Signe and Margret and Bergel had invited girls from neighboring saeters, and a good thing, too, for Gustav had brought his accordion and Evart his fiddle. There was dancing and singing and laughter under the trees. Arne and Bergel joined in the fun, for they could do the old folk dances as well as any of them.
Then a feast was spread out on the long table—fish and cheese and lefse and big bowls of berries with whipped cream, and kringler and cakes and cookies of all kinds. Bergel’s gammelost was praised enough to make the young cheesemaker very proud.
The fun stopped toward evening, but only long enough for the girls to get in the cows and goats and do their milking, to make fresh coffee and replenish the dishes on the table. Then the dancing started again and went on far into the long summer evening.
At last the party from the village started down the trail for home, reluctantly, to be sure, but singing and laughing nevertheless.
It was a sleepy Arne who tumbled into his feather bed at last. This had been a long day, but a wonderful one.
4
The Stjerne came into port a few days later, and Gustav sailed away as first mate. He was so happy about it that Arne couldn’t help feeling some of that happiness too. He remembered what fun it had been to go up the fjord on the Laks, and he didn’t blame anyone for wanting to go to sea.
But Gustav was sailing far away this time, all the way to South America, touching at many ports on the voyage. It would be a long time before he returned.