"We hope you will enjoy wearing the caps and aprons as much as we have
enjoyed making them; and if you have a brother, please give him the watch
and the leather watch-chain. It is a gift from Oscar.

"The rainbow skirt is one which Gerda wore last summer. She has outgrown
it now, and will have to have a new one next year. She hopes it is not
too small for you.

"If you want to know what Stockholm is like, you must think of islands
and bridges, because the city is built on eight islands, and they are all
connected by bridges with each other and with the mainland. In summer,
little steamers go around the city, in and out among the islands; but in
winter the lake and all the bays are frozen over, and there is good
skating everywhere.

"Then you should see the twelve girls and boys who are writing this
letter, holding fast to one another in a long line, and skimming across
Djurgården bay or skating around Stadenholm, where the King's Palace
stands.

"Sometime, if you will come to visit us in Stockholm, we will have you
join the line and skate with us under the bridges, and up and down the
waterways; and we will show you what good times we can have in the city."

* * * * *

"So we did write a letter after all," sighed Birger, as Fru Ekman
finished reading. "Now we must sign our names;" and after much discussion
and laughter the twelve names appeared on the paper, written in a circle