Only once during their voyage along the rugged coast of Norway did our
three friends go to church! It must not be supposed, however, that
therefore they were heathens. Far from it. Fred and his companions
were truly Christian men. That is to say, they not only called
themselves Christians, but they made it their earnest aim to walk after
the example of Christ, and to exhibit their Christianity by their deeds.
But only once during their trip had they the opportunity of visiting a
church on a Sunday forenoon when service was going on.
It happened to be on a bright calm Sunday. There was just enough of
wind to urge the _Snowflake_ through the water at the rate of two miles
an hour. Fred's usual custom was to get to a secure anchorage on
Saturdays, so as to be able to spend the Sabbath as a day of rest. But
this was not always practicable, because the water was so deep close
inshore that no bottom could be found in many places, and often they
were obliged to continue their voyage on Sunday. This, however, was a
matter of small importance, because the working of the yacht required so
little attention--especially in fine weather--that it did not interfere
with the services or the rest of the day. Fred made a point of
assembling the crew and reading the Church of England service every
Sunday forenoon, and a chapter or two from the Bible in the evening.
On the present occasion they were all assembled on the quarterdeck
joining in the morning service. The breeze was steady, and the
steersman was the only man on duty, but he was not thereby prevented
from attending to what was being read. The vessel was gliding along
close under a precipice which towered high above the mast, and, at a
short distance ahead, extended out in a bold promontory or headland.
Elsewhere mountainous islands hemmed them in.
When they reached the promontory Fred was reading that beautiful Psalm,
the 95th,--which appeared somewhat appropriate to the occasion.
"O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the
strength of our salvation.
"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and shew ourselves
glad in Him with psalms.
"For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
"In His hand are all the corners of the earth: and the strength of the
hills is His also.
"The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands prepared the dry land.
"O come, let us worship and fall down: and kneel before the Lord our
Maker."
Fred happened to look up at the last words, and an exclamation of wonder
broke from him as he pointed towards the shore. The schooner had just
doubled the towering promontory, and a new scene had been suddenly
opened up to view.
Just beyond the promontory the coast-line took an abrupt bend to the
right, at the end of which was a sequestered little bay, with a beach of
yellow sand, and a cluster of grassy mounds behind, of the brightest
emerald green. The bay and the green mounds and the strip of yellow
sand were all exceedingly small, and were surrounded by a mass of rugged
rocks of a cold, whitish-grey colour. Beyond these were the great
purple mountains of the mainland. Ahead and in front towered the
islands of the coast. The whole of the surrounding scenery was wild,
rugged, and barren. This one little spot alone was soft and lovely; it
shone out like a bright jewel from its dark setting. All round the bay
were clustering cottages, with white walls and red roofs,--some on the
sides of the mounds, others perched on rocks that projected out into the
sea. On the highest of these mounds stood a church, and in the bay
floated a large Norwegian vessel and numerous small boats.
The promontory round which the _Snowflake_ had just passed completely
sheltered this bay, so that the water was like a sheet of glass, in
which everything--boats, rocks, mounds, cottages, and church--was
clearly reflected.
The church-bell was ringing. It was a small bell, and its sweet sound
came floating softly over the sea to the ears of our voyagers like an
old familiar hymn. The interest of this scene was further enhanced by
the assembling of the people to church. Boats were seen pushing off
from every island, issuing from every creek, rowing over the calm water,
and all converging towards the little bay with the yellow strand. Each
boat was crowded with men, women, and children; and as the men wore red
caps, and the women white kerchiefs on their heads, their appearance was
quite brilliant. In other respects, their clothes being all homespun
and of one dark colour, their aspect was sombre enough. So numerous
were the boats, and so suddenly did they make their appearance, that it
seemed as if the land were being invaded by a foreign host.
All this was taken in at a glance by the yacht party as they doubled the
promontory, and glided slowly into the bay.
"This is our anchorage," said the Captain.
"Very well, let go the anchor, and we will finish the service after it
is down," said Temple, rising and taking up the telescope to examine the
groups of people on shore.
As each boat discharged its load on the little stone pier, the males and
females separated into two distinct bands and walked slowly and sedately
towards the church, at the door of which the whole congregation
assembled, still keeping in two separate bands, to await the arrival of
the clergyman.
In a few minutes the rattle of the chain announced that the anchor was
down. The sails were dewed up, and service was continued.
"Now," said Fred, when he had concluded, "lower the boat, Captain--I
will go to church. Will any one of you join me?"
"What's the use of my going?" said Sam Sorrel; "I won't understand a
word."
"You're not sure of that," said Grant. "Besides it is so long since
we've been to church, that I feel as if I should enjoy it whether I
understand it or not."
"If it don't do you no good, sir, it can't do you no harm," urged Bob
Bowie, who was evidently anxious to get ashore.
"Come along," cried Fred, jumping into the boat, and taking his seat in
the stern-sheets.
He was quickly followed by his companions and by honest Bob, whose
delight in a ramble on shore was only equalled by his love for a voyage
on the sea!
"Ain't it an xtroar'nary church, sir?" said Bob, sidling up to Temple
and touching his hat, as they ascended the green mound on which the
building stood.
"It is, Bob, most remarkable," replied Fred.
To say truth, there could not be two opinions on this point. The church
was of very peculiar and curious form. It was more like a number of
dove-cots placed together than anything else; those dove-cots, I mean,
which have sloping roofs, and are frequently seen nailed against the
sides of houses in country places. Take four such dove-cots and place
them back to back so as to form a sort of square; on the top of these
place three more dove-cots, also back to back; above these set up two
more dove-cots, and one on the top of all, with a short steeple above
it, and a spire with an enormous weathercock on the top of that, and the
building will not be a bad model of a Norwegian church, especially if
you paint the sides white, and the gabled roofs blackish-red.
Inside, this church was found to be exceedingly plain, but very clean.
The pews and galleries and walls were of unpainted fir, and the ceiling
was whitewashed. The entire building was utterly devoid of ornament,
except round the altar, above which there was a large crucifix and a few
candles, and other things somewhat resembling those used in Roman
Catholic worship.
The service had begun some time before the arrival of our friends. It
was a Lutheran church, and the ceremonial resembled that of the English
Church in some respects, that of the Roman Catholic in others.
The entrance of so many strangers of course created some sensation, even
although they entered as quietly as possible and sat down on the first
seats they found vacant. The people seemed to have native politeness in
them. They could not, indeed, resist the temptation to look round, but
they did it modestly, and only indulged in glances, as if they felt that
it was rude to stare at strangers.
Unfortunately Bob Bowie had not been warned that it is the custom in
Norway for the men to sit together on one side of the church and the
women on the other side, and, being rather a stupid man in some matters,
he did not observe that the door by which he entered led to the women's
pews. Being by nature a modest man, he cast down his eyes on entering,
and did not again raise them until he found himself seated beside a
Norwegian female in a black gown and a white head-dress, with a baby in
her arms, which also wore a black gown and a white head-dress. Bob sat
with a solemn look on his bluff visage, and wiped his bald forehead
gently for some time ere he discovered that he was the only male being
in the midst of a crowd of two hundred women and girls and female
infants!
On making this discovery honest Bob's body became exceedingly warm and
his face uncommonly red. He glanced round uneasily, blew his nose, rose
suddenly, and, putting on his hat with the back to the front, went out
of the church on tip-toe as quietly as possible, and was not again seen,
until, an hour afterwards, he was discovered seated on the sunny side of
a rock near the boat calmly smoking his pipe!
Bob was somewhat ashamed of this little adventure, and did not like to
have it spoken of. As a matter of course his comrades did not spare
him; but, being the steward of the ship, and having supreme command over
the food, he so contrived to punish his messmates that they very soon
gave up joking him about his going to church with the Norse girls!
It cannot be said that any of the three friends made much of the sermon
that day. Fred understood only a sentence here and there, Grant
understood only a word now and then, and Sam Sorrel understood nothing
at all; but from the earnestness of the preacher, especially when the
name of our Saviour was mentioned, they were inclined to believe that a
good work was going on there.
In this opinion they were further strengthened when, on afterwards
visiting the pastor, they found him to be a man of singularly kind and
earnest disposition, with agreeable and unaffected manners. He wore a
long loose robe of black material, and a thick white frill round his
neck similar to that usually seen in the portraits of the great Reformer
Martin Luther.
His family consisted of a wife and four children--a sturdy boy, and
three flaxen-haired girls, all of whom vied with each other in paying
attention to their visitors. Coffee was instantly produced, and cakes
made by the fair fingers of the goodwife. The pastor could speak a
little French, so that his visitors were able to converse with him, but
the other members of the family could speak nothing but their native
tongue. However, this did not prove a great stumbling-block, for, while
Grant talked French with the pastor, Fred entertained his hostess in his
best Norse, and Sam Sorrel, not to be behindhand, got the children round
him, and made such wonderful use of _ver so goot_ and his other pet
phrases, that he succeeded in getting the boy on his knee, and in
setting the girls off into giggles of laughter.
They spent that Sunday and the following Monday at this pleasant place,
and were taken by the pastor all over his house and grounds and village,
after which he conducted them to the summit of a mountain, whence they
obtained one of the finest views they had yet seen in Norway.
Here, for the first time since leaving England, they regarded a fair
wind with disfavour; they bade adieu to the pastor and his family with a
little of that sad feeling which one experiences when parting, perhaps
for ever, from dear friends.
But time and the sun would not wait. The anchor was tripped; the sails
were spread; in half an hour the place had dwindled away to a bright
green spot in the far distance; then they rounded the beetling crags of
an island--and it vanished from their view.