HVILESTED, 1901 143 



another the whole structure was soon in a blaze, and 

 in a few hours was with most of its contents reduced 

 to a heap of smouldering ashes. The inmates worked 

 hard to save what they could, but a good deal of 

 quaint and curious old Norwegian furniture and 

 carving, and the skins of two fine bears which had 

 been killed in the valley were losses which no insur- 

 ance could make up for. There is no real necessity 

 to leave fires burning in Norway when you are out of 

 the house. A handful of birch bark, and a few dry 

 logs from the basket by the side of the hearth, will 

 make a roaring blaze in a few minutes. 



No one who has had the privilege of being the 

 guest of Lort Phillips at any of his Norway homes will 

 have forgotten the return from a late night on the 

 river. Soup and coffee always stood in readiness on the 

 hearth waiting to be heated up, and in a minute the 

 portly form of the genial host would be seen stooping 

 before the hearth, his jolly face lighted up by the 

 blaze his bellows soon produced. How we relished 

 the smoking soup and boiling coffee, and what Gar- 

 gantuan meals we managed to consume in the small 

 hours ! Such heavy suppers, followed immediately by 

 bed, might have been expected to produce nightmare 

 and indigestion ; no such results ever followed in 

 Norway. These open fireplaces were a speciality of 

 our host, and the hearthstone occupied a deep recess 

 in a massive mantelpiece of soft porous stone brought 

 down from the mountains, which had the property of 

 retaining and dispensing heat long after the fire had 

 burnt down. It was certainly a privilege particularly 

 appreciated by Englishmen to get away from the 

 ubiquitous stoves of porcelain or iron which fill the 



