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They had a superb view of the jagged
glacier of Jedke,--black in some parts, and in others white with
unmelted snow,--and seeming, as it rose straight up against the sky, to
be the majestic monument of some giant Viking. Presently, at her earnest
request, Errington brought his portfolio of Norwegian sketches for
Thelma to look at; most of them were excellently well done, and elicited
much admiration from the _bonde_.
"It is what I have wondered at all my life," said he, "that skill of the
brush dipped in color. Pictures surprise me as much as poems. Ah, men
are marvellous creatures, when they are once brought to understand that
they _are_ men,--not beasts! One will take a few words and harmonize
them into a song or a verse that clings to the world for ever; another
will mix a few paints and dab a brush in them, and give you a picture
that generation after generation shall flock to see. It is what is
called genius,--and genius is a sort of miracle. Yet I think it is
fostered by climate a good deal,--the further north, the less
inspiration.


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