Matthias the Hunters Stories. 27 horizon, threw her unsteady light between the tops of the trees. As wc passed the deserted mountain-dairy, wc must have crossed the fresh track of a hare, because the hounds became rather uneasy in the couples.
- Now it depends 'pon the strength of the couples/' said Matthias,
who tried all he could to keep the dogs back, " because it isn't as it should be about here ! " " I think you are right there, Matthias," I said ; "it isn't as it should be, because it isn't light enough for shooting ; else, were the raoon clear of the trees yonder, wc would soon make it all right, and the hounds would, as sure as I am here, treat you to the best music for a sportsman's ear." '* That may be," he continued, and he looked cautiously back at the dairy, " but they do say the huldre * is hereabouts at this time." " Ah, indeed, perhaps you have seen her yourself ?" " No, I have never seen her here," he said. "But where did you see her then, Matthias?" I asked curiously; " for I see you believe that there are such beings as fairies and brownies." " Well, shouldn't I believe what there's written in the Scriptures ? " he said. " Why, when the Lord banished the fallen angels, some of them went down below there, of course," and he pointed signifi cantly downwards ; " but they who had not sinned overmuch, are up in the air, under the ground, or in the sea. Besides I have myself often heard them and seen them in the woods and glens about here." " You must tell me something about them," I asked ; " wc have nothing else to do while wc walk along." "If you care to listen to it, of course I shall tell you all I know," he answered, and commenced his story. "Well, the first time I came across the huldre, I was about eight or nine years old, and it was somewhere up on the main road between Bjerke and Mo. I had been on a message for my father, and was walking home along the road, when I aaw a tall, 1 The Norwegian Fairy of the Woods.
