LILLEDAL, 1913 223 



performed with his knife. I got two nice sea -trout of 

 two and one pound respectively in the morning, but did 

 not succeed in rising anything in the afternoon when 

 I fished House and Bridge Pools in the small river. 

 In spite of my ill success, other anglers proved that it 

 was not altogether hopeless, as one lady caught a fish 

 of three and a half pounds at Haarstad in the morning, 

 and Miss Cole got one of two pounds in the afternoon. 

 After dinner we played a farewell game of bridge, 

 and shortly after eleven I paid a most grateful fare- 

 well to my kind hostess and her party, and started for 

 the boat-house, whither my luggage had preceded me. 

 It was a very dark walk, especially the first part of it, 

 where the path down the slope was overshadowed 

 with trees ; but Ole looked after me like a father, and 

 I managed to get on board the boat without a stumble. 

 There was no moon, but the sky above was gemmed 

 with stars as we launched out and made our way over 

 the dark water towards the promontory beyond 

 Hammeren, looking eagerly for the lights of the ex- 

 pected steamer. It was promised before midnight, but 

 it did not actually arrive till 12.40, as it had already 

 made another trip to Christiansund with the party from 

 Todal. The fjord was as calm as glass, and the night 

 warm and still, so the delay did not cause us any in- 

 convenience ; but the Beta certainly did not hurry her- 

 self, as we saw her lights more than half an hour before 

 she reached us. It was a weird experience lying out on 

 the still water in a silence only broken occasionally by 

 the distant cry of some sea-bird or owl, and striking 

 matches from time to time to notify our whereabouts, 

 their flare making the darkness around us seem more 

 intense. 



