mer would strike it every time the wheel 

 revolved. We sometimes had as many 

 as ten wheels all in close proximity to 

 each other and all in operation at the 

 same time. The noise made must in- 

 deed have been a thunderous one, and 

 I think Thor himself could not but have 

 listened with admiration to it ; at least 

 he could not have been any prouder of 

 his hammer than we were of ours. I 

 doubt if ever an engineer watched his 

 machinery with more interest and care 

 than we our water wheels. 



The forests of Norway are, as is well 

 known, a great field for feathered game 

 and the food thus procured is an import- 

 ant item among the rural people as is 

 also the fish supply. In the spring when 

 the flowers have not yet awakened from 

 their "trylleslummer" and trold and 

 nisse are busy out in the forest among 

 the "naaletraeerne," or needle trees, as 

 the pines are called, and under which the 

 snow is yet lying, there are bare places 

 on the marshes from which all the snow 

 has disappeared. These bare spots are 

 used as battlefields by the heath-cocks. 

 One day about the middle of April, Hjal- 

 mar and I went to the woods for the pur- 

 pose of locating such a battle ground. 

 We found many bare places but none 

 which showed any signs that fighting had 

 taken place. At last we found one 

 which we judged, from all the blood and 

 feathers in the withered grass, must be 

 a meeting place for the feathered war- 

 riors. We went to work and built two 

 huts of spruce boughs, at opposite edges 

 of the marsh, so that we might have a 

 shelter from behind which to watch a 

 fight unnoticed by the birds, and of 

 course with the intention of shooting 

 some of them for our dinner. 



Next morning before "morgenskaer" 

 or peep of day we started for the marsh, 

 for we had to take possession of our huts 

 while it was yet dark and before the 

 birds had come out of the woods, as 

 nearly always they are early risers. It 

 would be useless to endeavor to get with- 

 in range of them after they were once 

 down on the marsh, for the hens in the 

 "kratten" or thicket near by would give 

 a warning cry for the benefit of the 

 fighters if an enemy were seen approach- 



ing. These hens made me think of the 

 Roman maids and matrons of olden time, 

 for I had read in a book at school how 

 they sat in the ampitheater and watched 

 the gladiators in combat. We crawled 

 into our huts and waited patiently for 

 dawn. Just as the sun rose, casting his 

 rays among the evergreen trees and mak- 

 ing the icicles on them sparkle in all the 

 colors of the rainbow, a large, black, 

 bird came out of the woods and alighted 

 on the marsh, and with his "tsju, tsju," 

 challenged the other birds. One after 

 another they came out on the marsh and 

 soon the battle was in full progress, and 

 it was a fight for life or death. Two of 

 the fighting birds came so near my hut 

 that at one time I could almost touch 

 them had I reached out my hand. I did 

 not shoot, for the shot would have torn 

 the birds in pieces. I waited until they 

 were a suitable distance away and then 

 fired, making a sudden end to both 

 their belligerent careers. The report 

 from my gun scared the other birds and 

 they flew away to the trees near by. We 

 remained in our huts and before very 

 long a bird came back as full of fight 

 as ever. Again the battle raged fierce- 

 ly ; two of the plumed knights were in 

 the heat of the fray nearing Hjalmar's 

 hut when I saw a blue smoke followed 

 by a sharp, loud report, and the dark, 

 damp marsh was drinking the life-blood 

 of two more warriors. The remaining 

 birds again flew to the trees. The day 

 was now somewhat advanced ; we still 

 stayed in shelter however and awaited 

 developments. Before long a bird brav- 

 er than the rest ventured out. He chal- 

 lenged the others in every manner possi- 

 ble, but his challenge was not accepted. 

 Hjalmar fired at him but did not kill 

 him, only broke his wing. He vainly 

 tried to fly and then took to his feet, 

 making remarkable speed ; he seemed to 

 realize he had to make an effort for his 

 life. Hjalmar leaped out of his hut with 

 a bound and fired twice in rapid succes- 

 sion, but the distance was too great. Sir 

 Tetrao Tetri, with his broken wing, soon 

 vanished among the trees. Hjalmar and 

 I picked up our dead birds and started 

 home well satisfied with the events of 

 the morning. 



Mary Grant O'Sheridax. 



85 



