The Icelandic connection - 01.09.2010, Page 20

70
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
Vol. 63 #2
pul out the light and return to the ware-
house, the door was flung open, roughly
at that. The same man who had come the
night before walked in.
“What is the matter now?” I asked
“are you hungry or what?’
“Oh no,” he said. “I am not hungry
now. I met some good people near here
today. They gave me food and drink with-
out being asked. The guard at the hotel by
the ocean offered me this when I went
there this evening.” He showed me a
small bottle he took out of his jacket
pocket.
“See! This is French cognac of the
best kind. But I never drink alcohol. For
that reason, 1 ask you to take the bottle.
You need some refreshment. You can sip
this alcohol little by little when you are
getting sleepy.” He offered me the bottle.
“No thank you,” I said. “It is the same
with me as with you. I never drink alco-
hol.”
“That is very extraordinary,” he said.
“I can tell you more,” I said. “Even if
I desperately desired alcohol and had a
quart bottle full of the best cognac, for
good reason I would not drink one single
drop of it tonight.”
“That is strange,” said the visitor.
I looked at my watch. “Now I must
go-”
I put out the light and walked out.
The visitor followed me with the bottle in
his hand.
“You sure are in a hurry,” he said.
“Good night!” I said, as I locked the
cabin door and started off in the direction
of the warehouse. But the visitor
remained behind by the cabin door.
He called to me. “How long till morn-
ing?”
“The clock will soon be one minute
after midnight,” I replied.
He said something, but I didn’t hear
what it was. I was quite relieved to get
away from him.
I did not go home the following night
so I wouldn’t have a visit from the wan-
derer. I brought two slices of bread and
tea in a glass to work. At two in the
morning, I had to go into the most easter-
ly warehouse, to open certain windows
there and lock some others. When I was
opening the side doors of the warehouse I
became aware of a large man standing not
far from me. Though it was quite dark
outside, I immediately saw that it was the
same man who had come to my cabin on
two previous nights. I couldn’t shake the
feeling of dread, thinking maybe that this
man was altogether different, or worse,
than a usual vagabond.
“Who is there?” I asked.
“Your friend,” was the answer. The
man came quickly up to the warehouse
door that I had half opened.
“Up to here and no closer,” I said.
“What do you want?”
“I want to pass what time is left of the
night, to talk with you and shorten the
time. In that way 1 can repay you for the
hospitality and friendship you have
shown me—a lonely landsend man.”
“But you will have to leave here at
once,” I said in a commanding tone. “I
have to go inside the warehouse and will
be there till morning.”
“I will go in with you, whether you
like it or not,” he said.
“1 say that you will not under any cir-
cumstance go into the warehouse!”
“You cannot keep me from coming
in,” he said. “I am bigger and stronger
than you.”
While he was saying this, he grabbed
me with quite a strong grip and tried to
push me away from the door which was
still half open. I resisted, though I expect-
ed it would be of no use. I quickly real-
ized that he was strong as a giant while I
was light as a feather. As soon as he
swung me away from the door of the
warehouse, 1 unintentionally put my foot
in his way. It happened that he fell and
lost his grip on me at the same time. He