Zachariah had just joined us from the river without a fish.
“Ah,” said he, in a weeping tone, “my pretty dicklo (gip. handkerchief) is gone.”
I believe this handkerchief constituted nearly the whole strength of his wardrobe.
“It is fortunate,” said we, “both pockets were not lost. We must manage as well as we can; some shelter is left, and all our provisions. It might have been worse. You shall have more blankets, Noah. We are quite sure the pocket has not been taken; they are honest in Norway—far more honest than most other countries we have travelled.”
So we pushed along till we saw a blacksmith, and two other men standing at the road side. We explained our loss to them as well as we could. They pointed to a fir wood above us as a convenient camping-ground, but we wanted to proceed on our journey, and went on. At the next place we came to, we purchased four loaves of bread for fifteen skillings. At one large house we passed, near the road side, a large number of persons were assembled, probably at some fête. There was a general rush to see us. When we came to a large wooden water trough on the road side, some girls who saw us, ran down the meadow above; they were great loosely-dressed peasant girls, who laughed at us immoderately.
“What are the sapeaus (gip. snakes) crying about?” said Esmeralda, in no very good temper.
At any other time she would have laughed with them.
“Ah! the Bongy mouees” (gip. ugly mouths), shouted Zachariah. “They were tolerably well slap-dashed in Romany, as I have no doubt we were good-humouredly in Norwegian.”
We had not gone many yards from the water trough, when the young woman we had seen at our mid-day halt, came running round a corner of the road. She seemed half fainting and exhausted, and, staggering to the water-trough when she saw us, she dashed some water over her face, and hurriedly drank some. We at once stopped the donkeys, and the girls above the road ceased laughing. They seemed puzzled at the scene. We went to the poor girl, who said, when she was able to speak, she had found the pocket, which had slipped off the donkey close to the river’s edge. It was lucky it had not rolled in. Being satisfied from the things she found inside the pocket, that it belonged to us, she had followed us with it, and at last left it at some place on the road, so that she might more quickly overtake us. It was decided that Noah would take one of the donkeys, and go back with the peasant girl for the pocket. We were profuse in our thanks to her; she was a good, honest girl. We don’t think our gipsies will ever again believe, that such a thing as dishonesty, is possible in Norway. Pulling out a large handful of money from our pocket, we pressed it into the girl’s hands. She wished to give part back; it was too much, she did not like to take it all. We would have no denial; as she was returning she took out her handkerchief in which she had placed the money, and again offered us part; she did not like to take so much. We made her put it back. Under such circumstances what cared we what the sum was; we felt inclined to give her all we possessed, she had been so honest. How much inconvenience we might have experienced, but for the activity and kindness of this Norwegian peasant girl. Shaking her heartily by the hand, she returned with Noah. We may never meet again; we do not even know her name. Yet there is a world beyond this. May her fate be with the blessed of a future and eternal life. Continuing our route, we left behind us Burre, and the turn to Kvikne. It may easily be imagined we went along in much better spirits; all was sunshine. Noah would follow with the lost pocket, and find us in our camping-ground. Patrins,[45] intelligible to our gipsy party, were strewed as we went along the road. Pieces of grass,[46] to all appearance scattered carelessly along the route, yet they had a meaning, and a language which a gipsy easily reads. The points of the grass indicated the way we took.
Although anxious to finish our day’s journey, we could find no convenient camping-ground. We met the gentleman we had conversed with in the morning. His son descended from the carriage to lead the horse by the donkeys. Kindly salutations were exchanged. Noah said that when the gentleman afterwards met him, he said, “Your master seems a pleasant gentleman.”