He talked for about five minutes, and became very animated. The manufacturer told us a little about Iceland--a neutral country that neither the Associate Master nor the lawyer had visited, and therefore could not disagree about. One of the Danes had been there and was able to confirm the justness of the manufacturer's impressions. But most of the time he told cheerful anecdotes: "I have a servant, a young lad, who said to me one day, when I was in a bad temper: 'You've become a great hand at swearing in Icelandic!' Ha, ha, ha--he appreciated me: 'a great hand at swearing in Icelandic,' he said!" Everybody laughed, and his wife asked: "And what did you say?" "What did I say? Why, I couldn't say anything, could I, ha, ha, ha!" Then another man from Bergen took the floor: we must not forget we had the family of a real man of the world with us here--his wife, "this peerless lady, scattering charm and delight about her," and the children, dancing butterflies! And a few minutes later, "Hip, hip, hurrah!" followed by a flourish on the piano. The manufacturer drank a toast with his wife. "Well, that's that!" was all he said. Mrs. Molie sat off in a corner talking in a loud voice with the Dane who had come over the top of the Tore from the wrong end; she seemed purposely to be talking so audibly. The manufacturer's attention was attracted, and he asked for further information about the motor cars in the neighboring valley: how many there were, and how fast they could go. The Dane told him. "But just imagine coming across the fjeld from the other side!" said Mrs. Molie. "It hasn't been done before." In response to the manufacturer's questions, the Dane told him about this adventurous journey also. "Isn't there a blue peak somewhere in the mountains about here?" said Mrs. Molie. "I suppose you'll be going up that next. Where ever will you stop?" Yes, the Dane felt quite tempted by this peak, but said he believed it was unconquerable. "I should have climbed that peak long ago if you, Miss Torsen, hadn't forbidden me," said the lawyer. "You'd never have made it," said Mrs. Molie in an indifferent tone. This was probably her revenge. She turned to the Dane again as though ready to believe him capable of anything. "I shouldn't want anyone to think of climbing that peak," said Miss Torsen. "It's as bare as a ship's mast." "What if I tried it, Gerda?" the manufacturer asked his wife with a smile. "After all, I'm an old sailor." "Nonsense," she said, smiling a little. "Well, I climbed the mast of a schooner last spring." "Where?" "In Iceland." "What for?" "I don't know, though--all this mountain climbing--I haven't much use for it," said the manufacturer. "What did you do it for? What did you climb the mast for?" his wife repeated nervously. The manufacturer laughed. "The curiosity of the female sex--!" "How can you do a thing like that! And what about me and the children if you--"