to-night.”
Now Fru Sveaborg was a simple soul who had never been far beyond herown home, and as the child pleaded so earnestly to go, at last sheconsented, although somewhat against her will.
Elsa was overjoyed, and at once made her little preparations to start.She got a small basket of birch bark and in it her mother placed someblack bread and cheese, a few herrings and a bottle of milk. Thenputting on her thick woolen cloak and hood, and taking her kantele inone hand and the basket in the other, off she started.
Fru Sveaborg bade her good by. “Be careful, child!” she said; “keep tothe highroad, and be sure to stay to-night at the Ringstrom farm!”
“Good by, mother!” Elsa called back, “and do not fear for me; I knowthe way!”
With this she tripped down the lane of birch trees and turned into theroad to the east. By and by she was overtaken by a little Finland ponytrundling along a two-wheeled cart. As the driver of the cart happenedto be a young boy she knew, she was glad to climb in beside him.They rode thus for a number of miles till they reached a cross-roadwhere Elsa’s friend told her he must turn off; so she jumped out, andthanking him for her ride, bade him good by and trudged on along thehighway.
Presently she began to feel hungry, for it was long past noon, andlooking about, she saw a pretty tuft of green moss under a tall birchtree; and sitting down, she opened her basket and ate some of thecontents. She thought she would rest a little while before going on, soshe wrapped her cloak close about her and leaned back against the birchtree,—till—by and by—her eyes began to blink and blink, and beforeshe knew it the little girl was sound asleep.
She did not know how long she slept, but at length, just in the midstof a beautiful dream about magic fishes and harps and wizards, she gavea shiver and waked up.
She rubbed her eyes for a minute, and involuntarily drew her cloakcloser, for it had grown chilly.
At first, as Elsa gazed around, she thought she must still be asleepand dreaming of cloudland! But presently she realized that she was notin the clouds, but in the midst of a dense fog, such as often comesup in Finland without warning, and covers up the fields and woods ascompletely as any cloud might do.
Now, being a Finnish child, Elsa’s first thought was of the hobgoblinsand prankish fairies of the fog who, as every Finlander knows, floatabout in their mantles of mist seeking to do mischief to unwarytravelers.
So Elsa at once began to sing in a high, clear voice a littlecharm-song; not the one she had sung in the farm house to Herr Lönnrot,but a song intended especially to ward off the wicked fairies of thefog. It began like this:
Fogs of Finland, Floating inland, From the fairy-haunted sea, Have a care now, See ye bear now No unfriendly folk to me!
As Elsa sang she cautiously stepped along, she knew not where; till,faintly through the thick shrouding mist, there came the soft tinkle,tinkle of a little bell. Listening, she knew at once that it must befastened to the collar of some cow, for such bells in Finland are verysweet-toned and clear.
Sure enough, in a little while she heard the trampling of hoofs, andthe whole herd, drawn by the sound of her voice, was thronging abouther.
But Elsa was used to the herds on her father’s farm, and was reallyglad to feel the warm breath of the gentle little Finnish cows. As theleader came close to her she put up her hand and patted its nose; thenslipping her fingers through the narrow leathern strap from which thebell hung, she walked along beside the cow.
This proved to be the very best thing she could have done; for the herdwas going home, and the cows seemed to know their way instinctively,even in spite of the white fog.
They walked thus a long way, till after a while the fog began to liftsomewhat; and though it was growing dusk Elsa could distinguish theoutline of a comfortable-looking farmhouse. It was not the Ringstromfarm, where she had expected to pass the night, but a strange placethat she had never before seen. The usual lane of birch trees led up tothe house, and behind it was a long, low barn, whither the cows seemedto be directing their way.
As she walked along beside them she was thinking of what she had bestdo, and she found herself very much perplexed. In truth she had setout upon a very difficult errand for a little girl, and had good FruSveaborg had the least idea of the distance or possible dangers of thejourney she never would have given her consent; while had Elsa’s fatherbeen at home,—but then it is useless thinking things might have beenmanaged differently. Meanwhile there was Elsa trudging along in themidst of the herd, wondering much who were the dwellers at the farm,and, on the whole, not a little frightened.
By this time she had a pretty definite idea that she had started on arather reckless undertaking, and she fancied that perhaps the people atthe farm might think so too, and would not allow her to go farther; andas she was determined at any risk to reach the peasant Ulricborg andsave the rune, she decided at last that she would not go to the house.
So she kept with the herd, and when the cows reached the door ofthe great barn, she slipped in between them, unseen in the fog andgathering dusk; for though the sun would not quite disappear, it hunglow and dim on the horizon and shed but faint light through the mistyair. Within, the barn was arranged much like the one at her home,though on a far larger scale. In one corner was a large pile of softsweet-smelling hay, and going to this Elsa set down her basket andkantele, and curled herself up for the night.
As she looked about through half-shut, sleepy eyes, she saw in thecenter of the wide earthen floor a stone fireplace, and thereover some blazing fagots stood a great iron kettle; beside it tworuddy-faced girls were hard at work stirring the long marsh grass thatwas boiling for the cows’ supper. Elsa would have very much liked tomake herself known to these girls, for she was used to doing thingsopenly and did not at all enjoy hiding there in the corner; but thenshe thought of the precious rune and the possibility that they mightstop her journey, and so she remained quiet. As she nestled down in thesoft, warm hay, however, she thought to herself that they could notpossibly mind having a little girl sleep in it for just one night, andso reasoning she kept on drowsily watching the movements of the twogirls.
After a while they dipped out the soft food and fed the cows; and then,when they had milked them, one of the girls poured out a bowlful of newmilk and set it beside the stone hearth, and then they both went offsinging toward the house.
Now Elsa knew, as every little Finnish farm girl knows, that the freshmilk was set there for the fairies; for should any roving band of elfinpeople chance to wander thither, they might be vexed and do mischiefif they did not find a fresh, sweet draft awaiting them. So Elsa feltquite safe, sure that the fairies would not trouble her; and, by andby, lulled by the soft breathing of the cows, she fell asleep.
Very early in the morning she awoke, and though at first muchbewildered, she soon remembered everything, and determined to slip awaybefore any one should find her.
So fastening her cloak and taking her little belongings, she again setforth. As she stepped out in the early morning light, a white frostglittered over the fields; and as she gazed around seeking the road,she saw a faintly-marked path that seemed to lead to the highway. Shemade a little breakfast from the things she found in her basket, andthen walked on; but the path, instead of leading to the highroad,took her farther and farther from it, for she did not know that thefarm whither the cows had led her was a long distance from the way shewished to follow.
Indeed Elsa was lost; and as she went on the country grew wilder andmore rugged. Before she knew it the path had disappeared altogether andshe could find no trace of it; and as far as she could see, there wasno living being near.
All the while she was becoming more and more frightened, yet stillbravely she went on, vainly seeking the road. Before long she came to adense wood of firs, and thinking that perhaps the way lay just beyond,she slowly entered the forest, stepping timidly between the darkresinous trees. Once or twice she trembled as a fox crossed her path,but, by and by, as she looked ahead, her hea
rt fairly stood still withterror. For there in the distance, where a great ledge of rocks croppedout of the ground, she saw a large brown something; and the more shelooked the more certain she felt that it was a bear.
And true enough, it was a bear, “honey-paw,” as Elsa would have said,for so the Finlanders call the brown bear, because of his great likingfor wild honey. Now, as it happened, this particular honey-paw was forthe time so intent upon his own affairs that at first he did not seeElsa. He was walking carefully round and round the great mass of rock,hunting a good spot where he might curl up, bear fashion, and sleepthrough the coming winter. He had been looking at these rocks for manydays, as is the custom of bears, trying to decide which of the littlecaves they offered would suit him best for his long sleep; and he wasstill perplexed about it when he happened to look in Elsa’s direction.
The little girl was standing still, frozen with terror, when he sawher. Perhaps he would not have noticed her had it not been for the redhood she wore, which, of course, could be seen for a long distance.When honey-paw