.

The lady looked puzzled. She was thinking of dangers to which I had no
reference.

"Dangerous?" exclaimed the young lady.

"Yes; she came near breaking my neck down that hill;" and here I gave
the party a brief synopsis of the adventure.

"Devilish odd!" growled the old Englishman, impatiently. "Good-day,
sir. Come, get up!"

The elderly lady said nothing, but looked suspicious.

"Dear me!" exclaimed the young lady, as they drove off; "how very--"
This was the last I heard, but I suppose she considered it
interesting. The whole affair, no doubt, stands fully recorded in her
note-book.

The way being now clear, we proceeded on our journey. In a little
while the station-house was in sight, and after a few minutes' drive I
was obliged to part from my interesting companion. At first I
hesitated about proffering the usual fee of four shillings; but, upon
reflection, it occurred to me that I had no right to consider her any
thing more than a post-boy. It was worth something extra to travel
with one so lively and entertaining, so I handed her double the usual
allowance, at which she made a very polite courtesy and greatly
relieved my embarrassment by giving a hearty shake of the hand and
wishing me a pleasant journey. This was the last I saw of my Norwegian
Diana. She is a young damsel of great beauty and vivacity, not to say
a little wild. I trust she is now happily married to the object of her
affections.

CHAPTER XXXI.

HOW THEY LIVE.

Every where on the route through the interior I found the peasants
kind, hospitable, and simple-hearted. Sometimes I made a detour of
several miles from the main road for the purpose of catching a glimpse
of the home-life of the farmers; and, imperfect as my means of
communication were, I never had any difficulty in making acquaintance
with them after announcing myself as a traveler from California. They
had all heard, more or less, of that wonderful land of gold, and
entertained the most vague and exaggerated notions of its mineral
resources. It was not uncommon to find men who believed that the whole
country was yellow with gold; that such quantities of that ore
abounded in it as to be of little or no value. When I told them that
the country was very rich in the precious metals, but that every hill
was not a mass of gold, nor the bed of every river lined with rocks
and pebbles of the same material, they looked a little incredulous,
not to say disappointed. Many of