Gerda in Sweden

Gerda in Sweden, by Etta
Blaisdell McDonald

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gerda in Sweden, by Etta Blaisdell
McDonald This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Gerda in Sweden
Author: Etta Blaisdell McDonald
Release Date: October 15, 2004 [EBook #13758]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERDA IN
SWEDEN ***

Produced by Curtis Weyant and the PG Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.

LITTLE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE
GERDA IN SWEDEN

BY ETTA BLAISDELL McDONALD AND JULIA DALRYMPLE
Authors of "Kathleen in Ireland," "Manuel in Mexico," "Umé San in
Japan," "Rafael in Italy," "Fritz in Germany," "Boris in Russia," "Betty
in Canada," etc.
1910

PREFACE
The Swedish people are a hospitable, peace-loving race, kindly and
industrious, making the most of their resources. In the south of Sweden
are broad farming-lands with well-tilled fields and comfortable red
farmhouses; in the central portion are hills and dales, rich in mines of
copper and iron which have been famous for hundreds of years. In the
cities and towns are factories where thousands of workers are employed,
making all sorts of useful articles, from matches to steam-engines. The
rivers which flow down to the sea from the western chain of mountains
carry millions of logs from the great dark forests. As soon as the ice
breaks up in the spring, whole fleets of fishing boats and lumber
vessels sail up and down the coast; sawmills whirr and buzz all day
long; the hum of labor is heard all over the land.
In this Northland the winter days are short and cold; but there are the
long sunny summer days, when even in the south of Sweden midnight
is nothing but a soft twilight, and in the north the sun shines for a whole
month without once dipping below the horizon. This is a glorious time
for both young and old. The people live out-of-doors day and night,
going to the parks and gardens, rowing and sailing and swimming,
singing and dancing on the village green, celebrating the midsummer
festival with feasting and merry-making,--for once more the sun rides
high in the heavens, and Baldur, the sun god, has conquered the frost
giants.
Just such a happy, useful life is found in this little story. Gerda and her
twin brother take a trip northward across the Baltic Sea with their father,

who is an inspector of lighthouses. On their way they meet Karen, a
little lame girl. After going farther north, into Lapland, where they see
the sun shining at midnight, and spend a day with a family of Lapps
and their reindeer, Gerda takes Karen home to Stockholm with her so
that the child may have the benefit of the famous Swedish gymnastics
for her lameness. Then such good times as the three children have
together! They go to the winter carnival to see the skating and skiing;
they celebrate Yule-tide with all the good old Swedish customs; and
there is a birthday party for the twins, when Karen also receives a
gift,--the very best gift of all.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
GERDA AND BIRGER
II. THE SURPRISE BOX
III. ON BOARD THE "NORTH STAR"
IV. GERDA'S NEW FRIEND
V. CROSSING THE POLCIRKEL
VI. THE MIDNIGHT SUN
VII. ERIK'S HOME IN LAPLAND
VIII. FOUR-FOOTED FRIENDS
IX. KAREN'S BROTHER
X. A DAY IN SKANSEN

XI. THROUGH THE LOCKS
XII. A WINTER CARNIVAL
XIII. YULE-TIDE JOYS
XIV. SPURS AND A CROWN
XV. THE MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL

GERDA IN SWEDEN
CHAPTER I
GERDA AND BIRGER
If any one had stopped to think of it, the ticking of the tall clock that
stood against the wall sounded like "Ger-da! Ger-da!"
But no one did stop to think of it. Everyone was far too busy to think
about the clock and what it was saying, for over in the corner beside the
tall stove stood a wooden cradle, and in the cradle were two tiny babies.
There they lay, side by side, in the same blue-painted cradle that had
rocked the Ekman babies for over two hundred years; and one looked
so exactly like the other that even dear Grandmother Ekman could not
tell them apart.
But the mother, who rocked them so gently and watched them so
tenderly, touched one soft cheek and then another, saying proudly,
"This is our son, and this is our daughter," even when both pairs of blue
eyes were tightly closed, and both little chins were tucked under the
warm blanket.
There is always great rejoicing over the coming of new babies in any
family; but there was twice as much