Gerda in Sweden | Page 5

box for a surprise.
"We go to school and have to study very hard; but we find a little time
for play every day. Sometimes we go to the park, but when it storms we
are glad to stay in the house and work at sewing or sloyd. So, ever
since Yule-tide, we have been making little gifts for you,--the girls with
their needles, the boys with their saws and knives.
"We hope you will enjoy wearing the caps and aprons as much as we
have enjoyed making them; and if you have a brother, please give him
the watch and the leather watch-chain. It is a 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
Djurgården 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