Gerda in Sweden | Page 5

gift from Oscar.
"The rainbow skirt is one which Gerda wore last summer. She has outgrown it now, and will have to have a new one next year. She hopes it is not too small for you.
"If you want to know what Stockholm is like, you must think of islands and bridges, because the city is built on eight islands, and they are all connected by bridges with each other and with the mainland. In summer, little steamers go around the city, in and out among the islands; but in winter the lake and all the bays are frozen over, and there is good skating everywhere.
"Then you should see the twelve girls and boys who are writing this letter, holding fast to one another in a long line, and skimming across Djurg?rden bay or skating around Stadenholm, where the King's Palace stands.
"Sometime, if you will come to visit us in Stockholm, we will have you join the line and skate with us under the bridges, and up and down the waterways; and we will show you what good times we can have in the city."
* * * * *
"So we did write a letter after all," sighed Birger, as Fru Ekman finished reading. "Now we must sign our names;" and after much discussion and laughter the twelve names appeared on the paper, written in a circle without any beginning or end,--Sigrid's and Hilma's and Oscar's and Gerda's and all.
"Put it in the box and we'll nail on the cover," cried Oscar, picking up the hammer and pounding as if he were driving a dozen nails at once.
"Can't a poor man read his newspaper in peace, without being disturbed by all this noise?" called Herr Ekman from the next room; but when he appeared in the doorway the merry twinkle in his eyes showed that he cared little about the noise and was glad to see the children having a good time.
"I'd like to be going north with this box," said Magnus, as he took some nails and began nailing on the cover.
"Father goes every summer to inspect the lighthouses along the coast," said Birger, "and he has promised to take me with him sometime."
"And me, too," added Gerda; "he wouldn't take you without me."
"Is it very different in the far North?" asked Oscar.
"Yes," replied Herr Ekman, "the winter is long and cold and dark; there are severe storms, and deep snow covers the ground; but the boys and girls find plenty to do, and seem to be just as happy as you are," and he pinched Oscar's ear as he spoke.
"I don't see how they can be happy in the winter when it is dark all night and almost all day," said Olaf.
Herr Ekman laughed. "Do you think they should go into a den, like the bears, and sleep through the winter?" he asked.
"But think of the summer, when it is light all day and all night, too," said Sigrid. "Then they have fun enough to make up for the winter."
"I never could understand about our long nights in winter and our long days in summer," spoke Hilma Berling.
"It is because we live so near the North Pole," Oscar told her. "Now that Commander Peary of the United States of America has really discovered the North Pole, perhaps the geographies will make it easier to understand how the sun juggles with the poles and circles.
"I am sorry that it has been discovered," he added. "I always meant to do it myself, when I got old enough to discover anything."
"If I could stand on the top of Mount Dundret and see the sun shining at midnight, I am sure I could understand about it without any geography," Gerda declared.
"If you should go north with Herr Lighthouse-Inspector Ekman this summer, you might meet the little girl who receives this box," said Sigrid.
"I should know her the minute I saw her," Gerda said decidedly.
"How would you know her?" questioned Birger. "You don't even know her name or where she lives. Father is going to give the box to the lighthouse-master at Lule?, and he will decide where to send it."
"Oh, there are ways!" replied Gerda. "And besides, she would have on my rainbow skirt."
That night, after the children had trooped down the stairs and away to their homes, and after Gerda and Birger had said good-night and gone to their beds, the father and mother sat by the table, talking over plans for the summer.
"I suppose we shall start for Dalarne the day after school closes," suggested Fru Ekman.
"No," answered her husband, "I have been thinking that the children are old enough now to travel a little; and I have decided to take them with me when I go north this summer. They ought to know more about the forests, and rivers, and shores