But the good people seemed to divine our intentions; and while we were
waiting for one of the stable-boys to catch and harness the new horse, a
yellow-haired maiden inquired, in very fair English, if we would not be
pleased to have a cup of tea and some butter-bread; which we did with
great comfort.

The SKYDSGUT, or so-called postboy, for the next stage of the journey,
was a full-grown man of considerable weight. As he climbed to his perch
on our portmanteau, my lady Graygown congratulated me on the prudence
which had provided that one side of that receptacle should be of an
inflexible stiffness, quite incapable of being crushed; otherwise, asked
she, what would have become of her Sunday frock under the pressure of
this stern necessity of a postboy?

But I think we should not have cared very much if all our luggage had
been smashed on this journey, for the road now began to ascend, and the
views over the Etnadal, with its winding river, were of a breadth and
sweetness most consoling. Up and up we went, curving in and out through
the forest, crossing wild ravines and shadowy dells, looking back at
every turn on the wide landscape bathed in golden light. At the station
of Sveen, where we changed horse and postboy again, it was already
evening. The sun was down, but the mystical radiance of the northern
twilight illumined the sky. The dark fir-woods spread around us, and
their odourous breath was diffused through the cool, still air. We were
crossing the level summit of the plateau, twenty-three hundred feet
above the sea. Two tiny woodland lakes gleamed out among the trees. Then
the road began to slope gently towards the west, and emerged suddenly
on the edge of the forest, looking out over the long, lovely vale of
Valders, with snow-touched mountains on the horizon, and the river
Baegna shimmering along its bed, a thousand feet below us.

What a heart-enlarging outlook! What a keen joy of motion, as the wheels
rolled down the long incline, and the sure-footed pony swung between the
shafts and rattled his hoofs merrily on the hard road! What long,
deep breaths of silent pleasure in the crisp night air! What wondrous
mingling of lights in the afterglow of sunset, and the primrose bloom
of the first stars, and faint foregleamings of the rising moon creeping
over the hill behind us! What perfection of companionship without words,
as we rode together through a strange land, along the edge of the dark!

When we finished th