with a smile, "I have heard of that gentleman
before."

"Yes," said Jonas, "he is pretty well known. He is a great
mischief-maker. He lives in an ice castle at the North, and in the fall
of the year he comes creeping along in the still nights, and early in
the mornings. He builds bridges over the ponds, and brooks, and plants
little gardens of hoar frost; and where he sees a stone in the ground,
he stamps his foot upon it, and crowds it down a little way. Then it is
his great delight to go about pinching boys' toes and noses. He is a
sly rogue."

"And who are the other Northmen?" said Rollo.

"The next is General Boreas," said Jonas.

"General Boreas!" repeated Rollo; "and who is he?"

"O! he is a terrible fellow," replied Jonas. "He comes roaring and
thundering along the tops of the forests at midnight, in snowstorms and
hail. He buries up the whole country, he breaks down the trees, and
sometimes unroofs the houses. Then, if he finds any poor traveller out,
he whistles and roars about his ears, and tries to frighten him; and he
throws snow into his face, and heaps it up all about him in order to
bury him up if he can.

"Then, besides," continued Jonas, "the old stormer has another way of
making mischief. After he has got the valleys and streams covered and
filled with ice and snow, he brings on a tempest of wind and rain, and
fills the land with torrents, which raise the streams, and tear up the
ice, and carry it down in vast, broken, and jamming blocks, which break
down the bridges, and carry away dams, and spread all over the meadows,
frightening a good many families out of their beds at midnight."

"Is that the way that General Boreas acts?" said Rollo.

"Yes," replied Jonas, "that's the way."

"And who is the third Northman?" said Rollo.

"His name is Old Zero," replied Jonas. "He is more than threescore years
and ten, a great deal; his head is hoary, and his beard is long and
gray. He creeps softly along after General Boreas has worked himself out
of breath, and gone away. He curtains over all the windows with frost
work in the night. He likes the night, when it is calm and still, and
the stars are shining bright and cold all over the sky. And he kills
more people than Boreas does."

"Kills them?" said Rollo.

"Yes," replied Jonas. "He makes no blustering, but he stings bitterly,
and the poor traveller has his ears, and hands, and feet frozen before
he knows what a cruel enemy is around him. Captai