Weird Tales from Northern Seas Read online

  TUG OF WAR

  For the last two or three days the weather had been terrific; but on thethird day it so far cleared up that one of the men who belonged to thefishing station thought that they might manage to drag the nets a bitthat day. The others, however, were not inclined to venture out. Now itis the custom for the various crews to lend each other a hand in pushingoff the boats, and so it happened now. When, however, they came to the_Femboering_, which was drawn up a good distance ashore, they found theoars and the thwarts turned upside down in the boat, and, more thanthat, despite all their exertions, it was impossible to move the boatfrom the spot. They tried once, twice, thrice; but it was of no use. Butthen one of them, who was known to have second sight, said that, fromwhat he saw, it would be best not to touch the boat at all that day; itwas too heavy for the might of man to move. One of the crew, however,who belonged to the fishing-station (he was a smart lad of fourteen),was amusing them all the time with all manner of pranks and tomfoolery.He now caught up a heavy stone, and pitched it with all his might rightinto the stern of the boat. Then, suddenly and plainly visible to themall, out of the boat rushed a Draug in seaman's clothes, but with aheavy crop of seaweed instead of a head. It had been weighing down theboat by sitting in the stern, and now dashed into the sea, so that thefoam spirted all over them. After that the _Femboering_ glided quitesmoothly into the water. Then the man with second sight looked at theboy, and said that he should not have done so. But the lad went onlaughing as before, and said he didn't believe in such stuff. When theyhad come home in the evening, and the folks lay sleeping in thefishing-station, they heard, about twelve o'clock at night, the ladyelling for help; it even seemed to one of them, by the light of thetrain-oil lamp, as if a heavy hand were stretching forward from the doorright up to the bench on which the lad lay. The lad, yelling andstruggling, had already been dragged as far as the door before theothers had so far come to their senses as to think of grasping him roundthe body to prevent him from being dragged right out. And now, in middoorway, a hard fight began, the Draug dragging him by the legs, whilethe whole crew tugged against him with the boy's arms and upper limbs.Thus, amidst yelling and groaning, they swayed to and fro all throughthe midnight hour, backwards and forwards, in the half-open door; andnow the Draug, and now the men, had the most of the boy on their side ofthe doorway. All at once the Draug let go, so that the whole crew fellhiggledy-piggledy backwards on to the floor. Then they found that theboy was dead; it was only then that the Draug had let him go.

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  "THE EARTH DRAWS"

  "THE EARTH DRAWS."]