Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-28

the mountains, that frowned as they looked
upon it. Hovering all about with graceful
movement, now slowly floating with out
Ttretched wings above us and again darting
Iwiftlv down to the water, and like great
Enowfakes, sailing with beautiful grace on
Its surface, were myriads of.seagulls.
That was what the Hardanger Fiord pre-
sented to us as we sailed up its abrupt wind
ings There was grandeur in its solitude
that was indescribable, and that filled US
with silent reverence. Somehow the hard,
practical battle of life seemed far off and thu
unseen and spiritual near. There was
hush about us that had a strange rest, and
that seemed to draw us into a delicious
dreamland. Nothing weird or unreal that
might have happened could have surprised
us Troops of fairies or witches dancing on
the crags, or sweet voices of water nymphs
singing songs to us out of the water would
not have been at all unexpected.
A Pretty Norwegian Postmistress.
And there, standing on q quaint, little
pier not far off was, surely some wandering
sprite from the legendary Morse kingdom
Alfheim. But we were rushed rudely back
by the real, for it was only the young post
mistress carrying down a bag of letters to
be sent out and receiving another in return
for the little village farther back in the
valley. How pretty she was The sun
touched the scarlet of her bodice, bright
ening up the quaint jewelry worn at throat
and breast and casting q halo over the
peasants, men and women who gathered
about her.
There is going to be a Storm" some one
SAID. Meanwhile, though the sun was still
out, there was a mist in the air as though
the heavens were full of unshed tears
Now the sun was growing suddenly dark
and tiuttering little hurried waves, with
their white caps, gave a new effect to the
water And now the sky is almost black
and the wind tears madly through the
massive, broken crags and the sweet dreami-
ness and JOY has gone out of the landscape,
while the black clouds empty them
selves OF torrents of rain. The seagulls
dart hither and thither in wild excitement
sending ont a curious chatter to add to the
tumult, while the snow covered peaks of
the mountains rise un as if in white ap-
peal against it all. We hurried to shelter
and looked out delighted. But the storm
passed away as quickly as it came And
sudden flashes of sunlight were on noun
tain sides and turned glacier we could see
into sheets OF diamonds and pearls
Farms High on the Mountains
Away up there on broken crag. putting
out over the sea, is fsherman's hut, and
there is another, and many others Here
and there are mountain farms perched on
giddy heights almost incredible. A Nor.
weglan laiy who speaks English with q
pure accent tells me they are reached by
narrow, dangerous paths, along which the
experienced mountaineer alone dare tread;
also, that many of these farms have a
grazing stock OF dozen head of cattle and
hundreds of sheep and goats. Many of
them are so far back over the mountains
that they cannot be seen from the ford, and
often the owners do not emerge from them
for two or three years at time In the
winter they are wholly shut in, as the
mountain passes are then too dangerous
But their simple lives do not call for much,
they spin and weave their own cloth, and
the farms Weld the necessary food. School
masters 60 IRON house to house.
Marrow valleys open here and there to
the ford, on which villages are built Here
is one now. Close TO the water, surrounded
by rich meadows, 1t looks like a pretty
OASIS, and has such O.. quaint name-Godo-
sund. Just opposite is chain of islands
covered with beautiful verdure. Here and
there are little summer houses of lattice
work, with vines and seats under spreading
trees, and on the largest island q pictur-
esque sort of little castle. learned mys-
terious story of how q rich Englishman
lived there IN solitude with little girl of
II. He had come there when she was Q |