Up The Baltic Part 25

"You will see something of the interior of Norway, after all, though it is not quite possible to transport two hundred boys over a country where the facilities for travel are so meagre," added the surgeon.

"For my part, I should like to walk, even a hundred miles."

"That is not practicable. How could such a crowd be lodged and fed, in some of the small villages where you would be compelled to pa.s.s the night?"

"I suppose it would not be possible, and I shall be satisfied with whatever the princ.i.p.al thinks best," replied the captain.

The students were called to muster, and Mr. Lowington explained that he proposed to spend the day, in picnic style, at Frogner Saeter, and that the party would walk. The boats were then prepared, and the crews of the several vessels went on sh.o.r.e. Captains Kendall and Shuffles procured carriages, for the ladies were not able to walk so far.

Pa.s.sing out of the more densely settled portions of the city, the excursionists came to a delightful region, abounding in pleasant residences, some of which were grand and lofty. For a time the landscape was covered with small cottages, painted white or yellow; but as they proceeded they came to a country very spa.r.s.ely settled, and very similar to that of New England. The road lay through woods of pine and fir, and had been constructed by Mr. Heftye, a public-spirited citizen, who owned a large estate at the summit of the hill.

"This looks just like Maine," said Captain Lincoln, who walked at the side of Dr. Winstock.

"Exactly like it. There is a house, however, which is hardly so good as those you see in Maine," replied the doctor.

"It isn't any better than a shanty, and the barn is as good as the house. I wonder what that is for;" and Lincoln pointed to a bunch of straw, on the top of a pole, at the entrance of the barn. "I have seen two or three of those here, and near Christiansand."

"It was grain placed there for the birds during the winter."

"That's very kind of the people, I must say."

"They are very kind to all their animals."

Near the summit of the hill, the party came to the summer-house of Mr.

Heftye, a very neat structure of wood, with a piazza, from which is obtained a beautiful view of the surrounding country. Another half hour brought them to the top of the hill, where the proprietor had erected a wooden tower, or observatory. It was some sixty or seventy feet high, and was stayed with rope guys, extending to the trees on four sides, to prevent it from being blown over. Only twenty of the boys were permitted to go up at one time, for the wind was tolerably fresh, and the structure swayed to and fro like the mast of a ship in a sea. From the top, mountains fifty miles distant could be seen.

Christiania Fjord lay like a panorama in the distance, stretching as far as the eye could reach. To the west the country looked wild and desolate, and was covered with wood-crowned mountains, though none of any considerable height could be seen. It was a magnificent view, and some of the most enthusiastic of the students declared that it was worth a voyage to Norway; but boys are proverbially extravagant.

A couple of hours were spent on the hill, the lunch was eaten, and the boys declared that they were well rested. The return walk was not so pleasant, for the novelties of the region had been exhausted. The road pa.s.sed through private property, where there were at least a dozen gates across it in different places; and as the party approached, a woman, a boy, or a girl appeared, to open them. Kendall or Shuffles rewarded each of them with a few skillings for the service. When their two and four skilling pieces were exhausted, they were obliged to use larger coins, rather than be mean; but it was observed that the Norwegians themselves, though able to ride in a carriage, never gave anything. It was amusing to see the astonishment of the boys and girls when they received an eight skilling piece, and the haste with which they ran to their parents to exhibit the prize.

The party reached the vessels at five o'clock, and after supper the boats were again in demand for a visit to Oscarshal, the white summer palace, which could be seen from the ship. Mr. Bennett had provided the necessary tickets, and made the arrangements for the excursion. It is certainly a very pretty place, but there are a hundred country residences in the vicinity of New York, Boston, or any other large city of the United States, which excel it in beauty and elegance, as well as in the expense lavished upon them. Before returning to the anchorage, the boat squadron pulled about for a couple of hours among the beautiful islands, and when the students returned to the fleet, they felt that they had about exhausted Christiania and its environs.

The next day they went by the railroad train to Eidsvold, and there embarked in the steamer Kong Oscar for a voyage of sixty-five miles up the Mjosen Lake to Lillehammer, where they arrived at half past five in the afternoon. The scenery of the lake is pleasant, but not grand, the slope of the hills being covered with farms. Near the upper end, the hills are higher, and the aspect is more picturesque. Some of the western boys thought it looked like the sh.o.r.es of the Ohio River, others compared it with the Delaware, and a New Hampshire youth considered it more like Lake Winnipiseogee.

Lillehammer is a small town of seventeen hundred inhabitants. M.

Hammer's and Madame Ormsrud's hotel were not large enough to accommodate the party, and they began to experience some of the difficulties of travelling in such large numbers; but Mr. Bennett had done his work well, and sleeping-rooms were provided in other houses for the rest. The tourists rambled all over the town and its vicinity, looked into the saw-mills, visited the farms, and compared the agriculture with that of their own country; and it must be added that Norway suffered very much in the comparison, for the people are slow to adopt innovations upon the methods of their fathers.

Early in the morning--for steamers in Norway and Sweden have a villanous practice of starting at unseemly hours--the students embarked for Eidsvold, and were on board the vessels long before the late sunset. On the quarter, waiting for the princ.i.p.al, was Clyde's courier, who had arrived that morning, after the departure of the excursionists. He evidently had not hurried his journey, though he had been told to do so. He delivered Sanford's brief note, which was written in pencil, and Mr. Lowington read it. The absentees were safe and well, and would arrive by Thursday. He was glad to hear of their safety, but as the squadron was now ready to sail, he regretted the delay.

"Where did you leave the boys?" asked the princ.i.p.al of the courier.

"At Apalsto," replied the guide, whose name was Poulsen.

"Do you belong there?"

"No, sir; I live in Christiania. I went down there with a young gentleman last Sat.u.r.day."

"Who was he?"

"Mr. Blacklock, sir; a young English gentleman."

"Ah! did you? And where is Mr. Blacklock now?"

"I left him at Apalsto with a party of young gentlemen who were dressed like the people here; and he sent me back with this letter,"

replied Poulsen, who proceeded to explain that Clyde had engaged him as courier for Christiansand, but had changed his mind when he met the party belonging to the ship, and had concluded to return to Christiania with them.

This was precisely what he had been told to say by the young Briton, and probably he believed that it was a correct statement. The princ.i.p.al saw no reason to doubt the truth of it, for Clyde must be satisfied that his mother was in Christiania by this time, and would naturally wish to join her. Anxious to console Mrs. Blacklock, Mr.

Lowington called for a boat, and hastened on sh.o.r.e to see her. He found her, her daughter, and Paul Kendall and lady, in the reading-room at the Victoria--a unique apartment, with a fountain in the centre, a gla.s.s gallery over the court-yard, and lighted with many-colored lamps. The princ.i.p.al communicated the intelligence he had received of her son to Mrs. Blacklock, whose face lighted up at the news.

"Then you have heard from the absentees, Mr. Lowington," said Paul Kendall.

"Yes; they are on their way to Christiania, and Sanford says they will arrive to-morrow, at farthest; but they may be delayed," replied the princ.i.p.al.

"No one need worry about them if they are safe and well," added Paul, glancing at Clyde's mother.

"They are safe and well, but I intended to sail for Gottenburg to-morrow morning. I have almost concluded to do so, and leave some one to accompany the boys to Gottenburg in the steamer. I do not like to delay the whole fleet for them."

"It would take a long time to beat out of the fjord against a head wind," added Paul.

"If the wind is fair to-morrow morning, I shall sail, whether they arrive or not."

"A steamer leaves for Gottenburg on Sat.u.r.day morning, and she may arrive as soon as your ship," added Paul.

"Very true. I think I will leave Peaks to look out for the absentees.

Are you sure the steamer goes on Sat.u.r.day?"

"Yes, sir; here is the time table," replied Paul, producing a paper he had obtained at Mr. Bennett's. "Dampskibet Kronprindsesse Louise."

"That's Norwegian, Paul. Can you read it?" laughed Mr. Lowington.

"A little. 'Hver Loverday;' that means on Sat.u.r.day; 'at 6 fm.,' which is early in the morning. She arrives at Gottenburg about midnight."

"That will answer our purpose very well. We shall get under way early in the morning, Paul."

"Then I will go on board of the yacht to-night, sir; but you need not wait for me, for I think I can catch you if you should get two or three hours the start of me. I haven't used my balloon jib yet, and am rather anxious to do so."

"I shall not wait for you, then, Paul."

After a long conversation with Mrs. Blacklock, in which he a.s.sured her again that nothing but firmness on her part could save her son from ruin, the princ.i.p.al left the hotel, and returned to the ship. In the evening Mr. and Mrs. Kendall went on board of the Grace. On the following morning, the wind being a little north of west, the signal for sailing was displayed on board of the Young America, and at six o'clock the fleet were under way. The weather was beautiful, and the fresh breeze enabled all the vessels to log eight knots an hour, which brought them fairly into the Skager Rack early in the afternoon.

"I suppose we are off the coast of Sweden now," said Norwood, as he glanced at the distant hills on the left.

"The pilot said Frederikshald was in this direction," replied Captain Lincoln, pointing to the sh.o.r.e. "It is at the head of a small fjord, and is near the line between Norway and Sweden."

"Charles XII. was killed there--wasn't he?"

"That's the place. The fortress of Frederiksteen is there, on a perpendicular rock four hundred feet high."

"I wish we went nearer to the Swedish coast," added Norwood.