and glacier-capped
mountains, was the abode of a considerable number of small farmers, in
the midst of whose dwellings stood the residence of Haldor, where the
meeting in the smithy just described took place.

It was in this narrow defile that the landslip happened, a catastrophe
which always has been and still is of frequent occurrence in the
mountain regions of Norway.

Hilda and the old man (whom we shall henceforth call Christian) cast
their eyes hastily upwards on hearing the sound that had arrested
Erling's steps so suddenly. The enormous mass of rock was detached from
the hill on the other side of the river, but the defile was so narrow
that falling rocks often rebounded quite across it. The slip occurred
just opposite the spot on which Hilda and the old man stood, and as the
terrible shower came on, tearing down trees and rocks, the heavier
masses being dashed and spurned from the hillside in innumerable
fragments, it became evident that to escape beyond the range of the
chaotic deluge was impossible.

Hilda understood the danger so well that she was panic stricken and
rooted to the spot. Erling understood it also, and, with a sudden cry,
dashed at full speed to the rescue. His cry was one almost of despair,
for the distance between them was so great that he had no chance, he
knew, of reaching her in time.

In this extremity the hermit looked round for a crevice or a rock which
might afford protection, but no such place of safety was at hand. The
side of the pass rose behind them like a wall to a height of several
hundred feet. Seeing this at a glance the old man planted himself
firmly in front of Hilda. His lips moved, and the single word "Jesus"
dropped from them as he looked with a calm steady gaze at the avalanche.

Scarcely had he taken his stand when the first stones leaped across the
gorge, and, striking on the wall of rock behind, burst into fragments
and fell in a shower around them. Some of the smaller _debris_ struck
the old man's breast, and the hands which he had raised to protect his
face; but he neither blanched nor flinched. In another instant the
greater part of the hurling rubbish fell with a terrible crash and tore
up the earth in all directions round them. Still they stood unhurt!
The height from which the ruin had descended was so great that the
masses were scattered, and although they flew around over, and close to
them, the great shock passed by and left them unscathed.

B