40 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



remember one who seemed capable of making 

 an adequate reply. Before such strangers he 

 thoroughly enjoyed showing off, and if we killed 

 a fish or two while they were looking on, he 

 would always treat it as the most ordinary 

 occurrence, not worth making a remark about. 

 He had a rare opportunity of posing in this way 

 on a certain Sunday evening in June. The 

 Norwegian Sabbath begins at 6 P.M. on Satur- 

 day and ends at 6 P.M. on Sunday. Of the 

 Saturday portion we never take any notice, but 

 we have always observed the Sunday rest till 

 6 P.M., and Lars was a stickler for the point. If 

 you said to him at 5.30, " Lars, the tide is right, 

 we will begin," he would reply, " Klokken sex." 

 On this particular Sunday service had been held 

 at our church in the morning, and many peasants 

 had come down from the surrounding moun- 

 tains ; and as it was a nice drizzling afternoon 

 such as the Norwegian loafer thoroughly enjoys, 

 a number of people were hanging about to see if 

 we had any sport. It was a flood-tide, and out 

 of deference to Lars' scruples we were rather 

 late in beginning, but there was an hour's fishing 

 before it became too high. At the head of 

 Lervik, almost at the first cast, I hooked a fish, 



