Tales from the German. Volume I.

by C. F. van der Velde

Arwed, who had listened in silent wonder to Megret's observations, which were wholly unintelligible to him, had in the meantime ridden to the other side of Christine, and there assisted Knut in supporting the poor girl in her saddle while they slowly returned to the carriage, from which the governor had taken the horses in order to send the coachman to the belligerents, as a reinforcement.

'Thank heaven, it is not necessary!' cried he, glancing at Arwed, and, extending his hand, he affectionately exclaimed, 'my brave son!'

'We bring you a patient,' said Arwed, lifting Christine from her horse, with Knut's assistance, and placing her in the carriage by her father's side.

'Yes, no dissuasion could prevent it,' answered the governor. She would go. She has had her way, and I am glad the unmanageable girl has for once been compelled to yield to the weakness of her sex.'

At this moment Christine opened her eyes. Her glance at first fell upon Arwed with inexpressible tenderness. She then shrunk and trembled as though her soul was subdued by some horrible fear. Terror and dismay were depicted in her features, and she hid her face in the bosom of her astonished father.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The sun of the longest summer day shone brightly in the horizon, as the governor and his companions approached Tornea, the end of their journey, and the meanest among the (so called) cities of West Bothnia. It lies near the boundary of East Bothnia, upon the delta of the united rivers Tornea and Muonio, whose waters here again divide into two branches before falling into the gulf of Bothnia. The little place, with its towers, its handsome shops, and green shaded walks, nevertheless presented itself under a very pleasant aspect in the clear sunshine. In the city itself, however, the whole population of West Bothnia and its Lapponian districts appeared to have been concentrated, and in the streets and public square swarmed and pressed the joyous multitude, who were pouring in to obtain a redress of their grievances, to be relieved from their taxes, to buy and sell, and to enjoy themselves in so numerous a company. The thick-set and bold Finlanders, with flat yellow faces and dull gray eyes, their thin beards and dusky yellow hair, in their short coats, dome-shaped caps, and fur-trimmed half boots--the timid, short Laplanders, with their broad brown faces, large mouths, blear eyes, and dark brown hair, with their leather coats reaching to their knees, their small caps, and pointed, fur-trimmed sandals,--all were here,--bringing with them fat cattle, venison, sheepskins, bearskins, fish, reindeer cheeses, utensils carved from wood, reindeer's horns, and pine bark meal, in great quantities, for sale. Here came the wife of one of the poor fishermen of Lapland, in her high conical cap, turning out of the way for the reindeer upon which the wives of some of the rich mountain Laplanders proudly flaunted by, in their curved conical head-dresses. There, a Laplandish burgher-maiden ostentatiously displayed herself in her fine cloth dress, decorated with silver buttons from the girdle to the feet, as was the black bodice, and also rendered stiff and unbending with buckles and spangles. High over these rather diminutive figures towered here and there the majestic forms of the blond natives of Sweden, who were moving about like giants among a race of pigmies.

The travelers alighted before the door of the sheriff's residence, and the governor immediately entered upon business, which crowded upon him like the unceasing rush of the storm-lashed waves. Megret, with a few internally muttered oaths, was seeking Christine, who had disappeared from his view soon after their arrival, and Arwed remained standing at the house door, amusing himself with watching the confused crowd in the public square. While he was thus employed, a sudden movement occurred among the living masses, as if an island of human heads was forming in one particular spot. Arms, with and without clubs, were ever and anon raised above the thickly crowded heads, and a confused cry arose, in which Arwed soon plainly distinguished the words, 'stop him! stop him!' The next moment a man in a green hunting dress rushed from the square towards the door of the sheriff's house, ran by Arwed with such impetuosity that he came near throwing him down, and hastily entered the room where the governor was holding his official sitting. While the astonished Arwed was looking after the fugitive, a Lapland village constable (or magistrate) came puffing and blowing from the same direction in the square. A dozen other Laplanders followed in his wake, armed with hunting spears, oars and cudgels. With the timidity to which the oppressed are early accustomed by their oppressors, the little constable looked up to the tall Swedish warrior, took off his cap, and with cringing humility asked him if he knew what had become of the green-coat who had just before fled into the house.

'Impossible!' cried he, as Arwed pointed towards the session room; 'how could such a thievish fox seek refuge in the tent of the huntsman? Not that I in the least doubt the truth of your intimation, noble sir,' added he, courteously, 'but Enontekis must have mistaken the man, and he cannot be the one whom we seek.'

'He is the same,' asseverated one of the Laplanders; 'I have marked the features of his face but too well, and should know him among a thousand.'