St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-01-15
Telsla.
THE LOVE STORY OF \ DAHL PEASANT

An artist in Sweden, telling i'll the
New York Times. recently. his story
of adventure. Intervene with il IL sketch
81 touching of honest love and child
like ignorance of the world that it is
worth reproducing here though more
briefly. One evening. on a mountain
side. he WAS trying Ia sketch his sleep
ing guide. when Il fine young fellow.
dressed in the picturesque Dahl cos
tune. whom he remembered to have
seen in Il village some days before. ap
preached linn He had Il forest of au-
burn cur>. aud hig gray eyes. and Il
melancholy expression on his face and
was in his holiday costume. Leather
hrccche~. massive shoes with pondcrous
iron buckles the peculiar leather apron
of the country. Il bright blue Jacket
aud Il >puaTe-cut wai>tcoat of yellow.
embroidered with scarlet flowers. and
the flaps lying low on his hips. He
carried a heavy bag. that might weigh
Il hundred pounds and hold two bushels.
on his back hut stood l> erect as Il
Young tir. lie said "Gnnd evening"
in his own way. and offered his hand
then let the hag down and sat upon
it. He looked ut the artists sketch.
and then desired to Use the pencil. The
artist added u piece of paper. aud the
peasant wrote on il one word -"Ici>II.
| He scrutinizcd the artist closely for It
/ moment. then rose WrarllN. ~ If dI>dp-
pointed. and began cmptN ing his lcath-
er suck. ~ good supply of barley
l"aNc>. Il bottle ut brandy and Il con
siderable wardrobe came uut before the
peasant reached the object of his search.
ii hit of blue ribbon. carefully WIapt
+ in cloth. He showed this to the artist. g.
and pointed Ia the word ''IclSla. The
/ American cuuld not but understand
/ that the uame and the ribbon had SOME
. thin. tn do with each other. and find
/ ing the Dahl patniS incnmprehcn>ible
he brought his ~kctching into play
Though il WIS . "'clork ut night. :,
soft. mellow. Suhducd light still per
vldrd the mountains. rapidly drew
! the peculiar Dahl shoe. with its sole of
/ birch bark extending beyond the toe.
made the peg i'll the middle. which an
swcI> for the heel. and decorated the.
instcp with bunch of streaming rib
| bonS. The Dahl man gaZcd intcntly
on it. pointed to his own feet. and shook
his head tried second time. and
shook his head. | tried second time,
and skctchcd the peculiar woman :
head gear of his village, with the long.
thick plaitS, celebrating the hair, which
| | adorned with ribbon streamcrS. simply
Indicating Il woman : profile, the whole
of il not much bigger than my thumb.
As | went on | wondered whether
had hit it. heard deep sigh, and Il
big tear spattered on the paper. My
Dahl man rose with an 0ver-joyous
face. and went to where he had piled
up his stock of bread, and, breaking Il
loaf in two, handed me half of it. and
offered me his brandy y-bottlc." That
awokc the guide. who had been glum
over the loss of his spirits in fall !; and
he reached ont his hand tor the bottle
us soon lis the artist had finished his
modest swallow. Then the Dahl man
an hour, when they all went to sleep.
In the morning he should have forgot
ten all about the visitor had it not been
for the bread he LETT. AS they were
trasting at dinner on birds, shot on their
way down the mountain, the guide.
swallowing Il huge mouthful, remark
ed =
1T is good bread, even if it was
kneaded with tears
"How so ?" | asked
"Why, the Dahl man"
"Well, what about him ?" inquired.
"What did he want What did he
mean by Telsla ? Where did he go
to -
.'Pardnn me, worthy SIR said Erick
sen, with certain degree of constraint !;
II have done the work as guide for ii
good many Englishmen, and yoI are
the first American, but you see strangers
might kind of laugh at the WY of feel
ing or thinking of our poor country
folks. and that young fellows story
might seem to he foolish to you
''But what did he want ?" | asked.
"That poor Dahl boy saw you when
you passed through his village. The
coming and going of stranger there
i'll summer is an event in winter it
would not have had the same effect.
Hearing, after you had left, that you
were an American, he packed up every
thing he had in the world, his clothes
and his tools. for he is a blacksmith,
and has been on foot for the last three
days and nights following us, and he
wanted to join you and go across with
you to America, wherever that may
be-"
"Why what for ?" inquired.
: "Oh, it is quite story. He told il
T all to me, last night, and most snapped
his heart-strings in the telling of it
He waited until vou were asleen fOl