"They want rooms, sir, and we have two that----"
"You must not take them in!" roared the burgomaster of Masolga. "I forbid it."
"Forbid?" gasped the astonished landlord.
"Yes, forbid. They are nothing but English cattle. I met them on the train. They insulted me grossly. They must go elsewhere for accommodations."
"Have you two vacant rooms?" demanded Granbury Lapham, coming to the front.
"We'll take them," answered the Englishman, quickly. He felt certain no other accommodations could be had in the village.
"He cannot have the rooms--I will take them myself!" howled the burgomaster.
"I have already taken them," answered the Englishman, quietly. "I will pay in advance for them, if necessary," and he pulled out his purse.
"It shall not be!" stormed the burgomaster of Masolga. "I forbid it! I will pay for the rooms, if needs be. Those English cattle shall not sleep under the same roof with me and my family."
"What's the trouble about?" asked Dave, coming forward.
"That brute doesn't want us to stay here," explained Granbury Lapham. "He forbids the landlord renting us rooms."
"Are there any rooms vacant?" questioned Roger.
"We'll take them!" cried Dave. "He can't stop us."
"I've already said I'd take them. But the burgomaster won't listen to it."
"The landlord has got to let us have the rooms," said Dave. "If his place is a public road-house we are entitled to accommodations, and at the legal rate----"
"By Jove, you're right! How stupid of me to forget!" cried the Englishman. He turned to the landlord. "I demand those rooms," he said, in Norwegian. "That man shall not keep us out of your place. It is a public house. I demand my rights."
[Illustration: "Out with the lot of them! I will take the rooms." _Page 229._]
"Yes! yes!" replied the landlord. "But, sir----"
"Ha! Do not listen to him, Voshof," said the burgomaster. "Who is more important here, he or I? Out with the lot of them! I will take the rooms, and if every apartment is occupied, why you cannot accommodate them, can you?"
"Here is my money," said Granbury Lapham. He placed several silver thalers on the table. "I believe you know the law. If you do not, my friends and I do."
The landlord was in a quandary. Ordinarily he would have sided with the burgomaster of Masolga, but there were several considerations which made him pause. In the first place, he did not like the burgomaster, for he was very dictatorial and few things at the inn suited him and his party; in the second place, the foreigners usually paid liberally for what they got, generous "tips" were not withheld; and lastly, and this was equally important, the landlord had once refused a man a room when he was by law entitled to accommodations and he had been fined for the offense. He did not want to be dragged into court again, for his license might possibly be taken from him.