Part 7 (1/2)
The Skipper is devoted to the sport of 'throwing for a rise,' which he thinks the perfection of fis.h.i.+ng. It can hardly be pursued with success anywhere but in Norway, for only there do fish seem to rise greedily after a constant succession of fine, hot, sunny days, with never a drop of rain or cat's-paw of wind.
The great charm to him is the extreme delicacy required. You _must_ put on your thinnest cast, your smallest fly, and throw your lightest; and unless you throw a very long line you have not a chance for the beggar.
Then, if he comes at you, you can see him through the calm clear water, and watch the whole performance. You get a rather better chance where two fish are rising close together, as there is some jealousy and compet.i.tion between them, and each of them is likely to rush at your fly without sufficient meditation, lest the other one may get it first.
The Skipper has studied fish from a moral point of view, and says that they are very much like men: and he invariably turns his knowledge of their habits to good account. Throwing for a rise--in a lake like this, where the fish run large--on a calm bright day is decidedly his forte; his motto in fis.h.i.+ng being 'far and fine.' Whereas Esau s.h.i.+nes more in a rapid stream than elsewhere.
The latter had a great time with the Professor, who he said was a capital fellow, and gave him whisky which they drank 'to better sport;'
and they both agreed that there were no reindeer to be found in the district at present, and the Professor said he was going further north if matters did not mend speedily.
After the fis.h.i.+ng and visiting were concluded, we hoisted sails of primitive construction, formed of a rug and a landing net, which, with a fair wind, soon brought us to Gjendesheim.
We think this wind is the chief cause of our misfortune. When we were in these parts before, the wind was always against us whenever we journeyed; and in that year we had first-rate sport, both in shooting and fis.h.i.+ng. But this time the wind has always been with us, and we pay for the luxury by getting no shooting and not much fis.h.i.+ng. 'No mahtterr--a time will come.'
After food the Skipper with ola went over to Leirungen--a small lake about three quarters of a mile distant. ola carried his canoe, and did not like the job. It gives us considerable satisfaction to make ola do any work, he is so abominably lazy.
It seemed that the tide of luck was already changing, as both he and Esau--who was throwing a fly on the river nearer home--brought in a few nice fish.
Just before bedtime there arrived at the rest-house three Norwegian tourists of the sterner s.e.x, and a young lady the daughter of one of them. The father was a barrister, and the other two were the Lord Chief Justice of what they imagine to be Common Pleas, and a very thin, dried-up student of theology. They all talked English, and the young lady seemed anxious to practise the language.
_August 6._--After a gay breakfast Esau went his way to fish, while the Skipper--ever devoted to the fair s.e.x--offered Miss Louise a cruise in his canoe.
The sun shone brightly as they moved over the quiet waters, and the fish were too lazy to rise, but lay idly thoughtful at the bottom of the lake. The Skipper was very polite to his charming companion, as she sat in a state of blissful comfort amongst the rugs which he had placed for her in the bows of the boat; and no sound was heard but the gentle plash of the paddle in the water, and in the distance the Saeter girl calling home the grazing cows.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Skipper takes Miss Louise for a Cruise at Gjendesheim]
But presently a cloud gathered over the mountain tops, and thunder was heard rolling among the distant hills; a gentle breeze stirred the surface of the water, and every lazy fish woke up to seek his food. The Skipper longed to go and fetch his rod. He hinted at this, and at last became impatient; but, by Jove! Miss Louise would not go. There she sat and prattled on, charming, pleased with herself, and utterly unmindful of the rising fish and the fretting Skipper. Time kept pa.s.sing on, till at length her father brought relief by appearing on the sh.o.r.e to call her in to dinner; but then the Skipper had to get his food too, and when he had bolted the humble but indigestible crust and cheese, and rushed out again to seize his rod, he found it too late, as the lake was now dark with clouds, and the fish had left off rising.
Soon after lunch it began to rain like a waterfall, and Esau arrived with a lot of fish--spoils from the Leirungen Ocean, and the result of Spartan indifference to the attractions of woman. There is a s.h.i.+ning moral in this tale.
He also brought a romance about a rainbow, which had been so close to him that the two ends met at his feet. The rain hereabouts is very thick.
The evening proved too wet to fish, and this indefatigable young lady captured Esau, and after exhausting all the ordinary topics of conversation, began to show him every kind of puzzle that the mind of man ever conceived, puzzles with coins and puzzles with string; and she puzzled him with matches, and paper, and corks, till the poor young man became perfectly dazzled, and only longed for bedtime to put an end to his misery. Then she asked him riddles, first English and then French.
The Skipper, apparently deeply interested in a book at the further end of the room, overheard Esau's answer to the first French riddle; it was 'Je le donne en haut.'
Presently, when they went up to bed, the Skipper said, 'I didn't quite follow your answer to that first riddle of hers. You said, ”Je le donne en haut.”' 'Oh! ah!' answered Esau. 'That's idiomatic French, and means a good deal that you don't understand; I always use it to gals, especially when they're pretty.' The Skipper coughed, and turned into his bedroom without saying 'good night.'
We have always been told that the Norwegian aristocracy particularly dislike the English sportsman in Norway. We think, therefore, that our fair friend cannot have been of very n.o.ble lineage. But she was very nice and rather pretty.
She left early next morning, and Esau said he was glad she was gone, as the Skipper was getting entangled with her.
CHAPTER XIV.
JOHN.
_August 7._--We began another day by catching a beautiful bag of fish, and about midday were just starting to shoot our way over to Besse Saeter, when a man came in sight stumbling down the mountain track towards the rest-house. He was red and sunburnt, with a beard of about three days' growth. He was coatless, collarless, and apparently exhausted. On his nearer approach we saw he was an Englishman, and presently when a few yards from us we recognised--John! Not the smart young beau we have always seen him in London; no longer the devotee to society and his club, but an almost unrecognizable John, so sunburnt and hot and hungry. Formal greetings were exchanged: 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' 'Mr. Stanley, I believe?' and we rushed into each other's embrace.
Then we besought him to refresh himself on fladbrod, milk, and coffee; which he did, largely. After this he became calm enough to give us a brief summary of his adventures since he left England.