Boyhood in Norway | Page 7

death as a spy, but paroled for an indefinite period, until it should suit
his judges to execute the sentence. The East-Siders, when they captured
a West-Sider, went to work with less ceremony; they simply thrashed
their captive soundly and let him run, if run he could.
Thus months passed. The parson's Confirmation Class ceased, and both
the opposing chieftains were confirmed on the same day; but Viggo
stood at the head of the candidates, while Halvor had his place at the
bottom.[1]
[1] In Norway confirmation is always preceded by a public
examination of the candidates in the aisle of the church. The order in
which they are arranged is supposed to indicate their attainments, but
does, as a rule, indicate the rank and social position of their parents.
During the following winter the war was prosecuted with much zeal,
and the West-Siders, in imitation of Robin Hood and his Merry Men,
armed themselves with cross-bows, and lay in ambush in the
underbrush, aiming their swift arrows against any intruder who
ventured to cross the river.
Nearly all the boys in the valley between twelve and sixteen became
enlisted on the one side or the other, and there were councils of war,
marches, and counter-marches without number, occasional skirmishes,
but no decisive engagements. Peer Oestmo, to be sure, had his eye put
out by an arrow, as has already been related, for the East-Siders were
not slow to imitate the example of their enemies, in becoming expert
archers.
Marcus Henning was captured by a hostile outpost, and was being
conducted to the abode of the chief, when, by a clever stratagem, he
succeeded in making his escape.
The East-Siders despatched, under a flag of truce, a most insulting
caricature of General Viggo, representing him as a rooster that seemed
on the point of bursting with an excess of dignity.
These were the chief incidents of the winter, though there were many
others of less consequence that served to keep the boys in a delightful
state of excitement. They enjoyed the war keenly, though they
pretended to themselves that they were being ill-used and suffered
terrible hardships. They grumbled at their duties, brought complaints

against their officers to the general, and did, in fact, all the things that
real soldiers would have been likely to do under similar circumstances.
II.
THE CLASH OF ARMS
When the spring is late in Norway, and the heat comes with a sudden
rush, the mountain streams plunge with a tremendous noise down into
the valleys, and the air is filled far and near with the boom and roar of
rushing waters. The glaciers groan, and send their milk-white torrents
down toward the ocean. The snow-patches in the forest glens look gray
and soiled, and the pines perspire a delicious resinous odor which
cheers the soul with the conviction that spring has come.
But the peasant looks anxiously at the sun and the river at such times,
for he knows that there is danger of inundation. The lumber, which the
spring floods set afloat in enormous quantities, is carried by the rivers
to the cities by the sea; there it is sorted according to the mark it bears,
showing the proprietor, and exported to foreign countries.
In order to prevent log-jams, which are often attended with terrible
disasters, men are stationed night and day at the narrows of the rivers.
The boys, to whom all excitement is welcome, are apt to congregate in
large numbers at such places, assisting or annoying the watchers, riding
on the logs, or teasing the girls who stand up on the hillside, admiring
the daring feats of the lumbermen.
It was on such a spring day, when the air was pungent with the smell of
sprouting birch and pine, that General Viggo and his trusty army had
betaken themselves to the cataract to share in the sport. They were
armed with their bows, as usual, knowing that they were always liable
to be surprised by their vigilant enemy. Nor were they in this instance
disappointed, for Halvor Reitan, with fifty or sixty followers, was
presently visible on the east side, and it was a foregone conclusion that
if they met there would be a battle.
The river, to be sure, separated them, but the logs were at times so
densely packed that it was possible for a daring lad to run far out into
the river, shoot his arrow and return to shore, leaping from log to log.
The Reitan party was the first to begin this sport, and an arrow hit
General Viggo's hat before he gave orders to repel the assault.
Cool and dignified as he was, he could not consent to skip and jump on
the slippery logs, particularly as he had no experience in this difficult

exercise, while