Staying at our old camping-ground near the “Sœndre Sletten fossen,” we had our mid-day meal--tea, fladbröd, and butter. Noah and Zachariah played some music, whilst Esmeralda had some instruction in dancing. Between four and five o’clock our party were again _en route_ up the zig-zag hilly road, with Vand fos, rock, or forest, continually in view.
At one point of the road a man, woman, and child came running after us. They wished to see the donkeys. Noah and Zachariah were far on before. The peasants’ countenances were marked with an expression of earnest anxiety. The gipsies kept pushing on. Esmeralda said, “We can’t stop for every gorgio,” and away ran the man up the hill with his small boy tugging at his belt behind, and the wife following, ready to sink for want of breath. We came just in sight of our gipsies at a turn of the road, and shouted, when they at last halted very reluctantly.
The peasants, we were glad to see, reached them, but nearly exhausted with haste and fatigue. Some more people came from a house near, and brought some hay for the donkeys. We were anxious for our peasant friends to see the animals, and many were the questions they asked. When we talked of winter they seemed to shiver, and a shade of melancholy passed over their countenances. After a halt of about ten minutes we again continued our journey.
As we reached the summit of the hill near “Stueflaaten” the clouds threatened rain. At Stueflaaten station a delicate-looking woman with a stout child showed us into the guest-chamber. There were two beds. The walls of the chamber were painted green and red. Some photographs also adorned the room, which was very clean, but to us the atmosphere was too close to be pleasant. They procured for us some butter, potatoes, and fladbröd, for which we paid three marks. They gave us full value for our money. The evening was wearing rapidly on as we left the station. Very soon after we met a carriage and pair, in which sat a dark-eyed traveller. His hair was jet black. Our gipsies had to look sharp to get our donkeys in single file, and as we brought up the rear with our alpenstock the traveller scanned our party with much curiosity. Esmeralda paid him the compliment afterwards of saying his hair was as dark as any Romany’s.