THE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD 585 



was the Frarn ? Had we left her ? Where were the oth- 

 ers ? Was anything amiss ? These questions poured 

 forth with breathless anxiety, and it was no doubt the 

 hardest thing of all to understand that there w-as nothing 

 amiss, and yet that we had left our splendid ship. But 

 little by little even that became comprehensible ; and then 

 all was rejoicing, and champagne and cigars presently 

 appeared on the scene. Another acquaintance from the 

 south was also in the hotel ; he came in to speak to 

 Mohn ; but, seeing that he had visitors, was on the point 

 of going again. Then he stopped, stared at us, discov- 

 ered who the visitors were, and stood as though nailed to 

 the spot; and then we all drank to the expedition and to 

 Norway. It was clear that we must stop there that even- 

 ino;, and we sat the whole afternoon talkino- and talk- 

 ing without a pause. But meanwhile the whole town had 

 learnt the names of its newdy arrived guests, and wdien we 

 looked out of the window the street was full of people, 

 and from all the flagstaffs over the town, and from all the 

 masts in the harbor, the Norwegian flag waved in the 

 evening sunshine. And then came telegrams in torrents, 

 all of them bringing good news. Now all our troubles 

 were over. Only the arrival of the Fj^am was wanting to 

 complete things; but we were quite at ease about her; 

 she would soon turn up. The first thing we had to do, 

 now^ that w^e were on Norwegian soil and could look 

 about us a little, was to replenish our w-ardrobe. But it 

 was now no joke to make our way through the streets, 



