NOT LOST, BUT GONE BEFORE.
_September 12._--Early this morning we sorrowfully packed the Skipper's
things on the pony, and then we three and Öla marched off down the river
towards civilisation. The Skipper hoped to get over about twenty-five
miles before night; Esau wanted to try the river a long way down; and
John said he 'always liked a stroll on Sunday,' and with that object
accompanied the Skipper for the first eleven miles of his journey,
returning to Rusvasoset in time for dinner.
About four miles below Rus Lake, the river, which is there about thirty
yards wide, suddenly disappears into a narrow cleft in the rocky bed,
and runs in this curious rift for several hundred yards, and then again
emerges into daylight. The sides of this rocky prison are just over a
yard apart at the narrowest place, though the gap only appears to be a
few inches wide; but the force with which the immense body of water is
squeezed through the tortuous passage far down below, whirling huge
boulders along with irresistible force, and covering the surrounding
rocks with moisture from the ever-rising misty spray, makes it a severe
trial to the nerves to step across the cleft; the ceaseless din of the
rushing water is of itself sufficiently appalling.
This channel has evidently been gradually worn down through the solid
rock, which here appears to be a reef of softer nature than the usual
formation of this country. On the top and in niches all the way down are
still to be seen the turn holes caused by stones working round and round
in an eddy; but the curious fact is that while at the top the cleft is
only a yard across, it widens regularly out as it gets deeper, and at
the bottom is fully ten yards in width. Now it seems unlikely that the
Russen River could ever have been content to run in a bed so much
narrower than its present one, and from the appearance of the strata we
imagine that as it worked down and undermined the cliffs at each side,
they have gradually toppled forward to meet each other. Probably soon
they will actually touch, after which a very short time will see the
natural arch so formed covered with vegetation, and the river will run
in a subterranean passage.
Through this channel no fish could pass alive, so there Esau bade
'farvel' to the Skipper, and, encumbered with rod and fishing bag,
leaped like a goat across the intervening Devil's Dyke, and was soon
lost to view as he fished his way up stream.
The other two pursued their journey steadily, and found it pleasant to
gradually walk down from the Scotch mist which overhung everything up at
Rus Vand, into, firstly, dull dry weather just below the clouds, and
then a little further into real sunshine and warmth. About one o'clock
they reached Hind Sæter, the tenants of which were still there, but just
in the act of removing to the valley. Here they feasted together on
fladbrod, and then the things were packed on a cart, and the Skipper,
following them as they jolted away under Öla's guidance through the pine
forest, was seen no more by his disconsolate comrade.
When John returned to Rusvasoset a little before dinner-time, we found
it necessary to bake bread and a pie, our invariable rule 'when in
doubt.' This was not a case that admitted of any hesitation, for the
Skipper had taken all the food that he could annex for his sustenance on
the journey, as he did not expect to find any people in the sæters on
his path.
The evening was spent in general tidying, and mending various articles
which had gone wrong; holes in landing-nets, rents in trousers and
coats, and inserting new screws in Esau's boots for the stalk he hoped,
but hardly expected, to make on the morrow. At night the outlook was
anything but encouraging, dense clouds folding all nature in their cold
embrace, and the pitiless rain beating down on our poor little hut as if
it took a pleasure in the occupation.
_September 13._--Rain, and nothing but rain.
[Plate: CHEERFUL! THE HUTS AT RUS LAKE.]
_September 14._--We never knew when sunrise and daybreak took place
to-day, or whether they happened at all, for the prospect was more
hopeless than ever, and the rain still fell with unabated vigour.
We were at the end of our indoor resources, but fortunately Öla returned
with some English papers which he had found waiting for us at Ransværk,
the sæter at which he and the Skipper passed the night, and at which
this bundle of literature had been deposited about a fortnight ago by
the latest traveller from Vaage. But for this, there would certainly
have been bloodshed in this remote spot, our tempers not being equal to
the strain of two days in succession without being able to see ten yards
in front of us, or to stir out without becoming water-logged.
Even the fish were apparently at last disgusted at not being able to get
into a dry corner by jumping out of the water, and our efforts to
persuade them to try the interior of a waterproof bag only met with
indifferent success.
The stubborn resistance of our well-tried roof has at last been
overcome, and soon after turning in last night we had to turn out again
to rig up various hydrostatic appliances with a view to diverting the
course of some of the superfluous rainfall, and irrigating the floor
therewith instead of letting the beds get it all. The latter really
needed it much less than the boards, which were somewhat dusty; but
probably the mistake arose from John sitting on one of them while he
mixed the dough, so that it might have been taken for a flour-bed.
_September 15._--At last we were relieved by a change in the wind, soon
followed by a cessation of rain, and then the mist began to lift, and by
noon the sun was actually beginning to glimmer feebly, and the mountains
to be visible for half their height.
[Illustration: Rus Lake from the Western End: Nautgardstind in the
Distance]
John went on a general tour of mountaineering and prospecting in search
of scenery, and came back delighted with himself, having made a higher
climb than usual, and seen Nautgardstind in all the perfect beauty with
which the newly fallen snow had endowed him.
It has already been mentioned that John does _not_ like walking uphill,
and when he makes a self-sacrificing and voluntary ascent as he did
to-day, he comes home brimming over with an excess of conscious virtue
which does not pass away until the genial influence of a good meal and a
pipe has reduced him to the level of all humanity.
On his way home he heard a feeble squeak in a bush, and peering in
discovered a small animal which he at first took for a guinea-pig; but
soon, perceiving that it must be a lemming, his natural impulse was to
poke it with a stick. This was his first interview with one, though they
are common enough up here; and he is disposed to think them morose in
disposition; but really he ought to have recognised the fact that the
thin end of a walking-stick is not a means of intercourse at all likely
to arouse the sympathy of any animal, least of all that of a juvenile
lemming, who is obviously overcome with drowsiness, and wants to be let
alone.
The winter is now coming on apace, and already every fall of rain down
here is a snowstorm in the mountains, and every clear night means a
biting frost up there. Esau, scaling the heights of Bes Hö with Jens in
search of deer, found none on account of the mist, and in addition to
the danger of getting lost, a new peril was added by the snow. It
appeared that during the night a severe frost had immediately followed
the rain and coated everything with ice, then snow had fallen to the
depth of three inches, and on the top of that rain and sharp frost
again. The result was that at every step they broke through the crust of
ice on the top, and sank through the three inches of soft snow on to the
lower stratum of ice. This was all very well as long as they were on
rough ground; but the snow making every place look the same, in one
instance they got on to one of the steep little glaciers which are
common on Bes Hö, without knowing that they had done so: and suddenly
Jens lost his footing and began to slide downwards at a terrific speed.
It seemed to Esau that he would shoot straight down into Rus Vand,
looking very blue and cold three thousand feet below; but a friendly
boulder intervened, and by its assistance, and by spreading himself out
like a gigantic spider, he managed to arrest his wild career, and they
got safe across the treacherous glacier.
They had to cross another on their return, which was done with fear and
trembling; but although the difficulties of this kind of stalking when
unaccompanied by deer may seem to outnumber the pleasures, still
occasionally they were on fairly safe ground, and could get their hearts
out of their mouths for a few brief moments. At such times the splendid
view of all our old Gjendin mountains rising tier after tier behind each
other, a boundless sea of peaks and domes and jagged crags, all robed in
purest white, with the sun lighting up the virgin snow almost too
brightly for the eye to rest on; the keen frosty air; and the solemn
stillness, only broken now and again by the twittering of a flock of
snow buntings, amply repaid them for the arduous climb.
Then a few minutes of glorious excitement as, by the aid of glissades,
they shot down the steeps that it had needed hours of hard labour to
surmount, and they were back on the shores of Rus Vand, where at present
the snow had hardly begun to lie.
[Illustration: Glissading home after a blank day]
In spite of the cold we had some first-rate fishing, and Esau caught a
trout which he asserted to be the very best fish for shape, condition,
and colour, that ever came out of Rus Lake, or anywhere else. Though not
as large as many we have caught, being only 2½ lbs., it certainly was a
beauty, and resembled the perfect fish that are occasionally seen in an
oil painting, but very seldom encountered in tangible, edible form.
The Rus trout, like those of Gjendin, are quite silvery, almost as
bright as a salmon, but with a few pink spots instead of black ones, and
uncommonly pretty they look when fresh out of the water.
[Illustration: Rus Lake from the Eastern End: Tyknings Hö and
Memurutind in the distance]
Too soon evening put an end to our sport, and when the last rays of the
setting sun had tinted the distant snow with a delicate pink hue which
lingered, paled, and faded as the cold silvery light of the moon began
to assert its sway, the keen air drove us home, and made us content to
enjoy from the hut door the lovely clear night which succeeded so bright
a day.