Produced by Nicole Apostola, Charles Franks, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team. John Mark Ockerbloom providedadditional information about the original edition.
The Treasure
By Selma Lagerlof
Contents
I. At Solberga Parsonage
II. On the Quays
III. The Messenger
IV. In the Moonlight
V. Haunted
VI. In the Town Cellars
VII. Unrest
VIII. Sir Archie's Flight
IX. Over the Ice
X. The Roar of the Waves
Because the Foreword contains key elements about the end of the book,it is located at the end of the e-text.
In the days when King Frederik the Second of Denmark ruled overBohuslen [FOOTNOTE: Frederik the Second reigned from 1544 to1588. At that time, Bohuslen, now a province of southwest Sweden,formed part of Norway and was under the Danish Crown.—Trans.]there dwelt at Marstrand a poor hawker of fish, whose name wasTorarin. This man was infirm and of humble condition; he had apalsied arm, which made him unfit to take his place in a boat forfishing or pulling an oar. As he could not earn his livelihood at sealike all the other men of the skerries, he went about selling saltedand dried fish among the people of the mainland. Not many daysin the year did he spend at home; he was constantly on the roadfrom one village to another with his load of fish.
One February day, as dusk was drawing on, Torarin came drivingalong the road which led from Kungshall up to the parish ofSolberga. The road was a lonely one, altogether deserted, but thiswas no reason for Torarin to hold his tongue. Beside him on thesledge he had a trusty friend with whom to chat. This was a littleblack dog with shaggy coat, and Torarin called him Grim. He laystill most of the time, with his head sunk between his feet, andanswered only by blinking to all his master said. But if his earcaught anything that displeased him, he stood up on the load, puthis nose in the air, and howled worse than a wolf.
"Now I must tell you, Grim, my dog," said Torarin, "that I haveheard great news today. They told me both at Kungshall and atKareby that the sea was frozen. Fair, calm weather it has beenthis long while, as you well know, who have been out in it everyday; and they say the sea is frozen fast not only in the creeksand sounds, but far out over the Cattegat. There is no fairway nowfor ship or boat among the islands, nothing but firm, hard ice, sothat a man may drive with horse and sledge as far as Marstrand andPaternoster 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 turningaside at the next crossways and going westward where the sea lies?We shall pass by Solberga church and down to Odsmalskil, and afterthat I think we have but seven or eight miles to Marstrand. Itwould be a fine thing if we could reach home for once withoutcalling for boat or ferry."
They drove on over the long moor of Kareby, and although theweather had been calm all day, a chill breeze came sweeping acrossthe moor, to the discomfort of the traveller.
"It may seem like softness to go home now when trade is at itsbest," said Torarin, flinging out his arms to warm them. "But wehave been on the road for many weeks, you and I, and