Our student was a great acquisition to the party, though many scenes we lived together were not altogether devoid of embarrassment. We spoke English, French, and German, but he knew no language that we knew. For his University work he had learned book-German, and could read it well, but he had never heard it spoken, and his tongue had never framed the words. Still, with this solid foundation, we soon taught him, and at the end of the three weeks that he spent with us, we flatter ourselves his German was _excellent_! Many a laugh we had over his deliciously amusing struggles, and, in spite of being a Finlander, he laughed too.
We also had many quaint linguistic adventures with our "hotel keeper."
That custodian was a poet--a real live poet. He used to disappear for hours; and we wondered where he was, until one fine day, as we rowed home to our enchanted Castle, we saw a man on the top of the watch tower waving his arms and gesticulating with dramatic gestures into space. This was our _Vahtimestari_. From his exalted position, with one of the most beautiful panoramas eye could wish lying at his feet--resting on a famous battlement, that had withstood the ravages of love and war--he evolved his magic verse. Truly no scene could be more inspiring, no motive more sublime, for even we humble humdrum matter-of-fact Englishwomen felt almost inspired to tempt the poet's muse. But happily no--our friends are spared--the passion was but fleeting.
One day our _Vahtimestari_ met us all smiles. We could not quite understand what he meant, but Grandpapa and our student told us some strange news as soon as the _Vahtimestari_ had imparted it to them.
It seemed that a party of people had rung the bell on the shore for the Castle boat to go to fetch them, so, accordingly, our nocturnal host had gone across to earn his penny per head for ferrying them over. A papa, mamma, son, and daughters, with a couple of acquaintances, comprised the party. They calmly owned they had not come to see the Castle--they had seen it before. They had come to see the English ladies. Was it really true that two Englishwomen were staying there as the papers stated? Had they actually come from London? What were they like? What did they do? And why on earth did they sleep among the ghosts and hobgoblins?