nd even the mendicant is kindly received. On that day the
God of mercy descended to save indiscriminately the rich and the poor,
and to teach the proud and the humble the brotherhood of the Gospel. At
this season of universal sympathy, even the animals are not forgotten,
a larger ration of grain and hay is carried to the stable, and barley is
strewn on the snow for the birds, who are then unable to glean in the
fields, and who, delighted by this unexpected provender, in their cries
seem to warble forth a Christmas hymn. In some villages the little
tomtegubbar or invisible genii, protecting the household, are yet
remembered, and vases of milk are placed on the floor for them. Other
superstitions are also joined to this religious festival. Thus in many
peasant houses, a straw-bed is made on the floor, and on it the children
and servants sleep during the night. On the next day, this bed is taken
to the court-yard, or barn, and it is thought to preserve the fowls from
birds of prey, and the cattle from disease. This straw is also strewn on
the fields around fruit trees, which it is thought to make healthy. At
evening, two torches are lit to burn all night; if one of them becomes
extinguished or is burned out before day, it is a sign of trouble, that
during the course of the year there will be a death in the house. All
fancy that in Christmas a revelation of the future is found. To read this
prophecy however, it is necessary to rise before dawn, to go fasting and
in silence into the wood, without speaking or looking around. If too at
sunrise, the church is reached before the crowing of the cock, the
coffins of those who will die during the year will be seen, and by
turning the head around, it may be learned if the harvest will be good or
bad, or whether there will be a conflagration in the village.

While Ebba was describing these usages and superstitions of Sweden, the
sleighs passed rapidly along the snow plains, which had been previously
leveled by other vehicles. The spire of the church in which the father
of Eric for thirty years had officiated as PROST with honor and dignity
was seen. About fifty houses were arranged in a circle around the ascent
of a hill. There was one among them of comparatively large dimensions, of
two stories, and built of stone, a rare thing in Sweden, whose country
houses usually have but one story and an attic, and are built of wood.
One side of this house adjoined a large and beautiful church, a