church
was one of the seven that stood in his realm, which extended all over
Helgoland and Finmark. No service was held in them yet, but it would be
held when the drowned bishop, who sat outside in a brown study, could
only hit upon the name of the Lord that was to be served, and then all
the Draugs would go to church. The bishop, she said, had been sitting
and pondering the matter over these eight hundred years, so he would no
doubt very soon get to the bottom of it. A hundred years ago the bishop
had advised them to send up one of the Draugs to Roedoe church to find out
all about it; but every time the word he wanted was mentioned he
couldn't catch the sound of it. In the mountain "Kunnan" King Olaf had
hung a church-bell of pure gold, and it is guarded by the first priest
who ever came to Nordland, who stands there in a white chasuble.

On the day the priest rings the bell, Kunnan will become a big stone
church, to which all Nordland, both above and below the sea, will
resort. But time flies, and therefore all who come down here below are
asked by the bishop if they can tell him that name.

At this Eilert felt very queer indeed, and he felt queerer still when he
began reflecting and found, to his horror, that he also had forgotten
that name.

While he stood there in thought, the girl looked at him so anxiously. It
was almost as if she wanted to help him to find it and couldn't, and
with that she all at once grew deadly pale.

The Draug's house, to which they now came, was built of boat's keels and
large pieces of wreckage, in the interstices of which grew all sorts of
sea-grass and slimy green stuff. Three monstrously heavy green posts,
covered with shell-fish, formed the entrance, and the door consisted of
planks which had sunk to the bottom and were full of clincher-nails. In
the middle of it, like a knocker, was a heavy rusty iron mooring-ring,
with the worn-away stump of a ship's hawser hanging to it. When they
came up to it, a large black arm stretched out and opened the door.

They were now in a vaulted chamber, with fine shell-sand on the floor.
In the corners lay all sorts of ropes, yarn, and boating-gear, and among
them casks and barrels and various ship's inventories. On a heap of
yarn, covered by an old red-patched sail, Eilert saw the Draug, a
broad-shouldered, strongly built fellow, with a glazed hat shoved back
on to the top of his head, with dark-red tangled hair and beard, small
tearful dog-fish