THE LAND OF THE VIKINGS.

163

 

The next forenoon found us at Ham-
merfest, the most northern town in the
world. It is a quaint little town, lying at
the foot of a steep, high hill, close to the
water’s edge. It hasa fine harbor, though,
and this was filled with ships.
rambled through the town we noticed the

As we

door key hanging upon a nail outside the
door at almost every house. The people
are honest and seem to have no thought of
danger from this source. :
Leaving there we went on and reached
North Cape in the early evening and after
supper made the ascent, and from the rough
rocky point once more saw the strange
spectacle of the sun shining at midnight.
“Our trip back was uneventful,” said
Tom. “It was interesting to see the sailors
load fish.

barrels and barrels of herring waiting to be

At every stopping place were
taken on. These were loaded with a large
derrick, and it seemed to me no market
could be found for the quantity we had.
You know that the fisheries are the main
support of these people.

At one town at which we stopped I
noticed asheaf of grain mounted on a high
pole and asked the captain what it meant.
He said the Norwegians have a pretty cus-
tom of fastening a sheaf of grain near
their barns for the birds to feed upon
at Christmas time. The sheaf we saw
was stripped of grain but had not been

taken down, At Christmas time the farm-

 

ers sell these sheaves in the towns for this
purpose, just as Christmas wreaths are sold
with us. It is a pretty notion and speaks
volumes for the kind hearts of these sim-
ple people.

In addition to the trait of prudence, I
think that everyone here in America, that
has had any dealings with these people,
will find them living in the same honest
way that is indicated by their hanging
their door-keys on the outside. They are
all of the better class of settlers that we
have, and, strange as it may seem, the
larger part of them have gone to the
Western States.

have more of them than any other single

Minnesota, perhaps, will

State. Also, I wonder if you have noticed
that all of the people that we meet in the
far north countries are almost always
strong and robust in regard to the body,
and at the same time are honest-minded
and of noble characters. It is the living
in the same way here that makes the
people so much honored by us.

But it is bed time now, and I fear if I
get back to Christiana to-night grandma
will have no one to help eat those waffles
which she promised us for breakfast in the
morning, so I think I had better say as the
stories do, ‘to be continued.’”’

“ Well, Tom, you have given us a pleas-
ant evening,” said grandpa, ‘and have
proved, too, that a boy can get a good deal
out of a trip to the land of the Vikings.”