rimson hood,--she therefore unfastened it and let the sunshine play on
the uncovered gold of her hair. They had a superb view of the jagged
glacier of Jedke,--black in some parts, and in others white with
unmelted snow,--and seeming, as it rose straight up against the sky, to
be the majestic monument of some giant Viking. Presently, at her earnest
request, Errington brought his portfolio of Norwegian sketches for
Thelma to look at; most of them were excellently well done, and elicited
much admiration from the _bonde_.

"It is what I have wondered at all my life," said he, "that skill of the
brush dipped in color. Pictures surprise me as much as poems. Ah, men
are marvellous creatures, when they are once brought to understand that
they _are_ men,--not beasts! One will take a few words and harmonize
them into a song or a verse that clings to the world for ever; another
will mix a few paints and dab a brush in them, and give you a picture
that generation after generation shall flock to see. It is what is
called genius,--and genius is a sort of miracle. Yet I think it is
fostered by climate a good deal,--the further north, the less
inspiration. Warmth, color, and the lightness of heart that a generally
bright sky brings, enlarges the brain and makes it capable of creative
power."

"My dear sir," said Lorimer, "England does not possess these climatic
advantages, and yet Shakespeare was an Englishman."

"He must have travelled," returned Gueldmar positively. "No one will make
me believe that the man never visited Italy. His Italian scenes prove
it,--they are full of the place and the people. The whole of his works,
full of such wonderful learning, and containing so many types of
different nations, show,--to _my_ mind, at least,--that countries were
his books of study. Why I, who am only a farmer and proprietor of a bit
of Norwegian land,--I have learned many a thing from simply taking a
glance at a new shore each year. That's the way I used to amuse myself
when I was young,--now I am old, the sea tempts me less, and I am fonder
of my arm-chair; yet I've seen a good deal in my time--enough to provide
me with memories for my declining days. And it's a droll thing, too," he
added, with a laugh, "the further south you go, the more immoral and
merry are the people; the further north, the more virtuous and
miserable. There's a wrong balance somewhere,--but where, 'tis not easy
to find out."

"Weel," said Macfarlane, "I can give