“But will they not recognize you from your horse and sleigh?”
“No, there’s nothing particular about the sleigh. It is true that I bought the horse in this neighborhood only last year; but we will cover him up with his travelling-cloth.”
The goal selected for the race proposed by the baron, and intrusted to the superintendence of Major Larrson, was the hogar which stood at the further end of the lake, about half a league from Stollborg and the new chateau. These two buildings, as we have said, were quite near each other, the one being built on an island not far from the shore, and the other on the shore itself. A hogar is a tumulus, or mound, such as are supposed to have been used as burial-places by the ancient Scandinavian chiefs. They are usually round, and very steep. The top is flat, and formerly, it is said, platforms were erected upon them, where the barbarian kings pronounced judgment, using them as courts of justice. They are met with in all parts of Sweden, and, indeed, are exceedingly numerous.
The one at which the race was to terminate presented a fantastic appearance; it had been crowned with a triple row of torches of resin, and through their dark red flames, and clouds of smoke, a gigantic white figure was visible, towering on high. This was a statue of snow, formless and colossal, which the peasants had built up during the day, by order of the baron. Knowing perfectly well the surname that had been conferred upon him, he had banteringly promised the ladies to show them, by way of a surprise, a portrait of himself upon the top of the mound. The rudeness of the work harmonized with the savage features of the landscape, and recalled the idols of former ages, with their large heads and short rough garments, which, according to tradition, represented Thor, the Scandinavian Jupiter, holding the terrible hammer above his crowned head.
This white colossus, seeming to float up in the air, had a very impressive effect, and no one regretted having ventured out into the cold night air to enjoy so strange a spectacle. There was an aurora borealis, pale, and contending with the light of the moon; but the alternations of color, and the waves of rising and falling light, which characterize this phenomenon, gave the landscape a shifting uncertainty of outline, and cast over it a changing play of lights and shadows which it is impossible to describe. Christian fancied that he was dreaming; and he repeated over and over again to M. Goefle that this strange scenery, notwithstanding the inclemency of the climate, appealed to his imagination more powerfully than anything he had seen in all his travels.
The exercises of the race had already begun when our two friends joined the party, and they drove along the flank of the other vehicles, so as not to interfere with their prearranged order. The ice had been carefully examined, and the road, marked out by colossal torches, wound past the points of rock and islets covered with pines and birch-trees, which dotted the surface of the lake. A phalanx of richly-ornamented sleighs, four abreast, flew along the course like arrows; the skill of the drivers, and the perfect training of the horses, maintaining them at exactly the same distance from each other.
Towards the shore where the hogar stood the lake was deeper than elsewhere, and presented a broad expanse, perfectly level and unobstructed. On reaching this, all the sleighs came to a halt in a semicircle, and the young people who were to compete for the prize took their places in a line, ready for the signal. The ladies, and older gentlemen, left their vehicles, and ascended a little island, prepared for the purpose by being thickly laid with pine boughs, where they would be able to behold and judge the prowess of the competing parties without danger of freezing their feet. A great fire, built upon the rocks behind the natural gallery where the audience was thus assembled, cast a powerful red glow over the whole scene.
The picture presented by the assembled company was not less strange than the landscape which served as its frame. Everybody wore masks, and found them a comfortable defence against the coldness of the air. For a similar reason, all the costumes were heavy, and well furred; but this did not prevent a great display of gold, embroidery, and glittering weapons. The racers were plainly visible in their light, uncovered sleighs, which represented fantastic images of different animals: gigantic silver swans with red beaks, dolphins of green and gold, fishes with tails curved over their backs, and so on. Major Larrson was mounted on a frightful dragon, and was himself disguised as a monster, crowned with glittering thunderbolts. The judges who were to award the prize could be seen moving to and fro on the top of the hogar, costumed as antique warriors with winged helmets, or with hoods having a horn over each ear, as Odin is represented in his costume of ceremony; that is to say, in all the splendor of his divinity.
Christian tried to recognize Margaret among the ladies, who were disguised as sibyls, or barbarian queens. He could not succeed; and from that moment the whole ceremonial, without losing its brilliancy, lost all interest for him, except as a mere spectacle. M. Goefle, however, who did not feel the same disappointment, continued very much excited.
“Christian,” he cried, “in spite of our costumes, which are no costumes, and our sleigh, which is only a sleigh, why should we not take a place in the line? Because my brave Loki has no plumes, nor stuffed birds, nor horns on his head, will that make his legs any the worse?”