Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1894-01-03
ABrGaCh Of Faith.
By HJllMAR HORT. BoyESEA.

letter was received, and Martha took it
for granted that her husband was dead.
She had tried to institute inquiries, ad-
yertised for him in the Scandinavian
paper, ETC., but with no results. Several
settlers had proposed for her hand dur
ing this time. but though she regarded
herself as O widow she had refused all
offers. A large settlement had grown up
about her, and in circuit of twenty or
thirty miles the country was largely in
possession Of Norwegians. They did all
In their power to keep out other nation
aiities from their immediate neighbor-
hood, and vented particularly their
hostility on the Irish If representative
Of that race dug hole in the ground.
and staked out homestead on land
which they had reserved for the occupa-
ton Of their brethren in the faith. Ger
man Protestants they tolerated, though
they were far from liking them, but the
community of religion restrained them
from active hostilities. And, moreover.
the Germans were no less clannish than
the Norsemen themselves-congregating
in communities of their own, and rarely
from choice encroaching upon Scandina-
Wan precincts.
In the meanwhile a church had been
built-a simple frame structure, and
about as ugly as could have been de-
vised-and q clergyman had been called
over from Norway. An archaeological
student named Salveson, formerly adj
dicted to drink, but now ostensibly re-
formed, roamed about the country, CIV
ing instruction of an antiquated sort in
reading, writing, arithmetic and Bible
history. He was an odd stick-a typical
wreck of the kind the old world is con-
w.. W. -..lly contributing to the new, but
lol 90 failings he was well received
w smN lodging at. and had free board
sarm he chose to y iiiSiatum on any Morse
. .,;.h = 40 Hack bottle OF When he retired
mote spot people let him al6oo SOME TO
ceived him on his return after'nu TO
three days with undiminished cordially
He was not in the best condition for
teaching Bible history on such occa-
sions; but then, in new country where
scholars were scarce, no one could afford
to be exacting.
Widow Matson, who was anxious to
have her son profit by Salveson's accom-
plishments, induced him to stay for
months at time at her farm, and kindly
overlooked his periodical disappearance
and his demoralized aspect when he
crawled forth again to resume his labors,
It was enough for her that the pastor
Endorsed Salveson, who in spite of his un-
happy proclivities was perfectly ortho-
dox, and truly and purely Lutheran.
Gunnar, ON the other hand. was in
clined to take q critical view of him,
but found his instructor, on the whole,
amusing. Salveson always smoked y
long pipe when he taught, and his
rubicund nose CLEANED through the
smoke while he spoke Of Norway's
past glory and the great deeds Of the
Vikings. Often he grew quite excited,
scratched his tousled head and wiped
away the tears that tricllled down his
cheeks
"Thank God on your knees that you
were born Norseman, boy" he would
say, "for he might just as we'll have
made you miserable Deutschman or
Englishman or American. We are the
proudest nation on earth, or we ought
to be, il we would read our history
Alright. There wasn't anybody could
lick those old Vikings. They conquered
Normandy, mere handful of them, and
when the king of France wanted Duke
Rollo to kiss his COMPOUNDED toe-think
Of it, he, Norseman, kiss q French
MAPS toe-Rollo simply took him by the
foot and quietly turned him upside
down. Served him right, the fooll And
when they had gobbled up France these
very same fellows-or think it was
their grandchildren-sailed over and put
England in their pockets. Hol hol That
was a neat job, wasn't it?"
And thus the poor drunken sot, with
his bad teeth, frowsy head and dirty
hands, would sit by the hour and with
hysterical eloquence glory in the deeds
Of his ancestors. He was SO proud OF
being Norseman, though drunk one
that he forgot all present misery in the
sense Of his historical grandeur. A
Norseman drunk, he once declared, was
. better fellow than Deutschman or an
Englishman or an American sober.
Gunnar accepted this and other sim
liar declarations in good faith, and never
questioned his own superiority by virtue
Of his Morse blood to all the foreign ba-
befthat surrounded him. He heard con-
tinually the same story from the pastor
and all the neighbors. Anecdotes were
told at every social gathering illustrat-
ing the money greed Of the Americans
and their INSCRIPTIONS attempts to cheat
the guileless immigrants. The settle
mont. which was now large and prosper
ous. had a sense of comfortable solidari-
ty and compactness as a snug little Nor
way, safely hedged in and diked against
the'wild ocean of infidelity, strife and
vice, which roared in vain against its
defences.
CHAPTER III.
Gunnar lived in this state Of idyllic
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