Page:Round the Yule Log.djvu/50

26 acceptable after the long walk of fourteen miles from town. We were just settling ourselves around the coffee-table, when several friends from the parsonage arrived. According to the custom of the house, punch was brought in ; the conversation became animated, and we looked to our glasses so frequently, and I looked so uflen into the dear blue eyes of the pretty daughter, that I almost forgot the appointment I had on the following day to shoot with a friend in Gjerdrum. The sun stood already on the ridge of the mountains, and if I wished to reach my destination before my friend went to bed, it was of little use to think of taking the main road round by the church, through the Mid wood and over the moors, which at that time of year was sure to be in very bad condition after the chilly November weather we had had ; so I went instead up to Nystuen, the nearest cottage under the hill, and got hold of Old Matthias, the hunter, who at once was willing to go with me and show me the short cut across the mountain. He only wanted "just a chew of *baccy " before he started. It was a beautiful evening ; on the western horizon gleamed still the winterly evening sky. A slight degree of cold gave the air that freshness which makes many of our November days so delightful. A light mist rose from the little stream running close by, and covered the trees with a silvery rime, which made their branches glitter like crystal. We were walking at a smart pace, and a sip fron> my pocket-flask soon set my old friend's tongue going. He talked about hunting and shooting, and told me how unfair it was that Ole Gjortler, who really belonged to Gjerdrum parish, should set his bird-traps on Solberg Common ; next I was tresfted to the story about the nine bears which he was supposed to have shot, about his trip to Hallingdale when the parson moved there, and to a number of remarks, which were only too true, about the careless way in which the Gjerdrum people looked after the public pasture grounds, and much more which I cannot now remember. When we came to Askevangen Dairy every trace of daylight had disappeared ; the moon alone, which had just risen above the