t on a new pair of woollen socks. I
surrounded my feet with the Lapp grass, and wore my short boots.

While turning over in my mind the mishaps that might come to me on this
southward journey, I fancied the same friendly voices I had heard before
from across the Atlantic called to me: "Hurry on, Friend Paul! Hurry on!
for there is danger in delay; and when your journey is finished come
back to us at once."

"I will hurry on," I replied aloud. "Do not be afraid. I will return at
once to our dear United States." After this I was more impatient to
leave than before. I waited anxiously for the reindeer to arrive.

Henceforth I shall wear only one fur garment, instead of two as I did
during my journey northward, for the weather is getting warmer every
day. After I was dressed completely I looked affectionately at my little
sleigh, for I remembered the many hundreds of miles we had travelled
together, what fun I had had, and how hard it was at first to learn to
drive reindeer and to keep inside the sleigh, and all the sudden
upsettings I had.

Then I looked at my skees, and said: "Dear skees, we are again to tramp
over the snow together. I wish I could leap over chasms with you, as the
Lapps do. I cannot do that; but we will walk on the snow, and go down
hill riding a stick. This will be great fun for me anyhow."

Then I turned to the bags, and I said: "Dear bags, I have often thought
of you and how comfortable I was with you." I remembered how cosy I was
when I slept in them on the snow. I did not mind how hard the wind blew;
the harder it blew the more comfortable I felt inside of them. Near by
them was the big brown bearskin, which was safely fastened over me in
the sleigh. I said: "Dear bearskin, I think a great deal of you also,
for you have been my friend and have kept my legs so warm when I was
driving."

The next morning to my great joy the reindeer came,--one for me, one for
my guide, and a spare one; but how differently they looked compared with
those I had in the winter. They were thin, and were changing their
coats. I did not wonder that the poor reindeer did not look frisky--they
had had to work so hard for their living, digging the snow to reach the
moss during the whole of the winter.

I looked at the guide the kind Sea Lapps had provided for me. He was the
man who had come with the reindeer. His name was Mikel. He was a nomadic
Lapp, but had come to visit his sister, who had married a Sea Lapp. He
was