by H. H. BOYESEN. BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1891 Cornell University Library PS 1117.A7 1894 3 1924 021 975 119 The original of tiiis bool< is in tile Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021975119 AGAINST HEAVY ODDS KAUN \. AND lNL,OMAk iJkhlv.JLi MM-. liolsL THE NORSELAND SERIES. AGAINST HEAVY ODDS A TALE OF NORSE HEROISM A FEARLESS TRIO BY HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1894 Copyright, rSqo, 1894, By Charles Scribnee's Sons. University Press-, John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. CONTENTS. AGAINST HEAVY ODDS. Chapter I. " The ' Petrel ' has Come ! " II. The Rejected Olive-Branch . . 21 III. The Great Invention . . 46 IV. A Thorny Path ... 69 V. A Blow in the Dark ... 91 VI. A Friend in Need ir6 VII. Vengeance Overtakes the Consul 141 VIII. The Day of Triumph . ... 164 Page I A FEARLESS TRIO 179 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Ragna and Ingomar defend the House Frontispiece Ingomar saves Little Thomas 20 Ragna in Trulson's Cottage . . -34 The Harpoon Gun ... . ... 52 " Look here, Ingomar," she said, " you have got some trouble " . . ... -72 " Well, young man, what can I do for you ? " 80 Engstrom Outwitted . ... 140 The Invention is Successful . . . . . 170 Grim Hering Luck had hauled them both from the water . . . 219 is^ /PM \ J2 k ^ ^^S^- A« AGAINST HEAVY ODDS. CHAPTER I. "THE 'PETREL' HAS COME!" Consul Prebensen'S barque, the " Petrel," was making for the harbor. The shot she had fired for a pilot had given such a tre- mendous resonance in the frosty autumn air that it had been heard in town ; and now all the population, both old and young, were thronging down on the piers to give her a right royal welcome. For the prosperity of Vardoe was largely bound up in the " Petrel." There was scarcely a man, woman, or child outside of the Lappish suburb who had not a relative on board Consul Prebensen's barque. Some had fathers, some brothers, some sweethearts, and now they were to see them after an absence of five months. 2 Against Heavy Odds. There had been much anxiety expressed of late for the "Petrel; " and as the weeks dragged themselves along in their slow mo- notony up there within the Arctic Circle, the anxiety had deepened into dread, and the dread into certainty, that something had happened to the ship. Most likely she was only ice-bound, and would drift southward when the ice broke up in the spring; but in the mean while what was to become of the wives and children at home who had nothing to live on during the long winter but the wages of the sailors ? Starvation stared them in the face ; that was the long and short of it. But why consider what might have been, now that the barque is in sight? There her main-mast is seen looming up beyond the island. Look how neatly her white top-sail catches the breeze ! And now the whole beautiful "Petrel" is rounding the headland, and a tremendous cheer greets her from the pier. Two small cannon, at a signal from the consul, begin to bang away, and manage to " The ' Petrel' has Come !" 3 make an awful racket. The " Petrel " re- sponds as gallantly as if she were a man-of- war. As the red flash preceding the report leaps out over the water, the girls on the pier put their fingers in their ears and scream, and the boys jeer at them and yell with delight. " The ' Petrel ' has come ! the ' Petrel ' has come ! " was the message that ran from house to house like fire in withered grass ; and if anybody had doubted that the " Petrel " had really come, those five or six cannon-shots would have put an end to his doubts, for it is not every day that people up there under the North Pole can afford to fire cannon, and Consul Prebensen, rich as he was, was not a man to waste his powder. Every man's pulses bounded, and every woman's heart leaped in her breast, when that salute was heard, and in five minutes more the town was as if deserted. The mer- chants locked their stores, putting the keys in their pockets, and gave their clerks a holiday ; the smith and the carpenter pushed away their tools, and with their aprons on, hurried to the beach; and the servant-girls. 4 Against Heavy Odds. with disordered hair, joyously excited faces, and sleeves rolled up to their elbows, climbed upon bowlders and rocks, and stood shading their eyes against the sun as they gazed at the " Petrel." It was said afterward that there were but four persons of sound body and mind left in Vardoe that morning, and they were Con- sul Prebensen's four clerks ; for the consul prided himself on his business principles. He kept strict discipline in his store, and he was not fond of holidays. The " Petrel," after having fired her salute, made two graceful tacks up the sound, and it was lovely to see her luff round, with her bright canvas all outspread, careening slightly now to starboard, now to port, according as she tacked. What enthusiasm she aroused in the heart of every boy who stood there on the pier yelling himself hoarse in her honor ! One boy there was, however, in that crowd who was not at all joyous. In him the return of the ship awakened anything but happy memories. Ingomar Vang remembered a " The -Petrel' has Come!" s time when the " Petrel " had been in other hands than those of Consul Prebensen. He remembered bitterly the day when she came from Grimstad, where she had been built, with all her canvas swelling just as now, and all the people for a month after talked of nothing but Mr. Vang's beautiful barque. Ingomar's father, who was of a mechanical turn, had designed her, and it was for his account and under his supervision that she was put on the stocks and pushed forward to completion. Prebensen was then nothing but a clerk in Mr. Vang's store, and not half so high and mighty as he was now. The consul, who now was the big man of the town, would not have thanked any one who should have dared to remind him how poor and forlorn he was twenty-two years ago, when he presented himself in Mr. Vang's office to apply for work. He had been an efficient clerk, there was no doubt of that, and had gradually risen by means of little ventures of his own, which he had made on the sly, until he was able 6 Against Heavy Odds. to establish himself on his own account as Mr. Vang's rival. He prudently began in a small way in a little back street, where a shop could be had for next to nothing. Mr. Vang was so far from suspecting a rival in his former clerk that he lent him more than once a helping hand when a tightness of the money-market or other causes threatened to ruin him. Kind-hearted and unsuspicious as Mr. Vang was, it took him a good while to discover that Prebensen was systematically and with malice afore- thought stealing his customers from him, and availing himself of the connections which he had made while in Vang's office to injure his credit and rise upon his shoulders. The upright and honorable merchant had to have a good many proofs forced upon him before he could accept such a conclusion ; but Prebensen, as soon as he felt himself toler- ably firm in the saddle, did not care to keep him in uncertainty. He captured the Lapp trade, which had contributed fully one half of Mr. Vang's • income, right under the very nose of his "The 'Petrel' has Come!" 7 former chief. He did it by all sorts of low arts to which a gentleman like Mr. Vang could not condescend. He established a brandy-shop in connection with his business, and succeeded in making it so attractive to the mountain Lapps who came to town to make purchases that they usually left pretty much all the earnings of the year in Preben- sen's coffers. He studied their superstitions m order to make money out of their credulity ; he fraternized with them, and pretended to get tipsy with them, in order to pull his net the more surely over them ; while they regarded him as a harmless, jolly young fellow. To chronicle all the arts by which Mr. Prebensen had risen to his present eminence would make a considerable story in itself. Suffice it to say that he had not been scru- pulous in his choice of means. Having secured the Lapp trade, he began to throw out his toils in other directions. The house of Vang, though greatly ham- pered by its want of resources, had yet a considerable income from its ships that sailed 8 /Igaiust Heavy Odds. every spring on sealing and whaling expedi- tions into the Arctic Ocean ; but to equip these expeditions required capital, and two bad fishing seasons, which compelled the house to extend its credit and cut off its supply of cash, brought Prebensen his opportunity. For Prebensen rarely gave credit, except in return for a mortgage ; and if the mortgage was overdue, he foreclosed without mercy. The bad seasons, thus, instead of reducing his income rather increased it, for it enabled him to sell out a lot of his customers, who henceforth became his tenants, and depen- dent upon him for their food and the roof over their heads. He now began to fit out boat-guilds for cod-fishing, hiring the men, and giving them a small share of the profits. But he under- stood to perfection the art of driving hard bargains ; and somehow, whether the fisher- men who were tossed about on the sea in cold and wet weather earned anything or not, Prebensen always managed to save him- self, and set apart a margin of profits. "The 'Petrel' has Come!" g Like a big spider, he sat in his office and threw out his toils over the town, until there was scarcely anybody outside of the circle of government officials who was not more or less involved in his web. For the members of the government circle he professed the greatest respect. When he had moved away from the back street, and established himself in roomier and more re- spectable quarters, he went south to Bergen, and returned with a wife whose family had extensive connections in the whaling and sealing trade. He now began a social campaign, which ended with the surrender of the pastor, the major commanding the fortress, and all others who belonged to the official circles. They had formerly looked down upon him, and had taken the part of Mr. Vang, who was certainly a gentleman, and whose dinner- parties and balls had, in earlier days, been the great events of the winter. But now Mr. Vang had all he could do in keeping himself on his legs. He could no longer afford to give balls and dinner-parties ; lo Against Heavy Odds. and as Prebensen could, the people of qual- ity who loved amusement gradually deserted from the one to the other. The " Petrel " had been launched as a last desperate hope by Mr. Vang. One or two successful voyages might restore his fortunes, and enable him to give his children the edu- cation which was their just due, for they were both more than ordinarily gifted. Ingomar, the boy, who was then ten or eleven years old, had an excellent head for mathematics and mechanics, and delighted in nothing so much as the making of miniature ships and machines full of ingenious contrivances. The father meant with the proceeds of the " Petrel's " voyages to send Ingomar to a technical institute in France where he would have an opportunity to develop his talent to its full value. But, unhappily, in order to equip the " Petrel " for the expedition, and moreover pay his taxes, which were con- siderable, he was obliged to mortgage the ship. As it was held to be very disreputable to bid at a tax-sale, — which was regarded as a "The 'Petrel' has Come!" ii mere formality, — Mr. Vang chose to mort- gage the " Petrel '' for his taxes, and his house for the equipment of the ship. For, if lose he must, he would rather lose the house than the " Petrel." He felt confident that if the worst came to pass, the sheriff would, as was his wont, make a nominal bid at the auction, and knock it down to himself; which only meant that whenever Mr. Vang could conveniently pay the taxes, he could have the sale cancelled, and in the mean while he could let the ship sail and do with it as he liked. Such was the lax custom in those regions ; as, in fact, all over Norway. But in this instance Mr. Vang found,- to his grief, that he had made a miscalculation. When the auction had to be held, for Mr. Vang was desperately short of funds, and the sheriff had made his nominal bid of one thousand dollars, Prebensen stepped boldly up to the bar and cried, " Two thousand ! " The consternation in the auction-room when that bid was made challenges descrip- tion. Every man looked at his neighbor, as 12 Against Heavy Odds. if he thought the world was coming to an end ; and the slicriff, who stood on his plat- form with the hammer in his hand, was stupefied. " Did I hear an offer of two thousand dollars?" he finally asked. "I suppose it was a mistake." " No mistake about that," answered Pre- bensen. " I said two thousand dollars, and I '11 say it again." "But, my dear sir," remonstrated the sheriff, " it is contrary to all custom — " " Don't you bother about that ! " inter- rupted the merchant. " I know the law, and I know what I am doing." "But — but — the ship is worth ten times as much at the very least ! " ejaculated the officer, with indignation. "All right! you bid her up if you like," replied Prebensen, coolly. But the sheriff was a poor man ; and as he had not remotely contemplated such a pur- chase, he might only involve himself in diffi- culties, and incur Prebensen's hostility to boot. It was the latter possibility which "The ' Petrel' has Come!" 13 silenced him; for the consul was an ugly customer when he chose to make himself disagreeable. It took a braver man than the sheriff to thwart him in a plan upon which he had obviously set his heart. So it happened that the " Petrel," just as she was about to restore the fortunes of the house of Vang, took the wrong tack and swelled instead the fortunes of its enemy, Prebensen. There was no use denying it. Prebensen was now the big man of the town. He was richer than all the rest put together. Vang had been pushed to the wall ; he had failed, lost everything he had, and now carried on a modest little business as a junk-dealer and provisioner of ships. He had never tried to revenge himself on Prebensen. Nay, though he heartily de- spised him, he made no show of enmity. The town was so small that an open feud would have resulted in innumerable unpleas- antnesses, and would have caused incon- venience and detriment .to all. Mr. Vang thought he owed it to the community in 14 Against Heavy Odds. which he Hved to conceal his feelings, and simply appear to acknowledge that Mr. Prebensen — now Consul Prebensen — had ousted him in honest competition. The " Petrel," as she dropped her anchor in the middle of the harbor, and lay gently rocking over her own pretty image, had evidently a good conscience, in spite of all the mischief she had wrought. The consul, with his daughter Ragna, was standing in his gig at the end of the pier, waiting for his son Sophus, who was to accompany them out to the barque. Mr. Prebensen was a small, thin, wiry man, with a sharp, clean-shaven face. He had small, shrewd, steel-blue eyes, and a mouth that shut like a steel trap. The expression in his features was usually stern ; but in his eyes there was an alert, secretly watchful look, like that of a fo.\ or weasel that has to be circumspect in order to make a living. You saw at once that he was not a man who would be caught napping. His daughter, who was standing at his side, did not resemble him. She was four- " The 'Petrel' has Come!" 15 teen years old, but tall for her age. What was most noticeable about her was the free and fearless manner in which she carried her head, and the two long yellow braids that hung down her back. Her face was fresh and rosy, her hair a trifle curly, and her eyes were full of mirth. " Papsty," she said, — for by this jocose name she was wont to address her father, — ■ " let us go without Sophus. He is always late. You know it takes him as many hours to make his toilet as it takes me minutes." " It might not be bad if you paid more attention to those things," replied the consul, severely. " Oh, pshaw ! " cried Ragna, with a toss of her head. " But look ! there is Ingomar. Let us take him along. He is such good fun. Come here, Ingomar; don't you want to row out to the ' Petrel ' ? " The boy, though he felt that his dignity rebelled, could not resist so tempting an invitation. To go on board the " Petrel ; " to mouse around in all her lockers and chests and cabins, with all the fascinating foreign 1 6 Against Heavy Odds. smells ; to hear the story of her voyage at first hand, — the thought of such dehghts made him dizzy. So he slipped quietly into the boat, and made himself as small as possible for fear of getting into collision with the consul. The latter had not heard his daughter's in- vitation, being absorbed in his own calcula- tions ; and as he caught sight of Ingomar, seated on the thwart, said, with a snarl, — " Get out of here ! Who has asked you, I should like to know?" " I have asked him, papsty," his daughter replied ; " he is my guest, and I want you to be nice to him." Ingomar was much inclined to step ashore again, and would have done so if Ragna had not put her hand on his shoulder and said, " I want you to go with us, Ingomar. I shall be offended with you if you dun't stay." Ingomar could not resist such a gentle appeal. He felt how all the boys on the pier envied him, as he sat there in the fine black-painted gig with the red line under the gunwale, and he saw presently that there "The 'Petrel' has Come!" 17 was going to be a struggle to follow his example. " Hi, there, missy ! " a little street Arab called out; "take me along, won't you?" Ragna shook her head smilingly. " Oh, do take me along. Miss Ragna ! " an- other boy begged ; " my dad is on board, and I hain't seen him for nigh onto half a year." She knew the boy, and kind-hearted as she was, she found it impossible to refuse him. His father, Tobias Trulson, was second mate of the " Petrel." So she nodded her head; and Thomas, eager for any signal of acquiescence, tumbled headlong into the gig. The boat gave a lurch; the consul lost his balance, and would have gone overboard if one of the oarsmen had not caught hold of him. "Have you lost your wits, boy?" he cried, white with anger; " or do you think I can take all the ragamuffins in town along with me? " Starting forward, he gave the boy a kick which sent him headlong into the water. Just at that moment the consul's son. 1 8 Against Heavy Odds. Sophus, dressed in the height of fashion, made his way through the crowd ; that is, he lifted up his cane imperiously and com- manded the people to open lane for him. The people, though growling among them- selves, fell apart obediently and let the young gentleman walk unmolested through their midst. This incident seemed so much more im- portant than the mishap to little Thomas Trulson, that scarcely any one troubled him- self about the manoeuvres of the second mate's son. As ill luck would have it, he came up, the first time, under the gig and bumped his head against her keel ; and though he was a good swimmer, the shock confused him so that he did not know in what direction he was moving. As Sophus, redolent of Jockey Club, stepped into the boat, Ingomar heard dis- tinctly the bump against the bottom of the boat, and leaning over the gunwale, sav/, to his horror, that the boy was sinking, and, bent double with cramps, was unable to direct his movements through the water. " The 'Petrel' has Come!" 19 Help was needed here, and needed quick- ly. Without a moment's hesitation, Ingomar flung off his coat and waistcoat and leaped over the gunwale. The shock of the icy- bath was so great that it almost stunned him. " Go ahead ! " commanded the consul ; and when the oarsmen seemed reluctant, he added lightly : " Vang's boy will pick up the little ragamuffin, and so we are rid of both of them. You take my word for it," he con- tinued, with an unpleasant laugh ; " they will scramble out. Weeds of that kind are tough. The more you trample on them the better they thrive. Neither fire nor water will kill 'em." The bright oars struck the water with strong, rapid strokes, and the gig shot out over the shining surface of the sound. The consul and his son chatted carelessly, and the son struck a storm-match and lighted a cigarette. But Ragna, with a face tense with excitement, stood up in the stern and gazed toward the head of the pier. At last, when she saw Ingomar hand up the stiff and 20 y4gainst Heavy Odds. crooked little creature to a man in a boat, and himself ascend the stairs to the pier, dripping wet and half frozen, she flung her- self down in the bottom of the gig and wept as if her heart would break. " Oh, father," she cried, " how could you do it? How could you do it? " " Don't be a goose, daughter ! " said the consul, with the same little snarl in his voice ; " don't waste your tears on such trifles.'' CHAPTER II. THE REJECTED OLIVE-BRANCH. Tobias Trulson, late second mate of the " Petrel," was sitting in his small cottage, which smelled of smoked salt fish and wet clothes ; but Tobias was so accustomed to that smell that he did not mind it. In fact, he would have missed it if it had been ab- sent. A peat fire was smouldering upon a hearth built of rough stones, and a pine knot, stuck into a crevice in the wall, was crackling and flickering, and throwing an unsteady light over the miserable interior. A long fishing-net hung in festoons along the walls, — for Tobias was going to mend it as soon as he got time, — and on a line under the ceiling were wet clothes hung up to dry. People up in that Arctic wilderness are usually wet, and a good deal of their 22 Agaitist Heavy Odds. time is taken up in the effort to get dry. They have to extract their scanty living from the vast, wild Polar Sea, and if gen- erations of struggle and hardship had not toughened them, they would perish miser- ably in the course of one winter. Tobias Trulson was one of the toughest and hardiest of this tough and hardy race. He was a large, brawny man, with a deeply wrinkled, weather-beaten face of coppery color, and a head of thick brown hair, which looked as if the wind had been playing the mischief with it. It seemed to grow the wrong way above the ears, and it had, moreover, a curious " ripple," as the sea has under a light breeze. "You say he kicked you overboard?" said the mate to his small son, whom he was holding in his lap. The boy had an ugly cut on his forehead where he had struck the keel of Prebensen's gig. His little fists were tightly clinched, and his eyes had a strange glow in the unsteady light. His father, half forgetting his question, sat star- ing at him with a troubled look. Now and The Rejected Olive-Branch. 23 then he put his hand on the lad's hot fore- head, and felt his rapid pulse hammering away in his temples. "And you say he kicked you overboard, sonny?" Tobias repeated, after a while. " Yes, he did, pop," piped the child, feebly nodding his tousled head. " And you had n't been doin' nothin' to him, Tom? " The boy panted for a moment before he found his voice. " I jumped into his boat," he said, with chattering teeth, " 'cos the girl asked me." Tobias fell into a deep meditation. At the end of fifteen minutes, during which he had been staring fixedly into the fire, he arose, and shaking his clinched fist toward the ceiling, cried, — " I '11 pay him back for that some day ! " His wife, Karen, who had been sitting in a corner patching a pair of small trousers that seemed beyond the stage of profitable patch- ing, started up with a frightened face, and putting her hand on his arm, implored him to make no such rash threats. 24 Against Heavy OJds. " You know wc are poor people, Tobias," she said, " and we depend upon the consul for everything. We can't afford to quarrel with our bread and butter." " I 'd rather starve than cat his bread any more," growled Tobias ; " and as for the but- ter, I have never had so much as a taste of it!" " Yes, but the children ! Have you a right to let them starve too in order to gratify your own spite? " " Oh, the children ! the children ! " groaned the mate. " What a coward they have made of me ! They tie my tongue and they tie my hands ! " " Bless their dear little hearts ! " said the literal Karen ; " they could n't do that if they tried." An infant wrapped in rags, which rested in her lap, here began to whimper; and she hugged it to her bosom, hushing it with fond words, as if to defend it against its father's insinuations. " Anyway, I should like to know what we have to thank Prebensen for," the mate went The Rejected Olive-Branch. 25 on, after a pause. " I have been a-workin' myself to skin and bones these ten years to make him rich, and what do I get fur it? Well, now I come home after five months of starvin' and freezin' and hard usage, and not a cent do I find is due to me. My family has eaten up my wages, the clerk tells me, and it is me as owes Prebensen, and not Prebensen as owes me. Now, ef thar 's sense in that, you jest call me a jackass and be done with it." With an angry scowl he looked about in the poor room, at the rags which had been stuff"ed into the window-sashes where the panes had been broken, at the worn and rickety floor which creaked when one walked on it, and at the alcove in the wall where four children slept on a bed made of straw and dried seaweed. Two of them, who were given to kicking off their covering in the night, had been tied up in coffee-bags, • — marked " Java No. 2 " in big letters, — which had been fastened about their necks. "When you sailed in Vang's ships," Karen observed, rocking the baby to and 26 j4gaiitst Heavy Odds. fro, " it was different. Then we always came out ahead." " Yes, and God bless him for all he did for me and mine ! " exclaimed Tobias, fervidly. " It 's hard, it 's mighty hard, that such a man must go to the bottom fur to raise such a one as Prebensen. I don't understand it, — no, blest if I do ! " The little boy, whose head had been rest- ing wearily on his father's shoulder, now closed his eyes ; and Tobias, stealing on tip- toe across the floor, put him down in the second alcove, and covered him with an old coat. Resuming his seat before the fire, he began to cut up some plug tobacco in the palm of his hand and to stuff it into his pipe. "Well, well," he said meditatively, blow- ing out a cloud of smoke, " I suppose the Lord knows ^vhat He 's about. I don't.'' The mate fell into a brown study ; and little Thomas, who sat up wide awake the moment his father had turned his back on him, was vaguely wondering whether he meant to kill Prebensen or onl)- to thrash The Rejected Olive-Bramh. 27 him, for Thomas knew no other methods of retaliation. In the intervals of his fever it flattered him to have kicked up such a rum- pus, and he felt something like gratitude to his father for having taken his part so warmly, and grown so angry on his account. The pain in his forehead could not prevent him from imagining, in a dazed way, what a hero he would be among the boys in town when Tobias should have carried out his threat, and he hoped in his heart that his mother would not succeed in mollifying him. He was aroused from this meditation by a vigorous thump on the door. Tobias made some slow preparations to rise, but before he could reach the latch, the door was opened, and a handsome curly head appeared in the opening. " May I come in, Tobias ? " aisked a merry young voice. Without awaiting the mate's reply, a tall, slender lad of sixteen bounded into the room. He came like a fresh breeze, and the hopelessness which had reigned there a moment before was as if blown away. 28 Against Heavy Odds. " Ingomar ! " cried Tobias, joyously, grasp- ing both the boy's hands. " Well, well, well ! How big and handsome we have grown ! I should n't have known ye hardly, if it had n't been fur them eyes of yourn, fur nobody never had eyes with such snap in 'em. And I was a-comin' round to see ye, Ingomar, my lad, and thank ye fur haulin' that unlucky little chap of mine out of the water when Prebensen kicked him overboard." " Oh, never mind that ! " answered In- gomar, with a toss of his head. " It was nothing.'' " Well, it came mighty near bein' some- thin', though," the mate remonstrated, chok- ing a little as he spoke. "But I hain't simmered down enough to talk about it yet, so ye be right ; it 's better to keep mum." Ingomar flung his cap on a table which stood between the windows, and pulled a chair, made out of the vertebra of a whale, up to the fire. " Well, old man," he said to Tobias, " I am glad to have you safe home again. I have missed you a good deal." The Rejected Olive-Branch. 29 Tobias took three long pulls at his pipe before he replied. " Thankee, Ingomar, thankee ! " he said at last. " Ef I was a-saihn' fur your dad now, instead of that white-livered sneak as kicked my little chap into the water, I should be hap- pier to get home, lad, than I am to-day." " And what kind of voyage did you have, Tobias? That's what I came to ask you about. They say Prebensen is pretty badly cut up about something or other, and some think it is because the ' Petrel ' has been losing money." " They be n't far wrong as to that, lad. We 've had a mighty bad voyage, ; — bad water, bad meat, and bad luck from the start. We lost more whales than we ever did in any three voyages before." " Lost them? How did you lose them? " " Two thirds of them sank as soon as we had killed 'em." "What made them sink?" " Bad luck, I guess. And then they were so lean ! The Finmark whale is the strong- est whale that swims in the sea. He takes 30 Against Heavy Odds. too much exercise to raise much fat, and it is the fat makes him float. One monstrous chap took us in tow fur ten hours, and I don't know but he would have towed us right on to the North Pole, if the line had n't snapped." "What did you do then?" "What could we do? We had to let him go." " I should think something might be in- vented to prevent the whale from sinking,'' remarked Ingomar, thoughtfully. " If ye can invent that, lad, then your for- tune is made," answered Tobias ; " but when you have found it, hold on to it, and keep mum till you have your patent in your pocket." " Trust me for that ! " ejaculated the boy, jumping up and pacing the floor, as was his wont, when a new idea agitated him. " It does seem feasible to me, Tobias," he said, pausing abruptly in front of the sailor. " It would have been worth twelve thou- sand dollars to Prebensen on this voyage alone, if our skipper had known of such a The Rejected Olive-Branch. 31 thing," the mate observed, knocking out his pipe on his boot-heel. Ingomar seated himself again, and began a regular cross-examination of his host in re- gard to all the phases of whale-fishing. They were very old friends, and fond of each other. Tobias had taught Ingomar all he knew of marine lore. He had taught him how to row, swim, reef a sail, tack, jib, and steer, and the more intimate knowledge of his profession, such as weather-signs, good and bad indications for fishing; and the doings and peculiarities of the Ship-Brownie he had also imparted to his favorite pupil under the pledge of secrecy. In the days of Mr. Vang's prosperity, when Tobias was a young fellow, he had felt not a little honored at being intrusted with this most important part of the young master's education, and had been an envied charac- ter in the town on account of the prospects which such a friendship opened up to him. It was then freely hinted that Tobias knew on which side his bread was buttered ; but Tobias put such slanderers to shame. He 32 Against Heavy Odds. was a stanch and loyal soul, and as devoted to Vang and his house in their adversity as he had ever been in the days of their opulence. The two friends were so deeply absorbed in their discussion of whaling that they did not hear a twice repeated knock at the door. The third knock, however, aroused Karen, who had been dozing over the baby. She went to the door, but had no sooner opened it than she started back in astonishment. " Have you lost your way in the dark, miss," she asked, " and do you want some- body to take you home?" " Oh, not at all ! " a cheerful voice answered. " I came to ask how the little boy is who — who — had the mishap — who — fell into the water." " Oh, he ain't dead, miss," Karen muttered sullenly, " and I guess he don't mean to gratify you by dying." She was about to shut the door in her visitor's face, when Ingomar, who had recog- nized Ragna's voice, rose and stayed her hand. The Rejected Olive-Branch. 33 "Let her come in," he said; "she is not to blame for the accident." Karen, wlio was accustomed to think In- gomar infallible, stepped aside and let the young girl enter. " Well, I '11 be blowed ! " was the greeting Tobias gave her. He did not rise, far less offer her his hand. Ragna, though not expecting a cordial reception, became a trifle embarrassed and scarcely knew how to state her errand. Half absently she handed a basket which she car- ried on her arm to Ingomar, and walking over to the little boy, who was still sitting up in the alcove bed, she stooped down and patted his cheek. " Why, you poor thing, you 've got fever," she ejaculated, ^stroking his hair back from his forehead. " I brought you some nice things to eat and some toys for your little sister, — Anna, is n't that her name ? " The boy only stared at her with his big eyes, and did not answer. " I did n't think you were so ill, Tom,'' Ragna went on, " or I should have brought 3 34 Against Heavy Odds. you medicines too ; but I '11 send the doctor to you if }'ou like." Tom shook his head. " No, no doctor," he said. " And won't you cat some smoked tongue and some bread and butter? And I have got some jam too." All these delicacies would have been irre- sistible to Tom at any other time ; but just then the pain in his head returned and di- verted his thoughts from the temptation. He fell back upon the sack which served for a pillow, and groaned. Tobias, who had only with difficulty con- tained himself, now jumped up and advanced two long strides toward the young girl. " What do ye come here for? " he asked savagely. " I felt sorry for the little boy,'' answered Ragna, meeting his glance fearlessly. " You jest obleege me by not feelin' sorry fur me nur none of mine," he demanded, with the same challenging mien ; " ye ought to feel sorry rather that yc have got a father as will kick a little chap as has n't done him no harm." The Rejected Olive-Branch. 35 " Tobias," cried Ingomar, stepping up to the mate and grabbing him by the arm, " shame on you ! That is not fair." But Tobias had boiled so long inwardly that he could not now be pacified. " And was it fair," he yelled, " what Pre- bensen did to Tom this morning? If it had n't been for you, Tom would have been carried out dead with the tide. For five months I had worked and starved on board his ship, — fur he 's too mean to provision his ships as the law demands, — and when my little chap is anxious-like to come out and see his dad, he kicks him overboard as if he had been a nasty cur, and never even stops to see if he gets drownded. You call that fair, do you ? " "No, I don't," Ingomar retorted quietly; " but it was n't Ragna who did it. And I call it cowardly to take revenge on a girl for her father's doings." "Cowardly! Cowardly, did you say? Did you call me cowardly ? " Beside himself with anger, Tobias raised his clinched fist; but Ingomar stood erect 36 Against Heavy Odds. and fearless, staring at him with unflinching eyes. " Yes," he repeated slowly, " I call your conduct cowardly. I always thought well of you, Tobias, and I believed you to be a man, with the courage of a man in your breast. But when you hurt so cruelly one who has come with pity in her heart to help you, I cannot call you my friend." " I don't want her pity. I don't want the pity of any of her tribe," shouted the mate, threateningly. " Well, then, tell her so quietly, but don't insult her," the boy responded gallantly. " Well, I did n't have the bringin' up of a gentleman, and I don't pretend to be one. I am a plain man, and I speak bluntly as I feel." The brunt of his wrath had spent itself, and he was beginning to feel ashamed of his violence. But just as his reason was about to assert itself, he caught sight of his wife stooping over Ragna's basket, and with a face full of furtive delight, unpacking its contents. There were a dozen or more slices The Rejected Olive-Branch. 37 of smoked tongue, at least twenty sandwiches, several loaves of bread, and a small jar of jam. The poor starved woman, who had scarcely eaten anything but salt fish and tough, oily seal-flesh during her entire life, had not the courage to refuse such dainties. Her eyes blazed with eager anxiety to get the things put away before her husband should dis- cover them. But, unhappily, she was not quick enough. Like an angry animal he pounced upon her, wrenched the plate of sandwiches out of her hands, and opening a window pitched it into the street. Tongue, bread, cake, and jam went the same way, one after the other, and neither tears nor prayers were of any avail. " Tobias, dear Tobias," the wife implored him, "we have nothin' in the house to eat, and you fling good victuals into the street for the dogs and the sea-gulls. Think of the children, Tobias. They have had nothing but herring and potatoes now for three weeks." " I ain't sech a poltroon as to curse a J^ Against Heavy Odds. man and then eat his bread," was Tobias's answer. He was holding the empty basket in his hand, and with angry energy he hurled it through the window into the black night. Ingomar, who had stood speechless at Ragna's side, watching the mate's Bcrscrkir rage, picked up his cap, and beckoning to the young girl, approached the door. Poor Karen, who had some faint hope yet of saving the precious food from the dogs, went to the threshold with them, and was about to accompany them further, under the guise of politeness, when her husband, sus- pecting her design, rushed after her, seized her by the arm, and dragged her back into the room. " Don't you dare to touch it ! " he cried. " I '11 show you I am master in my own Ik.jusc ! A fierce wind was blowing outside, and it was pitch-dark. Far away a luminous point was visible, but it was quite insufficient to dispel the darkness. Some rickety street- signs creaked and screamed dismally in the The Rejected Olive-Branch. 39 wind, and now and then the spray from the sea came hissing through the air and lashed the window-panes. Round about the island — only seven miles in circumference — upon which the town was built the great Arctic Ocean roared, and with a perpetual boom of thunder charged in wrath- ful onsets, as if to engulf it. These hoarse howls of wrath filled the air through all the winter months, except on rare occasions, when the Sound between the island and the mainland was frozen over. " Give me your hand, Ragna," said Ingo- mar, " or you will be blown out to sea." " I was looking for my basket," shouted Ragna, for the wind nearly drowned her voice. " You might as well look for that at the North Pole." She groped her way with one hand along the wall of a fisherman's hut which turned the gable to the street; and Ingomar, who held her other hand, was guiding her through the darkness. " I stayed longer than I intended," Ragna 40 Against Heavy Odds. remarked after awhile; "I hope they won't be anxious about me at home." " But I suppose they know where you went." " No, they don't, I got all the things from the cook, and she thought I wanted to eat them myself, or invite some girls to my room." They kept close in shelter of the houses ; but whenever they came to a street-crossing, where the wind had full sweep, they had to cling to each other in order to keep their footing. " I wish my father liked you better, Ingo- mar," said Ragna, when once more they had gained the shelter of a house-wall. " I don't like him any better than he likes me," the boy was tempted to answer ; but he checked his tongue, and asked instead, — " Why do you want him to like me particularly?" " Well — because then we could be friends openly and not only on the sly." Ingomar had nothing to answer to this, and so they set their heads against the wind, and struggled bravely onward. The Rejected Olive-Brancb. 41 " Ragna," he said, suddenly facing her and holding both her hands, " I won't mind telling you one thing, because you are my friend, but you must promise me never to tell it to anybody.'' " Oh, you only trust me for that ! " cried the girl enthusiastically, for she had a tre- mendous relish for secrets. " Well, some day I am going to be a great man, and then it won't matter much what your — what anybody thinks of me. I feel it here — inside of me, Ragna," he went on, with a ring of strong conviction ; " but I never dared tell it even to father, because I can't bear to be laughed at." " Oh, but, Ingomar,'' exclaimed Ragna, flushed and flattered by his confidence, " I always thought you 'd be something great ! " "Did you really, Ragna?" " Yes, I did." " What made you think so? " "Well, I don't know; I think it must be your eyes. There is a look in them which is — so good — and — and nice," she finished confusedly. 42 y4 gainst Heavy Odds. "Good and nice?" he repeated with ob- vious disappointment. " WeH, something that makes one beheve in you, — which makes it impossible not to beheve in you," she added eagerly. She did not see how his face lighted up with pleasure at that sweet assurance. Something in his nature, finer than vanity, responded to those sympathetic words with joyous ardor. He had led a lonely life, with his am- bition, and had never known the delight of being understood and appreciated. There- fore Ragna's avowal sounded in his ears like the most intoxicating music. And it seemed to him almost miraculous that she had actu- ally guessed his secret (which, for fear of ridicule, he had so carefully hidden from all), and suspected the greatness which he now more than ever believed to be within his reach. The streets of Vardoe were at that time crooked and hilly, and lighted at long inter- vals by lamps swung on wires, which had a way of being blown out when the wind was The Rejected Olive-Branch. 43 high ; and as the wind was generally high, the lamps were generally out of repair when they were most needed. Ragna and Ingomar had just reached the top of the hill that leads toward the so-called West End, where the well-to-do citizens lived, when they saw half-a-dozen lights flickering to and fro across the street. Shouts, too, were borne toward them on the blast; and they concluded that some misfortune had happened. It did not occur to them to shout back, as they never dreamed that the summons was intended for them. With a vague relish of the excitement, they started forward, eager to know the cause of the disturbance. They had scarcely advanced half a block, however, when Ragna stopped and stared with a frightened face at hsr companion. " Ingomar," she exclaimed breathlessly, " they are hunting for mc/ " " What makes you think so ? " " I hear them shout my name." " You had better shout back, then, to let them know where you are." 44 Against Heavy Odds. " Yes, but you must leave me first, In- gomar. Father would n't like to see us together.'' " Do you think I am a sneak? " cried the boy, proudly; " I won't run away from any- body ! " Two men with torches and two more with lanterns were now approaching; and Ingomar shouted to them with all his might, Ragna reluctantly joining. The foremost man in the line, in whom they presently recognized Prebensen, rushed forward the instant he heard their voices. " Ho ! ho ! " he cried angrily, thrusting his lantern into their faces, " this is you, misS; is it? You have nearly frightened us out of our wits." Ragna flushed as she saw the men stand- ing about her, but made no answer. " This is a nice time for promenading, is n't it?" her father continued sarcastically, curb- ing his wrath ; " and you, young man,'' he went on, turning the full glare of the lantern on Ingomar, — ''I '11 have a talk with you later." The Rejected Olive-Branch. 45 Ingomar had a stinging reply ready, but out of regard for Ragna forbore to utter it. He only lifted his cap silently, and vanished in the darkness. CHAPTER Iir. THE GREAT INVENTION. In a large room which had once served for a hay-loft Ingomar had his workshop. The stable, which had once housed half-a- dozen fine animals, was now inhabited by one ancient and sedate nag whose fodder was kept in a neighboring stall, and the re- maining stalls were used by the young in- ventor for storage of his models and other treasures. For Ingomar was a boy to whom everything was of interest. He was inde- fatigably busy from morning till night. He had been a trifle spoiled, perhaps, by his father, who had perfect confidence in him, and who found little time to occup)' himself with his son's education. Ingomar's mother had died four years ago, leaving a little daughter named Magda, who was now nine years old. The Great Invention. 47 Four other sisters and brothers had died in early infancy ; for it takes a very strong child to survive one of the terrible Arctic winters, when for two months the sun never peeps above the horizon, and storm and darkness hold sway in the heavens above, and on the earth below. The room above the stable, where Ingomar spent his happiest hours, was more like an inventor's laboratory than an artisan's work- shop. There was, to be sure, a turning- bench in a corner, and a variety of tools were visible in a rack on the wall. But the most conspicuous object was a small hearth, like that of a forge, with bellows and a chim- ney that pierced the roof. Ingomar had partly built this himself, with the aid of a mason's apprentice who was his friend. Suspended under the roof and on shelves about the walls were stuffed sea-birds of many kinds, and seals, weasels, martens, and foxes. For Ingomar's first enthusiasm, when he was four years younger, had been tax- idermy, and he had acquired considerable skill in this art, and earned some money by 48 yl gainst Hcnzy OJds. the sale of his finest specimens to EngHsh and American tourists. In order to guard against fire he had covered the floor with a layer of crushed sea-shells, and the walls with asbestos paper. Here in this delightful room, which was all his own, Ingomar was seated one morning, about a month after his visit to Tobias Trul- son. With one hand he was slowly working the bellows, while in the other he held a book on chemistry, in which he was eagerly reading. A wooden model of a swivel-gun, about a foot long, was standing on a table near the window, illumined by two whale-oil lamps which were attached to the wall. The boy's face, as he turned it toward the light, was blackened with soot and flushed with excitement. His entire person, from the chin down, was covered with a leathern apron, such as smiths wear. With an exclamation of impatience he flung down the book and began to walk up and down the floor. The light of the two lamps did not radiate much beyond the forge and the table, and all the rest of the The Great Invention. 49 room was in twilight; for the dark season liad now begun, and all over the town the window-shades were pulled down and the yellow flames of the candles glimmered all day long through the chinks of the shutters. It was bitter cold without, and the wind swept fiercely around the corners of the house. The steady humming of the stove sometimes rose to a roar, and sometimes ceased suddenly when the wind dashed down the chimney and flung a fiery tongue from the draught-hole out into the room. The ice on the window-panes was almost thick enough to make the shades super- fluous, and the cotton batting which had been stuffed into the chinks, and the ser- pentine sand-bags which guarded against draughts, were covered with half an inch of hoar-frost. Ingomar stopped abruptly in his march, and stared with kindling eyes at his gun model. " I have it ! " he cried joyously, and made a leap across the floor. " A bomb is the thing ! Hurrah for the bomb ! " 50 Against Heavy Odds. He was so absorbed that he failed to hear the creaking of the stairs and the sound of heavy footsteps. But he could not fail to hear the thump on the door, which nearly shook it out of its frame ; nor fail to see the big, brawny figure in oil-clothes which presently filled the doorway. "Who's there? "cried Ingomar, anything but happy to be disturbed. "It's me," answered a voice out of the dusk. "Well, what do you want, Tobias?" asked Ingomar, instantly recognizing the voice. The broad, weather-beaten figure lum- bered forward, and pulling off a huge mitten, stretched out a dark-brown, horny paw. " Let us be friends, lad," he said, when Ingomar hesitated to grasp his hand. " I can't get along without you ; you can't get along without me." " Don't be so sure of that, Tobias," the boy answered ; " if you are so violent as you were the other night, I don't know but I should be better off without you." " Don't say that, lad, don't say it ! " The Great Invention. 51 pleaded the mate. " I reckon I was pretty- nasty, and I feel mighty mean about it now. But you and me — we was sorter growed up together — though it was you as did the growing ; but I have been so miserable sence you turned your back on me that I '11 do anything you like, only so as we be friends as we was afore." Ingomar looked up into the sailor's big, coppery face, and its deeply troubled look touched him. " All right, Tobias ! " he said, now pressing his hand, which felt like a piece of tanned leather; "we'll let bygones be bygones." " Thankee, lad, thankee ! It do make a new man of me to see ye brightenin' up a bit." "Sit down, Tobias; you can talk while I work. I have a little experiment here which I can't very well drop." " Let 's have a look at it." " Mind you, mum 's the word, Tobias." " Don't you be afeard of me, sonny; I ain't the blabbin' kind." The boy pulled a small harpoon out of the 52 Against Heavy Odds. smouldering fire on the hearth, and in his eagerness thrust it up under tlie mate's nose. Tobias started back, but recovered himself and began to inspect the weapon. " That is n't made right," said he. "Just so," ejaculated Ingomar; "that's just the point." "Why have you made it hollow?" " Listen to me, Tobias, You know you said a third of the whales caught, on an average, went to the bottom, and that this third was apt to make the difference between profit and loss. Now, this harpoon is made hollow, because it is to contain a bomb, which, when it explodes, will generate gas ; and this gas will buoy the whale up and prevent him from sinking." "But who's to explode the bomb? Ye can't get inside the whale with a fuse or anything of "-hat kind." " The whale himself is to explode it. The rope which is attached to the harpoon is to be connected with a wire running through the hollow shaft, and the first pull the whale gives will burst the bomb and fill his insides The Great Invention. 53 with a gas which will make his huge, lumber- ing carcass ten per cent lighter." The young inventor, carried along by his ideas, gazed in joyous excitement at his friend, challenging him with his eager eyes to find more objections if he could. The mate in the mean while scratched his head meditatively, and looked, half embarrassed, about the walls. " Now, supposin' that is all right," he be- gan at last, " who is to fire yer light har- poon, which, mind ye, is hollow, so far into the whale's body that it '11 stick? No human critter is strong enough for that." " This ! " cried Ingomar, proudly, jumping up and putting his hand on his model of the swivel-gun. " I put the harpoon into the muzzle of the cannon and shoot it out with gunpowder." " Wal, wal, wal ! " exclaimed Tobias, in rapt astonishment. " If ye be n't the smart- est lad I ever clapped eyes on ! " He began to examine the gun with pro- found interest, while Ingomar took it apart and explained the working of each detail. 54 /i gainst Heavy Odds. There was one great hitch yet, he remarked, and that was to find the proper kind of gas, and the proper way of developing it. But he had no doubt but that by diligent ex- perimenting he would succeed in finding precisely what he needed. He had sold half his collection of stuffed birds and even his precious blue fox, and bought chemicals with the proceeds. An- other month of study would, he hoped, per- fect his invention ; and then he would have a model made in steel, and send to Christi- ania to get his patent and make his fortune. For no whaler could henceforth afford to go to sea without Vang's Patent Harpoon Gun, and thus the fortunes of the house of Vang would rise Phcenix-like from its ashes, and the whole Finmark district would flourish as never before. This was the dream which the enthusiastic boy had nursed in his solitude ; and as he now related it to his friend, his eyes beamed with zeal and delight, and his voice shook with emotion. Tobias, though he was natu- rally doubtful about the success of so daring The Great Invention. 55 a plan, had not quite the heart to offer fur- ther objections. He only scratched his head meditatively as before. After having once more examined the gun, he rose to take his leave. " By the way, how 's little Tom? " inquired Ingomar. " I hope he 's better." " Oh, he 's tolerably middlin'. He 's been havin' pneumonia, but I reckon he 's goin' to pull through, if he only had enough to eat, poor chap ! " " Has n't he enough to eat? " Tobias twirled his cap thoughtfully; then looking up with some embarrassment, said : " Why, Master Ingomar, there ain't anybody down in our part of town as has enough to eat. Some days, when we can put to sea and catch some fish or kill a seal, we manage to keep soul and body together; but when the weather is too rough, as it generally is at this season, we have to starve." " But can't you get credit at Prebensen's?" " No ; Prebensen won't give credit any more unless a man 's got something to mort- gage. And pretty much all the town is 56 Against Heavy Odds. mortgaged to him by this time — down our way." " Come along with me, Tobias; though we have n't much ourselves, nowadays, I '11 get you something. The trouble is, every one who is refused at Prebenscn's comes to us; and father is too soft-hearted to send any- body away empty-handed." They descended the stairs together, and passed through the stable into the court- yard. The wind had now gone down ; the sky was glittering with innumerable stars, and the aurora borealis flashed its pink and yellow sheets of light from the horizon toward the zenith. Though it was but a little after noon, not a ray of sunlight was anywhere visible; but for all that, there was a dazzling splendor in the scene which the sun could scarcely have rivalled. Each separate star twinkled and shone with an intenser brilliancy than it ever attains in our temperate zone ; and the Milky Way, with its myriad luminous hosts, poured down upon the earth a flood of radiance. The Great Invention. 57 Ingomar and his friend entered by the back door a rather shabby store, pervaded with the odor of tar and sah fish. Big barrels filled with salt mackerel and herring stood before the counter; coils of rope lay under the shelves; and green, brown, and yellow boxes were stowed away in little square compartments, exhibiting a sample nail, or screw, or fish-hook. It was an unpretentious country- store, where you might without impropriety ask for anything from a suit of oil-clothes to a bottle of medicine. There was a shrill little bell over the door, which announced each customer that entered or departed, and kept up a needless racket after the door was closed. "Father," cried Ingomar to an elderly man with a kindly, careworn face, who stood writing at a desk, " Tobias says his children have nothing to eat. Have n't we got some- thing to give him ? " " My dear boy," answered his father, look- ing up from his writing, " we shall soon be no better off than Tobias. I have given 58 Against Heavy Odd^. away the better part of my stock because the distress of the people moved me. Now I can get credit no more myself, and then there 's an end of everything.'' The boy gazed at the mournful face of his father, and his grief cut him to the heart. Why should he allow him to be sad when he had it in his power to cheer him? He had always looked up to him, believing him to be the noblest of men. " Father," he said, stepping up to the older man and putting his hand affection- ately on his shoulder, "what would you say if I told you that some day you would again be the richest man in Vardoe ? " Mr. Vang, feeling the enthusiasm which trembled in his voice, gave a start of sur- prise, but in the next moment smiled sadly and answered, — " I should say, my dear, that you had been dreaming. I have been routed in the fight, and the hard part of it is that I have been routed by foul means which I would never condescend to use in return. A scoundrel has that advantage over an hon- The Great Invention. 59 est man, that he can fight him with weap- ons which his enemy would scorn to make use of." "But you only wait, father," ejaculated the boy, with blazing eyes, " and we 'II fight him with a weapon which he won't have the wit to make use of." " What kind of a weapon is that? " " A swivel-gun." " My dear boy ! I hope you are joking." " Not at all. It is a new kind of harpoon gun I have invented." " But, Ingomar, my son," cried Mr. Vang, with alarm in his face, " you surely are not thinking of doing him bodily harm?" " Bodily harm ! No, indeed ! " Ingomar flung his head back and burst into a ringing peal of laughter. " Why, father," he shouted, " you did n't ima- gine I wanted to harpoon Prebensen, did " Well, what else was I to suppose?" The son had to have his laugh out; and Tobias, as soon as he saw the point, had to join him. 6o Against Heavy Odds. " I would n't mind myself havin' a crack at him," said the mate, " and I should n't have half as much on my conscience as he has. How many a ship he has sent to sea know- ing her to be nothin' but a floatin' coffin ! And when the news came that she had gone down, the widders put on weeds and the children cried for bread, and he let 'em starve, and pocketed ten or twenty thousand dollars' insurance for killin' them. It don't seem somehow right to be livin' quietly in a world where such things do happen. There 's his brig, the ' Walrus,' a rickety old consarn that had been condemned ; but he manages somehow to get certificates of sea- worthiness, and sends her with whalebone and oil to Hull." Mr. Vang, without making any reply, beckoned the mate aside, put up a loaf of bread and other provisions in a package, and bade him good-by. " Do you know, Ingomar," he said to his son as he returned to his desk, " I have sometimes thought it my duty to warn Prebcjisen." The Great Invention. 6i " I would n't do anything of the sort ! " ejaculated Ingomar, hotly. " I am not so sure of that," his father answered thoughtfully. " He does not come in contact with the people as I do, and he does not know how they feel toward him." " Then let him take the consequences of his own misdoings." " If he were the only one who would suffer, perhaps that might not be out of the way; but the fact is, the whole town suffers. The welfare of all is in the hands of that one wretched man." They walked into the dining-room and sat down to lunch. When they had finished eating, Ingomar took his skates and a pitch torch, ready for lighting, and persuaded his father to go with him down on the ice. The old gentleman, who loved nothing better than his son's society, was readily coaxed to lock up the store ; and wrapped from head to foot in fur-lined overcoats, they started out together. The moon had now risen, and, showed its calm, bright face above the eastern horizon. 62 Against Heavy Odds. Though the air was still, a kind of icy- breath rose from the ground with a tomb- like chill in it which penetrated all garments. Father and son walked rapidly through the quiet streets down toward the frozen harbor, whence they heard snatches of song and shouts of merriment. On account of the tides and currents it was not often that the Sound froze hard enough for skating, and young people would not allow such an op- portunity for enjoyment to escape them. Toward the north the aurora borealis was blazing and shooting forth long, fan-like beams which swept across the sky. In this magic illumination the ice lay outspread like a huge steel-blue mirror, reflecting the ruddy sheen of torches and the swiftly moving fig- ures of boys and girls. It was a very pretty sight, and Ingomar's heart gave a bound of delight. With a shout he leaped down the steps of the pier, flung off his overcoat, fastened his skates on his feet, lighted his torch, and darted out upon the glittering surface. His father remained standing on the pier. The Great Invention. 63 watching with admiration his dexterous turns and daring gyrations. Suddenly, hke a flash, while he was going at full speed, he flung himself about and darted away backward in undulating lines, swinging his torch about his head, and challenging every boy on the ice to race with him. He found presently that some one had accepted his challenge ; but it was not a boy, — it was Ragna Prebensen. She wore a blue hood edged with swan's- down, and a tight-fitting cloak of the same color, lined with ermine. " Ingomar," she said breathlessly, stretch- ing out her hand to him, " why do you run away from me? " " I thought we were racing," he answered. " You did n't think anything of the sort," she replied, with an injured air. " Well, you know you and I are not to talk to each other," he remarked, after a pause. " You need n't talk if you don't want to ; but we are going to have a torchlight quad- rille on skates. Will you dance with me?" 64 y4gainst Heavy OJds. Ingomar was greatly tempted to accept the invitation given so frankly and with such sincerity. " But your father will not like it," he urged dubiously. " Leave that to me ; I '11 make it up with my father." " All right, then ; here I am." He seized her hand, fell quickly into step with her, and darting rhythmically to the right and to the left, carried her along at such speed that the ice looked like a series of white and blue lines which came rushing madly toward them. " Hurrah, this is life ! " cried Ingomar, whirling his torch in the air so that the sparks flew like fiery snakes about them. " Take care, you '11 singe my hood ! " she cried. " Oh, never mind the hood ! " They came to a standstill in the middle of the Sound, where about thirty or forty yuung people stood ready to begin the dance. The boys were dressed in short, fur-trimmed jack- ets and fur ca[)s, and carried lighted torches. The Great Invention. 65 " Hurrah, there is Ingomar ! " cried a chorus of voices. " You lead, Ingomar, with Ragna Prebensen." " All right ! " said Ingomar. " Take your places ! and you, girls, will commence the song when I raise my torch like this." In five minutes more the boys and girls were arranged in two long lines on the ice, and at a signal from Ingomar the girls began to sing. It was the dance known in Norway as the Frangaise, in which any number of couples may participate. It resembles in its figures the Lancers, or an enlarged quadrille, in which there are many couples, instead of one, on each side of the square. The older people, who stood on the piers or promenaded along the shore, enjoyed the beautiful sight from a distance. The flicker- ing torches, with their long, trembling reflec- tions, the variegated lines of the dancers skating forward and backward to the rhythm of the song, the steely flash of the skates, the vast glittering surface of the ice, and the great dark-blue dome of the sky united into a picture to be remembered. S 66 Against Heavy Odds. Mr. Vang, after having watched with pride his son's skill as a skater, began to walk up and down on the pier, in order to keep his blood in motion. He had just reached the sea-booths from which the pier projected, when by chance he found himself face to face with Consul Prebensen. His first impulse was to pass him by without appearing to observe him ; but Tobias's story about the " Walrus," and many similar stories which he had heard from other quarters, inclined him rather to seek an interview with his enemy. " Good-day, Consul,'' he said, lifting his cap. " Good-day, Mr. Vang ! " the consul re- plied, with an air of condescension. " I hope you are well, sir," he added, holding out two fingers, which Mr. Vang found it prudent to press. They talked for a few minutes about indif- ferent things ; and when once the ice was broken, Vang steered skilfully toward the subject which he had at heart. " I hope you won't take it ill. Consul," he said, " but as an older man, who had the The Great Invention. Gy honor of being your first employer, I may perhaps be permitted to speak to you frankly." Prebensen growled something in return which might be taken either for permission or refusal. " You do wrong, Consul," Vang continued warmly, " in treating your sailors so harshly. You get your wealth out of their labor. I think you would find it for your own profit to extend their credit in bad years like the present. A man of your wealth and position can't aff"ord to let men starve at his door.'' " Mr. Vang," Prebensen replied, staring at his former employer with a pinched, ugly look, " I shall be obliged if you '11 leave me to manage my business for myself. I pay my people what I agree to pay them. They don't work for me for nothing. They are at liberty to go elsewhere, if they can secure better terms." " Well, what does that liberty amount to, Mr. Prebensen? You are now the only man here who owns ships and is rich enough to fit out boat-guilds for the fisheries. The 68 Against Heavy Odds. people are too poor to go elsewhere, and you practically make your own terms." " I don't do business on sentimental prin- ciples," the consul made haste to answer. " You tried that, and we all see the result. I am a practical man, and regard only business principles." " But remember, Mr. Prebensen," Vang rejoined, ignoring the offensive allusion, " they are God's creatures ; they are human beings like you and me." " Indeed ! Well, they may be like you, but they are not like me ! " snarled the consul. " Take care. Consul, take care ! " cried Vang, earnestly. "I have given you warning. If you disregard it, you will live to rue it. These poor people whom you despise are, if they unite, a hundred times stronger than you. They are now at your mercy, but the day may come when you will be at their mercy." CHAPTER IV. A THORNY PATH. An inventor's path is not strewn with roses. Ingomar discovered, to his chagrin, that without money he would never be able to test the worth of his invention. He had, after months of steady experimenting, found the substances he needed for the generation of gas in his bomb, and felt confident that his gun would prove a success. But in order to prove this he would have to have his model reproduced in steel, which would cost upward of two hundred dollars. Such a sum his father had not at his dis- posal; and however much he might strain his credit, he would scarcely be able to raise it. It even seemed to Ingomar, in moments of bitterness, that his father did not fully believe in his invention, but only humored him for fear of hurting his feelings. ■JO Against Heavy OJJs. There was not another soul in whom the poor boy dared confide ; and the longer he brooded over his disappointment the sadder he grew. One ftiorning in June, when there was a fe,ehng of spring in the air, he was roaming over the rocks, gun in hand, pondering on the subject which now never left his mind. The wary seals raised their round heads out of the water and gazed at him, or lay sun- ning themselves on the skerries, ready to plump into the sea if he should make any suspicious motion. But the young hunter strode away, with his head bent, without heeding them. He had walked along for a couple of miles and was far outside the town, when he thought he heard his name called. He stopped, looked about him, but saw nothing except the black rocks, with patches of white and blue and yellow wild-flowers scattered between. " Ingomar ! " a voice called again, and it seemed to him that it was a girl's voice. He answered with a loud halloo. Presentl}', A Thorny Path. 71 after another search, he discovered a yellow head which disentangled itself from a patch of yellow daffodils. • The sunlight was so dazzlingly bright that his eyes ached ; and the sea, which broke with gentle murmurs at his feet, was like a huge burnished shield which reflected and intensified the light. "Wait a moment! I want to see you," the yellow head called out from among the daffodils. Ingomar paused and stood leaning on his gun. He knew well enough that the voice was Ragna's, but he yet feigned a little sur- prise at seeing her in such an out-of-the-way place. She was flushed and out of breath ; and her loose hair was blown all over her face, giving her a resemblance to an obsti- nate little Shetland pony that is aware of its attractiveness and accustomed to have its own way. " Well, you are the provokingest boy I ever knew," ' said Ragna, putting down a basket of flowers which she carried on her arm and seating herself on a big bowlder. 72 Against Heavy Odds. "I? How so? " queried Ingomar. "Well, I have screamed till I am as hoarse as a crow. You must have heard me for the last fifteen minutes." "You are mistaken. I answered you the moment I heard you." " Well, we won't quarrel about it. But say, Ingomar, when are you going to be a great man? You remember you told me. I have been waiting for it daily, and I believe that is what makes me so out of breath," she added, coughing, and wiping her fore- head with her handkerchief She glanced up at him, her eyes dancing with mischief " Ragna, you always were a great tease," he said with a sad smile; " but I beg of you, don't tease me on that subject." "Why not?" " Because I am very sensitive. You don't want to hurt me, do you?" She grew suddenly serious, and a warm S3'mpathy replaced the mischief in her eyes. "Look here, Ingomar," she said, "you have got some trouble. Tell me all about it." 'look: here, INGOMAR,'' SHE SAID, " VOU HAVE fiOT SOME TROUHI.E." A Thorny Path. y^ " I can't, Ragna. You would n't under- stand it." "Understand it! Well, I like that !" she cried defiantly. " Now you 've got to tell me. You might just as well give up at once, for you won't have peace until you do." He forgot for the moment whose daughter she was, and after some coaxing told her his secret. It seemed very sweet to him, after his long, solitary brooding, to pour the tale of his struggles and disappoint- ments into a sympathetic ear. The lively interest which she betrayed in his ambition, and her absolute confidence in his genius were like balm to his wounded spirit. " Ingomar,'' cried Ragna, when he had finished his story, " I '11 tell you what to do. You go to my father, and tell him what you have told me. He will lend you the two hundred dollars to make your model." Ingomar gave an incredulous laugh and looked out over the sea. He did not want Prebensen's daughter to see the expression of his face. She had no need of seeing it, 74 Against Heavy Odds. however, for she divined how her proposition would strike him. " You don't l