WITH CARL OF THE HILL 21 



from the farms in the valleys up to the mountains to 

 feed. Each small herd is in charge of its dairy- 

 woman, and for her the sater is built. It is lonely 

 enough during the week, but on Saturdays and Sun- 

 days their friends come up to see them, so that, what 

 with this and their knitting and dairy work, they get 

 along pretty well. Now September the 19th is the 

 day on which the mountain feeding is over and the 

 cows return to the farms. One of the women had 

 therefore left that very morning, but the other, as if 

 apprised of Carl's coming, would seem to have agreed 

 to remain till the Monday to give him welcome and 

 see to his wants. And yet when we entered the sater 

 its only occupant was a man. A lazy sullen-looking 

 fellow he was, who informed us that he had come up 

 to see his sister, but that at present she was out. 



Now, as we found out later, it was out of no love for 

 his sister that he was there, but because he had 

 arranged to meet a companion at this place and do 

 a bit of poaching on Carl's ground. Owing, how- 

 ever, as I imagine to the scent of Carl's coming, this 

 precious plan fell through. He told us, then, that his 

 sister had only that evening discovered that her cows 

 had followed the others in the morning when 

 they left. The girl would therefore have to trudge 



