spector 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 Lulea, 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 of their good old Mother Svea."

CHAPTER III

ON BOARD THE "NORTH STAR"

It was a sunny morning in late June. The waters of the Saltsjoe rippled
and sparkled around the islands of Stockholm, and little steamers puffed
briskly about in the harbor. The tide had turned, and the fresh water of
the lake, mingled with the salt water of the fjord, was swirling and
eddying under the bridges and beating against the stone quays; for Lake
Maelar is only eighteen inches higher than the Salt Sea, and while the
incoming tide brings salt water up the river from the ocean, the outgoing
tide carries fresh water down from the lake.

Just as the great clock in the church tower began chiming the hour of
nine, a group of children gathered on the granite pier opposite the
King's Palace.

A busy scene greeted their eyes. Vessels were being loaded and unloaded,
passengers were arriving, men were hurrying to and fro, and boys selling
newspapers were rushing about in the crowd.

"Do you see the _North Star_?" Sigrid asked the others. "That is the name
of the boat they are going to take."

"There it is!" cried Oscar; "and there are Gerda and Birger on the deck."
With a merry shout of greeting he ran on board the steam launch, followed
by all the other girls and boys.

"Oh, Gerda, how I wish I were going with you," said Hilma wistfully. "I
should love to cross the Arctic Circle and see the sun shining all night
long."

Gerda,