Trafika Europe 1 - Northern Idyll

said to be even better at stopping diarrhea. The problem was, they had no dried mutton. Out in the storehouse were several dried fish, and also a barrel of salted whale meat. Martimann had been the anchorman in the Geil house even since he and Betta had married. Many summers he had sailed with the Scottish sloop Glen Rose , and much of that income went to renovating the dilapidated house. He put new pieces of bark on the roof and asked Ludda-Kristjan to build a double window, which he himself installed. The house was set on stony ground, and Martimann built a chimney in the northwest corner. He placed stones on a small piece of ground in front of the chimney, and that is where he set the stove. The smoking parlor was converted into a kitchen, and all the sunlight that streamed in through the new window quite literally heralded brighter days. The floor was finished, and the plan was to build a kitchen table where Betta could sort clothes and attend to other household tasks. Martimann was a driven soul, and during the years he lived in the Geil house, there was no dearth. By New Year’s, however, there was not much money left and Old Tóvó could hardly go to country surgeon Regenburg or Dr. Napoleon empty-handed and ask them to come and see to Martimann.

Nonetheless, Old Tóvó spoke to Napoleon, and the doctor told him that dedicated care was about the best they could

71