stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an elder age, before
my power of observation had developed itself; this was that golden
age when in tumble-down fishers' huts, after one of these good
shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared
with the finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they
know better how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners
are now on the watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper."

"Have you seen a vessel stranded?" inquired Wilhelm, with
increasing interest.

"Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about
this time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and
the storms begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild
spirits, when I was a boy, and especially in the midst of our
monotonous life, I truly yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to
Borglum-Kloster, I experienced a storm. In the early morning; it
was quite calm, but gray, and we witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana.
A ship, which had not yet risen above the horizon, showed itself in
the distance, but the rigging was turned upside down; the masts
were below, the hull above. This is called the ship of death, and
when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and shipwreck.
Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour's time we had
a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter
time, but here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows
a single green blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and
these are rudders from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown.
In the afternoon arose a storm such as I had experienced when