The warrior’s fatherland.”
Holger Danske-Ingemann.
The sun had not yet lighted up the spires of the fir-trees, when a buzz of voices and a shuffling of feet broke the slumbers of the head-quarters party. Länsman Matthiesen, true to his word, had not slept before he had picked out his fifty mountaineers, chalking their hats at the back with the letters “H.F.,” standing for hög fjeld, or the high forest, indicating the position they were to occupy.
While Birger was still rubbing his eyes and kicking up Jacob to boil the morning’s coffee, Matthiesen was numbering them from 1 to 50, with chalk, in the front of their hats, and selecting their skalfogdar, who were marked, as the Captain had been on the preceding evening, with the letters “S.F.” It is usual to appoint a skalfogde to every ten men; but, as these were to be divided into small parties, it was thought expedient to appoint one to every five, it being understood that, whenever any of these parties were united, the skalfogde whose number was lowest should reckon as senior, and command the whole.
Fire-arms are not very plentiful in any part of Sweden, but Matthiesen had so picked his men, that about one-fifth of them had something of the sort,—most of these weapons looking very much more formidable to the sportsmen who carried them than to the game at which they were pointed. The rest were armed with poles, many of which had spikes at the end. Here and there was an old sword or a pistol that had seen service in the Thirty years’ War; but most of the men carried very efficient axes,—an excellent weapon against a tree, and not a bad one with a bear in close conflict, if such a thing ever does take place in a skal; but the fact is, the beasts on these occasions are so completely cowed, that they rarely, if ever, show fight.
The men had been searched that morning, and all their brandy taken from them, and the rest of their provisions examined, to see if there was enough to last out the number of days for which they had been summoned. But, before starting, Birger served out to each a horn of hot coffee from Jacob’s soup kettle, with a double allowance of sugar in it; for if there is anything that comes near to brandy in the estimation of a Swede, it is sugar, which he eats and drinks whenever he can get it, like a very child.
Birger then, having first taken a careful survey of the whole plan of the skal, a copy of which Matthiesen had placed in his hand, summoned the Parson and Torkel, and, placing himself at the head of his party, gave the word to march. This was obeyed in a very military fashion,—for every Swede is or has been a militia-man, and is very proud of his soldiering,—and the party was soon lost among the green shades of the forest.
Moodie watched them very composedly, and then quietly set himself down to breakfast, not a little to the discomposure of the Captain, who, if he had had his will, would have been walking sentry on his post with his rifle in his hand, looking out fiercely for the bears,—a proceeding which, as the dref or driving party was not to move till noon, and then would be twenty miles from the scene of action, evinced, to say the least of it, more zeal than discretion.
The Captain need not, however, have disquieted himself, for the preparations all that time were going steadily forward. Moodie, having selected six of the most experienced hunters as Adjutanter or lieutenants, left them to nominate and chalk off the fifty Skalfogdar which his party required, and to distribute the men into tens in such a way that every part of the line should be equally provided with fire-arms. The farmer who owned the land had offered his services as personal attendant, or what the Jagmästere had called Quartermaster-General; and Moodie, quite aware that the authorities of the place, who knew the characters and capabilities of the men, would set in order these details much better than he could, permitted them to manage things their own way, and interfered but little with their arrangements.
It was not before ten that everything was put into proper order, and the little flags prepared which were to mark out the ground; but then Moodie readily enough got his men into marching order, and proceeded to take up the position. This was distant about four miles (English) from the place of meeting; the road to it leading down the glade, and at right angles to the direction taken by Birger and his party that morning.