Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/197

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NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
161

right through it from one side to the other, so that one can see the sky on the other side from this side of the hill. We landed and walked up to the hollow. Little Norwegian girls had brought milk and a kind of fruity lemonade for sale, and we found them very refreshing after our walk.

More interesting than the "Market Hat" were the "Seven Sisters of Alsteno," which are seven high peaks in one mountain chain rising 3800 ft. from the sea. Alsteno.Patches of snow rested on these peaks and the bashful sisters were slightly veiled with mist, and looked imposing indeed from their august heights as we passed them at 11 p. m. Many humourous stories are told about them in Norway. "Between which two peaks is the distance the greatest?" You are asked. As the distances between the peaks are pretty equal you take some time to answer the question,—examining the distance between A and B, between B and C, between C and D, and so on to G. At last you guess an answer;—say, the distance between B and C. "No" the Norwegian says in reply "the greatest distance is between A and G i.e., the two peaks at the two extremes." A story is also told that these peaks were proud sisters—and they were so proud that no one could approach them or win them as brides. And so there they still remain, as very proud maidens often do, still waiting to be married.

It was nearly midnight when we went to bed and I could read the smallest type in my guide-book in the twilight! The light began to broaden into daylight soon