,' said Lyman, who had come in unseen, and was kneeling in
front of the fire. 'Dear mother, do you know who it is you have been
talking with?'

The old woman started, but answered quietly:

'It is a Sodno, I suppose?'

'You have guessed right,' replied Lyma.

The mother of the Stalos looked round for her iron cane, which she
always used to kill her victims, but it was not there, for Lyma had put
it in the fire.

'Where is my iron cane?' asked the old woman.

'There!' answered Lyma, pointing to the flames.

The old woman sprang forwards and seized it, but her clothes caught
fire, and in a few minutes she was burned to ashes.

So the Sodno brothers found the treasure, and they carried it, and their
sister and the reindeer, to their own home, and were the richest men in
all Lapland.

Andras Baive

[From Lapplandische Marchen, J. C. Poestion.]

Once upon a time there lived in Lapland a man who was so very strong and
swift of foot that nobody in his native town of Vadso could come near
him if they were running races in the summer evenings. The people of
Vadso were very proud of their champion, and thought that there was no
one like him in the world, till, by-and-by, it came to their ears that
there dwelt among the mountains a Lapp, Andras Baive by name, who was
said by his friends to be even stronger and swifter than the bailiff.
Of course not a creature in Vadso believed that, and declared that if it
made the mountaineers happier to talk such nonsense, why, let them!

The winter was long and cold, and the thoughts of the villagers were
much busier with wolves than with Andras Baive, when suddenly, on a
frosty day, he made his appearance in the little town of Vadso. The
bailiff was delighted at this chance of trying his strength, and at once
went out to seek Andras and to coax him into giving proof of his vigour.
As he walked along his eyes fell upon a big eight-oared boat that lay
upon the shore, and his face shone with pleasure. 'That is the very
thing,' laughed he, 'I will make him jump over that boat.' Andras was
quite ready to accept the challenge, and they soon settled the terms of
the wager. He who could jump over the boat without so much as touching
it with his heel was to be the winner, and would get a large sum of
money as the prize. So, followed by many of the villagers, the two men
walked down to the sea.

An old fisherman was chosen to stand near the boat to watch fair play,
and to hold