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 Erica proposed again and again that they should proceed on the
+raft.  Oddo was unwilling.  The skiff would go so incomparably faster,
+that it was worth spending some time upon it; and the fears he had had
+of its leaking were removed, now that he found what a sheet of ice it
+was covered with&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica worked hard too; and one advantage of their labour was that they
+were well warmed before 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must clear off more of the ice," said Erica.  "But how late it is
+growing!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No more knocking, I say," replied Oddo.  "There is a quieter way of
+trimming the boat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+flapping of wings and swash of water, as the fowl plunged in, still
+made the air busy all around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The rowers were so occupied with the management of their dangerous
+craft, that they had not spoken since they left the islet.  The skiff
+would have been unmanageable by any maiden and boy in our country; 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you sure you know the cove?" asked Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite sure.  I wish I was as sure that Hund would not find it again
+before me.  Pull away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How much farther is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Farther than I like to think of.  I doubt your arm holding out; I wish
+Rolf was here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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, observing that
+there was no fatigue at present; and that when they were once afloat in
+the heavier boat, and had cleared the cove, there need be no
+hurry&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet Erica looked behind her after every few strokes of her oar; and
+once, when she saw something, her start was felt like a start of the
+skiff itself.  There was a fire glancing and gleaming and quivering
+over the water, some way down the fiord.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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&mdash;see how he stands at the
+bow&mdash;now going to cast his spear!  I wish I was there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must get farther away&mdash;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 whether you can be silent in the sight of
+night-fishing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be sure," said Oddo, disposed to be angry, 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was so.  As the skiff rounded the point of the promontory, Oddo
+pointed out what appeared like a mere dark chasm in the high
+perpendicular wall of rock that bounded the waters.  This chasm still
+looked so narrow on approaching it, that Erica hesitated to push her
+skiff into it, till certain that there was no one there.  Oddo was so
+clear that she might safely do this, so noiseless was their rowing, and
+it was so plain that there was no footing on the rocks by which he
+might enter to explore, that in a sort of desperation, and seeing
+nothing else to be done, Erica agreed.  She wished it had been summer,
+when either of them might have learned what they wanted by swimming.
+This was now out of the question; and stealthily therefore she pulled
+her little craft into the deepest shadow, and crept into the cove.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 contained might be seen, the outline of
+the boat among other things.  There she lay!  But there was something
+about her which was unpleasant enough.  There were three men in her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+What was to be done now?  Here was the very worst danger that Erica had
+feared&mdash;worse than finding the boat gone&mdash;worse than meeting it in the
+wide fiord.  What was to be done?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was nothing for it but to do nothing&mdash;to lie perfectly still in
+the shadow, ready, however, to push out on the first movement of the
+boat to leave the cove; for, though the canoe might remain unnoticed 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&mdash;a race for which Erica and Oddo held themselves 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One thing was certain&mdash;that something must happen presently.  It is
+impossible for the hardiest men to sit inactive in a boat for any
+length of time in a January night in Norway.  In the calmest nights the
+cold 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They did not seem to be talking, for Oddo, who was the best listener in
+the world, could not discover 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men were too much awake to be made prisoners of at present.  One
+was seen to drink from a flask, and the hoarse voice of another was
+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.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The other two men then rose, and after a consultation, the words of
+which could not be heard, all stepped ashore, one after another, and
+climbed a rocky pathway.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, now!" whispered Erica.  "Now we can get away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not without the boat," said Oddo.  "You would not leave them the boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No&mdash;not if&mdash;but they will be back in a moment.  They are only gone to
+hasten their companions."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know it," said Oddo.  "Now two strokes forward!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 starlight.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+companions 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In with you!" some loud voice said, as man after man was seen in
+outline coming down the pathway.  "In with you!  We have lost time
+enough already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is she?  I can't see the boat," answered the foremost man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can't miss her," said one behind, "unless the brandy has got into
+your eyes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I should have said; but I do miss her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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-sprite.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.  He 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 suppose that the 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 fragment of the cut thong in proof of the boat
+not having loosed itself, and set off for a point on the heights which
+he said overlooked the fiord.  One or two went with him, the rest
+returning up the narrow pathway at some speed&mdash;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 he 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 unsuitable 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 sight over the ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now for it, before 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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
+grandfather and Ulla, that we do not forget what you have done this
+night.  If Nipen will only forgive, for the sake of this&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We were just in the nick of time," observed Oddo.  "It was better than
+if we had been earlier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That will be good.  But I do not like carrying 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+tobacco-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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 home thus illumined now that the
+business was done.  She answered with so much alacrity to Oddo's
+question whether she was not very weary, that he ventured to say two
+things which had before been upon his tongue without his having the
+courage to utter them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will not be so afraid of Nipen any more," 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, hush!  It is too soon yet to speak so.  It is never right to speak
+so.  Pray do not speak any more, Oddo."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, not about that.  But 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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not for the object of robbing the place, because 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 anything we
+have.  No; I thought, and I still think, that they would have carried
+off Rolf, led on by Hund&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, 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!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is in summer," pleaded Erica.  "However, you have my secret, as
+you say, a thing which is no secret at home.  We all think that Hund
+bears such a grudge against Rolf, for having got the houseman's
+place&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And for nothing else?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That," continued Erica, "he would be glad to&mdash;to&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To get rid of Rolf, and be a houseman, and get betrothed instead of
+him.  Well; Hund is baulked for this time.  Rolf must look to himself
+after to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 encumbrance 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See the fog!" cried Oddo, putting fresh strength into his oar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"O Nippen!  Nipen!" mournfully exclaimed Erica.  "Here it is, Oddo, the
+west wind!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 the Arctic
+Circle are no trifling enemy.  If Nipen really had the charge of the
+winds, he could not more emphatically show his displeasure towards any
+unhappy boatman than by overtaking him with the west wind and fog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The wind must have just changed," said Oddo, pulling exhausting
+strokes, as the fog marched towards them over the water, like a solid
+and immeasurably lofty wall.  "The wind must have gone right round in a
+minute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be sure, since you said what you did of Nipen," replied Erica
+bitterly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 round so that they could not even see the
+water, or each other.  They had rowed mechanically, sometimes 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 they could not burn in the fog.  The old man
+lent a strong hand to pull up the boat upon the beach, and to lift out
+the benumbed rowers; and they were presently revived by having their
+limbs chafed, and by a strong dose of the universal
+medicine&mdash;corn-brandy and camphor&mdash;which, in Norway, neither man nor
+woman, young nor old, sick nor well, thinks of refusing upon occasion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Erica was in bed, warm beneath an eider-down coverlid, her
+mistress bent over her and whispered&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You saw and heard Hund himself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hund himself, madame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What shall we do if he comes back before my husband is home from the
+bear-hunt?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he comes, it will be in fear and penitence, thinking that all the
+powers are against him.  But oh, madame, let him never know how it
+really was!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Great was Stiorna's consternation at Hund's non-appearance the next
+day, seeing us she did with her own eyes that the boat was safe in its
+proper place.  She saw that no one wished him back.  He was rarely
+spoken of, and then it was with dislike or fear; and when she wept over
+the idea of his being drowned, or carried off 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&mdash;rumours of the movements of the pirate vessel, and of
+the pranks of the spirits of the region&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erlingsen and Rolf came home sooner than might reasonably have been
+expected, and well laden with bears' flesh.  The whole family of bears
+had been found and shot.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-048"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-048.jpg" ALT="He sometimes hammered at his skiff." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+He sometimes hammered at his skiff.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Erlingsen kept a keen and constant look-out upon the fiord.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So came on and passed away the spring of this year at Erlingsen's farm.
+It soon passed, for spring in Nordland lasts only a month.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 soon follow, and every one else
+was reconciled to one who had suffered so long going to her rest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day Rolf led Erica to the grave when they knew that no one was
+there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now," he said, "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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When everything is ready," replied Erica, "we will fix; but not now.
+There is much to be done&mdash;there are many uncertainties."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What uncertainties?  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!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica quietly observed that they had enemies&mdash;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 Hund wanted to be houseman in Rolf's stead, and that he desired to
+prevent their marriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not speaking of Nipen now&mdash;(not because I do not think of it)&mdash;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 had become of you if
+you and Hund should meet there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will promise you not to go farther down, while alone, than Vogel
+islet, unless it is quite certain that Hund and the pirates are far
+enough off in another direction.  I partly think as you do, and as
+Erlingsen does, that they meant to come for me the night you carried
+off their boat; so I will be on the watch, and go no farther than where
+they cannot hurt me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then why say Vogel islet?  It is out of all reasonable distance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At least," pleaded Erica, "let me go with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 hand, 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 the hot sun.  "I shall think of you all while I am
+fishing," he went on.  "I shall fancy you making ready for the
+seater.[<A NAME="chap01fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn2">2</A>]  How happy we shall be, Erica, when we once get to the
+seater!"
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn2"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn2text">2</A>] The mountain pasture belonging to a farm is called its seater.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Erica sighed, and pressed her lover's hand as he held hers.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Who was ever happier than Rolf, when abroad in his skiff, on one of the
+most glorious days of the year!  He found his angling 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.  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 brought Erica with him, so lovely was the scene.
+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 sunlight.  A pair of fishing eagles were
+perched on a high ledge of rock, screaming to the echoes.  On went
+Rolf, beyond the bounds of prudence, as many have done before him.  He
+soon found himself in a still and somewhat dreary region, where there
+was no motion but of the sea-birds, and of the air which appeared to
+quiver before the eye, from the evaporation caused by the heat of the
+sun.  Leisurely and softly did Rolf 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rolf then rested awhile.  There lay Vogel islet looming in the heated
+atmosphere.  He was roused at length by a shout, and looked towards the
+point from which it came; and there, in a little harbour of the fiord,
+a recess which now actually lay behind him&mdash;between him and home&mdash;lay a
+vessel; and that vessel he knew, by a second glance, was the
+pirate-schooner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;four rowing and one
+steering&mdash;already in full pursuit of him.  He knew, by the general air
+and native dress of the man at the helm, that it was Hund; and he
+fancied he heard Hund'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 how
+their wake lengthened with every stroke!  No spectator from the shore
+(if there had been any) could have doubted that the boat was in pursuit
+of the skiff, and would snap it up presently.  Rolf 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rolf did not over-heat himself with too much exertion.  He permitted
+his foes to gain a little upon him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When very near the islet, however, he 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 reappearance 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 this, and prepared to do the same.  They
+rowed quite round the islet; but, to their amazement, they could not
+only perceive no place to land at, but there was no trace 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.
+Hund thought the case was accounted for, when he recalled Nipen's
+displeasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The rowers wondered, 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 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meantime, Rolf had heard every splash 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 down 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, hanging 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 was
+no light but a little which found its way through the bushy screen, and
+up from the green water; and the sounds&mdash;the tones of the pirates'
+voices, and the splash of the waters against the rocky walls of his
+singular prison&mdash;came deadened and changed to his ear.  Yet he heard
+enough to be aware how long his enemies remained, and when they were
+really gone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a prison indeed, as Rolf reflected when he looked upon his
+broken skiff.  He could not imagine how he was to get away; for his
+friends would certainly never think of coming to look for him here; but
+he put off the consideration of this point for the present, and turned
+away from the image of Erica's distress when he should fail to return.
+He amused himself now with imagining Hund's disappointment, and the
+reports which would arise from it; and he found this so very
+entertaining that he laughed aloud; and then the echo of his laughter
+sounded so very merry 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 was so great overhead, that any spectator
+might have been excused for believing that Vogel islet was indeed
+bewitched.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Rolf 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 off 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 every steep along the fiord, that he doubted the
+safety of attempting to swim at all.  What chance of release had he
+then?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 him off; but, besides that the pirates were more likely to
+see him than anybody else, he believed 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, however, having heard Peder say that when he was young,
+there might be seen hanging down one part of the precipice the remains
+of a birchen ladder, which must have been made and placed there by
+human 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:&mdash;he would take the waters at their warmest, and try and try
+again to make a footing upon the islet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His cave was really a very pretty place.  The golden light which
+blesses the high and low places of the earth did not disdain to cheer
+and adorn even this humble chamber, which the waters had patiently
+scooped out of the hard rock.  As the sun drew to its setting, near the
+middle of the Nordland summer night, it levelled its golden rays
+through the cleft, and made the place far more brilliant than at noon.
+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.  Rolf
+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 that there was a great deal of driftwood
+accumulated; and some of it thrown into such distant corners as to
+prove that the waves could dash up to a much higher water-line, in
+stormy weather, than he had supposed.  No matter!  He hoped 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 light, 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 every sprout of it, and laid some of the drift-wood on
+a spot above high-water mark, picking out the driest pieces of firewood
+he could find for kindling a flame.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When this was done, he made haste to heap up a bed of fine dry sand in
+a corner; and here he lay down as the twilight darkened.  For this one
+night he could rest without any very painful thoughts of poor Erica;
+for she was prepared for his remaining out till the middle of the next
+day, at least.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he awoke in the morning, the scene was marvellously changed.  His
+cave was so dim that he could scarcely distinguish its white floor from
+its rocky sides.  The water was low, and the cleft therefore enlarged;
+so that he saw at once that now was the time for making his fire&mdash;now
+when there was the freest access for the air.  Yet he could not help
+pausing to admire what he saw.  He could see now a long strip of the
+fiord&mdash;a perspective of waters and of shores, ending in a lofty peak
+still capped with snow, and glittering in the sunlight.  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
+with smoke that Rolf's singing was turned to coughing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some of the smoke hung in soot on the roof and walls of the cave,
+curling up so well 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 the night.  He presently threw
+water over his burning brands, and hoped that nothing had been seen of
+the process of preparing his breakfast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see there," said the man, pointing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be sure I do.  What else was I looking at?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, what is it?" inquired the man.  "Has your friend got a
+visitor&mdash;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&mdash;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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense!" cried Hund.  "What became of the skiff, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True," said the man; and, shaking his head, he passed on, and spoke to
+the master.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In his own secret mind, the master of the schooner did not quite like
+his present situation.  After hearing the words dropped by his crew, he
+did not relish being stationed between the bewitched islet and the head
+of the fiord, where all the residents were, of course, enemies.  As
+there was now a light wind, enough to take his vessel down, he gave
+orders accordingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly, and at some distance, the schooner passed the islet, and all on
+board crowded together to see what they could see.  None saw anything
+remarkable; but all heard something.  There was a faint muffled sound
+of knocks&mdash;blows such as were never heard in a mere haunt of sea-birds.
+It was evident that the birds were disturbed by it.  They rose and
+fell, made short flights and came back again, fluttered, and sometimes
+screamed.  But if they were quiet for a minute, the knock, knock, was
+heard again, with great regularity, and every knock went to Hund's
+heart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fact was that, after breakfast, Rolf soon became tired of having
+nothing to do.  The water was so very cold that he deferred till noon
+the attempt to swim round the islet.  He thought he 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 over a hole.  It was discouraging
+work enough; but it helped to pass the hours till the restless waters
+reached their highest mark in the cave, when he knew that it was noon,
+and time for his little expedition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was too cold by far for safe swimming.  All the snows of Sulitelma
+could hardly have made the waters more chilly to the swimmer than they
+felt at the first plunge.  But Rolf would not retreat for this reason.
+He thought of the sunshine outside, 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.  When 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 in 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 which vegetation hung, still left
+unsearched.  He could not search them now, for he must make haste home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 down
+between him and them shook with the wind of their oars, and dipped into
+the waves.  He laughed silently when he heard one of them swear that he
+would not leave the spot till he had seen something, upon which another
+rebuked his 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will wait till he rounds the point," thought Rolf, "and then give
+him such an answer as may send a guilty man away quicker than he came."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He waited till they were on the opposite side, so that his voice might
+appear to come from the summit of the islet, and then began with the
+melancholy 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 singular
+that Rolf and Oddo should have used the same sound; but they probably
+chose it as the most mournful they knew.  Rolf 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+information against them, if ever he should again make his way to a
+town or village, and see the face of a magistrate.  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 heads of families remained in the farmhouses almost
+alone, and little likely to put out so far into the fiord as to pass
+near him.  To drive off thoughts of his poor distressed Erica, he
+sometimes 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 was certain he was seen.  Hund 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, with 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
+his knee and let his comrade take all the trouble of rowing home again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This vision decided Hund's proceedings.  Half-crazed with remorse, he
+left the pirates that night.  After long consideration where to go, he
+decided upon returning to Erlingsen's.  He did not know to what extent
+they suspected him; he was pretty sure that they held no proofs against
+him.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hund performed his journey by night.  He did not for a moment think of
+going by the fiord.  Laboriously and diligently therefore he overcame
+the difficulties of the path, crossing ravines, wading through swamps,
+scaling rocks, leaping across water-courses, and only now and then
+throwing himself down on some tempting slope of grass, to wipe his
+brows, and to moisten his parched throat with the wild strawberries
+which were fast ripening in the sheltered nooks of the hills.  It was
+now so near midsummer, and the nights were so fast melting into the
+days, that Hund could at the latest scarcely see a star, though there
+was not a fleece of cloud in the whole circle of the heavens.  While
+yet the sun was sparkling on the fiord, and glittering on every
+farmhouse window that fronted the west, all around was as still as if
+the deepest darkness had settled down.  Hund knew as he passed one
+dwelling after another&mdash;knew as well as if he had looked in at the
+windows&mdash;that the inhabitants were all asleep, even with the sunshine
+lying across their very faces.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Every few minutes he observed how his shadow lengthened, and he longed
+for the brief twilight which would now soon be coming on.  There were a
+few extremely faint stars&mdash;a very few&mdash;for only the brightest could now
+show themselves in the sky where daylight lingered so as never quite to
+depart.  A pale green hue remained where the sun had disappeared, and a
+deep red glow was even now beginning to kindle where he was soon to
+rise.  But man must have rest, be the sun high or sunk beneath the
+horizon; so that Hund saw no face, and heard no human voice, before he
+found himself standing at the top of the steep rocky pathway which led
+down to Erlingsen's abode.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He found everything in a different state from that in which he had left
+the place.  The stable-doors stood wide, and there was no trace of
+milk-pails.  The hurdles of the fold were piled upon one another in a
+corner of the yard.  It was plain that herd, flock, and dairy-women
+were gone to the mountain; and though Hund 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His eye fell upon the boat which lay gently rocking with the receding
+tide in its tiny cove; and he resolved to lie down in it and rest,
+while considering what to do next.  He went down, stepping gently over
+the pebbles of the beach lest his tread should reach and waken any ear
+through the open windows, lay down at the bottom of the boat, and fell
+asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo was the first to come forth, 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 hay 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 the premises during the night.
+He followed these marks to the boat, where he was amazed to find the
+enemy (as he called Hund) fast asleep.  Oddo was 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He summoned his companion, the dog which had 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.
+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 from rising.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only tell me," Erica was heard to say, "only tell me where and how he
+died.  I know he is dead&mdash;I knew he would die; from that terrible night
+when we were betrothed.  Tell me who did it&mdash;for I am sure you know.
+Was it Nipen?  O Hund, speak!  Say only where his body is, and I will
+try&mdash;I will try never to speak to you again&mdash;never to&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-065"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-065.jpg" ALT="No other than the Mountain-Demon." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+No other than the Mountain-Demon.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Hund looked miserable; he moved his lips, but no sound was heard
+mingling with Erica's rapid speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you shake your head, Hund, and 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 try to make us answer for their
+doings.  The very 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&mdash;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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was the cry like?" asked Oddo gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where were you, that you were not spirited away with the boat?" asked
+his mistress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Alone?  Were you alone?" asked his mistress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had landed the pastor some hours before, madame; and I took nobody
+else with me, as Stiorna can tell, for she saw me go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stiorna is at the mountain," observed madame coolly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 whip away the boat before
+you came back?  Are you quite sure that you sprawled on the rock at all
+before you ran away from the horrible cry you speak of?  Our rocks are
+very slippery when Nipen is at one's heels."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;her questions answered.  Old Peder stood beside her, stroking her
+hair tenderly, and he now spoke the things she could not.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 with 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&mdash;envy of
+him&mdash;jealousy of him&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Peder knew 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&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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&mdash;and
+perhaps something else that you wish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you killed him?" asked Erica abruptly, looking full in his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," returned Hund firmly.  From his manner everybody believed this
+much.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know that anybody else has killed him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know whether he is alive or dead?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To this Hund 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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then they all cried out&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell us what you do know about him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, there you come," said Hund, resuming some courage, and putting on
+the appearance of more than he had.  "You load me with foul
+accusations, 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&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What?  Oh, what?" cried Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was seen fishing on the fiord in that poor little worn-out skiff.
+I myself saw him.  And when I looked next for the skiff, it was gone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And where were you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind where I was.  I was about my own business.  And I tell you,
+I no more laid a finger on him than any one of you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where was it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Close by Vogel islet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica started, and in one moment's flush of hope told that Rolf had
+said he should be safe at any time near Vogel islet.  Hund caught at
+her words so eagerly as to make a favourable impression on all, who
+saw, what was indeed the truth, that he would have been glad to know
+that Rolf was alive.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe some of the things you have told.  I believe that you did
+not lay hands on Rolf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bless you!  Bless you for that!" interrupted Hund, almost forgetting
+how far he really was guilty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me then," proceeded Erica, "how you believe he really perished."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe," whispered Hund, "that the strong hand pulled him
+down&mdash;down to the bottom."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I knew it," said Erica, turning away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Erica&mdash;one word," exclaimed Hund.  "I must stay here&mdash;I am very
+miserable, and I must stay here and work, and work till I get some
+comfort.  But you must tell me how you think of me&mdash;you must say that
+you do not hate me&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do hate you," said Erica with disgust, as her suspicions of his
+wanting to fill Rolf's place were renewed, "I mistrust you, Hund, more
+deeply than I can tell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will no penitence change your feelings, Erica?  I tell you I am as
+miserable as you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is false, like everything else that you say," cried Erica.  "I
+wish you would go&mdash;go and seek Rolf under the waters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hund shuddered at the thought, as it recalled what he had seen and
+heard at the islet.  Erica saw this, and sternly repeated&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go and bring back Rolf from the deeps, and then I will cease to hate
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did Rolf really tell you that he should be safe anywhere near Vogel
+islet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," sighed Erica, "safe from the pirates.  That was his answer when
+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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 inaccessible to human foot, and
+that that was the reason why the fowl flourished there as they did in
+no other place.  Erica must not be permitted to go so far down among
+the haunts of the pirates.  Instead of this, her mistress had just
+decided that, as there were no present means of getting rid of Hund,
+and as Erica could not be expected to remain just now in his presence,
+she should set off immediately for the mountain, and request Erlingsen
+to come home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under Peder's urgency she made up her bundle of clothes, took in her
+hand her lure,[<A NAME="chap01fn3text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn3">3</A>] with which to call home the cattle in the evenings,
+bade her mistress farewell privately, and stole away without Hund's
+knowledge.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn3"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn3text">3</A>] The lure is a wooden trumpet, nearly five feet long, made of two
+hollow pieces of birch-wood, bound together throughout the whole length
+with slips of willow.  It is used to call the cattle together on a wide
+pasture.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Wandering with unwilling steps farther and farther from the spot where
+she had last seen Rolf, Erica 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 dwelling she had left.  Thor islet lay like a
+fragment of the leafy forest cast into the blue waters, but Vogel islet
+could not be seen.  It was not too far down to be seen from an
+elevation like this, but it was hidden behind the promontories by which
+the fiord was contracted.  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
+inclination to be joined by a party of wandering Laplanders, still less
+by any neighbour from the fiord who might think civility required that
+he should escort her to the seater.  This wayfarer was walking at a
+pace so much faster than hers that he would soon pass, and she would
+hide among the rocks beside the tarn at the head of the ravine till he
+had gone by.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Through the 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 surrounded them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the shadow of one of these rocks, Erica sank down into the long
+grass.  Here she would remain long enough to let the other wayfarer
+have a good start up the mountain, and by that time she should be cool
+and tranquillised.  She hid her face in the fragrant grass, and did not
+look up again till the grief of her soul was stilled.  Then her eye and
+her heart were open to the beauty of the place which she had made her
+temple of worship, and she gazed around till she saw something that
+surprised her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 haste and get
+it over.  The man approached and took his seat on the huge stone beside
+her, crossed his arms, made no greeting, but looked her full in the
+face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 wishing to be alone, she had not
+dreamed of being afraid till now; but now it occurred to her that she
+was seeing the rarest of sights&mdash;one not seen twice in a century, no
+other than the mountain-demon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sprang to her feet, and began to wade back through the high grass
+to the pathway, almost expecting to be seized by a strong hand and cast
+into the unfathomable tarn, whose waters were said to well up 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
+countryman of hers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 settlement of Lapps&mdash;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 assistance 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why you no speak?" growled the stranger in broken language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is the bishop coming?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, none were supposed to have a deeper interest in the holy bishop's
+travels than the evil spirits of any region through which he was to
+pass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, he is coming," replied Erica.  "Are you afraid of him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stranger burst into a loud laugh at her question: and very like a
+mocking fiend he looked, as his thick beard parted to show his wide
+mouth, with its two ranges of teeth.  When he finished laughing, he
+said, "No, no&mdash;we no fear bishop."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'We!'" repeated Erica to herself.  "He speaks for his tribe as well as
+himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We no fear bishop," said the stranger, still laughing.  "You no
+fear&mdash;&mdash;" and he pointed to the long stretch of path&mdash;the prodigious
+ascent before them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica said there was 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her companion seemed not to understand or attend to what she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Erica saw that she had no demon for a companion, but only a
+foreigner, she was so much relieved as not to be afraid at all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stranger pointed to the tiny cove in which Erlingsen's farm might
+be seen, looking no bigger than an infant's toy, and said&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you leave an enemy there, or is Hund now your friend?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hund is nobody's friend, unless he happens to be yours," Erica
+replied, perceiving at once that 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The bishop will cure that," said the stranger.  "He is coward enough
+to call in the bishop to cure all.  When comes the bishop?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Next week."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What day, and what hour?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica did not choose to gratify so close a curiosity as this.  She did
+not reply; and while silent, was not sorry to hear the distant sound of
+cattle-bells&mdash;and Erlingsen's cattle-bells too.  The stranger did not
+seem to notice the sound, even though quickening his pace to suit
+Erica's, who 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 satisfactory knowledge as
+to whether he was really dead.  Erica stopped, and her eager looks made
+the inquiry 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 conversation 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&mdash;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, and walked away rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The only thing now to be done was to run forwards.  Erica forgot heat,
+weariness, and the safety of her 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is Erlingsen?&mdash;quick&mdash;quick!" cried Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My father?  You may just see him with your good eyes&mdash;up there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Frolich pointed to a patch of verdure on a slope high up the
+mountain, where the gazer might just discern that there were haycocks
+standing, and two or three moving figures beside them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are alone!" said Erica, discovering that it was well that the
+pirate had turned back when he did.  "You alone, and gathering berries,
+instead of having an eye on the cattle!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But why are your hands empty?" asked Frolich.  "Who is to lend you
+clothes?  And what will the cows say to your leaving your lure behind,
+when you know they like it so much better than Stiorna's?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica returned for her bundle and lure; and then 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The peculiar and far from musical sounds 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.  The
+far-off herdsman observed 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Long before he could appear, Frolich threw herself down at Erica's feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You want news," said Erica, avoiding as usual all conversation about
+her superstitions.  "How will it please you that the bishop is coming?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very much, if we had any chance of seeing him.  Very much, whether we
+see him or not, if he can give any help&mdash;any advice.  My poor Erica, I
+do not like to ask; but you have had no good news, I fear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," said Frolich, inwardly sighing for news.  "We have the whey, but
+not sweet cream enough till after this evening's milking.  So you are
+just in time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica was glad, as she could not otherwise have been sure of the demon
+having his due.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is your father," said Erica.  "Now do go and gather more
+berries, Frolich.  There are not half enough."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+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.  He 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, and set off at a
+good pace down the mountain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Scarcely a word was spoken (though the mountain-dairies have the
+reputation of being the merriest places in the world), 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 her
+ill-humour, while she might easily spoil the cheese, that Erica put
+away her knitting, tied on her apron, tucked up her sleeves, and
+prepared for the great work.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Frolich," said Erica, "is the cream good?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stiorna would say that the demon will smack his lips over it.  Come
+and taste."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not speak so, dear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was only quoting Stiorna&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 flowers!  It will be a
+prime cheese."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How can you leave the cattle, Stiorna?" cried Erica.  "If they are all
+gone when you get back&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What sight?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, there is such a procession of boats on the fiord that you would
+suppose there were three weddings happening at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can we do?" exclaimed Frolich, dolefully looking at the cream,
+which had reached such a point that the stirring could not cease for a
+minute without risk of spoiling the cheese.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Frolich bounded away 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,
+patiently 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 Norway 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 might yet be done in time, even if
+Frolich should be sent for from home to see and be seen by the good
+bishop.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+The day after Erica's departure to the dairy, Peder was sitting alone
+in his house weaving a frail basket.  He sighed to think how empty and
+silent the house appeared.  Erica's light, active step was gone.
+Rolf's hearty laugh was silent, perhaps for ever.  Oddo was an inmate
+still, but Oddo was much altered of late; and who could wonder?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had nearly got through a ballad of a hundred and five stanzas when
+he heard a footstep on the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oddo, my boy," said he, "surely you are in early.  Can it be
+dinner-time yet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, not this hour," replied Oddo in a low voice, which sank to a
+whisper as he said, "I have left Hund laying the troughs to water the
+meadow;[<A NAME="chap01fn4text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn4">4</A>] 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."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn4"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn4text">4</A>] The strips of meadow which lie between high rocks in Norway would
+be parched by the reflection of the long summer sunshine, and
+unproductive, if the inhabitants did not use great industry in the
+irrigation of their lands.  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.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"O grandfather, what a mind that fellow has!  He will go crazy with
+horror soon.  I am not sure that he is not crazy now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has murdered Rolf, has he?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't be sure.  He is like one bewitched, that cannot hold his
+tongue.  While 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 within 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was such an opportunity for a curious boy, that I wonder you did
+not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I might, if he had stopped long enough.  But if he stopped for
+a moment to wipe his brow (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&mdash;two days
+after they were drowned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay!  Indeed!  Did he ask that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, and several other things.  He asked whether I had ever heard that
+the islets in the fiord were so many prison-houses."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what did you say?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you think of all this, my boy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, when I said I had not heard a word of any such thing, even from
+my grandmother or Erica, he declared he had heard the moans
+himself&mdash;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 was 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what did he say then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He started bolt upright, as if I had been picking 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&mdash;stories of
+spirits, such stories as people love&mdash;he should have to carry home to
+the north, whenever he went back to his own place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In the north, his own place in the north!  He wanted to mislead you
+there, boy.  Hund was born some way to the south."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How did you answer him?  You know nothing about the bishop's visits."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-080"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-080.jpg" ALT="At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder made of birch-poles." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder made of birch-poles.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"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 could hear that the bishop was drawing near."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He would not agree to that, I fancy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He asked how far out I thought of going.  Of course I said to Vogel
+islet&mdash;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 off.  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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not an easy one, it is plain.  It is too clear also that he thinks
+Rolf is drowned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But do you think so, grandfather?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think so, grandson?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not a bit of it.  Depend upon it, Rolf is all alive, if he is swimming
+and staring, and throwing his arms about in the water.  I think I see
+him now.  And I will see him, if he is to be seen alive or dead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And pray how?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gently, gently, boy!  What is Rolf about not to come home, if he is
+alive?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That we shall learn from him.  Did you hear that he told Erica he
+should go as far as Vogel islet, dropping something about being safe
+there from pirates and everything?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Peder really thought there was something in this.  He sent off 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 necessity 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 whether his signals would be seen
+by anybody, at a season when every one who could be spared was gone up
+to the dairies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon as Hund was gone out after dinner, the old man and his grandson
+put off in the boat, carrying a note from Madame Erlingsen to her
+neighbours 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 obliging; so that the boat was soon in fast career down
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo had found occasionally the truth of a common proverb&mdash;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 the boat,
+but that it was impossible to make them row beyond a certain point.  He
+had used as much discretion as Peder himself about not revealing the
+precise place of their destination; and when Vogel 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 his
+resolution they shipped their oars, and refused to strike another
+stroke, unless one of them might steer.  That island had a bad
+reputation, it was betwitched or haunted; and in that direction the men
+would not go.  They were willing to do all they could to oblige; they
+would row twenty miles without resting with pleasure; but they would
+not brave Nipen, nor any other demon, for any consideration.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How far off is it, Oddo?" asked Peder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two miles, grandfather.  Can you and I manage it by ourselves, think
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, surely; if we can land these friends of ours.  They will wait
+ashore till we call for them again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will leave you my supper, if you will wait for us here, on this
+headland," said Oddo to the man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men could make no other objection than that they were certain the
+boat would never return.  They were very civil&mdash;would not accept Oddo's
+supper on any account&mdash;would remain on the watch&mdash;wished their friends
+would be persuaded; and, when they found all persuasion in vain,
+declared they would bear testimony to Erica, and as long as they should
+live, to the bravery of the old man and boy who thus threw away their
+lives in search of a comrade who had fallen a victim to Nipen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Promise me, Oddo," said he, "not to take advantage of my not seeing.
+As sure as you observe anything strange, tell me exactly what you see."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will, 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 climbed; and if I mount, Rolf may have mounted before
+me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It chilled Peder's heart to remember the 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will run into no folly, trust me," said he.  "I do not forget that
+you depend on me for getting 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 Rolf is somewhere on the
+top there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Suppose you call him, then."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo had much rather catch him.  He pictured to himself the pride and
+pleasure of mastering the ascent, the delight of surprising Rolf asleep
+in his solitude, and the fun of standing over him to waken him, and
+witness his surprise.  He could not give up the attempt to scale the
+rock, but he would do it very cautiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly and watchfully they passed round the islet, Oddo seeking with
+his eye any ledge of the rock on which he might mount.  Pulling off his
+shoes that his bare feet might have the better hold, and stripping off
+almost all his clothes, for lightness in climbing and perhaps swimming,
+he clambered up to more than one promising spot, and then, finding that
+further progress was impossible, had to come down again.  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 downwards, having its roots firmly fixed in
+a crevice of the rock.  This gave him hold of another, which brought
+him in reach of a third, so that, making his way like a squirrel or a
+monkey, he found himself hanging at such a height that 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 depending upon the safety of his
+companion, animated 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&mdash;some work of human hands, certainly.  Having
+scrambled towards them, he found the remains 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 that ladder of which Peder had often spoken as a proof that
+men had been on the island.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a careful hand Oddo pulled at the ladder, 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 he was used to
+dangerous climbing&mdash;that he had had adventures on the slippery, cracked
+glaciers of Sulitelma&mdash;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
+projection of the rock, or any root of the smallest shrub.  More than
+one pole cracked, more than one fastening gave way, when 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.  Never before, indeed, had he done anything like this.  The
+feat was performed&mdash;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 whistled 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 was to get down again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never had he seen a place so full of water-birds and their nests.
+Their nests strewed all the ground, and they themselves were 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 leading their broods
+allowed Oddo to stroke their feathers, and the drakes looked on,
+without taking any offence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If Rolf is here," thought Oddo, "he has been living on most amiable
+terms with his neighbours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After an anxious thought or two of Nipen&mdash;after a glance or two round
+the sky and shores for a sign of wind&mdash;Oddo began in earnest his quest
+of Rolf.  He called his name gently, then louder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 that 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&mdash;no space where any one had
+lain down&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He then sang a part of a chant that he had learnt 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 continued, 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 below.  Looking over the precipice, he saw
+what made him draw back in terror: he saw the very thing Hund had
+described&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you Rolf, really?" asked he at last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but who are you&mdash;Oddo or the demon&mdash;up there where nobody can
+climb?  Who are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will show you.  We will find each other out," thought Oddo, with a
+determination to take the leap and ascertain the truth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you really alive, Rolf?" said the one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be sure I am, Oddo," said the other; "but what demon carried you to
+the top of that rock, that no man ever climbed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo looked mysterious, suddenly resolving to keep his secret for the
+present.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.  His grandfather must be growing anxious, and he
+was not perfectly sure yet whether his guide might not be Nipen in
+Rolf's likeness about to lead him to some hidden prison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give me your hand, Rolf," said the boy bravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a real, substantial, warm hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't wonder you doubt," said Rolf; "I can't look much like
+myself&mdash;unshaven, and shrunk, and haggard as my face must be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 extremely 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Glad was the old man to hear his boy's call from the water; and his
+face lighted up with 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 amazement of Peder
+and Oddo at Rolf's 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 with the oars of the poor broken
+skiff, being obliged to leave the skiff itself behind.  Rolf did not
+forget to bring away whole handfuls of beautiful shells, which he had
+amused himself with collecting for Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last they entered the boat again; and while they were dressing, Oddo
+charmed his grandfather with a description of the cave&mdash;of the dark,
+sounding walls, the lofty roof, and the green tide breaking on the
+white sands.  It almost made the 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I heard a sob.  Are you crying, Oddo?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, grandfather."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is your grief, my boy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No grief, anything but grief now.  I have felt more grief than you
+know of, though, or anybody.  I did not know it fully myself till now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right, my boy; and right to say it out too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't care now who knows how miserable I have been.  I did not
+believe, all the time, that Nipen had anything to do with these
+misfortunes&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right, Oddo!" exclaimed Rolf now.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I was not quite certain; and how could I say a word against it
+when I was the one to provoke 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 that they do not reproach
+me as having done all the mischief.  I shall hold up my head again
+now&mdash;as some may think I have done all along; but I did not, in my own
+eyes&mdash;no, not in my own eyes, for all these weary days that are gone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, they are gone now," said Rolf.  "Let them go by and be
+forgotten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, not forgotten," said Peder.  "How is my boy to learn if he
+forgets&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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;&mdash;no, not as long as I live."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The comrades who were waiting and watching on 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&mdash;alive and no ghost.  They
+asked question upon question, and Rolf answered some fully and truly,
+while he showed reserve 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 sight at which one
+of the rowers was to be landed.  Oddo then exclaimed&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder what we all have 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 to
+say nothing yet.  You have proved your kindness, friends, in coming on
+this expedition, but for which I should have died in my hole, like a
+superannuated bear in its den.  This is a story that the whole country
+will hear of; and our grandchildren will tell it, on winter nights,
+when there is talk of the war that brought the pirates on our coasts.
+The best way will be for you to set me ashore some way short 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you will just make a looking-glass of the Black Tarn," said Oddo,
+"you will 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 her it is only you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 wisest 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 show yourself to your betrothed in such a trim as
+that she will be glad to see you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do so, Rolf," urged Peder.  Everybody 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 roadside, dying of
+his exertions to reach her.  Rolf tried to laugh at all this; but he
+could not contradict it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All took place as it was settled in the boat.  Before the people on a
+neighbour'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 neighbours 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 with nothing else but a few rye-cakes and a flask of the
+everlasting corn-brandy, he set forth, thanking his hosts very heartily
+for their care, and somewhat mysteriously assuring them that they would
+hear something soon, and that meantime they had better not have to be
+sought far from home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he expected, he met no one whom he knew.  Nine-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 farmhouse that he passed,
+thinking how the pirates might ransack the dwellings if they should
+happen to discover that few inhabitants remained in them but those
+whose limbs were 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 had become visible instead.  As for
+the security which some talked of from there being so little worth
+taking in the Nordland farmhouses&mdash;this might be true if only one house
+was to be attacked, and that 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
+find little or none; but in some families there were gold chains,
+crosses, and earrings, 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 would cast no eye or
+thought upon their comforts till he should have given such information
+in the proper quarters as should deprive them of the power of doing
+mischief in this neighbourhood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+something else&mdash;a transient sound which surprised Rolf&mdash;voices of men,
+who seemed, if he could judge from so rapid a hint, to be talking
+angrily.  He began to consider whom, besides Oddo, Elringsen 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, keeping a vigilant watch all around, and ready
+to pop down into the grass on any alarm.  Being unable to see anyone
+near the tarn, he was convinced the talkers must be seated under the
+crags on its margin; and he therefore made a circuit to get behind the
+rocks, and then climbed a huge fragment, which seemed to have been
+toppled down from some steep, and to have rolled to the brink of the
+water.  Two stunted pines grew out from the summit of this crag; and
+between these pines Rolf placed himself, and looked down from thence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two men sat on the ground in the shadow of the rock.  One was Hund, and
+the other must undoubtedly 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This man appeared surly.  Hund was extremely agitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very hard," said he, "when all I want is to do no harm to
+anybody&mdash;neither to my old friends nor my new acquaintances&mdash;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 Nordland; and
+now that I would be harmless for the rest of my days&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 deserter&mdash;and as a
+deserter you go back with me, unless you choose to go as a comrade."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what might I expect that your orders would be, if I went with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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&mdash;unless indeed you
+could contrive to get out of the way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you would not expect me to fight against my master and his
+people?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nobody was ever so foolish as to expect you to fight, more or less, I
+should think.  No, your business would be to pilot us to Erlingsen's,
+and answer truly all our questions about their ways and doings."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surprise them in their sleep!" muttered Hund.  "Wake them up with the
+light of their own burning roofs!  And they would know me by that
+light!  They would point me out to the bishop;&mdash;they would find time in
+their hurry to mark me for the monster they might well think me!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; you would be in the front, of course," observed the pirate.  "But
+there is one comfort for you&mdash;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 day 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."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-097"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-097.jpg" ALT="In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself upon the pirate." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself upon the pirate.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Hund sprang to his feet in an agony of passion.  The well-armed pirate
+was up as soon as he.  Rolf drew back two paces, to be out of sight, if
+by chance they should look up, and armed himself with a heavy stone.
+He heard the pirate say&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can try 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&mdash;if it has
+a bottom&mdash;with a stone tied round your neck, like a drowned wild cat.
+I hope you may chance to find your enemy there, to make the place the
+pleasanter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rolf could not resist the impulse to send his heavy 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 water, precisely in the middle of the little lake.  The
+men did not see the cause of the commotion that followed; but, staring
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said Hund, trembling, "the bird saw it.  Did you see it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See what?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The water-sprite, Uldra.  Before you throw me in to the water-sprite,
+we will see which is the strongest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 drawn 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&mdash;at first in different 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay," thought Rolf, "it is his conscience that makes me so much more
+terrible to him than that ruffian.  I never hurt a hair of his head;
+and yet, through his conscience, my face is worse than the blasting
+lightning to his eyes.  Heigh-ho!  Where is Erlingsen?  It is nothing
+short of cruel to keep me waiting to-day, of all days; and in this
+spot, of all places&mdash;almost within sight of the seater where my poor
+Erica sits pining, and seeing nothing of the pastures, but only, with
+her minds' 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To pass the time he took out the shells he had collected for Erica, and
+admired them afresh, and planned where she would place them, so as best
+to adorn their sitting-room, when 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You shall be gone at once, my good fellow!  I will walk with you, and
+you shall tell your story as we go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that Oddo yonder?" he asked.  "He said you would bring him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 Hund 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 wanted to raise the country against the
+pirates; and I believe Oddo, in his present mood, will be as sure as we
+know he can be swift."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is well we have a messenger.  Where is the bishop?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And how long to stay?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Over to-morrow night, at the least.  If many of the neighbours should
+bring their business to him, it may be longer.  My 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 that we shall see her at breakfast."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is more likely," observed Rolf, "that we 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erlingsen was indeed presently convinced that it was the intention of
+the pirates to carry off the 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 plundering practices which Rolf 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 bishop
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo was called, and entrusted with the information which had to be
+conveyed to the magistrate at Saltdalen.  He carried his master's
+tobacco-pouch as a token&mdash;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 issue the budstick,[<A NAME="chap01fn5text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn5">5</A>]
+to raise the country.  The pirates having once entered the upper reach
+of the fiord, might thus be prevented from ever going back again, and
+from annoying any more the neighbourhood which they had so long
+infested.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn5"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn5text">5</A>] When it is desired to send a summons or other message over a
+district in Norway where 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
+fireside;" 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.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+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 advantage of disappearing in the fiord before their eyes.  They
+were already terrified enough to fly from anything that called itself a
+ghost.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three then went on their several ways&mdash;Oddo speeding over the
+ridges like a sprite on a night errand, and Rolf striding up the grassy
+slopes like (what he was) a lover anxious to be beside his betrothed
+after a perilous absence.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+This was the day when the first cheese of the season was found to be
+perfect and complete.  Frolich, Stiorna, and Erica examined it
+carefully, and pronounced 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&mdash;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&mdash;only the round place in the grass where it
+had lain, and the marks of some feet which had trodden the herbage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Help me up with it upon my head, Stiorna," said Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know why you will not let me carry the cheese," said Frolich,
+smiling.  "You are thinking 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And off went Erica with her cheese.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ridge on which she laid it would have 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 stayed to do her duty.  She selected the softest tuft of moss on
+which to lay the cheese, put her offering reverently down, and then
+diligently gathered the brightest blossoms from the herbage around, and
+strewed them over 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 while, she would have seen her offering
+carried off by an odd little figure, with nothing very terrible in its
+appearance&mdash;namely, a woman about four feet high, with a flat face, and
+eyes wide apart, wearing a reindeer garment like a waggoner'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&mdash;in short, such a
+Lapland girl as Erica would have given a rye-cake to as charity, but
+would not have thought of asking to sit down even in her master's
+kitchen; for the Norwegian servants are very high and saucy towards the
+Laps 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, and threw 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
+milkings and skimmings, so much boiling and pressing, devoured by
+greedy Lapps in their dirty tent?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On her way homewards Erica remembered that this was Midsummer Eve&mdash;a
+season when her mother was in her thoughts more than at any other time;
+for Midsummer Eve is sacred in Norway 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Jan had 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
+dairy 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
+whether 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
+mummery?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica replied by showing that Jan was already gone to his loft over the
+shed, and begging leave to 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 crouched 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are thinking of the Bishop of Tronyem's cattle," said Frolich.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am, dear.  This is Midsummer Eve, you know, when, as we think, all
+the spirits love to be abroad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Erica combed Frolich's long fair hair, and admired its shine in the
+sunlight, and twisted it up 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&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may as well go to bed comfortably; for you will certainly drop
+asleep here, if you don't there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Erica closed the door after her young mistress, 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 softening of the light which she was
+about to witness, and the speedy renewing of day, more wonderful and
+beautiful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 therefore wholly Rolf's.  She could endure now to
+contemplate 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&mdash;an office which should have been Rolf'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 mistress
+should see a trace of repining in her countenance, or hear a tone of
+bitterness from her lips.  However weary her heart might be, she would
+dance at every wedding&mdash;of fellow-servant or of young mistress.  She
+would cloud nobody's happiness, but would do all she could to make
+Rolf's memory pleasant to those who had known him, and wished him well.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes rested on the lovely scene before her.  From the elevation at
+which she was, it appeared as if the ocean swelled up into the very
+sky, so high was the 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 shadow, 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 without 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 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,
+compact, 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 involuntarily turn her head in that direction.  Instantly
+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 steadfastly at
+the herd.  They were safe&mdash;neither reduced to the size of mice, nor
+wandering off, though she had let her eye glance away from them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;while she stared bewildered at the spectacle before her
+eyes.  There was one sun, the sun she had always known&mdash;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 wood.
+Though it crossed her mind that the wood-demon was doubtless there
+making choice of his axe and his tree, she could not move, and had not
+even a wish to take refuge in the house, so wonderful was his
+spectacle&mdash;the clearest instance of enchantment she had ever seen.  Was
+it meant for good&mdash;a token that the coming year was to be a doubly
+bright one?  If not, how was she to understand it?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Erica!" cried a voice at this moment from the wood&mdash;a voice which
+thrilled her whole frame.  "My Erica!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 doubtless
+see some horrid monster.  She turned in haste, and laid her hand on the
+latch of the door, glancing once more at the horizon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was now no sun at all.  The burnish was gone from every point of
+the landscape, and a mild twilight reigned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One good omen had vanished; but there was still enchantment around, for
+again she heard the thrilling "Erica!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no huge beast glaring through the pine stems, and trampling
+down the thicket; but instead, there was the figure of a man advancing
+from the shadow into the pasture.  "Why do you take that form?" said
+the trembling 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&mdash;pray, come no nearer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must, my love, to show you that it is your own Rolf.  Erica, do not
+let your superstition come for ever between us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held out her arms&mdash;she could not rise, though she strove to do so.
+Rolf sat beside her&mdash;she felt his kisses on her forehead&mdash;she felt his
+heart beat&mdash;she felt that not even a spirit could assume the very tones
+of that voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do forgive me," she murmured; "but it is Mid-summer Eve, and I felt so
+sure&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As sure of my being the demon as I am sure there is no cruel spirit
+here, though it is Midsummer Eve.  Look, love! see how the day smiles
+upon us!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I saw two just now," cried Erica&mdash;"two suns.  Where are we, really?
+And how is all this?  And where do you come from?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And she gazed, still wistfully, doubtfully, in her lover's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you ever see such, Erica?  I have been where they lie in heaps.
+Did you ever see such beauties?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I never did, Rolf; you have been at the bottom of the sea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And once more she shrank from what she took for the grasp of a drowned
+man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not to the bottom, love," replied he, still clasping her hand.  "Our
+fiord is deep, perhaps as deep as they say.  I dived 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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes!  You did&mdash;you did!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well!  I went to Vogel island, and here I am safe!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is you!  We are together again!" she exclaimed, now in full belief.
+"Thank God!  Thank God!"  And she wept upon his shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 completely she had forgotten the
+cattle and the underground people all this time.  The herd was all
+safe, however&mdash;every cow as large as life, and looking exactly like
+itself, so that the good fortune of this Midsummer Eve had been perfect.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The appearance of Stiorna reminded the lovers that it was time to begin
+the business of the morning.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Erica!  No, can it be?" said the active girl, up in a moment.  "You
+look too happy to be Erica."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Erica never was so happy before, dear, that is the reason.  You were
+right, Frolich&mdash;bless your kind heart for it!  Rolf was not dead.  He
+is here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Frolich gallopaded round the room, like one crazy, before proceeding to
+dress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Whenever you like to stop," said Erica, laughing, "I have some good
+news for you too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am to go and see the bishop!" cried Frolich, clapping her hands, and
+whirling round on one foot like an opera-dancer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not so, Frolich."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There now! you promise me good news, and 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!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! that would be a pretty sight!  The Bishop of Tronyem over the
+ankles in the sodden, trodden pasture&mdash;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 Nordland ever saw."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Prepare, then, to see the Bishop of Tronyem drink his morning coffee
+out of a wooden bowl.  Meantime, I must go and grind his coffee.
+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.  Hund 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never had Frolich dressed more quickly.  She thought it very hard that
+the bishop should see her when she had 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 was the last person who could be
+supposed to make a point of a silk gown for a mountain maiden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 night, 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 was 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 foot-stool, 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All being done now for which a strong man 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;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 prisoner, 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.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-112"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-112.jpg" ALT="It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the bridle held by a man on each side." BORDER="">
+<P CLASS="t3" STYLE="font-weight: bold">
+It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the bridle held by a man on each side.
+</P>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Presently 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 strawberries,
+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, a jar 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
+below, sent by Rolf 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 thanks, and because it is
+considered unlucky to send away Lapps without a treat, other mountain
+dwellers came with offerings of various wild fowl, so that the dresser
+was loaded with game enough to feed half a hundred hungry men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica and Frolich returned to their breakfast-table, to make the new
+arrangements now necessary, 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," said Erica.  "What stamp is this?  The cheese has been
+scraped&mdash;almost pared, you see, but they have left one little corner.
+And whose stamp is there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ours," said Frolich coolly.  "This is the cheese you laid out on the
+ridge last night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe it.  I see it," exclaimed Erica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To Frolich's delight and surprise she appeared too busy&mdash;or was rather,
+perhaps, too happy&mdash;to lament this mischance, as she would formerly
+have done.  Just when a youth from the highest pasture on Sulitelma had
+come running and panting, to present Frolich with 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 preparation.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bishop's reputation preceded him, as is usual in such cases.  As
+his horse, followed by those which bore the ladies, reached the house
+door, all present cried&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Welcome to the mountain!"  "Welcome to Sulitelma!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+of journeys of pleasure.  Yet here he was on Sulitelma!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he and M. Kollsen and the ladies had dismounted, 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 was
+an awkward situation enough, sitting there bound before everybody'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 occasions, 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 possible from understanding the
+matter, he was unspeakably relieved to find that he had not the death
+of his rival to answer for.  It made his countenance almost gay to
+think of this, even while stared at by men, women, and children as a
+prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it?" whimpered Stiorna&mdash;"what are you a prisoner for, Hund?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is no secret," said Madame Erlingsen.  "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 There's, Kyril's, Tank's,
+and other places along the shore, about which information has been
+given by a witness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There'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
+witnessed 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So little is robbery to be dreaded at the seaters, that there really
+was no place where Hund could be fastened in&mdash;no lock upon any
+door&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+When the bishop came forth in the afternoon to take his seat in the
+shade of the wood, those who were there assembled were singing <I>For
+Norgé</I>.  Instead of permitting them to stop, on account of his arrival,
+he joined in the song; solely because his heart was in it.  As he
+looked around him, and saw deep shades and sunny uplands, blue glaciers
+above, green pastures and glittering waters below, and all around,
+herds on every hillside, 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 companions 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 bishop
+was now about to attack the mischief vigorously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bishop only took his seat&mdash;the mossy seat prepared for him&mdash;and
+declared himself to be now at the service of any who wished to consult
+or converse with him.  Instead of thrusting his own opinions and
+reproofs upon them, as it was M. Kollsen'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 were not 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish," said Erica, with a sigh&mdash;"I do wish I knew what to think
+about Nipen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! here it comes," observed M. Kollsen, folding his arms as if for an
+argument.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 cast herself down at the bishop's feet,
+sitting as she had done in her childhood, looking up in his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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
+believed, 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 Nipen, or any demon in the forest, or on the mountain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This 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 whichever 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
+they thought were alive, pleased to make sport with them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As people who ought to know better," observed 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 child
+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
+nothing at any time, because His Father was with Him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica hid her face, ashamed under the good man's smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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.'[<A NAME="chap01fn6text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn6">6</A>]  In the wilds of the country every
+man's faith will hereafter be his watchman, crying 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."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+<A NAME="chap01fn6"></A>
+[<A HREF="#chap01fn6text">6</A>] The watchman's call in the towns of Norway.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!" 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!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is what I believe," said the bishop.  Laying his hand on her head,
+he continued&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 not
+explain things; and&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You should have asked me," said M. Kollsen; "I could have explained
+everything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps so, sir; but&mdash;but, M. Kollsen, you always seemed angry, and
+you said you despised us for believing anything that you did not; and
+it is the most difficult thing in the world to ask questions which one
+knows will be despised."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+M. Kollsen glanced in the bishop's face, to see how he took this, and
+how he meant to support the pastor's authority.  The bishop looked sad,
+and said nothing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And then," continued Erica, "there were others who laughed&mdash;even Rolf
+himself laughed; and what one fears becomes only the more terrible when
+it is laughed at."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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 her
+superstition about a sacred mountain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a long silence, which was 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&mdash;his remorse, his envy, his covetousness, his fear.
+He meant 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 budstick had done, and how many parties were on their way, from all
+quarters, to the farm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+M. Kollsen was glad to rise and escape from what he thought a
+schooling; and the bishop himself was as interested in what was going
+on as if the farm had been his home.  He was actually the first at the
+ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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
+proceedings at all the three points.  The opportunity was much improved
+by the bishop having a glass&mdash;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 any hands but the bishop's.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By means of this glass the bishop, M. Kollsen, or Madame Erlingsen
+announced from time to time what was doing as the evening advanced&mdash;how
+parties of two or three were leaving Saltdalen, creeping towards the
+farm under cover of rising grounds, rocks, and pine woods; how small
+companies, 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
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 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 promontory, and was stealing up
+with a soft west wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girls 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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, full of
+men, put off from the schooner, and creep towards Erlingsen's cove
+under the shadow of the rocks.  He told how the country people
+immediately gathered behind the barn and the house, and every
+outbuilding; and, at length, when the boats touched the shore, he said&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now come and look yourselves.  They are too busy now to be observing
+us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then how eyes were strained, and what silence there was, broken only by
+an occasional exclamation, 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excellent!" exclaimed M. Kollsen.  "How admirably they are conducting
+the whole affair!  The retreat of these fellows is completely cut
+off&mdash;their vessel taken, and driven ashore, while they are busy
+elsewhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is Oddo's doings," observed Orga quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oddo's doings!  How do you know?  Are you serious?  Can you see?  Or
+did you hear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was by when Oddo told his plan to my father, and begged to be
+allowed to take the schooner.  My father laughed so that I thought Oddo
+would be for going over to the enemy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No fear of that," said Erica.  "Oddo has a brave, faithful heart."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must see more of this boy," observed the bishop.  "Did your father
+grant his request?" he inquired of Orga.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At last he did.  Oddo said that a young boy could do little good in
+the fight at the farm; but that 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."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who would submit to be under Oddo's command?" asked Frolich, laughing
+at the idea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Twice twelve, if he had wanted so many," replied Orga.  "Between the
+goodness of the joke and their zeal, there were volunteers in
+plenty&mdash;my father told me, as he was putting me on my horse."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 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
+thankful, if indeed the pirates were taken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the bishop's question about who would 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&mdash;not without a barley-cake and brandy-flask&mdash;at
+a pace which promised speedy tidings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Madame Erlingsen hoped in her heart, he met a messenger despatched
+by her husband; so that all who had lain down to sleep&mdash;all but
+herself, that is&mdash;were greeted by good news as they appeared at the
+breakfast-table.  The pirates were all taken, and on their way, bound,
+to Saltdalen, there 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the pirates was wounded, and two of the country people, but not
+a life was lost; and Erlingsen, Rolf, Peder, and Oddo were all safe and
+unhurt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddo was superintending the unlading of the schooner, and was appointed
+by the magistrate, at his master's desire, head guard of the property,
+as it lay on the beach, till the necessary evidence of 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 Erlingsen.  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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 undeserved by the
+district, for the Bishop of Tronyem to marry Rolf and Erica before he
+left Nordland.  The bishop wished to make some acknowledgment 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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So far from objecting, Peder shed tears of pleasure at the thought.  He
+was sure Ulla would be delighted, if she knew&mdash;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,
+because he would leave Peder in a condition of greater comfort; and she
+even smiled to herself as she thought how rapidly she might improve the
+appearance of the house during his absence, so that he should delight
+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 would 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 consented,
+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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 neighbours farewell for a
+short time, desiring them not to fail to meet him again at the church
+on his summons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kindness of the neighbours did not cease when danger from the enemy
+was over.  Some offered 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 Hund's rival; but every one else was glad to go.  Nobody
+would have thought of urging Peder's presence, but he chose to do his
+part&mdash;(a part which no one could discharge so well)&mdash;singing bridal
+songs in the leading boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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&mdash;no crown more glittering&mdash;no
+bridegroom more happy&mdash;no chanting was ever more soothing than old
+Peder's&mdash;no clarionet better played than Oddo's&mdash;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.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+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 himself in
+prospect of indoor work for some time to come.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Erica carried home in her heart, and kept there for ever, certain words
+of the Bishop's address which he uttered with 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 walketh in darkness; nor for the
+destruction that wasteth at noon-day.  When you shall have made the
+Lord your habitation, 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!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="finis">
+THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Feats on the Fiord
+
+Author: Harriet Martineau
+
+Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
+
+Release Date: May 13, 2011 [EBook #35892]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FEATS ON THE FIORD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the
+can of ale.]
+
+
+
+
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+
+
+BY
+
+HARRIET MARTINEAU
+
+
+
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BY ARTHUR RACKHAM
+
+
+
+LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
+
+NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+
+
+1914
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Miss Martineau's Norwegian romance won its way long since into the
+hearts of children in this country.  The unhackneyed setting to the
+incidents of the tale distinguish it from thousands of more ordinary
+children's stories; nor is there any other tale so well-known having
+its scenes laid in the land of the fiords.  It is quite safe to add
+that perhaps no other author has felt so strongly and communicated so
+convincingly the mystic charm of these northern lagoons with their
+still depths and reflections, their inaccessible walls of rock and
+their teeming wild-fowl life.
+
+This mystic charm is deepened in the book by the thread of popular
+superstition which runs throughout the episodes and, in fact, gives
+rise to them.  Miss Martineau's _denouements_ were calculated to
+shatter the follies of belief in Nipen and other supernatural agents;
+but her own crusading traffic in them rather endears them to the
+imagination of the reader and certainly supplies a fascination which
+the most sceptical of young readers would be sorry to miss.
+
+The author also brings home to the youthful mind the wonder of the
+physiographical peculiarities of northern latitudes.  The book opens
+with the long nights and ends with the long days.  The midnight sun and
+the northern lights play their parts, whilst the beautiful simplicity
+of farm-life in the Arctic circle is unfolded with authoritative
+interest.
+
+As for the hero, young Oddo, he is a prince among dauntless boys, yet
+he never oversteps the bounds of true boyishness.  He would be a hero
+anywhere; but as a leading character in this romance, combined with all
+the charm of natural effect in which he moves, he makes _Feats on the
+Fiord_ a book to be classed among the few best of its kind.
+
+F. C. TILNEY.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+It came nearer and nearer, and at last quite up to the can
+  of ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+In the porch she found Oddo
+
+And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner
+
+He sometimes hammered at his skiff
+
+No other than the Mountain-Demon
+
+At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder
+  made of birch-poles
+
+In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself
+  upon the pirate
+
+It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the
+  bridle held by a man on each side
+
+
+
+
+FEATS ON THE FIORD
+
+
+
+Every one who has looked at the map of Norway must have been struck
+with the singular character of its coast.  On the map it looks so
+jagged; a strange mixture of land and sea.  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 together, they 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 summer, they glitter with golden sunshine; and
+purple and green shadows from the mountain and forest lie on them; and
+these may be more lovely than the faint light of the winter noons of
+those latitudes, 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 glorious 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 fisherman, as he unmoors his
+boat for his evening task, feels as if he were about to shoot forth his
+vessel into another heaven, and to cleave his way among the stars.
+
+Still as everything 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
+cataracts 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 clouds 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 themselves seem
+to be asleep, there is occasionally a sweet music heard, too soft for
+even the listening ear to catch by day.  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.  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 habitation, 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, 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 who had fixed his abode within the Arctic circle,
+in Nordland, 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.  The occasion, on the particular January day
+mentioned above, was the betrothment of one of the house-maidens to a
+young farm servant of the establishment.  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 become engaged, and another
+when they are married.
+
+As Madame Erlingsen had two daughters growing up, and they were no less
+active than the girls of a Norwegian household usually are, she had
+occasion 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 her 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 conduct or temper towards the family.  But
+she had sustained a shock which hurt her spirits, and increased 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 very
+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 surprising that she should have
+reached.  Erica never believed that she did reach this spot of her own
+accord.  Having had some fears before of the Wood-Demon having been
+offended by one of the family, Erica regarded this accident as a token
+of his vengeance.  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 mistress, 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 that she doubted whether there was a
+Wood-Demon, or that she was not afraid of what he would do if offended.
+
+Erlingsen and his wife always treated her superstition as a weakness;
+and when she was not present, 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 districts 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 Mountain-Demon, familiar to all who lived so near Sulitelma;
+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 parents hoped that this
+taste of theirs might die away if once Erica, with her sad, serious
+face and subdued voice, were removed to a house of her own, where they
+would see her supported by her husband'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.
+
+For this marrying, however, the young people must wait.  There was no
+house, or houseman's place, vacant for them at present.  The old
+houseman Peder, who had served Erlingsen's father and Erlingsen himself
+for fifty-eight years, could now no longer do 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.  Houseman 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 houseman'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 marriage 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 endure travelling in
+a wind in Nordland on a January 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.  Erlingsen and some of his
+servants went out to the 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.
+
+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.  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 was a token
+that there was to be dancing; and indeed, 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.
+
+[Illustration: In the porch she found Oddo.]
+
+The whole company walked about the large room, sipping their strong
+coffee, and helping one another to the good things on the trays which
+were carried round.  When these trays disappeared, 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 down to talk, two or three together.  Others withdrew to
+a smaller room, where card-tables were sets out, while the younger men
+selected their partners.  The dance was led by the blushing Erica,
+whose master was her partner.  It had never occurred to her that she
+was not to take her usual place; and she was greatly embarrassed, not
+the less so that she knew that her mistress was immediately behind,
+with Rolf for her partner.  All the women in Norway dance well, being
+practised in it from their infancy.  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 his pipe in his mouth, looking on.  "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 frightened."
+
+"Did you say she looks frightened, sir?" asked Peder.
+
+"Yes.  When does she not?  Some ghost from the grave has scared her, I
+suppose.  It is her great fault 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."
+
+"Pray, sir, who plays the violin at this moment?" said Peder.
+
+"A fellow who looks as if he did not like this business.  He is
+frowning with his red brows, as if he would frown out the lights."
+
+"His red brows!  Oh, then it is Hund.  I was 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 heels 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."
+
+"How goes it, Rolf?" said his master, who, having done his duty in the
+dancing-room, was now making his way to the card-tables, in another
+apartment, to see how his guests there were entertained.  Thinking that
+Rolf looked very absent as he stood, in the pause of the dance, in
+silence by Erica's side, Erlingsen clapped him on the shoulder and
+said, "How goes it?  Make your friends merry."
+
+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 replied.  "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 to-day is, that is all.  Nobody that
+looked at you, love, would fancy it to be your own day.  You look
+anything but merry.  O Erica!  I wish you would trust me.  I could take
+care of you, and make you quite happy, if you would only believe it.
+Nothing in the universe shall touch you to your hurt, while----"
+
+"Oh, 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 Water-Sprite planning
+vengeance in its palace under the ice--and the Mountain-Demon laughing
+in scorn, till the echoes shouted again--and the Wood-Demon waiting
+only for summer to see how he could beguile the rash lover.
+
+Long was the supper, and hearty was the mirth round the table.  People
+in Norway have universally a hearty appetite--such an appetite as we
+English have no idea of.
+
+At last appeared the final dish of the long feast, the sweet cake, with
+which dinner and supper in Norway usually conclude.
+
+It is the custom in the country regions of Norway 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 the morning.  Everybody knew, therefore, why Rolf
+rose from his seat, though some were too far off to hear him say that
+he would carry 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 behind 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.  Erica eagerly put an 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 somebody else; for Oddo, though a good boy,
+was inquisitive, and apt to get into mischief by looking too closely
+into everything, having never a thought of fear.  Everybody knew this
+to be true; though Oddo himself declared that he was as frightened as
+anybody sometimes.  Moreover, he asked what there was to pry into, on
+the present occasion, in the middle of the night; and appealed to the
+company whether Nipen was not best pleased to be served by the youngest
+of a party.  This was allowed; and he was permitted to go, when Peder's
+consent was obtained.
+
+The place where Nipen liked to find his offerings was 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
+surface of the yard.  He looked more like a prowling cub then a boy,
+wrapped as he was in his wolf-skin coat, and his fox-skin cap doubled
+down over his ears.
+
+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 house tasted such, for Nipen would be offended if his cake was
+not richer than anybody's else.  He broke a piece off and ate it, and
+then wondered 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 was left.  He
+stood listening whether Nipen was coming in a gust of wind; and when he
+heard no breeze stirring, he looked about for a cloud where Nipen might
+be.  There was 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 thought Nipen would certainly be angry at finding so very
+small a piece of cake.  It might be better to let the ale stand by
+itself, and Nipen would perhaps suppose that Madame Erlingsen's stock
+of 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 upon 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 gallery, whence he could watch what would happen.  To
+remain on the very spot where Nipen 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, growing 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, unwilling 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 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 grasped 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
+Nipen 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 succession.
+
+"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 something 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 then I expected.  Grandfather told me that it
+sometimes came like an enormous elephant or hippopotamus, and never
+smaller than a large bear.  But this is no bigger then--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
+the ale good, Nipen?"
+
+Off went the dark creature without a word, as quick as it could go.
+
+"It is 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 is only a fox."
+
+He presently let himself down to the ground by the way 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, which it might well be, after
+being brought warm from the fireside.  It was so.  The vessel had sunk
+an inch into the snow, and was there fixed by the frost.
+
+None 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 would be entirely spoiled
+by the frost if it stood 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 Nipen was here now, he could not doubt; and, at length, Oddo fled.
+He 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 which had, for a moment, scared him.  He
+hushed his mirth, however, when he perceived that lights were wandering
+in the yard, and that there were voices approaching.  He saw that the
+household were 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, with which they
+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 followed; 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."
+
+"Never 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 saw, 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 heard 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 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 youth, the gayest dancer
+of the evening.
+
+"Oh, there is no doubt about that; any 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 the wind flies,
+without resting, or stopping to warm himself at any fire in the
+country."
+
+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
+perhaps as Nipen could do.  Come down, and bring my can, and the ale
+and the cake.  The more pranks you play the more you will repent it."
+
+Most of the company thought Erlingsen very bold to talk in this way;
+but he was presently justified by Oddo's appearance on the balustrade.
+His master seized him as he touched the ground, while the others stood
+aloof.
+
+"Where is my ale can?" said Erlingsen.
+
+"Here, sir;" and Oddo held it up dangling by the handle.
+
+"And the cake--I bade you bring it down 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 without speaking.  He could not
+have spoken without laughing.
+
+"Bring this gentleman home," said Erlingsen presently to Rolf; "and do
+not let him out of your hands.  Let no one ask him any questions till
+he is in the house."  Rolf 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 missing.  The old
+man made no such question, but hastened back with many expressions of
+thanksgiving.
+
+As the search-party crowded in among the women, and pushed all before
+them into the large warm 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.
+
+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
+different 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.
+
+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, snapping 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 follow 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 they 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 goodwill 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."
+
+"I hope," said Oddo, "that, if any mischief is to come, it will fall
+upon me.  We'll see how I shall bear it."
+
+
+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, standing, immediately on coming downstairs.  At the bottom
+of the room was a busy group.  Peder was twisting strips of leather,
+thin and narrow, into whips.  Rolf and Hund were silently intent upon a
+sort of work which the Norwegian peasant delights in--carving wood.
+They 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 remarkable for his skill in the art, as long as his sight
+lasted.
+
+The whole party rose when M. Kollsen entered the room.  He talked
+politics a little with his host, by the fireside; in the midst of which
+conversation Erlingsen managed to intimate that nothing would be heard
+of Nipen to-day, if the subject was let alone by themselves: a hint
+which the clergyman was willing to take, as he supposed it meant in
+deference to his views.
+
+Erica heard M. Kollsen inquiring of Peder about his old wife, so 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 was growing so late, and nobody had been over to see her.
+
+Ulla, however, was far from having any such thoughts.  There sat the
+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.
+
+"I thought you would come," said Ulla.  "I knew you would come, and
+take my blessing on your betrothment.  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 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."
+
+"There was news this morning," said Erica, "of a lodgment of logs at
+the top of the foss;[1] and they were all going, except Peder, to slide
+them down the gully to the fiord.  The gully is frozen so slippery,
+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."
+
+
+
+[1] Waterfall.  Pine-trunks felled in the forest are drawn over the
+frozen snow to the banks of a river, or to the top of a waterfall,
+whence they may be either slid down over the ice, or left to be carried
+down by the floods, at the melting of the snows in the spring.
+
+
+
+"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.  "How did Hund conduct himself yesterday?  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?"  There
+was a knock, and before Erica could reach the door, Frolich burst in.
+
+"Such news!" she cried--"You never heard such news."
+
+"Good or bad?" inquired Ulla.
+
+"Oh, bad--very bad," declared Frolich; "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 farmhouse seen burning on Alten fiord
+last week, and as the family are all gone and nothing but ruins left,
+there is little doubt the pirates lit the torch that did it.  And the
+cod has been carried off from the beach in the few places where any has
+been caught yet."
+
+"They have not found out our fiord yet?" inquired Ulla.
+
+"Oh dear!  I hope not.  But they may, any day.  And father says the
+coast must be raised, from Hammerfest to Tronyem, and a watch set till
+this wicked vessel can be taken or driven away.  He was going to send a
+running message both ways, but there 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.  Somebody 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 with her two last year's
+cubs, and their traces have been found just above, near the foss.  Oddo
+has come running 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."
+
+Erica with a sigh rose to return to the house.  In the porch she found
+Oddo.
+
+Wooden dwellings resound so much as to be inconvenient for those who
+have secrets to tell.  In the porch of Peder's house Oddo had heard all
+that passed within.
+
+"Dear Erica," said he, "I want you to do a very 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 Nipen.  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 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 directions, while their master took a third, to rouse the
+farmers for the bear-hunt.  The hunters were all to arrive before night
+within 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 the bivouac of the country.  Each party was to shelter
+itself under a bank of snow, or in a pit dug out of it, an enormous
+fire blazing in the midst, and brandy and tobacco being plentifully
+distributed on such occasions.  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 might be prepared,
+and no waste made of the few hours of daylight which the season
+afforded.  As soon as it was light enough to see distinctly among the
+trees, or bushes, or holes 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 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.  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 Hund was not remarkable for giving up his own way.  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.  The women and Peder were left
+behind.
+
+They occupied themselves, to keep away anxious thoughts.  Old Peder
+sang to them, too.  Hour after hour they looked for Hund.  His news of
+his voyage, and the sending him after his master, would 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.  He 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 chose to be out fishing, instead of obeying
+orders.  The girls pronounced him 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
+obstinacy about this day's boating looked much as if he meant to learn
+more.
+
+"Danger in the fiord!" repeated Orga; "oh, 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."
+
+"Did not you see M. Kollsen in the boat with Hund?" Madame Erlingsen
+inquired of Oddo when he came in.
+
+"No, Hund was quite alone, pulling with all his might down the fiord.
+The tide was with him, so that he shot 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 then Rolf's is like master's."
+
+"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 followed on from point to point, catching a
+sight now and then, till I had gone a good stretch beyond Salten
+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 fish.  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."
+
+[Illustration: And that vessel, he knew, was the pirate schooner.]
+
+"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 white snow,
+higher and higher, till it was a speck, and I could not make it out."
+
+"What do you think of this story, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+
+"I think Hund has taken the short cut over the promontory, on business
+of his own at the islands.  He is not on any business of yours, depend
+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 your idea, Erica," said her mistress.  "I saw what your
+thoughts were an hour ago, before we knew all this."
+
+"I was 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," cried Oddo eagerly.  "Send me
+anywhere.  Do think of something that I can do."
+
+"What must be done, Peder?" asked his mistress.
+
+"There is quite enough to fear, Erica, without a word of Nipen.
+Pirates on the coast, and one farmhouse 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 the
+boat--immediately--this very minute.  That will give us time, it will
+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 windings of the fiord in their own vessel to-night;
+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 swim?"
+
+"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?" inquired Madame 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 before 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 that fiord that can tell whether she is man or
+woman."
+
+Ulla lent her deer-skin pelisse willingly enough; but she entreated
+that Oddo might be kept at home.  She folded her arms 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 minutes he and his companion
+looked like two walking 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 shortest expedition without carrying
+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
+shore without being perceived from the house.  Madame Erlingsen gave
+them her blessing, saying that if the enterprise saved them from
+nothing worse than Hund's company 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.
+
+
+Erica now profited by her lover's industry 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
+twinkling below almost as clearly and steadily as overhead.  As Erica
+and Oddo put their little raft off from the shore, and then waited with
+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 forth, 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 path of the raft, and subsided into perfect
+stillness.
+
+The tide favoured Erica's object.  A few 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 great 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 Erica proposed again and again that they should proceed on the
+raft.  Oddo was unwilling.  The skiff would go so incomparably faster,
+that it was worth spending some time upon it; and the fears he had had
+of its leaking 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 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
+flapping 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 management of their dangerous
+craft, that they had not spoken since they left the islet.  The skiff
+would have been unmanageable by any maiden and boy in our country; 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.
+
+"Are you sure you know the cove?" asked Erica.
+
+"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, observing that
+there was no fatigue at present; and that 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 something, her start was felt like a start of the
+skiff itself.  There was a fire glancing and gleaming and quivering
+over the water, some way 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 whether you can be silent in the sight of
+night-fishing."
+
+"To be sure," said Oddo, disposed to be angry, 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 was so.  As the skiff rounded the point of the promontory, Oddo
+pointed out what appeared like a mere dark chasm in the high
+perpendicular wall of rock that bounded the waters.  This chasm still
+looked so narrow on approaching it, that Erica hesitated to push her
+skiff into it, till certain that there was no one there.  Oddo was so
+clear that she might safely do this, so noiseless was their rowing, and
+it was so plain that there was no footing on the rocks by which he
+might enter to explore, that in a sort of desperation, and seeing
+nothing else to be done, Erica agreed.  She wished it had been summer,
+when either of them might have learned what they wanted by swimming.
+This was now out of the question; and stealthily therefore 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 contained might be seen, the outline of
+the boat among other things.  There she lay!  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, however, to push out on the first movement of the
+boat to leave the cove; for, though the canoe might remain unnoticed 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 themselves 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 time in a January night in Norway.  In the calmest nights the
+cold 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 discover 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 too much awake to be made prisoners of at present.  One
+was seen to drink from a flask, and the hoarse voice of another was
+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.  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 consultation, the words of
+which could not be heard, 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 moment.  They are only gone to
+hasten their companions."
+
+"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 starlight.  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
+companions 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 pathway.  "In with you!  We have lost time
+enough already."
+
+"Where is she?  I can't see the boat," answered the foremost man.
+
+"You can't miss her," said one behind, "unless the brandy has got into
+your eyes."
+
+"So I should have said; but I do miss her."
+
+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-sprite.  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.  He 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 suppose that the 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 fragment of the cut thong in proof of the boat
+not having loosed itself, and set off for a point on the heights which
+he said overlooked the fiord.  One or two went with him, the rest
+returning up the 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 he 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 unsuitable 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 sight over the ridge.
+
+"Now for it, before 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
+grandfather and Ulla, that we do not forget what you have done this
+night.  If Nipen will 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 carrying 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
+tobacco-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 home thus illumined now that the
+business was done.  She answered with so much alacrity to Oddo's
+question whether she was not very weary, that he ventured to say two
+things which had before been upon his tongue without his having the
+courage to utter them.
+
+"You will not be so afraid of Nipen any more," 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."
+
+"Oh, hush!  It is too soon yet to speak so.  It is never right to speak
+so.  Pray do not speak any more, Oddo."
+
+"Well, not about that.  But 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, because 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 anything we
+have.  No; I thought, and I still think, that they would have carried
+off Rolf, led on by Hund----"
+
+"Oh, 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.  "However, you have my secret, as
+you say, a thing which is no secret at home.  We all think that Hund
+bears such a grudge 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 get betrothed instead of
+him.  Well; Hund 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 encumbrance 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.
+
+"O Nippen!  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 the Arctic
+Circle are no trifling enemy.  If Nipen really had the charge of the
+winds, he could not more emphatically show 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 towards them over the water, like a solid
+and immeasurably lofty wall.  "The wind must have gone right round in a
+minute."
+
+"To be sure, since you said what you did of Nipen," 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 round so that they could not even see the
+water, or each other.  They had rowed mechanically, sometimes 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 they could not burn in the fog.  The old man
+lent a strong hand to pull up the boat upon the beach, and to lift out
+the benumbed rowers; and they 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, her
+mistress bent over her and whispered--
+
+"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 oh, madame, let him never know how it
+really was!"
+
+"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.
+
+
+Great was Stiorna's consternation at Hund's non-appearance the next
+day, seeing us she did with her own eyes that the boat was safe in its
+proper place.  She saw that no one wished him back.  He was rarely
+spoken of, and then it was with dislike or fear; and when she wept over
+the idea of his being drowned, or carried off 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.
+
+Erlingsen and Rolf came home sooner than might reasonably have been
+expected, and well laden with bears' flesh.  The whole family of bears
+had been found and shot.
+
+[Illustration: He sometimes hammered at his skiff.]
+
+Erlingsen kept a keen and constant look-out upon the fiord.  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.
+
+So came on and passed away the spring of this year at Erlingsen's farm.
+It soon passed, for spring in Nordland lasts only a month.  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.
+
+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 soon follow, and every one else
+was reconciled to one who had suffered so long going to her rest.
+
+One day Rolf led Erica to the grave when they knew that no one was
+there.
+
+"Now," he said, "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."
+
+"What uncertainties?  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!"
+
+Erica 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 Hund 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?"
+
+"I am not speaking of Nipen now--(not because 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 had become of you if
+you and Hund should meet there."
+
+"I will promise you not to go farther down, while alone, than Vogel
+islet, unless it is quite certain that Hund and the pirates are far
+enough off in another direction.  I partly think as you do, and as
+Erlingsen does, that they meant to come for me the night you carried
+off their boat; so I will 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 hand, 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 the hot sun.  "I shall think of you all while I am
+fishing," he went on.  "I shall fancy you making ready for the
+seater.[2]  How happy we shall be, Erica, when we once get to the
+seater!"
+
+
+
+[2] The mountain pasture belonging to a farm is called its seater.
+
+
+
+Erica sighed, and pressed her lover's hand as he held hers.
+
+
+Who was ever happier than Rolf, when abroad in his skiff, on one of the
+most glorious days of the year!  He found his angling 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.  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 brought Erica with him, so lovely was the scene.
+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 sunlight.  A pair of fishing eagles were
+perched on a high ledge of rock, screaming to the echoes.  On went
+Rolf, beyond the bounds of prudence, as many have done before him.  He
+soon found himself in a still and somewhat dreary region, where there
+was no motion but of the sea-birds, and of the air which appeared to
+quiver before the eye, from the evaporation caused by the heat of the
+sun.  Leisurely and softly did Rolf 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 awhile.  There lay Vogel islet looming in the heated
+atmosphere.  He was roused at length by a shout, and looked towards the
+point from which it came; and there, in a little harbour of the fiord,
+a recess which now actually lay behind him--between him and home--lay a
+vessel; and that vessel he knew, by a second glance, was the
+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 Hund; and he
+fancied he heard Hund'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 how
+their wake lengthened with every stroke!  No spectator from the shore
+(if there had been any) could have doubted that the boat was in pursuit
+of the skiff, and would snap it up presently.  Rolf 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.
+
+When very near the islet, however, he 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 reappearance 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 this, and prepared to do the same.  They
+rowed quite round the islet; but, to their amazement, they could not
+only perceive no place to land at, but there was no trace 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.
+Hund thought the case was accounted for, when he recalled Nipen's
+displeasure.
+
+The rowers wondered, 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 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 splash 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 down 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, hanging 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 was
+no light but a little which found its way 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
+enough 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 imagine how he was to get away; for his
+friends would certainly never think of coming to look for him here; but
+he put off the consideration of this point for the present, and turned
+away from the image of Erica's distress when he should fail to return.
+He amused himself now with imagining Hund's disappointment, and the
+reports which would arise from it; and he found this so very
+entertaining that he laughed aloud; and then the echo of his laughter
+sounded so very merry 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 was so great overhead, that any spectator
+might have been excused for believing that Vogel islet was indeed
+bewitched.
+
+
+Rolf 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 off 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 every steep along the fiord, that he doubted the
+safety of 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 him off; but, besides that the pirates were more likely to
+see him than anybody else, he believed 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, however, having heard Peder say that when he was young,
+there might be seen hanging down one part of the precipice the remains
+of a birchen ladder, which must have been made and placed there by
+human 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 would take the waters at their warmest, and try and try
+again to make a footing upon the islet.
+
+His cave was really a very pretty place.  The golden light which
+blesses the high and low places of the earth did not disdain to cheer
+and adorn even this humble chamber, which the waters had patiently
+scooped out of the hard rock.  As the sun drew to its setting, near the
+middle of the Nordland summer night, it levelled its golden rays
+through the cleft, and made the place far more brilliant than at noon.
+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.  Rolf
+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 that there was a great deal of driftwood
+accumulated; and some of it thrown into such distant corners as to
+prove that the waves could dash up to a much higher water-line, in
+stormy weather, than he had supposed.  No matter!  He hoped 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 light, 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 every sprout of it, and laid some of the drift-wood on
+a spot above high-water mark, picking out the driest pieces of firewood
+he could find for kindling a flame.
+
+When this was done, he made haste to heap up a bed of fine dry sand in
+a corner; and here he lay down as the twilight darkened.  For this one
+night he could rest without any very painful thoughts of poor Erica;
+for she was prepared for his remaining out till the middle of the next
+day, at least.
+
+When he awoke in the morning, the scene was marvellously changed.  His
+cave was so dim that he could scarcely distinguish its white floor from
+its rocky sides.  The water was low, and the cleft therefore enlarged;
+so that he saw at once that now was the time for making his fire--now
+when there was the freest access for the air.  Yet he could not help
+pausing to admire what he saw.  He could see now a long strip of the
+fiord--a perspective of waters and of shores, ending in a lofty peak
+still capped with snow, and glittering in the sunlight.  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
+with 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 well 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 the night.  He presently threw
+water over his burning brands, and hoped that nothing had been seen of
+the process of preparing his breakfast.
+
+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?"
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Hund.  "What became of the skiff, then?"
+
+"True," said the man; and, shaking his head, he passed on, and spoke to
+the master.
+
+In his own secret mind, the master of the schooner did not quite like
+his present situation.  After hearing the words dropped by his crew, he
+did not relish being stationed between the bewitched islet and the head
+of the fiord, where all the residents were, of course, enemies.  As
+there was now a light wind, enough to take his vessel down, he gave
+orders accordingly.
+
+Slowly, and at some distance, the schooner passed the islet, and all on
+board crowded together to see what they could see.  None saw anything
+remarkable; but all heard something.  There was a faint muffled sound
+of knocks--blows such as were never heard in a mere haunt of sea-birds.
+It was evident that the birds were disturbed by it.  They rose and
+fell, made short flights and came back again, fluttered, and sometimes
+screamed.  But if they were quiet for a minute, the knock, knock, was
+heard again, with great regularity, and every knock went to Hund's
+heart.
+
+The fact was that, after breakfast, Rolf soon became tired of having
+nothing to do.  The water was so very cold that he deferred till noon
+the attempt to swim round the islet.  He thought he 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 over a hole.  It was discouraging
+work enough; but it helped to pass the hours till the restless waters
+reached their highest mark in the cave, when he knew that it was noon,
+and time for his little expedition.
+
+It was too cold by far for safe swimming.  All the snows of Sulitelma
+could hardly have made the waters more chilly to the swimmer than they
+felt at the first plunge.  But Rolf would not retreat for this reason.
+He thought of the sunshine outside, 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.  When 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 in 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 which 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 down
+between him and them shook with the wind of their oars, and dipped into
+the waves.  He laughed silently when he heard one of them swear that he
+would not leave the spot till he had seen something, upon which another
+rebuked his 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 Rolf, "and then give
+him such an answer as may send a guilty man away quicker than he came."
+
+He waited till they were on the opposite side, so that his voice might
+appear to come from the summit of the islet, and then began with the
+melancholy 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 singular
+that Rolf and Oddo should have used the same sound; but they probably
+chose it as the most mournful they knew.  Rolf 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.
+
+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
+information against them, if ever he should again make his way to a
+town or village, and see the face of a magistrate.  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 heads of families remained in the farmhouses almost
+alone, and little likely to put out so far into the fiord as to pass
+near him.  To drive off thoughts of his poor distressed Erica, he
+sometimes 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 was certain he was seen.  Hund 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, with 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
+his knee and let his comrade take all the trouble of rowing home again.
+
+This vision decided Hund's proceedings.  Half-crazed with remorse, he
+left the pirates that night.  After long consideration where to go, he
+decided upon returning to Erlingsen's.  He did not know to what extent
+they suspected him; he was pretty sure that they held no proofs against
+him.  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.
+
+Hund performed his journey by night.  He did not for a moment think of
+going by the fiord.  Laboriously and diligently therefore he overcame
+the difficulties of the path, crossing ravines, wading through swamps,
+scaling rocks, leaping across water-courses, and only now and then
+throwing himself down on some tempting slope of grass, to wipe his
+brows, and to moisten his parched throat with the wild strawberries
+which were fast ripening in the sheltered nooks of the hills.  It was
+now so near midsummer, and the nights were so fast melting into the
+days, that Hund could at the latest scarcely see a star, though there
+was not a fleece of cloud in the whole circle of the heavens.  While
+yet the sun was sparkling on the fiord, and glittering on every
+farmhouse window that fronted the west, all around was as still as if
+the deepest darkness had settled down.  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.  There were a
+few extremely faint stars--a very few--for only the brightest could now
+show themselves in the sky where daylight lingered so as never quite to
+depart.  A pale green hue remained where the sun had disappeared, and a
+deep red glow was even now beginning to kindle where he was soon to
+rise.  But man must have rest, be the sun high or sunk beneath the
+horizon; so that Hund saw no face, and heard no human voice, before he
+found himself standing at the top of the steep rocky pathway which led
+down to Erlingsen's abode.
+
+He found everything in a different state from that in which he had left
+the place.  The stable-doors stood wide, and there was no trace of
+milk-pails.  The hurdles of the fold were piled upon one another in a
+corner of the yard.  It was plain that herd, flock, and dairy-women
+were gone to the mountain; and though Hund 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.
+
+His eye fell upon the boat which lay gently rocking with the receding
+tide in its tiny cove; and he resolved to lie down in it and rest,
+while considering what to do next.  He went down, stepping gently over
+the pebbles of the beach lest his tread should reach and waken any ear
+through the open windows, lay down at the bottom of the boat, and fell
+asleep.
+
+Oddo was the first to come forth, 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 hay 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 the premises during the night.
+He followed these marks to the boat, where he was amazed to find the
+enemy (as he called Hund) fast asleep.  Oddo was 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 which had 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.
+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 from rising.
+
+"Only tell me," Erica was heard to say, "only tell me where and how he
+died.  I know 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.
+Was it Nipen?  O Hund, speak!  Say only where his body is, and I will
+try--I will try never to speak to you again--never to----"
+
+[Illustration: No other than the Mountain-Demon.]
+
+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 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 try to make us answer for their
+doings.  The very 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 mistress.
+
+"I had landed the pastor some hours before, madame; and I took nobody
+else with 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 whip away the boat before
+you came back?  Are you quite sure that you sprawled on the rock at all
+before you ran away from the horrible cry you 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 with 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 knew 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, looking full in his face.
+
+"No," returned Hund firmly.  From his manner everybody believed this
+much.
+
+"Do you know that anybody else has killed him?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you know whether he is alive or dead?"
+
+To this Hund 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
+accusations, 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?  Oh, what?" cried Erica.
+
+"He was seen fishing on the fiord in that poor little worn-out skiff.
+I myself saw him.  And when I looked next for the skiff, it was gone."
+
+"And where were you?"
+
+"Never mind where I was.  I was about my own business.  And I tell you,
+I no more laid a finger on him than any one of you."
+
+"Where was it?"
+
+"Close by Vogel islet."
+
+Erica started, and in one moment's flush of hope told that Rolf had
+said he should be safe at any time near Vogel islet.  Hund caught at
+her words so eagerly as to make a favourable impression on all, who
+saw, what was indeed the truth, that he would have been glad to know
+that Rolf was alive.
+
+"I believe some of the things you have told.  I believe that you did
+not lay hands on Rolf."
+
+"Bless you!  Bless you for that!" interrupted Hund, almost forgetting
+how far he really was guilty.
+
+"Tell me then," proceeded Erica, "how you believe he really perished."
+
+"I believe," whispered Hund, "that the strong hand pulled him
+down--down to the bottom."
+
+"I knew it," said Erica, turning away.
+
+"Erica--one word," exclaimed Hund.  "I must stay here--I am very
+miserable, and I must stay here and work, and work till I get some
+comfort.  But you must tell me how you think of me--you must say that
+you do not hate me----"
+
+"I do hate you," said Erica with disgust, as her suspicions of his
+wanting to fill Rolf's place were renewed, "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 everything else that you 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."
+
+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 when
+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."
+
+"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 inaccessible to human foot, and
+that that was the reason why the fowl flourished there as they did in
+no other place.  Erica must not be permitted to go so far down among
+the haunts of the pirates.  Instead of this, her mistress had just
+decided that, as there were no present means of getting rid of Hund,
+and as Erica could not be expected to remain just now in his presence,
+she should set off immediately for the mountain, and request Erlingsen
+to come home.
+
+Under Peder's urgency she made up her bundle of clothes, took in her
+hand her lure,[3] with which to call home the cattle in the evenings,
+bade her mistress farewell privately, and stole away without Hund's
+knowledge.
+
+
+
+[3] The lure is a wooden trumpet, nearly five feet long, made of two
+hollow pieces of birch-wood, bound together throughout the whole length
+with slips of willow.  It is used to call the cattle together on a wide
+pasture.
+
+
+
+Wandering with unwilling steps farther and farther from the spot where
+she had last seen Rolf, Erica 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 dwelling she had left.  Thor islet lay like a
+fragment of the leafy forest cast into the blue waters, but Vogel islet
+could not be seen.  It was not too far down to be seen from an
+elevation like this, but it was hidden behind the promontories by which
+the fiord was contracted.  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
+inclination to be joined by a party of wandering Laplanders, still less
+by any neighbour from the fiord who might think civility required that
+he should escort her to the seater.  This wayfarer was walking at a
+pace so much faster than hers that he would soon pass, and she would
+hide among the rocks beside the tarn at the head of the ravine till he
+had gone by.
+
+Through the 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 surrounded them.
+
+In the shadow of one of these rocks, Erica sank down into the long
+grass.  Here she would remain long enough to let the other wayfarer
+have a good start up the mountain, and by that time she should be cool
+and tranquillised.  She hid her face in the fragrant grass, and did not
+look up again till the grief of her soul was stilled.  Then her eye and
+her heart were open to the beauty of the place which she had made her
+temple of worship, and she gazed around till she saw something that
+surprised her.
+
+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.
+
+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 haste and get
+it over.  The man approached and 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 wishing to be alone, she had not
+dreamed of being afraid till now; but now it occurred to her that she
+was seeing the rarest of sights--one not seen twice in a century, no
+other than the mountain-demon.
+
+She sprang to her feet, and began to wade back through the high grass
+to the pathway, almost expecting to be seized by a strong hand and cast
+into the unfathomable tarn, whose waters were said to well up 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
+countryman of hers.
+
+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 settlement 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 assistance 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 interest 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 stranger burst into a loud laugh at her question: and very like a
+mocking fiend he looked, as his thick beard parted to show his wide
+mouth, with its two ranges of teeth.  When he finished laughing, he
+said, "No, no--we no fear bishop."
+
+"'We!'" 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 was 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.
+
+Her companion seemed not to understand or attend to what she said.
+
+When Erica saw that she had no demon for a companion, but only a
+foreigner, she was so much relieved as not to be afraid at all.
+
+The stranger pointed 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 Hund now your friend?"
+
+"Hund is nobody's friend, unless he happens to be yours," Erica
+replied, perceiving at once that 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 curiosity as this.  She did
+not reply; and while silent, was not sorry to hear the distant sound of
+cattle-bells--and Erlingsen's cattle-bells too.  The stranger did not
+seem to notice the sound, even though quickening his pace to suit
+Erica's, who 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 satisfactory knowledge as
+to whether he was really dead.  Erica stopped, and her eager looks made
+the inquiry 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 conversation 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, and walked away rapidly.
+
+The only thing now to be done was to run forwards.  Erica forgot heat,
+weariness, and the safety of her 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 haycocks
+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 gathering berries,
+instead of having an eye on the cattle!"
+
+"But why are your hands empty?" asked Frolich.  "Who is to lend you
+clothes?  And what will the cows say to your leaving your lure behind,
+when you know they like it so much better than Stiorna's?"
+
+Erica returned for her bundle and lure; and then 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 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.  The
+far-off herdsman observed 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 threw herself down at Erica's feet.
+
+"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."
+
+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 anything."
+
+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 news.  "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 gather more
+berries, Frolich.  There are not half enough."
+
+
+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.  He 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, and set off at a
+good pace down the mountain.
+
+Scarcely a word was spoken (though the mountain-dairies have the
+reputation of being the merriest places in the world), 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 her
+ill-humour, while she might easily spoil the cheese, that Erica put
+away her knitting, tied on her apron, tucked up her sleeves, and
+prepared for the great work.
+
+"Frolich," said Erica, "is the cream good?"
+
+"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 flowers!  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, dolefully looking at the cream,
+which had reached such a point 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 away 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,
+patiently 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 Norway 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 might yet be done in time, even if
+Frolich should be sent for from home to see and be seen by the good
+bishop.
+
+
+The day after Erica's departure to the dairy, Peder was sitting alone
+in his house weaving a frail basket.  He sighed to think how empty and
+silent the house appeared.  Erica's light, active step was gone.
+Rolf's hearty laugh was silent, perhaps for ever.  Oddo was an inmate
+still, but Oddo was much altered of late; and who could wonder?
+
+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 through a ballad of a hundred 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 voice, which sank to a
+whisper as he said, "I have left Hund laying the troughs to water the
+meadow;[4] 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."
+
+
+
+[4] The strips of meadow which lie between high rocks in Norway would
+be parched by the reflection of the long summer sunshine, and
+unproductive, if the inhabitants did not use great industry in the
+irrigation of their lands.  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.
+
+
+
+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 crazy with
+horror soon.  I am not sure that he is not crazy now."
+
+"He has murdered Rolf, has he?"
+
+"I can't be sure.  He is like one bewitched, that cannot hold his
+tongue.  While 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 within 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 brow (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--two days
+after they were drowned."
+
+"Ay!  Indeed!  Did he ask that?"
+
+"Yes, and several other things.  He asked whether 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 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 was 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 picking 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 nothing about the bishop's visits."
+
+[Illustration: At the end of a ledge he found the remains of a ladder
+made of birch-poles.]
+
+"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 could hear that the bishop was drawing near."
+
+"He would not agree to that, I fancy."
+
+"He asked how far out I thought of going.  Of course I said to Vogel
+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 off.  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?"
+
+"Not 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?"
+
+"Not a bit of it.  Depend upon it, Rolf is all alive, if he is swimming
+and staring, and throwing his arms about in the water.  I think I see
+him now.  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 Vogel islet, dropping something about being safe
+there from pirates and everything?"
+
+Peder really thought there was something in this.  He sent off 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 necessity 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 whether 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, carrying a note from Madame Erlingsen to her
+neighbours 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 obliging; so that the boat was soon in fast career down
+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 common 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 the boat,
+but that it was impossible to make them row beyond a certain point.  He
+had used as much discretion as Peder himself about not revealing the
+precise place of their destination; and when Vogel 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 his
+resolution they shipped their oars, and refused to strike another
+stroke, unless one of them might steer.  That island had a bad
+reputation, it was betwitched or haunted; and in that direction the men
+would not go.  They were willing to do all they could to oblige; they
+would row twenty miles without resting with pleasure; but they would
+not brave Nipen, nor any other demon, for any consideration.
+
+"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 again."
+
+"I will leave you my supper, if you will wait for us here, on this
+headland," said Oddo to the man.
+
+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
+supper on any account--would remain on the watch--wished their friends
+would be persuaded; and, when they found all persuasion in vain,
+declared they would bear testimony to Erica, and as long as they should
+live, to the bravery of the old 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 observe anything strange, tell me exactly what you see."
+
+"I will, 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."
+
+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 climbed; and if I mount, Rolf may have mounted before
+me."
+
+It chilled Peder's heart to remember the 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 getting 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 Rolf 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 Rolf asleep
+in his solitude, and the fun of standing over him to waken him, and
+witness his surprise.  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 with
+his eye any ledge of the rock on which he might mount.  Pulling off his
+shoes that his bare feet might have the better hold, and stripping off
+almost all his clothes, for lightness in climbing and perhaps swimming,
+he clambered up to more than one promising spot, and then, finding that
+further progress was impossible, had to come down again.  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 downwards, having its roots firmly fixed in
+a crevice of the rock.  This gave him hold of another, which brought
+him in reach of a third, so that, making his way like a squirrel or a
+monkey, he found himself hanging at such a height that 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 depending upon the safety of his
+companion, animated 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 remains 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 that 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 ladder, 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 he was used to
+dangerous climbing--that he had had adventures on the slippery, 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
+projection of the rock, or any root of the smallest shrub.  More than
+one pole cracked, more than one fastening gave way, when 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.  Never 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 whistled 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 was to get down again.
+
+Never had he seen a place so full of water-birds and their nests.
+Their nests strewed all the ground, and they themselves were 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 leading their broods
+allowed 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 that 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 that he had learnt 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 continued, 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 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 what demon carried you to
+the top of that rock, that no man ever climbed?"
+
+Oddo looked mysterious, suddenly resolving to keep his secret for the
+present.
+
+"Not 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.  His grandfather must be growing anxious, and he
+was not perfectly sure yet whether his guide might not be Nipen in
+Rolf'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 extremely 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 with 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 amazement of Peder
+and Oddo at Rolf's 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.
+
+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 with the oars of the poor broken
+skiff, being obliged to leave the skiff itself behind.  Rolf did not
+forget to bring away whole handfuls of beautiful shells, which he had
+amused himself with collecting for Erica.
+
+At last they entered the boat again; and while they were dressing, Oddo
+charmed his grandfather with a description of the cave--of the dark,
+sounding walls, the lofty roof, and the green tide breaking on the
+white sands.  It almost made the 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.
+
+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 anybody.  I did not know it fully myself till now."
+
+"Right, my boy; and right to say it out too."
+
+"I don't care now who knows how miserable I have been.  I did not
+believe, all the time, that Nipen 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 provoke 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 that 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 that 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."
+
+The comrades who were waiting and watching on 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 answered some fully and truly,
+while he showed reserve 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 sight at which one
+of the rowers was to be landed.  Oddo then exclaimed--
+
+"I wonder what we all have 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 to
+say nothing yet.  You have proved your kindness, friends, in coming on
+this expedition, but for which I should have died in my hole, like a
+superannuated bear in its den.  This is a story that the whole country
+will hear of; and our grandchildren will tell it, on winter nights,
+when there is talk of the war that brought the pirates on our coasts.
+The best way will be for you to set me ashore some way short 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 will 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 her it is only you."
+
+"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 wisest 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 show yourself to your betrothed in such a trim as
+that she will be glad to see you."
+
+"Do so, Rolf," urged Peder.  Everybody 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 roadside, dying of
+his exertions to reach her.  Rolf tried to laugh at all this; but he
+could not contradict it.
+
+All took place as it was settled in the boat.  Before the people on a
+neighbour'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 neighbours 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 with nothing else but a few rye-cakes and a flask of the
+everlasting corn-brandy, he set forth, thanking his hosts very heartily
+for their care, and somewhat mysteriously assuring them that they would
+hear something soon, and that meantime they had better not have to be
+sought far from home.
+
+As he expected, he met no one whom he knew.  Nine-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 farmhouse that he passed,
+thinking how the pirates might ransack the dwellings if they should
+happen to discover that few inhabitants remained in them but those
+whose limbs were 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 had become visible instead.  As for
+the security which some talked of from there being so little worth
+taking in the Nordland farmhouses--this might be true if only one house
+was to be attacked, and that 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
+find little or none; but in some families there were gold chains,
+crosses, and earrings, 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 would cast no eye or
+thought upon their comforts till he should have given such information
+in the proper quarters as should deprive them of the power of doing
+mischief in this neighbourhood.
+
+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
+something else--a transient sound which surprised Rolf--voices of men,
+who seemed, if he could judge from so rapid a hint, to be talking
+angrily.  He began to consider whom, besides Oddo, Elringsen 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, keeping a vigilant watch all around, and ready
+to pop down into the grass on any alarm.  Being unable to see anyone
+near the tarn, he was convinced the talkers must be seated under the
+crags on its margin; and he therefore made a circuit to get behind the
+rocks, and then climbed a huge fragment, which seemed to have been
+toppled down from some steep, and to have rolled to the brink of the
+water.  Two stunted pines grew out from the summit of this crag; and
+between 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 undoubtedly 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 old 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 Nordland; and
+now that I would 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 deserter--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 fight against my master and his
+people?"
+
+"Nobody was ever so foolish as to expect you to fight, more or less, I
+should think.  No, 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 burning 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 day 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."
+
+[Illustration: In desperation Hund, unarmed as he was, threw himself
+upon the pirate.]
+
+Hund sprang to his feet in an agony of passion.  The well-armed pirate
+was up as soon as he.  Rolf drew back two paces, to be out of sight, if
+by chance they should look up, and armed himself with a heavy stone.
+He heard the pirate say--
+
+"You can try 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--with a stone tied round your neck, like a drowned wild 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 heavy 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 water, precisely in the middle of the little lake.  The
+men did not see the cause of the commotion that followed; but, staring
+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, "the bird saw it.  Did you see it?"
+
+"See what?"
+
+"The water-sprite, Uldra.  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 drawn 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 different 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," thought Rolf, "it is his conscience that makes me so much more
+terrible to him than that ruffian.  I never hurt a hair of his head;
+and yet, through his conscience, my face is worse than the blasting
+lightning to his eyes.  Heigh-ho!  Where is Erlingsen?  It is nothing
+short of cruel to keep me waiting to-day, of all days; 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 minds' 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 planned where she would place them, so as best
+to adorn their sitting-room, when 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 Hund 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 wanted to raise the country against the
+pirates; and I believe 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 the 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."
+
+"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.  My 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 that we shall see her at breakfast."
+
+"It is more likely," observed Rolf, "that we 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 the 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 plundering practices which Rolf 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 bishop
+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 information which 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 issue the budstick,[5]
+to raise the country.  The pirates having once entered the upper reach
+of the fiord, might thus be prevented from ever going back again, and
+from annoying any more the neighbourhood which they had so long
+infested.
+
+
+
+[5] When it is desired to send a summons or other message over a
+district in Norway where 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
+fireside;" 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.
+
+
+
+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 advantage 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 went on their several ways--Oddo speeding over the
+ridges like a sprite on a night errand, and Rolf striding up the grassy
+slopes like (what he was) a lover anxious to be beside his betrothed
+after a perilous absence.
+
+
+This was the day when the first cheese of the season was found to be
+perfect and complete.  Frolich, Stiorna, and Erica examined it
+carefully, and pronounced 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.
+
+"I know why you will not let me carry the cheese," said Frolich,
+smiling.  "You are thinking 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 which she laid it would have 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 stayed to do her duty.  She selected the softest tuft of moss on
+which to lay the cheese, put her offering reverently down, and then
+diligently gathered the brightest blossoms from the herbage around, and
+strewed them over 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 while, she would have seen her offering
+carried off by an odd little figure, with nothing very terrible in its
+appearance--namely, a woman about four feet high, with a flat face, and
+eyes wide apart, wearing a reindeer garment like a waggoner'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
+would not have thought of asking to sit down even in her master's
+kitchen; for the Norwegian servants are very high and saucy towards the
+Laps 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, and threw 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
+milkings 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 Norway 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 had 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
+dairy 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
+whether 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
+mummery?
+
+Erica replied by showing that Jan was already gone to his loft over the
+shed, and begging leave to 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 crouched 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 up 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."
+
+"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 mistress, 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 softening of the light which 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 therefore wholly Rolf's.  She could endure now to
+contemplate 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 Rolf'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 mistress
+should see a trace of repining in her countenance, or hear a tone of
+bitterness from her lips.  However weary her heart might be, she would
+dance at every wedding--of fellow-servant or of young mistress.  She
+would cloud nobody's happiness, but would do all she could to make
+Rolf's memory pleasant to those who had known him, and wished him well.
+
+Her eyes rested on the lovely scene before her.  From the elevation at
+which she was, it appeared as if the ocean swelled up into the very
+sky, so high was the 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 shadow, 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 without 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 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,
+compact, 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 involuntarily turn her head in that direction.  Instantly
+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 steadfastly at
+the herd.  They were safe--neither reduced to the size of mice, nor
+wandering 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 was one sun, the sun she had 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 wood.
+Though it crossed her mind that the wood-demon was doubtless there
+making choice of his axe and his tree, she could not move, and had not
+even a wish to take refuge in the house, so wonderful was his
+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!" 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 doubtless
+see some horrid monster.  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 had 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 was the figure of a man advancing
+from the shadow into the pasture.  "Why do you take that form?" said
+the trembling 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."
+
+"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 Mid-summer 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 Midsummer 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," cried 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 bottom of the sea."
+
+And once more she shrank from what she took for the grasp of a drowned
+man.
+
+"Not to the bottom, love," replied he, still clasping her hand.  "Our
+fiord is deep, perhaps as deep as they say.  I dived 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 exclaimed, now in full belief.
+"Thank God!  Thank God!"  And she wept upon his shoulder.
+
+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 completely she had forgotten the
+cattle and the underground 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 fortune of this Midsummer Eve had been perfect.
+
+The appearance of Stiorna reminded the lovers that it was time to begin
+the business of the morning.  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 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 Nordland ever saw."
+
+"Prepare, then, to see the Bishop of Tronyem drink his morning coffee
+out of a wooden bowl.  Meantime, I must go and grind his coffee.
+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.  Hund 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."
+
+Never had Frolich dressed more quickly.  She thought it very hard that
+the bishop should see her when she had 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 was 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 night, 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 was 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 foot-stool, 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.
+
+All being done now for which a strong man 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 prisoner, 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.
+
+[Illustration: It was Hund, with his feet tied under his horse, and the
+bridle held by a man on each side.]
+
+Presently 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 strawberries,
+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, a jar 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
+below, sent by Rolf 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 thanks, and because it is
+considered unlucky to send away Lapps without a treat, other mountain
+dwellers came with offerings of various wild fowl, so that the dresser
+was loaded with game enough to feed half a hundred hungry men.
+
+Erica and Frolich returned to their breakfast-table, to make the new
+arrangements now necessary, 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.
+
+"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."
+
+To Frolich's delight and surprise she appeared too busy--or was rather,
+perhaps, too happy--to lament this mischance, as she would formerly
+have done.  Just when a youth from the highest pasture on Sulitelma had
+come running and panting, to present Frolich with 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 preparation.  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.
+
+The bishop's reputation preceded him, as is usual in such cases.  As
+his horse, followed by those which bore the ladies, reached the house
+door, all present cried--
+
+"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
+of journeys of pleasure.  Yet here he was on Sulitelma!
+
+When he and M. Kollsen and the ladies had dismounted, 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 was
+an awkward situation enough, sitting there bound before everybody'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 occasions, 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 possible from understanding the
+matter, he was unspeakably relieved to find that he had not the death
+of his rival to answer for.  It made his countenance 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.  "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 There's, Kyril's, Tank's,
+and other places along the shore, about which information has been
+given by a witness."
+
+"There'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
+witnessed 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.
+
+
+When 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
+Norge_.  Instead of permitting them to stop, on account of his arrival,
+he joined in the song; solely because his heart was in it.  As he
+looked around him, and saw deep shades and sunny uplands, blue glaciers
+above, green pastures and glittering waters below, and all around,
+herds on every hillside, 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 companions 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 bishop
+was now about to attack the mischief vigorously.
+
+The bishop only took his seat--the mossy seat prepared for him--and
+declared himself to be now at the service of any who wished to consult
+or converse with him.  Instead of thrusting his own opinions and
+reproofs upon them, as it was M. Kollsen'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 were not 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.
+
+"I wish," said Erica, with a sigh--"I do wish I knew what to think
+about Nipen."
+
+"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 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
+believed, 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 Nipen, or any demon in the forest, or on the mountain.
+
+"This 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 whichever 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
+they thought were alive, pleased to make sport with them."
+
+"As people who ought to know better," observed 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 child
+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
+nothing at any time, because His Father was with Him."
+
+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.'[6]  In the wilds of the country every
+man's faith will hereafter be his watchman, crying 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."
+
+
+
+[6] The watchman's call in the towns of Norway.
+
+
+
+"Oh!" 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 not
+explain 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 is the most difficult thing in the world to ask questions which one
+knows will be despised."
+
+M. Kollsen glanced in the bishop's face, to see how he took this, and
+how he 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 her
+superstition about a sacred mountain."
+
+There was a long silence, which was 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 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 budstick 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 himself was as interested in what was going
+on as if the farm had been his home.  He was actually the first at the
+ridge.
+
+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
+proceedings 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 any hands but 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
+companies, 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
+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 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 promontory, and was stealing up
+with a soft west wind.
+
+The girls 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, full of
+men, put off from the schooner, and creep towards Erlingsen's cove
+under the shadow of the rocks.  He told how the country people
+immediately 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 exclamation, 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 father, and begged to be
+allowed to take the schooner.  My father laughed so that I thought Oddo
+would be for going over to the enemy."
+
+"No fear of that," said Erica.  "Oddo has a brave, faithful 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 this boy," observed the bishop.  "Did your father
+grant his request?" he inquired of Orga.
+
+"At last he did.  Oddo said that a young boy could do little good in
+the fight at the farm; but that 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."
+
+"Who would submit to be under Oddo's command?" 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--my 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 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
+thankful, if indeed the pirates were taken.
+
+At the bishop's question about who would 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
+herself, 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, there 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 Erlingsen, Rolf, Peder, and Oddo were all safe and
+unhurt.
+
+Oddo was superintending the unlading of the schooner, and was appointed
+by the magistrate, at his master's desire, head guard of the property,
+as it lay on the beach, till the necessary evidence of 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 Erlingsen.  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.
+
+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 undeserved by the
+district, for the Bishop of Tronyem to marry Rolf and Erica before he
+left Nordland.  The bishop wished to make some acknowledgment 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 pleasure 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,
+because he would leave Peder in a condition of greater comfort; and she
+even smiled to herself as she thought how rapidly she might improve the
+appearance of the house during his absence, so that he should delight
+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 would 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 consented,
+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 neighbours 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 offered 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 Hund's rival; but every one else was glad to 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
+bridegroom 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.
+
+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 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 which he uttered with 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 walketh in darkness; nor for the
+destruction that wasteth at noon-day.  When you shall have made the
+Lord your habitation, 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 TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Feats on the Fiord, by Harriet Martineau
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