Near the Top of the World: Stories of Norway, Sweden & Denmark

by Nelle E. Moore

Clang! Clang! sounded the bell of the boat. Lars and Kari hurriedly said good-bye to father and mother and ran over the narrow plank to the boat.

Lars and Kari live in Hammerfest. They were going to visit their grandmother who lives about a two-days’ ride to the south of their home.

Soon their bags were put into the cabins where they would sleep that night and they were on the deck waving their hands to their parents. Then in big comfortable chairs, they sat on the deck. It was August and the air was cool and pleasant.

Lars liked best to watch the boatmen do their work, but Kari wanted to see the land they passed. You might think that Kari could see land only to the left, for on the left is the coast of Norway, and surely there is only water on the right toward the sea. But much of the time Kari saw land on both sides. Sometimes, though, the land on the right was only huge rocks in the water, or small spots of land with water all around them where only birds live. But part of the way the pieces of land on the right were so large that Kari could not see the ends of them. They were only small islands with water all around them too. Lars and Kari were going to an island. Their grandmother lived in a town built on an island off the coast of Norway.

LARS AND KARI ON THE DECK OF THE SHIP

For a long time both Lars and Kari watched the coast of Norway on their left. For miles and miles they saw rolling banks of earth covered with shrubs of birch not even as tall as the one-story houses along the coast which were the homes of fishermen.

Soon they heard the whistle of the boat. Lars said that the whistle was blowing because they were coming to a town. They ran to the other side of the boat. By that time the boat was stopping, but it was still out in the water some distance from the town. A rowboat was coming from the town to meet the boat. The rowboat was bringing mail and packages for the large boat, and it would take back to shore the mail, packages, and passengers.

Lars and Kari had plenty of time to see the town. It was a fishing town. Fish were hanging on lines all along the bank, and more fish were stretched upon the ground to dry in the sun. The captain told Lars that the fish were herring. Perhaps some of the boxes that were loaded on the boat were boxes of herring which would be sent to America, for American merchants buy a great deal of herring from Norway.

The boat had not gone far from the fishing town when Lars saw a fishing boat. He called to Kari and together they leaned over the rail of their boat to watch the fishermen. They had never seen so many fish before. But they were soon watching the large gulls that flew along after the fishing boat. Some of the birds left the fishing boat and followed their boat. The gulls came so close that Kari almost touched one as it floated along right over her head.