The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Selma Lagerlöf [best sales books of all time .txt] 📗

“He glanced down and saw that he was riding over a soft marsh, where there was no beaten path. The horse trotted along at a brisk pace and showed no uncertainty. Again the dean was positive that he was going in the wrong direction, and now he did not hesitate to interfere. He seized the reins and turned the horse about, guiding him back to the roadway. No sooner was he there than he turned again and made straight for the woods.

“The dean was certain that he was going wrong, but because the beast was so persistent he thought that probably he was trying to find a better road, and let him go along.

“The horse did very well, although he had no path to follow. If a precipice obstructed his way, he climbed it as nimbly as a goat, and later, when they had to descend, he bunched his hoofs and slid down the rocky inclines.

“ ‘May he only find his way home before church hour!’ thought the dean. ‘I wonder how the Delsbo folk would take it if I were not at my church on time?’

“He did not have to brood over this long, for soon he came to a place that was familiar to him. It was a little creek where he had fished the summer before. Now he saw it was as he had feared⁠—he was in the depths of the forest, and the horse was plodding along in a southeasterly direction. He seemed determined to carry the dean as far from church and rectory as he could.

“The clergyman dismounted. He could not let the horse carry him into the wilderness. He must go home. And, since the animal persisted in going in the wrong direction, he decided to walk and lead him until they came to more familiar roads. The dean wound the reins around his arm and began to walk. It was not an easy matter to tramp through the forest in a heavy fur coat; but the dean was strong and hardy and had little fear of overexertion.

“The horse, meanwhile, caused him fresh anxiety. He would not follow but planted his hoofs firmly on the ground.

“At last the dean was angry. He had never beaten that horse, nor did he wish to do so now. Instead, he threw down the reins and walked away.

“ ‘We may as well part company here, since you want to go your own way,’ he said.

“He had not taken more than two steps before the horse came after him, took a cautious grip on his coat sleeve and stopped him. The dean turned and looked the horse straight in the eyes, as if to search out why he behaved so strangely.

“Afterward the dean could not quite understand how this was possible, but it is certain that, dark as it was, he plainly saw the horse’s face and read it like that of a human being. He realized that the animal was in a terrible state of apprehension and fear. He gave his master a look that was both imploring and reproachful.

“ ‘I have served you day after day and done your bidding,’ he seemed to say. ‘Will you not follow me this one night?’

“The dean was touched by the appeal in the animal’s eyes. It was clear that the horse needed his help tonight, in one way or another. Being a man through and through, the dean promptly determined to follow him. Without further delay he sprang into the saddle. ‘Go on!’ he said. ‘I will not desert you since you want me. No one shall say of the dean in Delsbo that he refused to accompany any creature who was in trouble.’

“He let the horse go as he wished and thought only of keeping his seat. It proved to be a hazardous and troublesome journey⁠—uphill most of the way. The forest was so thick that he could not see two feet ahead, but it appeared to him that they were ascending a high mountain. The horse climbed perilous steeps. Had the dean been guiding, he should not have thought of riding over such ground.

“ ‘Surely you don’t intend to go up to Black’s Ridge, do you?’ laughed the dean, who knew that was one of the highest peaks in Hälsingland.

“During the ride he discovered that he and the horse were not the only ones who were out that night. He heard stones roll down and branches crackle, as if animals were breaking their way through the forest. He remembered that wolves were plentiful in that section and wondered if the horse wished to lead him to an encounter with wild beasts.

“They mounted up and up, and the higher they went the more scattered were the trees. At last they rode on almost bare highland, where the dean could look in every direction. He gazed out over immeasurable tracts of land, which went up and down in mountains and valleys covered with sombre forests. It was so dark that he had difficulty in seeing any orderly arrangement; but presently he could make out where he was.

“ ‘Why of course it’s Black’s Ridge that I’ve come to!’ he remarked to himself. ‘It can’t be any other mountain, for there, in the west, I see Jarv Island, and to the east the sea glitters around Ag Island. Toward the north also I see something shiny. It must be Dellen. In the depths below me I see white smoke from Nian Falls. Yes, I’m up on Black’s Ridge. What an adventure!’

“When they were at the summit the horse stopped behind a thick pine, as if to hide. The dean bent forward and pushed aside the branches, that he might have an unobstructed view.

“The mountain’s bald plate confronted him. It was not empty and desolate, as he had anticipated. In the middle of the open space was an immense boulder around which many wild beasts had gathered. Apparently they were holding a conclave of some sort.

“Near to