thinking he might come across the track of the hare and start it again. But when he came to a clearing in the wood, where the trees had been cut down, he discovered right before him a big, fine house, painted red, with the windows and the doors all askew. He wondered what building this could be; he had never seen it before, and he thought he was well acquainted with those parts. Before the house was a big bog, but he thought he would walk across and have a look at the house. There were no people to be seen. He thought he would go home and tell me about it and get me to go with him."
"It was a great pity," said I, "that he didn't throw steel, or fire his gun over the house,—I suppose he had a gun with him,—because by the time you came back, I suppose it was all gone?"
"You are right," said Matthias, "it was a pity he didn't fire into it. Had I been there, I should have done so, but he lost his senses entirely. But just listen, and you'll hear he fared worse than you would expect. When he got half way across the bog, he met such a lot of people that he had to elbow his way through them. They were scantily clothed, and all were going north. But he had scarcely pushed his way through the crowd, when they turned round upon him and felled him to the ground, where he was lying when my sisters came past on their way to* bring the cow home in the evening. There he was lying with both his fists clenched and thrust into his face, which was quite black, and the froth was foaming out of his mouth. They were terribly frightened, you may guess, but they got him home at last, and laid him on a bench, and then they fetched me. As soon as I saw him I guessed what was the matter with him. I knew only of one way to get him round. I took my gun down from the wall and I fired it lengthways over him, but although that's considered a good thing, he didn't move any more than that beam there, which the Gjerdrum people have placed across the road. He was as dead as a stone, he was! 'Oh, ho!' thought I, and loaded the gun again. 'Come and give me a hand, lasses,' said I, 'and let us put him where you found him. It's no use trying here.' We did so, and I fired again, and no mistake, he woke that time. If he
