f ice and
snow he could see no bright nor beautiful thing. Great black cliffs stood
like sentinels along the coast, dark clouds hung over the hills, and cold
winds swept through the valleys.

"At the foot of one of the hills stood a barren and desolate dwelling,
alone in all that dark land of winter; and as Frey gazed, a maiden came
slowly through the valley and mounted the steps to the entrance of the
house.

"Then, as she raised her arms to open the door, suddenly the sky, and
sea, and all the earth were flooded with a bright light, and Frey saw
that she was the most beautiful maiden in the whole world."

* * * * *

Kerstin looked up at her husband and spoke quickly. "That is like the
coming of our two babies," she said. "In the days of ice and snow they
brought light and gladness to our hearts. Let us call the sweet daughter
'Gerda' after the goddess of sunshine and happiness."

So the two babies were named at last. When the children of the
neighborhood heard of it, they flocked to the house with their hands full
of gifts, dancing round and round the cradle and singing a merry song
that made the rafters ring. The wheels of thin Swedish bread that hung
over the stove shook on their pole, the tall clock ticked louder than
ever, and the twins opened their blue eyes and smiled their sweetest
smile at so much happiness.

But they were not very strong babies, so Anders Ekman went off to his
work in Stockholm and left them in Dalarne with their mother and
grandmother, hoping that the good country air would make them plump and
sturdy.

Dalarne, or the Dales, is the loveliest part of all Sweden, and the Ekman
farm lay on the shore of a lake so beautiful that it is often called the
"Eye of Dalarne."

It was in the Dales that Gerda and little Birger outgrew their cradle and
their baby clothes, and became the sturdy children their father longed to
have them.

When they were seven years old their mother took them to live in
Stockholm; but with each new summer they hurried away from the city with
its schools and lessons, to spend the long vacation at the farm.

"Gerda and Birger are here!" they would cry, opening the door and running
into the living-room to find their grandmother.

"Gerda and Birger are here!" The news always ran through the neighborhood
in a twinkling, and from far and near the boys and girls flocked down the
road to bid them welcome.

"Ger-da! Ger-da!" the old clock