forced her way to the old position, and shouted in a tone that
might have moved the hearts even of the dead fish--

"Fiskman, here du, vil du hav tolve?"

"Tolve" (or twelve) skillings was apparently not quite the sum he meant
to take; but he could hold out no longer--he wavered--and the instant
man wavers, woman's victory is gained! Smiling benignly he handed up
the fish to the girl, and held out his baling dish for the money.

The storm was over! The girl walked off in triumph with her fish, not a
trace of her late excitement visible, the pink cotton umbrella tucked
under her arm, and her face beaming with the consciousness of having
conquered a "_fiskman_" in fair and open fight!

Steamers ply regularly between the north and south of Norway in summer,
and an excursion in one of these is very enjoyable, not only on account
of the scenery, but because of the opportunity afforded of making the
acquaintance of the people. I once made a voyage in one of those
steamers from the Nordfjord to Bergen, and one thing struck me very
particularly on that occasion, namely, the _quietness_ that seemed to be
cultivated by the people as if it were a virtue. I do not mean to say
that the passengers and crew were taciturn--far from it. They bustled
about actively; they were quite sociable and talkative, but no voice was
ever raised to a loud pitch. Even the captain gave his orders in a
quiet tone. Whether this quietness of demeanour is peculiar to
Norwegian steamers in general, or was a feature of this steamer in
particular, I am not prepared to say. I can only state the fact of the
prevailing quietude on that particular occasion without pretending to
explain it.

The state of quiescence culminated at the dinner-table, for there the
silence was total! I never saw anything like it! When we had all
assembled in the cabin, at the almost whispered invitation of the
steward, and had stood for a few minutes looking benign and expectant,
but not talking, the captain entered, bowed to the company, was bowed to
by the company, motioned us to our seats, whispered "_ver so goot_," and
sat down.

Now this phrase "_ver so goot_" merits particular notice. It is an
expression that seems to me capable of extension and distension. It is
a flexible, comfortable, jovial, rollicking expression. To give a
perfect translation of it is not easy; but I cannot think of a better
way of conveying its meaning, than by saying that it is a compo