Many readers may imagine that the brothers slept side by side. They slept in true Romany fashion, that is, the feet of each are placed on each side of the head, or under the arms of the other. In this way a wonderful amount of warmth is obtained. One blanket covered both, and sometimes we might see in a morning Noah’s feet sticking out on each side of Zachariah’s head.
The weather seemed inclined for rain the night before, but the morning of Wednesday, 27th July, was delightful. Noah was roused before six o’clock. To-day we should be in the mountains. We heard Ole Rödsheim had been at Stueflaaten. The trout Zachariah had caught were fried for breakfast; four pounds of beef, the remainder of what we had bought at Veblungsnœs was reluctantly condemned as spoilt. The hot weather had quite spoiled it. Some Norwegian girls came, and we had three skillings’ worth of milk, and twelve skillings’ worth of stamped sweet fladbröd. Our donkeys were nearly loaded about nine o’clock, when we saw Ole Rödsheim stepping over the moorland. He did not think we had arrived, but came to look out for us. He scarcely expected we should manage the distance in the time.
Ole Rödsheim had stayed the night at “Enebo.” As we passed the house he took a cup of coffee, and we soon after crossed the Enebo bridge, entered a beautiful green lane, and left the main route before coming to Molmen. It was delightful to find ourselves no longer on the hard road.
Ole Rödsheim led the way from the lane by a track through the open woodland. Now we come suddenly upon a purling stream of water with deep holes, shaded from the summer sun of the hot and sultry day. What is this we see on the bank near a pool in the stream? A heap of woman’s clothes; even her shoes; but where’s the woman? Instinctively we looked into the quiet pool formed by the stream, but no water-nymph was there. There was the clear gravelly bed which made us wish to take a refreshing plunge.
The clothes were left. The woman was gone. Probably wandering about in the forest. We hope she did not unhappily lose herself. It is one of the mysteries of this book we shall never be able to clear.
At one log châlet Ole Rödsheim took an old man with us for a short distance. At another part of our winding way up some open ground towards the woods, we could see on the opposite side the valley sloping to the stream below a man and woman running at the top of their speed in the hot sun towards a bridge over the river. Our party were fast ascending towards the ridge of the ascent, and would soon be out of sight. Sometimes the woman gained ground upon the man. Every muscle was strained. It was the best steeplechase we ever saw. Then they dashed wildly across a slight wooden bridge at some distance off. We purposely delayed our cavalcade, to let them have a chance, and panting for breath and almost exhausted, they ultimately reached us. The admiration they exhibited for the noble animals with which we travelled left no doubt that they felt quite rewarded for their long and well-contested race. We forget which came up first.
Passing to the “Gröna elv,” above Molmen, we had the opportunity of seeing the picturesque waterfall called the Gröna fos. It roars through overhanging rocks, and high above the Gröna we reached a slight horse-bridge stretched over a wide deep chasm, with the rapid waters of the river below. Very little attention appears to be given to these bridges. The planks were loose, and in places out, and some were not fastened. Stopping up the open places as well as our materials would allow, we determined to risk our animals. They fortunately went over the bridge exceedingly well, but the last heavily laden donkey nearly slipped its hind leg through an awkward crevice, and was only just saved.
Ole Rödsheim was very handy in our first experience of Norwegian mountain-bridges, and quite verified our early formed opinion of his quick readiness of resource.
Now we were winding through a forest of firs and birch. Very warm it was, but the way was delightful. There were two tracks to the Ny Sœter, but Ole chose the track by a sœter, we believe called the Gröna Sœter.[80] This we reached in good time. The sœter is built on a wooded plateau above a wild gorge through which the river Gröna takes its course.