t of a little log or frame
tavern, a long shambling stable, innumerable odds and ends of cribs,
store-houses, and outbuildings, forming a kind of court or
stable-yard; a rickety medley of old carts and carioles lying about
basking in the sun; a number of old white-headed men smoking their
pipes, and leathery-faced women on household duties intent, with a
score or so of little cotton-headed children running about over the
manure pile in the neighborhood of the barn, to keep the pigs company;
here and there a strapping lout of a boy swinging on a gate and
whistling for his own amusement; while cows, sheep, goats, chickens,
and other domestic animals and birds browse, nibble, and peck all over
the yard in such a lazy and rural manner as would delight an artist.
This is the ordinary Norwegian station.

[Illustration: STATION-HOUSE, LOGEN VALLEY.]

There is always a good room for the traveler, and plenty of excellent
homely fare to eat. At some few places along the route the
station-houses aspire to the style and dignity of hotels, but they are
not always the best or most comfortable. Then there are "fast" and
"slow" stations--so called in the book of laws. At the fast stations
the traveler can procure a horse and cariole without delay--fifteen
minutes being the legal limit. At the slow stations he must wait till
the neighborhood, for a distance of three or four miles perhaps, is
searched for a horse--sometimes for both horse and cariole. If he
chooses to incur the expense he can send forward a _Forbad_, or notice
in advance, requiring horses to be ready at each station at a
specified time; but if he is not there according to notice, he must
pay so much per hour for the delay. A day-book is kept at each of
these post-houses, in which the traveler must enter his name, stating
the time of his arrival and departure, where he came from, his
destination, how many horses he requires, etc. In this formidable book
he may also specify any complaint he has to make against the
station-holder, boy, horse, cariole, or any body, animal, or thing
that maltreats him, cheats him, or in any way misuses him on the
journey; but he must take care to have the inn-keeper or some such
disinterested person as a witness in his behalf, so that when the
matter comes before the Amtmand, or grand tribunal of justice, it may
be fairly considered and disposed of according to law. When the
inn-keeper, station-holder, posting-master, alderman, or other p