Komag-Nils could also tell a great deal about people with second sight and their visions of things, sometimes in the spirit world, sometimes in actual life, of which they either feel a warning, or—­as if in a kind of atmospheric reflection before their mental vision—­can see what is happening at that very moment in far distant places.  They may be sitting in merry company, and all at once, becoming pale and disturbed, they gaze absently before them into space.  They see all kinds of things, and sometimes an exclamation escapes them, such as:  “A fire has broken out in Merchant N.N.’s buildings in ——­vaagen”! or “Trondhjem is burning now”!  Sometimes they see a long funeral procession passing, with such distinctness that they can describe the place and appearance of every man in it, the coffin and the streets through which the procession wends its way.  They will say:  “A great man is being buried down in Kristiania”; and when the news comes, it always corresponds with their statement.  It may happen, at sea, that such a man will say to the captain that he will do well to go out of his course for a little while; and he is always obeyed, for the crew are quite sure that he beholds in front of the ship what none of them perceive, perhaps a goblin in his half-boat, or a spectre, or something else that brings misfortune.

One of Komag-Nils’ many stories of this kind had happened to an acquaintance of his during the winter fishing.  The weather had been very stormy for two days, but on the third had so far lulled that one of the boats’ crews that had been lodging in the fishing hut, thought that it would be quite possible to draw their nets.  But the rest did not care to venture.  Now it is a custom that the different boats’ crews shall give each other a hand in launching the boats, and this was now to be done.  When they came down to the ten-oared boat, which was drawn a good way up the beach, they found both oars and thwarts reversed, and, in addition to this, it was impossible, even with their united efforts, to move it.  They tried once, twice, three times without avail.  And then one of them, who was known to have second sight, said that from what he saw, it was better that they should not touch the boat that day:  it was too heavy for human power.  In one of the crews that put up in the fishing-hut there was a lively boy of fourteen, who entertained them the whole time with tricks of all kinds, and was never quiet.  He took up a huge stone and threw it with all his might into the stern of the boat.  Instantly there rushed out, visible to every one, a gnome in seaman’s dress with a great bunch of sea-weed for a head.  It had been sitting at the stern weighing down the boat, and now rushed out into the sea, dashing the water up in spray round it as it went.  After that the boat went smoothly into the water.  The man with the second sight looked at the boy, and said he ought not to have done as he had; but the boy only laughed and said that he did not believe in goblins or spirits.