disposed to be as friendly as
circumstances would permit. It was somewhat awkward being alone in a
strange room with a person of the opposite sex, young and rather
pretty, without saying any thing particular. Her silence, as well as
my own, was getting embarrassing. I attempted to carry on a
conversation in Danish, of which I soon discovered she knew even less
than I did myself. She answered my remarks, however, in her native
tongue, with a very sweet voice, and in such a sociable way that I
felt sure she meant to be kind and hospitable. In vain I waited for
her to leave. It was getting late, and her parents might feel anxious
about her. Still she manifested no disposition to go away. What could
the girl mean? was a question that now began to enter my head.
Probably I had taken possession of her room, and she had no other
place to sleep. If so, it was not my fault. Nobody could hold me
responsible for such a peculiar family arrangement. Seeing no
alternative but to test the point, I gradually began to take off my
coat. So far from being abashed at the movement, she seized hold of
the sleeves and helped me off with it. I did the same with my vest,
and still with the same result. Then I pulled off my boots, but with
no better prospect of relief from my embarrassing dilemma. Finally I
came to my pantaloons, at which I naturally hesitated. It was about
time for the young woman to leave, if she had any regard for my
feelings. I thanked her very cordially; but she showed no symptoms of
leaving. It was plain that she meant to help me through with the
business. I sat for some time longer before I could bring myself to
this last trying ordeal. There was something so pure and innocent in
the expression of the young woman's face--such an utter
unconsciousness of any impropriety in our relative positions, that I
scarcely knew what to do or think. "She wants to help me off with my
pantaloons--that's plain!" said I to myself. "Perhaps it is the custom
in Iceland; but it is very awkward, nevertheless." The fact is, you
see, I was not quite old enough to be the girl's father, nor yet quite
young enough to be put to bed like her youngest brother. Between the
two extremes of the case I was considerably troubled. To reject her
kind offers of service might be deemed rude, and nothing was farther
from my intention than to offend this amiable young person. Allowing a
reasonable time to elapse, I saw there was no getting over the
difficulty,