dle to the grave, there is more
national pride and patriotism than in any land, and the privilege of
living and working and suffering is esteemed as the most precious
inheritance of man.

Women in America who are working for the ballot have only to go to
Norway to find that having a voice in the making of the laws of the
country does not remove every obstacle to the progress of the sex;
that there are still many injustices, and that the women work as hard
as the men. The Norwegian woman usually carries a little more than her
share of the load, and can support a husband without difficulty if
he insists upon it. There is nothing so admirable in this world as
a useful woman, particularly if she is married to a man inclined to
leisure and loafing. In Norway and other countries of northern Europe
the ballad, "I Love to See My Dear Old Mother Work," is something more
than an affectionate sentiment. It has a practical significance, and
is frequently found in husbands as well as sons.

Of all the labor that the women of Norway engage in, especially women
in the rural districts, is the occupation of caring for the _saeter_.
A _saeter_ is a summer ranch or dairy farm peculiar, to Norway--a
cabin among the pastures way up in the mountains, where the cattle are
driven during the summer months and butter and cheese are made. Almost
every large farmer has a _saeter_. When the spring field work at home
has been finished, the cattle are taken thither by the young women and
girls,--often twenty and sometimes forty miles away,--where they
stay during the summer and make butter and cheese, gather hay, knit
stockings, and embroider linen. The dwelling is usually a rude hut
with a single room, mud floor, an open fireplace without chimney, and
a few pieces of rough furniture. Sheds and pens surround the hut, and
there are patches of enclosed ground where hay is made and where the
younger members of the flock are protected. The cattle are called at
night by a horn made of birch bark. When blown lustily, it gives a
clear note not unlike the cornet, and the cattle invariably respond to
its sound.

There is a good deal of romance about _saeter_ life in books, but I
should say that there is very little in actual experience. Many of the
charming fairy stories in Norwegian literature have their scenes in
those mountain dairies. The _saeter_ girls (_saeterjenter_ they are
called), have a peculiar and melodious cattle call, known as
the _Huldrelo