Alta Halverson Seymour

“ Getting the greens and decorating was even more fun than the Christmas program itself. This was the first time Arne and Bergel’s class had been included in the expedition. Arne’s eyes glowed as he thought of the picnic supper, the campfire up there on the dark mountain, the singing that would float all up and down the mountainside.
[69]
But some of the girls looked a little perturbed, and the teacher almost smiled as he said, “We shall not stand out there in the snow eating our supper. Froken Utvig says we can find shelter in her father’s saeter cabin.” ”

“ Everyone laughed and clapped, for here was Julenissen himself, with his pointed red cap and long whiskers. [110] He was larger than Julenissen really should be, for his feet touched the ground as he bestrode the straw-trimmed goat, Julebuken. But no one minded that, and everyone screamed and laughed and tried to get out of his way. ”

“ Arne knew there would be stacks of flatbrod, hard and crisp and round, each piece larger than a plate. Besta baked these right on top of her well-scrubbed cookstove. There would be heart-shaped waffles, and lefse and bakkelse and rosettes and all kinds of good coffeecakes. His mouth watered at the thought. If a boy hung around the kitchen at the right times, he was sure to come in for a good many samples, especially broken bits. ”

“ So Herr Dalen gave his son a good Norwegian hunting knife with a silver handle shaped like a horse’s head and a neat leather sheath which fitted on his belt. Arne was very proud of it and put it to good use under Ole’s directions. But baling those bundles of dried fish was a very different matter. And certainly tomorrow was no day to spend on the packing-house dock at a tedious job like that. Then a hopeful thought struck him, and he asked, “Well, then, is Gustav going to help bale lutfisk too?” ”

“ No one was in sight but his grandmother, busy with her mixing bowl at the kitchen table. “Where’s Mother, Besta?” he asked. “Cousin Bergel just told me they’re going to take the cows and goats up the mountain tomorrow. Do you know who all are going? Do you suppose I can—”
“For goodness’ sake, boy, you go on like a spinning wheel! It must be that red hair of yours that drives you along so fast. Just be quiet a minute, will you? I can only answer five or six questions at a time. Your mother and sister Margret are over helping Aunt Tina get things ready for the trip tomorrow.” ”

“ Arne’s father was in the fish-packing business and owned just enough land to grow a little hay and keep a cow or two and some goats. But Uncle Jens was a real farmer; and, like most farmers in Norway, he had his own skyland pastures high in the mountain valleys where the grass grew green and lush. These were called saeters, and each had its little cabin where some of the daughters of the family spent their summers. The girls milked the cows and goats which were taken from the home farm to be pastured up there, made the cheese, and churned the butter. ”

“ Uncle Jens had had a wire elevator before this for use in sending down milk cans and hay, but he felt it had been a somewhat makeshift affair. This year he wanted it to be strong and secure enough for any reasonable load, for his herd was an extra large one.
Arne liked this kind of a job, and he felt proud to be working with Uncle Jens and Gustav and Evart. Strong wires were fastened securely to trees and firmly anchored below to posts driven at some distance from the foot of the cliff. A milk can or a large bundle of hay could be sent down those wires in a rope sling, easily and swiftly. ”

“ Winter set in early, and it was always a relief to Arne to get out of school. He liked to get his skis and go flying down the steep slopes behind the town with Nels and Oscar and Torger and some of the other boys. Evart was away at school this year, and sometimes Arne took Bergel with him coasting. She knew how to steer the long sled almost as well as he did.
He would stop at home in the kitchen first, for he was sure to find Mother and Besta having a cup of afternoon coffee. Sometimes Aunt Tina would be there, too, and Signe and Margret. Sometimes one of the neighbors would come in. ”

“ Bergel, very quick at her lessons, was in the same grade as her cousin.
“I’ll like being in the same room with Nels and Oscar and those boys instead of a lot of little kids,” Arne admitted.
“Yes, I think it’s wonderful we’re going to be in with the upper grades. And a man teacher. Makes me feel pretty grown-up.”
Arne was surprised when he entered school that first morning and got his first glimpse of Herr Professor Engstrand. Somehow, from Oscar’s remarks, he had expected to see an elderly gentleman. Herr Professor didn’t look much older than Gustav. ”

“ We’ll go down a lot faster than we came up. The ship won’t beat us in by much.”
In the very midst of gathering his next load of wood, Arne stopped and laughed right out loud. “I’ve thought of something, Herr Professor!” he cried. “I’ve thought of how I can get down there fast—just like a commando. We can keep the fire going as long as necessary, and I can still beat the ship to the dock.”
“And how are you going to do that, Arne?”
“I can go right down the wires Uncle Jens arranged to let the milk and stuff down the cliff. ”

“ As he worked, he sang some of the rollicking folk songs Besta had taught them long ago; and that made the job go even faster. Old Ole worked with them; he knew songs Arne had never heard. Before long Father joined the group; and by the time they stopped for supper, a good share of the work was out of the way.
“There, now,” said Father with satisfaction. “We are going to see to it that those poor folks in America do not starve for good Norwegian lutfisk. Time to stop for supper. I wonder what Mother will have for us to eat.”
“Hope it won’t be lutfisk,” said Arne fervently, and they all laughed. ”

“ He was too anxious and miserable to stay out playing, so he earned the pleased surprise of Herr Professor by going straight into the schoolroom, opening his book, and settling down. [70] But his thoughts were not on his Norwegian history, though that was a subject he really liked, full as it was of stirring events. His thoughts were with the freighter Stjerne, in peril out there on the stormy sea.
Arne hurried home right after school, hoping better news had come in. His mother was in a perfect fury of baking. She was making lefse, and he usually liked to watch her doing that. ”

“ He adjusted his pack and fell in with Gustav and Uncle Jens and Evart. Margret, flushed and pretty, ran around trying to persuade their two cows and the goats to fall in with the others. Arne would have enjoyed helping her with that, but cows and goats were definitely [22] the province of womenfolk. He knew very well that Margret didn’t want any interference from him. Bergel and Signe came to her aid; and soon the procession was on its way, bells ringing, everyone singing and waving and laughing, while Mother and Father and Besta called out, “A pleasant trip!” “Good luck!” “God be with you!” ”

“ Before long they branched off to a road which climbed the mountain ever more steeply and presently turned into a trail. Here they tethered fat little Suri, and the cart’s load was divided among them. The men would have to make more than one trip down to get the rest of the goods.
Arne had been here many times before, and he rushed ahead so fast that Uncle Jens called him a mountain goat and told him not to fall into the fjord if he got to the saeter before the others. ”

“ Arne laughed, too. You certainly wouldn’t want to scare away Julenissen, the little elf with the pointed red cap and little red suit. He was supposed to live in the attic and bring special good luck at Christmas time, particularly if one always remembered to set out his bowl of milk [59] and give him his Christmas rice porridge. Arne had never actually seen Julenissen, but he knew someone in the family always saw to that milk and the porridge.
“Julenissen hates dirt,” said Besta. ”

“ He had hard work to keep from crying, but of course you couldn’t do that when you were twelve years old—especially when there were people around. But his nose pricked and his throat ached; he had to wink fast and turn and walk over to the sink as if he wanted a drink of water—which he didn’t. ”

“ Arne hesitated just a moment. He wanted dreadfully to be right down there on the dock when the Stjerne came in. But then he shook his head. “No,” he said. “One commando would never walk out on another. I’m going to help keep this fire going.”
[95]
“Good boy, Arne. I think your brother would like that,” said Herr Professor. There was an expression of such approval and pleasure on his face that Arne’s cheeks flamed and he looked away, feeling very happy. “We’ll both work hard, then; and we’re pretty fast on our skis. ”

“ Come, Bergel is blowing the horn again. That is the signal for supper.”
Arne gathered with the others around the great fire piled high in the kitchen fireplace. Froken Utvig and the girls had scrubbed a long table, laid a bright cloth [87] over it, and spread it with gaily-decorated sandwiches and cakes. Everyone was hungry and ready for the good food and the singing.
There were Christmas songs first, and folk songs followed. Then everyone stood to sing the national anthem:
“Yes, we love with fond devotion
Norway’s mountain domes,
Rising storm-lashed o’er the ocean
With their thousand homes.” ”

“ Suri would pull the light hay cart piled with pots and kettles, milk pails and cans, chums and bedding, and all the other housekeeping things. When they reached the place where the road became no more than a trail, they would tether the pony and leave her to spend a pleasant day cropping tender mountain grass.
Aunt Tina would drive, and little Knut would ride beside her. The girls would be in charge of the cows and [14] goats. Uncle Jens and Evart and Gustav would carry big packs, because they couldn’t burden fat little Suri too heavily. No horse-loving Norwegian would think of it. ”

“ The wind is getting higher. It feels to me as if it’s going to snow again, and we’ve got work to do, you and I.”
Arne was more puzzled than ever. What work could they possibly have to do up here? But Herr Engstrand [90] was skiing down the mountain with a speed that Arne found hard to follow. When he reached Uncle Jens’s saeter, Herr Engstrand was already there, playing his flashlight all around the little clearing.
From the high point near the cliff, the boy could see lights moving out on the open sea leading to the fjord. “Looks as if a ship’s in trouble out there,” he said anxiously. ”

“ Arne looked at the wires and then at his uncle. Gustav could use some help down there. If they’d pull the rope right back up, maybe he could muster the courage to go down those wires as Gustav had done.
But to his relief, Uncle Jens said, “See, he has Torger on his feet. He’ll be all right now.”
“We must be thinking of getting started, now,” said Aunt Tina. “We can’t go down like Gustav. We have to take the long way around. I’ll be up in a week or two, Signe, and give you a hand with making the cheese. And Bergel can help. She’s eleven now, and it is time she learned.” ”

“ Arne’s a pretty big boy now, and he could be a lot of help. I know that’s one of the reasons they want me to go.”
“They want you because everyone wants to have you around,” said Arne, his voice still muffled. But the heavy feeling in his chest lightened a little, and he turned half around, looking hopefully at his brother. Gustav was pretty good at finding a way out of things.
Gustav said, “Lutfisk could be baled tonight as well as tomorrow. Father wants to have the shipment ready to send off day after tomorrow, that’s all. We can work down there tonight. ”

“ Of course I know it takes more than a snowstorm to keep a Norwegian boy off a mountain. In fact, people say mountains and snow are all a Norwegian needs for fun. But I didn’t think you knew the way here.”
“I didn’t really, but—” Arne began and then stopped short, uncertain and embarrassed. He certainly [85] could not tell Herr Professor about Bergel’s note. ”

“ And the lutfisk—which he had so disliked to bale in the summer—would be a favorite part of the Christmas feasting. There would be cheeses, too, of many kinds, and pickled pigs’ feet and headcheese, roasted meats and sausages. Mother always set out a good koltbord—a table laden with all these good things and many others; people could help themselves to suit their tastes.
Arne thought of all this as he fortified himself with a substantial snack. Then he went out to the workshop. ”

“ Presently Besta buttered a piece of warm lefse, spread it with brown sugar, rolled it, and handed it to Arne. Even now he did not forget the polite Norwegian “Mange tak,” “Many thanks.”
He took his lefse and wandered off to the workshop, but there was a lump in his throat as he drew the covering back and looked at his little ships. It didn’t seem to him he could work at them today, and he started to cover them again. Then he stopped and said fiercely right out loud, “Look here, Arne Dalen! Gustav wouldn’t do that. He’s [71] a great one to stick at something until he gets it done.” ”

“ Arne looked at Gustav hopelessly. Not even Gustav could help now.
[29]
But Gustav’s lips were set, and he went quickly toward the wire elevator.
“What are you going to do?” cried Margret anxiously.
“Go down the wires,” said Gustav tersely.
“Oh, you can’t! You can’t do that!” protested Aunt Tina and the girls. “It isn’t strong enough! It wasn’t made for a man.”
“Got to try it. Don’t see any other way. Got to get there fast or it will be too late. Have you got some cloths, Aunt Tina? I have to wind them around my hands, or they’ll be torn on the wires so I can’t use them.” ”