Page:Karl Gjellerup - Minna, A novel - 1913.djvu/15

 less expensive than any one else's. There was none of the mist from the river with which the people down by the Elbe were troubled, and one also avoided the closeness of the valley. At such a height I should breathe pure Swiss air and have the best view in the village; lastly, there were the shady promenades belonging to the house, where the lodgers might walk when they did not care to go farther. She always returned to "them shady promenades," and in so doing spread out her dirty arms to indicate their extent, always repeating the words "da'rim und dort'nim" (over here and over there).

In the end we split the difference, and she promised that everything should be quite ready in a week, when my holidays began. I gave her half a crown as deposit, and, very happy to have settled matters, I left her.

As I walked away from the house I was bound to admit that the woman's praise of the view was correct. On the right one saw a richly wooded stretch of valley surrounded by mountains; straight ahead lay a by-path leading from the town to the cosy saw-mill, at the entrance to the "Blackbirds' Glen," which, with its green fir trees and grey rocks, soon hid the clear water. To the left, the bend of the Elbe valley opened out under the sun-scorched stone quarries, which cast their reflection over the river, where several rafts and a couple of boats were slowly gliding down with the current. Below lay all the cottages, either built entirely of wood or at least timber-framed, with thatched roofs, and for the most part overgrown with vines. Luckily there was only one other villa to be seen besides the two already mentioned, and it was modestly hidden away. The blue smoke rose from all the chimneys in curling wreaths, forming a thin veil right across the valley, through which glittered the brook between silvery willow trees and