ITER DALECARLIUM 237 



with the bird, for a heavy shower, ' raining grass and 

 gold,' came down, diluting Clewberg's ink and driving 

 the young men to shelter. The hut, though dark, was 

 anything but weathertight : the chinks and crannies 

 were i all squirts and whistles.' 



1 A child may have too much of his mother's blessing, 

 eh, Nasman/ said Clewberg, laughing as the candle 

 hissed and went out, and he could not see to put his 

 ink under cover. Two bats one the Vesp. borealis, the 

 other a long-eared bat whirled inside the hut. They 

 were caught that night. 



1 Change of weather finds discourse for ' 



' Englishmen,' finished the youth, merrily snatching 

 the rude Gothic proverb, which says ' fools,' out of 

 Nasman's mouth, who was peevish at having his pro- 

 vince of proverbial philosophy invaded. 



* After clouds comes clear weather/ said Nasman, re- 

 covering his temper, and the two left the hut together. 



They saw a strange sight. The short shower, which 

 had been local, and focussed in their immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, was over, but in the distance the vast moun- 

 tain wall was partially illuminated by jets of flame, 

 spouting upwards, or running about waywardly on the 

 ground, and now and then shooting or darting forward 

 like fireworks. ' It is the wildfire,' ' It is the ignis fatuus 

 playing over those deep marshes/ were the utterances, 

 awed or philosophic, as they watched these phantom 

 fires. The thickening darkness intensified the effect, 

 which was amazing, and at times horrible. Every now 



