| Show glimpses of norway i fuyi ff yi special cor esponde i ce the map of norway and sweden has often been compared to a rabbit jumping downward corresponding to the rabbit s eye Is a group of moun bains known by the name of joaun lelm containing the highest moun bains in europe north of the alps and gastol tind like the mont blanc monte kosa and Matt erhorn of switzerland the norwegian names are very baque and descriptive of the places themselves thus Jo tunheim means f the home of giants the shining peak and and the shaggy lopped mountain Jot is infinitely wilder and more rugged than switzerland though without the majesty of the high alps one can see glaciers coming down to the water s edge mountains sending precipitous cliffs into lakes that are as deep as the mountains are high and narrow arms of the sea the fjord running hundreds of miles in land the only swiss lake which any where resembles the combination of mountain and water of the norwegian fjords la lucerne and the celebrated Axen strasse and via mole have their counterparts in the land of the mid night sun from october to april the land Is itasta bound by snow and ice storms through the swaying pines and whirl eddies of snow down the moun tain sides and perchance the cry of i the wolf mingles with the voice of the then by the ruddy glow of the pinewood alre the mother rocks the cradle of her youngest as she tells her firstborn stories of the giants of route along the banks of streams and placid lakes through tan agles of willow and beech and stretches of pine over high and barren fields and rocky gorges in the early after noon I 1 found a saeter a solitary house in the midst of a clearing here I 1 was told of another saeter I 1 might hope to reach by nightfall the sun was al ready painting the sky and woodland crimson and gold when a turf grown lane was reached and the soft soil showed tracks of a cow and a pair of bare feet night was gathering over head when a wreath of smoke curling skyward betokened a a resting stace the saeter was reached and a night s shelter requested the wo man said she would gladly provide it but that other frem mede stran gers a woman and a little boy had arrived some time previous and would occupy the only spare bed the woman had come leading a cow and the little boy had ridden on its back how ever permission was obtained to sleep in the barn near by full of dry hay in the family room the house contained one big room to which everything else was merely accessory large bedsteads occupied two corners of the room a huge fire place with a brightly burning log fire occupied the third and a fourth con talked a cuckoo clock a table and some broad wooden benches the household consisted of a little beaz ened man his stalwart wife and a fair haired daughter of 15 or 16 his wife was about six feet high and broad old who lived in the heart of the mountains and of the sprites and gob lins who dwelt beneath the ice of the brooks and in the dim recesses of the forest one frequently puts up at the the people of noil way pay very few taxes but each man along a road will have so many yards of the road assigned to his care own ers of land and stock must within the district allotted to them provide shel ter and conveyance within a fixed time at a low rate of pay fixed by the government A is therefore a kind of relay station or hostelry where fresh horses will be supplied and refreshment provided for man and beast heads hewn through rock some of the roads over the moun bains are amongst the finest in the world hewn out and in some places tunneled through solid rock through precipitous gorges where pent up cat aralts form in ceaseless fury or along cliffs that descend abruptly into the calm waters of a lake or fjord at other times they glide snake like down some broad breasted slope or climb from the narrowing valley up to the tableland that spreads itself above but leaving the highways and the beaten tracks one can taste the joys of roaming with map and compass tor sole guides straying far from hotel and and leaving the mountain cabins in their fastnesses one lodges wherever shelter be found then one sees the people as they are finds out their primitive sim and hospitality and the town bred american discovers that miracle kiln hut and peasant of mil cles a people uninfluenced by greed of gain they are frugal be causo nature compels them to be so but thy are will ng to do a kindness to tha passing stranger as they them selves would hope to have a kindness done to them some of my most pleasing are of hours spent at baet ers far from town or hamlet where a strange face was a guest to be wel corned the word saeter is very nearly the equivalent of our word farm or ranch for though sometimes applied merely to a meadow it gener ally means ground which produces pio duces crops and has a dwelling upon it it was an unusually enjoyable day on which I 1 had lost myself and wan dered many miles from my intended in proportion and looked as if she could put her husband in her pocket on occasion her bare arms showed goodly muscles and petticoats reach ing only to the alees made her ap pear even taller than she was a peaceful feminine goliath the old man smoked his pipe by the light of blazing fire while the daughter combed out her long golden hair the little boy was already slumbering in one of the big beds and his mother was attending to tha cow while the hostess bustled about her household duties presently the latest comer asked permission to retire but he was bid den to wait a moment and he would be given something better than the barn that was a house where wo man s word was law so he sat meekly between the fire and the golden haired girl and watched his buxom hostess quickly she placed two benches side by side beneath the cuckoo clock fetched two huge armfuls of hay from the barn and spread them thereon went out again and brought some more with which to stuff a pillow case and finally covered all with homespun sheets and blankets then by the fit tul dancing of the dying flames pro ceedee a general but necessarily in complete disrobing host and hostess in one of the beds the hostess daugh ter and the woman and little boy in the other while the sixth occupant of the room lay beneath the cuckoo clock could hospitality go furthers 7 next morning the hostess was up before the dawn the crackling of dry wood in the flames of the open hearth and the grinding of coffee in a small wooden trough roused the slumber ers and the rich the crushed berries routed their appetites flad brod and coffee potatoes and butter porridge and sugar and cream made a meal tor a prince but such as princes rarely taste was not this better than a room in a hotel provided in ex change for a cooks tourist ticket |
