called. "We can see Waxholm now."

Then, as the boat slipped past the great fortress and began to thread its
way in and out among the islands in the fjord, the twins stood at the
rail, pointing out to each other a beautiful wooded island, a windmill, a
rocky ledge, a pretty summer cottage nestling among the trees, a
fisherman's hut with fishing nets hung up on poles to dry, an eagle
soaring across the blue sky, or a flock of terns flying up from the rocks
with their harsh, rattling cry.

There was a new and interesting sight every moment, and the sailors in
their blue uniforms nodded to each other with pleasure as Gerda flitted
across the deck.

"She is like a little bluebird," they said; and like a bird she chirped
and twittered, singing snatches of song, and asking a hundred questions.

"I like those old fancies that the Vikings had about the sea and the sky
and the winds," she said at last, stretching her arms wide and dancing
from end to end of the deck. "They called the sea the 'necklace of the
earth,' and the sky the 'wind-weaver.'"

"I wish I had the magic boat that Loki gave to Frey," answered Birger
lazily, lying flat on his back and looking up into the "wind-weaver."
"If I had it, I would sail over the whole long 'necklace of the earth,'
from clasp to clasp."

But Gerda was already out of hearing. She had gone to sit beside her
father and watch the course of the boat through the thousands of rocky
islands that stud the coast.