for ship or boat among the islands, nothing but firm, hard ice, so
that a man may drive with horse and sledge as far as Marstrand and
Paternoster Skerries."

To all this the dog listened, and it seemed not to displease him.
He lay still and blinked at Torarin.

"We have no great store of fish left on our load," said Torarin,
as though trying to talk him over. "What would you say to turning
aside at the next crossways and going westward where the sea lies?
We shall pass by Solberga church and down to Odsmalskil, and after
that I think we have but seven or eight miles to Marstrand. It
would be a fine thing if we could reach home for once without
calling for boat or ferry."

They drove on over the long moor of Kareby, and although the
weather had been calm all day, a chill breeze came sweeping across
the moor, to the discomfort of the traveller.

"It may seem like softness to go home now when trade is at its
best," said Torarin, flinging out his arms to warm them. "But we
have been on the road for many weeks, you and I, and have a claim
to sit at home a day or two and thaw the cold out of our bodies."

As the dog continued to lie still, Torarin seemed to grow more
sure of his ground, and he went on in a more cheerful tone:

"Mother has been left alone in the cottage these many days. I
warrant she longs to see us. And Marstrand is a fine town in
winter-time, Grim, with streets and alleys full of foreign