The young gentleman who had the young ladies with him then asked Noah what time we went in the morning.
“At 9 o’clock, sir,” said Noah.
One of the young ladies then inquired in English if Noah could tell fortunes.
“No,” said Noah; which no doubt was a matter of great disappointment.
Then the gentleman asked Noah his sister’s name.
“Agnes,” said Noah.
What next will he tell them, thought we, being anxious for him to go to bed.
Then one of the young ladies asked his sister’s age; and Noah told her sixteen. Then he was asked who we were. Not knowing how long they would stay—for we had to rise early next morning, and knowing that any curiosity would only get wide answers from Noah—we went out, explaining that we had to travel early, and we liked all in camp to go to bed in good time. They did not say much, but, wishing us good evening, they all left. The young gentleman spoke very good English. We were still troubled with a number of children, making a noise about our tents, until after eleven, instead of going when the music ended at ten o’clock. At last all was silence.
We were up the next morning at half-past 1 o’clock, enjoyed a good wash, lighted a fire, and had Noah and Zachariah up about 2 o’clock. We were anxious to give them all the rest possible; Esmeralda was called the last. For frokost, we had tea, fish, bread, and potted-meat; Esmeralda and myself had some citric-acid afterwards. Our donkeys were nearly loaded, and ready to start at 5 o’clock. We were just having a romp with Esmeralda and her two brothers, as we were packing up our things, and a merry laugh, when some men appeared at the fence near our camping-ground. They seemed much astonished, and rather disconcerted; probably, they expected to find us asleep. They lifted their hats, and soon afterwards left. Our donkeys loaded, we looked carefully round to see that we had collected all our effects. The main road was soon gained, when we descended from the steep ridge on which we had camped. We had now travelled more than five Norse miles from Lillehammer, or thirty-five English miles, as we proceed quietly along the road from Listad.
We could never tire of the beautiful valley of the Logan. Our mode of travel gave us ample opportunity to study its varied scenery. At any points of interest we could halt, without the thought of being behind-time at the next post station, or of being reminded by the Skydskarl that we were lingering too long. It was about seven o’clock; the morning was very sunny and pleasant as we came to a place said to be Tresgone. The name is not marked in our map. Noah and Zachariah went to a small log-house, near a mill, at the foot of a gorge, to purchase bread and butter. Directly the woman saw them, she shut the door with considerable haste; their Alpine stocks had created a sudden alarm. After reconnoitring them through her window, confidence was restored; she opened the door and did a stroke of business, selling us four loaves for fifteen skillings. A man on horseback, with white hair, kept with us occasionally for some miles; he had, naturally, white hair, like an Albino, and not the result of age. For some distance, at different points on the road, the peasants hurried from their work, and, with anxious faces, struggled to be in time to see our party pass; sometimes, an aged man, with serious weather-beaten face, wearing a red cap on his head, was awkwardly scrambling towards the road-fence, followed by a woman and children. At other times, two or three men would race along the road-fence and take up their position at some distance before us, waiting the moment when we should pass. In fact, at times, we almost felt as if we were marching past the saluting-point, leading a company at a review, though the group of peasants differed much from a staff of officers at a saluting-point; we had, nevertheless, to stand the test of what appeared to be a close and scrutinizing examination of our company.