the district for the rest of the winter,--rumours of the
movements of the pirate-vessel, and of the pranks of the spirits of the
region, there were some such clear notices of the appearance of Hund,--
so many eyes had seen him in one place or another, by land and water, by
day and night, that Stiorna could not doubt of his being alive, and free
to come home or stay away as he pleased. She could not conceal from
herself that he had probably joined the pirates; and heartily as these
pirates were feared throughout the Nordland coasts, they were not more
heartily hated by any than by the jealous Stiorna.

Her salt was wanted as much as if Hund had brought home a boatful of
cod; and she might have given her welcome to the hunting-party.
Erlingsen and Rolf came home sooner than might reasonably have been
expected, and well laden with bear's flesh. The whole family of bears
had been found and shot. The flesh of the cubs had been divided among
the hunters; and Erlingsen was complimented with the feet of the old
bear, as it was he who had roused the neighbours, and led the hunt.
Busy was every farm-house (and none so busy as Erlingsen's) in salting
some of the meat, freezing some, and cooking a part for a feast on the
occasion.

Erlingsen kept a keen and constant look-out upon the fiord, in the midst
of all the occupations and gaieties of the rest of the winter. His
wife's account of the adventures of the day of his absence made him
anxious; and he never went a mile out of sight of home, so vivid in his
imagination was the vision of his house burning, and his family at the
mercy of pirates. Nothing happened, however, to confirm his fears. The
enemy were never heard of in the fiord; and the cod-fishers who came up,
before the softening of the snow, to sell some of their produce in the
interior of the country, gave such accounts as seemed to show that the
fishing-grounds were the object of the foreign thieves; for foreign they
were declared to be: some said Russian; and others, a mixture from
hostile nations. This last information gave more impulse to the love of
country for which the Norwegians are remarkable, than all that had been
reported from the seat of war. The Nordlanders always drank success to
their country's arms, in the first glass of corn-brandy at dinner. They
paid their taxes cheerfully; and any newspaper that the clergyman put in
circulation was read till it fell to pieces; but, the neighbourhood of
forei