Project Gutenberg's Our Little Finnish Cousin, by Clara Vostrovsky Winlow
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Title: Our Little Finnish Cousin
Author: Clara Vostrovsky Winlow
Illustrator: Harriet O'Brien
Release Date: August 9, 2013 [EBook #43426]
Language: English
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Our Little Finnish Cousin
THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES
(TRADE MARK)
_Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, each_ $1.10
By LAURA E. RICHARDS, ANNA C. WINLOW, Etc.
=Our Little African Cousin=
=Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
=Our Little Arabian Cousin=
=Our Little Argentine Cousin=
=Our Little Armenian Cousin=
=Our Little Australian Cousin=
=Our Little Austrian Cousin=
=Our Little Belgian Cousin=
=Our Little Bohemian Cousin=
=Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
=Our Little Bulgarian Cousin=
=Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Great Northwest=
=Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Maritime Provinces=
=Our Little Chilean Cousin=
=Our Little Chinese Cousin=
=Our Little Cossack Cousin=
=Our Little Cuban Cousin=
=Our Little Czecho-Slovak Cousin=
=Our Little Danish Cousin=
=Our Little Dutch Cousin=
=Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
=Our Little English Cousin=
=Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
=Our Little Finnish Cousin=
=Our Little French Cousin=
=Our Little German Cousin=
=Our Little Grecian Cousin=
=Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
=Our Little Hindu Cousin=
=Our Little Hungarian Cousin=
=Our Little Indian Cousin=
=Our Little Irish Cousin=
=Our Little Italian Cousin=
=Our Little Japanese Cousin=
=Our Little Jewish Cousin=
=Our Little Jugoslav Cousin=
=Our Little Korean Cousin=
=Our Little Lapp Cousin=
=Our Little Lithuanian Cousin=
=Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin=
=Our Little Mexican Cousin=
=Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
=Our Little Panama Cousin=
=Our Little Persian Cousin=
=Our Little Philippine Cousin=
=Our Little Polish Cousin=
=Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
=Our Little Portuguese Cousin=
=Our Little Quebec Cousin=
=Our Little Roumanian Cousin=
=Our Little Russian Cousin=
=Our Little Scotch Cousin=
=Our Little Servian Cousin=
=Our Little Siamese Cousin=
=Our Little South African (Boer) Cousin=
=Our Little Spanish Cousin=
=Our Little Swedish Cousin=
=Our Little Swiss Cousin=
=Our Little Turkish Cousin=
=Our Little Welsh Cousin=
=Our Little West Indian Cousin=
THE LITTLE COUSINS OF LONG AGO
=Our Little Athenian Cousin=
=Our Little Carthaginian Cousin=
=Our Little Celtic Cousin=
=Our Little Crusader Cousin=
=Our Little Feudal Cousin=
=Our Little Frankish Cousin=
=Our Little Florentine Cousin=
=Our Little Macedonian Cousin=
=Our Little Norman Cousin=
=Our Little Roman Cousin=
=Our Little Saxon Cousin=
=Our Little Spartan Cousin=
=Our Little Viking Cousin=
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (Inc.)
53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass.
[Illustration: "THE REINDEER SUDDENLY SWERVED IN SUCH A WAY THAT JUHANI
WAS PITCHED OUT." (_See page 40_)]
Our Little
Finnish Cousin
By
Clara Vostrovsky Winlow
_Author of_
"Our Little Roumanian Cousin," "Our Little
Bohemian Cousin," "Our Little
Bulgarian Cousin."
_Illustrated by_
Harriet O'Brien
[Illustration]
Boston
The Page Company
PUBLISHERS
_Copyright, 1918_
BY THE PAGE COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
First Impression, April, 1918
Second Impression, July, 1919
Third Impression, January, 1930
PREFACE
FINLAND is one of the little countries in whose struggles for greater
freedom the world is interested to-day. It is situated on the northeast
shore of the Baltic Sea, and is bounded by Russia, Norway and Sweden,
the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. A maze of rocks and small,
pine-covered islands form a ring around the coast. The art of navigating
between these requires much skill and long apprenticeship, so that it is
no wonder that Finland, among other things, is noted for her pilots.
"Forest, rock, and water" is the way in which one writer describes
Finland. This little country, known all over the world for its
progressive ideas, is thinly inhabited, having only one city, the
capital Helsingfors, of any size. Over eighty-six per cent. of the
people are Finnish, twelve per cent. Swedish, and the rest Russians,
Germans, and Lapps.
Little is known of Finnish history before the twelfth century, when King
Eric of Sweden invaded the land to Christianize the inhabitants. Swedish
settlements followed and Finland became a province of Sweden. It
remained that for six hundred years, during which time there were
constant conflicts between the Russians and Swedes for the possession of
Finnish ports.
While Sweden was engaged with Napoleon, the Finns, tired of the
ceaseless disorder, agreed to union with Russia on condition that they
be assured a certain independence. This was conceded, Alexander I, then
Tzar of Russia, taking oath as Grand Duke of Finland and promising to
observe the religion of the country and all the privileges and rights
which it had so far enjoyed. This oath was kept more scrupulously than
by the last two Swedish monarchs, and cordial relations were established
between Russia and Finland. The Finnish people began to take a more
prominent part in their own affairs, for up to that time the Swedes had
had the upper hand everywhere. Alexander boasted with some truth that he
had created a nation.
In 1863 Tzar Alexander II gave a Representative Constitution to Finland.
In 1899, the present deposed Russian ruler, Nicholas II, was ill-advised
enough to issue a manifesto suspending the Finnish Constitution.
Unheeded protests followed, and up to 1904 there is an unenviable record
of oppression and suppression on the part of Russia.
In November, 1906, however, the Tzar was compelled to make the
concessions that the nation demanded.
During the present world conflict the Finns have proclaimed in their
Parliament their right to absolute independence, and their claim is
sanctioned by the greatest of the European nations, which recognize the
Republic of Finland.
C. V. W.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE v
I A FARM HOME 1
II SUNDAY 16
III THE END OF AUTUMN 23
IV LAPLANDERS 38
V SCHOOL 51
VI THE DECEMBER VACATION 67
VII CHRISTMAS WEEK 76
VIII SUMMER TIME 91
List of Illustrations
PAGE
"THE REINDEER SUDDENLY SWERVED IN SUCH A WAY THAT JUHANI
WAS PITCHED OUT" (_See page 40_) _Frontispiece_
"THINGS TASTED SO GOOD OUT OF DOORS" 18
"JUHANI WAS LISTENING TO THE MOST MARVELOUS TALES" 45
"WAVING HIS ARMS TO KEEP HIS BALANCE, JUMPED FAR FORWARD" 62
"SHE CARRIED OUT A BASKET FILLED WITH CRUMBS AND GRAIN" 76
"WOUND COLORED YARN AROUND THE RYE STALKS" 95
Our Little Finnish Cousin
CHAPTER I
A FARM HOME
IT was early autumn in the Finland forest by the lake. Gold glistened
from the underbrush, from the great beds of bracken, from the shining
birches, from the paler aspens, and even from the prized rowans and
juniper trees.
On one side where the forest grew thinner, there was a glimpse of marshy
land where big whortleberries grew in profusion. Around this marshy spot
a tiny path led to a succession of fields in some of which were grazing
cattle, in some, queer tall haystacks, and in two smaller ones, grain
still uncut.
Two children--a boy and a girl--made their way from the forest toward
the lake, their hands tightly clasping birchen baskets filled with
berries that they had succeeded in gathering. Reaching the shore, they
silently took their places in a small boat moored under a clump of
trees. Each seized an oar, and began to row with experienced measured
strokes to the other side.
Both unsmiling faces had the same candid capable air, but that was the
only resemblance. Ten-year-old Juhani was like his father who belonged
to the Tavastian type of Finn. He was pale, with high cheek bones, thin
hair, and a strong chin that seemed to say: "I won't give in! I won't
give in!" He might have been taken for sulky until you met the look of
sincere inquiry under his well-formed brows.
Six-year Maja was fairer. She was brown-eyed and brown-haired, like her
Karelian mother who belonged to the other decided type of Finn. Despite
the silent gentleness of her face, she looked as if, on occasion, she
could be high spirited and even gay.
A little crowd was gathered at the landing stage to which they crossed,
and more persons came hurrying up as a blast was heard from a steamer
still some distance away on the lake. There were other children like
themselves with baskets of birch, and women with cakes and cookies and
farm produce for sale. Some of these were busily knitting while they
waited to offer their wares. Most prominent among all thus gathered was
a rather short, sturdy girl, who seemed entirely indifferent to the fact
that the kerchief tied around her head was not at all becoming. This was
Hilja, who, although only eighteen, already held the important position
of pier-master.
At last, amid much commotion, the steamer came up. The passengers
stepped ashore and bought many of the good things offered. But even
when all were sold there was no sign of the steamer's departure. The big
stacks of wood piled on the wharf, that were to serve the steamer for
fuel, had first to be carried aboard. For this there was help in plenty.
Men, women, and children were eager to have their services accepted. A
couple of foreigners grew restless at the delay, but no one else
betrayed any impatience, having been brought up, no doubt, on the
Finnish proverb, "God did not create hurry."
The pier-master shouted something when it was all in, and the steamer,
with many toots, departed. The people scattered until only Juhani and
Maja remained to watch a heavily laden timber barge go slowly by on its
way to the coast. Before it passed Juhani had nudged Maja to show her
the pennies he had earned by carrying wood. With the slightest possible
twinkle of mischief, Maja at first kept her own fist tightly closed.
"Oh, show what you have!" Juhani exclaimed somewhat contemptuously, at
which Maja opened her hand and showed twice as many pennies that her
sweet face, as well as the nice berries, had brought her.
Juhani showed his surprise by staring and staring until Maja closed her
hand again, explaining half in apology, "It was from the foreigners,"
and led the way to their boat.
Again they rowed silently over, anchored their boat in a little cove,
and then walked rapidly across the fields. Maja began to hum a folk
song, to which Juhani soon whistled a tune while he kept one hand on a
sheathed knife, called a _pukko_, hanging from the belt around his
waist. It was no wonder he was conscious and proud that it hung there.
When his father had given it to him a few days before, he had said, "You
are beginning to do man's work, Juhani, and so I think that you deserve
a man's knife." Nor was it a cheap knife. Its leather sheath was tipped
with brass and very prettily ornamented with a colored pattern.
Both children were barefoot and both walked with equal unconcern over
stubble and sharp stones. At the edge of the last field Maja glanced
inquiringly at her brother and then broke into a run. Juhani did not
follow her example at first, but, when he did, he easily overtook her
near a square farmhouse painted a bright red, but with doors and windows
outlined in white. Against this house, reaching from the ground to the
black painted roof, was a ladder to be used in case of fire. Up this
Juhani ran, waving his hand to his sister when at the top.
Near this house were three storehouses, one for food, one for clothes
and one for implements. Further away were cow houses, and a stable, the
loft of which was used for storing food in winter, and as a bedroom for
the maid servants in summer. There was also a small pig sty built of
granite, a stone of which Finland has so much that it has been said it
would be possible to rebuild all of London with it and still leave the
supply apparently undiminished. Neat, strong fences of slanting wood
enclosed these buildings.
Off by itself was an outbuilding more important in a way than any of
these, the bath-house, which in Finland is never missing.
An older girl of about fourteen with a blue kerchief on her head was
drawing water from a well near the kitchen door. As she emptied the
bucket made of a pine trunk and attached to a long pole weighted at the
end, she called to Juhani, who had just jumped from the ladder: "Hurry!
The pastor has come to stay till we go to church to-morrow and he wants
to ask you some Bible questions."
Without waiting for her, Juhani followed Maja, who had already entered
the kitchen bright with shining copper, stopping first, however, to wipe
his feet on a mat made of pine branches laid one above another.
This kitchen led directly into a pleasant living-room, with a tall china
tiled stove, some chairs, a big sofa, a table, and a carved cupboard.
Here were several odd beds too, that did not look like beds at all. They
were beds shut up for the day. At night they would be pulled open. A
small loom stood in one corner. Strips of home-made carpet were laid on
the yellow painted floor.
On one wall hung a picture which had lately had a peculiar fascination
for Maja. It represented Katrine Mansdottir, a beautiful peasant woman
with a sad romantic history. She lived when Finland was under Swedish
rule. King Eric the Fourteenth had been captivated by her winsomeness
when he first saw her selling fruit on the street. He had her taken to
his castle and educated her like a princess. When she was old enough he
married her, much to the dissatisfaction of his conservative courtiers.
Later the King was deposed and cast into prison. Here his wife showed
her gratitude for all that he had done for her, sharing his imprisonment
and ministering to him until his death. Then she renounced her crown and
retired to live among the loyal Finns who loved her for the friendship
that she had always shown them.
On the most comfortable chair in the room sat the pastor, a man who
looked so serious that one wondered if he ever smiled. No one who knew
his duties and responsibilities could wonder at this. Among them were
visiting the widely scattered members of his parish, comforting them in
sorrow and distress, helping them with advice when needed. Just outside
the nearest village, on the other side of the lake, he had a little
patch of land of his own which he cultivated when he could, to help out
his slender salary.
The children greeted the pastor like an old friend, and seating
themselves sedately on chairs opposite him stiffened up in anticipation
of the questions that he would ask them.
Around four o'clock everything in the room became evening colored, and
the mother came in and invited all into the kitchen for dinner. There
was an abundance of simple food,--salt fish, meat and potatoes, hard rye
bread, mead and coffee, of which latter even little Maja drank her
share.
The first part of the meal made one think of a Quaker meeting, it was so
very quiet; but after the mead had been passed around and the coffee
poured, a sparkle came to the eyes of all, and even the pastor's face
took on a genial glow as, prompted by kind inquiries, he related some of
his recent experiences.
"You know poor old Yrjo (George)," he said, "who is now one of my
people. Well, he's trying to learn to read and write and having a hard
time doing it. You see, he never had a chance earlier in life, for he
used to live way up north on the outskirts of Lapland. He is doing all
this because--well, I guess you can guess why--. Yes, he wants to be
married, and you know how strict our law is that no pastor shall marry
men or women unless they know how to read and write. I think he'll
learn, for he's dogged. He's already built himself a shack on my grounds
not to waste time in coming and going. When I told him this morning that
he was making progress he was as delighted as a child."
Then he told of a recent visit to a big dairy farm, of the long low
buildings with ice chambers here and there. "It was a great pleasure,"
he said, "to see how neatly everything is kept. All the floors and walls
are of blue and white tile, and the windows of stained glass--a pretty
sight. I can't forget the rows of shelves with their big earthenware
vessels of rich-looking milk and cream. In one room women dressed in
white were putting up butter for export. I agree with those who think
that dairying is going to grow in importance here. It certainly seems to
pay our farmers better than farming."
"I am going to be a dairy man," said Juhani.
"And I am going to a University and be an architect," piped in little
Maja quite as decidedly.
At this the family laughed, but the pastor remarked seriously, "It's
well to make plans early. There are many women who are succeeding in
architecture, little Maja."
"Yes," remarked the mother, "and Maja has an aunt in Helsingfors who is
among the number."
As it was Saturday night the usual preparations had been made for a
family bath, and the kindly pastor who was not considered an outsider
was invited to share in it as a matter of course. Every one seemed to
look to this bath as a great pleasure. After the pastor had accepted,
Juhani, with face glowing, ran at once to show the bath whisks that he
had himself made.
"I made a lot of them in the summer," he explained, "for then the leaves
are soft."
"Go take them to the bath house and steep them in hot water," said his
father, "and see that the maids have not forgotten to strew fresh straw
on the floor."
"May I not get ready first," asked Juhani. And when his father nodded,
he slipped off his clothes and ran naked to where the bath house stood
alone not far from the lake.
The little structure was made of pine logs on a foundation of moss and
stones. The roof was thatched. Over the door the farmer had carved the
Finnish proverb: "The Church and the Sauna (Bath-house) are holy
places." Within, on one side, was a stone oven, while opposite this was
a series of wooden steps to the ceiling. These were covered with straw.
When Juhani entered, an old woman servant was already there poking at
the big fire. Now and then she threw on water so that it was quite
steamy when the other members of the family came trooping in. Juhani at
once seized Maja around the waist, all his shyness evidently left
outside, and twirled her around until she shouted for him to stop.
It grew hotter and hotter in the room and more and more steamy as the
different members climbed on the step-like platforms and beat themselves
with the birch twigs which now gave forth a pleasant fragrance.
Juhani and Maja had also mounted the steps, but every once in a while
they would jump down and try to whip each other on the back and legs.
When all had perspired enough, they took turns in sitting on a chair
and letting the old woman give each a quick massage and a wash down with
cold water. Then oh, what a race there was for the lake, into which all
plunged with shouts of laughter! Then out again and a race for home.
Maja somehow got a big start and came in a foot ahead of her brother
who, when he saw what she was after, almost tumbled over her in his
eagerness to win.
CHAPTER II
SUNDAY
PREPARATIONS for going to church next morning were soon made. Some
things that we should consider unusual were taken, including a big lunch
and a couple of hammocks. Two row boats carried the party some distance
down the lake to a much larger boat, called the Church Boat. It was
already half filled. After a short wait, other peasants arrived, greeted
their friends soberly and sat down.
The men had on somber-looking suits, with big felt hats and high boots.
The women's costumes varied, although the majority had on black
shapeless jackets with a white kerchief crossed under the chin; some,
however, had on bright bodices, embroidered aprons, and blue or crimson
kerchiefs. Most of the women carried their prayer-books wrapped in
white handkerchiefs. When all were seated, the young women, as well as
the young men, seized hold of the oars and the boat left the pier.
It was a slow journey, stops being made at a few places where people
stood waiting. It was rather solemn, too; there was no idle chatter; at
the minister's suggestion, however, hymns were sung.
The Lutheran Church, at which the party at last arrived, was a plain
building both inside and out. It was built entirely of timber and had a
separate bell tower. As the people walked in, the women all took their
places on one side, the men on the other.
The services lasted until three in the afternoon. Maja yawned and almost
put herself asleep counting the stitches in the woman's jacket in front
of her. But when it was all over and the people filed out of the
building, they seemed to leave some of their somberness there. They
gathered in groups and together departed either for a swim in the lake
or with hammocks and lunches for a picnic in the silent woods.
[Illustration: "THINGS TASTED SO GOOD OUT OF DOORS"]
Things tasted so good out of doors that Maja and Juhani smiled much at
each other, although Juhani would always put on a particularly serious
look afterwards. Then the two swung on one of the hammocks and also on a
huge swing near the Church. "Come on for a ramble with us in the woods,"
two passing children of their own age called to them. "Come," said Maja,
taking hold of Juhani's hand, and away they went over the greenish gray
mosses through the rosy and pale yellow underbrush. There were bright
red cranberries here and there with which they filled their pockets as
they discussed, not church affairs, but wood nymphs, the kind ugly
_tomtar_ or brownies, and the little gray man in the woods who has a
fiery tail.
Suddenly Maja stopped, looking so scared that all followed her example.
"What is it?" asked her brother.
"A brownie!" Maja could hardly make herself heard.
The boys laughed at her as they rushed forward and made a big brown
squirrel scamper away into the branches of a tree.
"Nevertheless I'd like to believe that there were brownies around,"
Juhani confessed when the girls had come up. "Do you know that they are
so kind that on Christmas they bring a gift to every animal that lives
near?"
The others nodded. "I'd rather see one than a wood nymph," one of them
declared. "I'd be afraid of her. My! but she must be ugly from behind if
she's really hollow there as they say. She's apt to do you harm too, if
you see her from the back."
By this time they had reached a little one-room hut evidently deserted,
for the door swung on only one hinge. Before they peeked in, Juhani,
with a curious look on his face, cautioned each to say "Good Day to all
here" on entering even if they saw no one, for a _Tomty_ might be hidden
in some corner.
It was a very old type of house. The upper half of the walls were
stained black. There was a big fire place but no chimney, the smoke
having evidently been allowed to escape through a hole in the roof.
A long thin piece of resinous wood was still fastened to one wall. This
was called a _pare_, and when lit served instead of lamp or candle.
There was a small clearing around the house, and half buried in leaves
near the door was an old-time harrow that had once been formed from a
bundle of stout fir top branches.
Later they paused to ask for a drink of water at a small two-room
cottage of unhewn, unpainted wood surrounded by a little pasture but
with no garden or other sign of cultivation around, nothing but the
vast impressive forest. A savage-looking dog that looked as if it might
have been crossed with a fox, snarled at them but was called away by a
very old woman who explained that she was there alone, her son having
lately gone to a timber camp. "He'll come back with enough money," she
added with a trembling voice, "to see us through the winter, which is
going to be a hard one."
"Why do you say that, Granny?" asked Juhani.
"Couldn't you see it for yourself," the old woman returned rather
sharply, "by the great number of berries?"
"Are you not lonely here?" Maja inquired with sympathy.
"Aye, lonely," repeated the woman, "but contented too, for have I not
the forest with me day and night and is it not a part of my very soul?"
A long drawn whistle here made the children realize that the church
parties were breaking up and that they must make haste to return, so
thanking the old woman they raced back apparently as fresh as if they
had not already had a long tramp. Where the forest was thickest it was
quite dark. "If it gets any darker," said Maja, "we'll have to stop and
pray to the Twilight Maiden to spin for us a thread of gold to lead us
safely home."
"There are also others to help us," said Juhani, and half playfully he
called on all the woodland fairy folk whose names are found in the great
Finland epic, "The Kalevala": on _Mielikki_, hostess of the forest;
_Tuometar_, nymph of the bird cherry; _Katejatar_, nymph of the juniper;
_Pillajatar_, nymph of the mountain ash; _Matka-Teppo_, god of the road;
_Hongatar_, ruler of the pines; _Sinetar_, that beauteous elf who paints
the flowers the blue of the sky, and on _Sotka's daughter_ who protects
wild game from harm.
CHAPTER III
THE END OF AUTUMN
THE next day Maja had to stay in the house to help while her mother and
sister baked, for they were to have a _talko_, that is, neighbors had
been invited over to help with the last of the harvesting. "Have lots of
good things to eat," Juhani called as he followed his father out to help
in one of the fields. Here a number of peasants were driving long poles
into the ground at regular intervals; to these they fastened eight
outstretched arms, the ends of which were curved upwards. On these arms
hay that had been cut with sickles was carefully arranged that it might
dry.
While this was being done, the grain that had been dried some time
before was being baked in an outside oven or kiln not far from the hay
barn, a big long building with a corrugated roof.
This baking makes the Finnish grain in demand for seed in other
countries, for it drives away the damp and kills all insects that might
injure the germ.
By evening all the work was finished, and the merry group of peasant men
and women who had given their help trooped, singing, to the house. A big
supper awaited them and as they sat down, the men on one side of the
table, the women on the other, all showed the splendid appetites which
the work in the fields had given them.
As soon as the supper was over, the floor was cleared, and all joined in
dancing the national dance, called the _jenka_, during which a warmth of
feeling was displayed that belied their reputation for being stolid, and
that no stranger, who might have seen the men and women on their way to
church the day before, would have believed possible.
After this the weather grew less pleasant; the sky was often dull and
overcast; cold raw winds began to blow and there was much fog and sleet.
During this time there was a certain flurry in the farm house, for
Juhani, young as he was, had gained his father's permission to accompany
an uncle to a lumber camp some distance to the north.
At the first fall of snow they left. It was a long drive they had, one
that grew colder after the middle of the day. The air, which was very
still, had a frostiness to it that nipped Juhani's nose and face. But
neither he nor his uncle grumbled. The faces of both had a peculiarly
similar look of patient endurance. It was not until toward evening that
they came to a rolling swampy country where a big body of woodmen were
already at work at the rude shelters that were to form the camp. For
one night a batch of new men had to lie around the camp fire, turning
one side, then the other to the heat, for there were not enough huts yet
built.
Juhani was put to work almost at once in picking up chips and doing all
sorts of odds and ends, for he had only been allowed to go on condition
that he was willing to make himself useful. Later he was regularly sent
alone twice a week through the forest to a peasant farm for milk and
eggs. The coming and going for these took all of a day. Sometimes the
forest was dark and silent; at other times birds called to him, and wild
animals, strangely tame, would peep out from the snow-covered brush at
him.
Once a merry squirrel enticed him into an old overgrown path. He
continued to follow it even after he had lost track of the squirrel
until he came to two branches, one of which he decided led in the
direction of his destination.
After wandering about for an hour and finding that the trees and the
brush were growing denser and denser he grew somewhat alarmed and tried
to retrace his steps.
He soon found that this was impossible. Here it occurred to him that if
he could get to the top of a tree he might have a better idea of where
he was and what to do. So dropping his pail, he scrambled up the nearest
willow. This was not high enough to give much of an outlook, and,
getting down again, he cast longing eyes on a tall fir with no low
branches.
With difficulty he dragged a small uprooted juniper to it and placing it
against the trunk, with its help he managed to reach the lowest branch.
It was then an easy task to climb to the top of the tree.
There was a very fair outlook from the top but no sign of the farmhouse
for which he was bound. There was one thing comforting however. It was
that at some distance away something glittered like water.
With a grunt Juhani let himself down and then stood in thought. Only for
a moment did he allow himself to do this. He was too well aware of the
shortness of the days to dally. Drawing his _pukko_ (knife) he began to
hew his way through the thick underbrush, over the springy soil, in the
direction of what he knew must be the lake.
Now and then fallen tree trunks had to be scaled. Twice his feet caught
in tangled vines and threw him. Several times he had to take the time to
climb trees to assure himself that he was going in the right direction.
And all the time he had the consciousness that night was descending.
It was already dusk when he reached the lake where, to his great relief,
he recognized the spot by means of a big bowlder as being within half a
mile of camp.
He saw, however, that in a very few minutes it would be too dark to go
further. The only thing to do was to wait until the moon rose. So
gathering together as much of the brush as he could, he started it
burning and then lay down before it to try to get a little rest.
Despite the fire, which continually had to be replenished, it was very
cold and he found it necessary to turn constantly first one side, then
the other towards the flames to be at all comfortable.
At last the fire went out and there was nothing left for Juhani to do
except sit with his back to the trunk of a nearby tree and wait. When
the moon came out, it was a very stiff boy who arose and followed
stumblingly the banks of the lake to camp.
Here he found a group of men with his Uncle in the lead, getting ready
to start a hunt for him. As soon as he had stammered out his story to
his Uncle the latter shook him angrily by the shoulder and ordered him
to bed. "Don't you ever try anything of the kind again; at least not
while you are on an errand for me," he called after him. And Juhani
never did.
The boy won the favor of a driver of one of the short sledges on which
the cut-down trees, rough hewn with axes and with the bark peeled off,
were drawn, and he sometimes had a ride with him to the lake where men
stalked the logs on the banks. On these trips, although he said nothing,
he hardly knew whether he admired most how the driver guided the horses
over the difficult ground or the intelligence of the alert little
Finnish horses themselves.
Sometimes, instead of these trips, he had an opportunity to watch the
actual cutting down of the trees. He would sometimes quiver in sympathy
as a tree quivered before dashing down against the other trees, perhaps
remaining suspended a moment, then coming with a crash to the ground
and raising a flurry of snow.
Once a tree was down it was ready to be cleared of branches and then
sawed into logs.
In the evening the spring journey of the logs, when they would be
floated down the lake and out to sea, was often discussed. Juhani
learned how men with long hooks were stationed at the narrow or rocky
places on the water to keep the logs from getting blocked. This was
difficult and often dangerous. Sometimes it led to loss of life.
While on the lake, the logs would be collected and chained together to
form great rafts. Several of these would be fastened behind each other
and drawn by a small tug. On these rafts the men would build themselves
little huts on which they would live, for it is slow work to get the
logs from the forests to the mills. Indeed it almost always takes one or
two summers at least.
Sometimes instead of these stories, the men would sing rough songs that
sounded out there in the wilds more weird and melancholy than they
really were. Sometimes they discussed the future of Finland. There was
one fellow among them to whom Juhani loved to listen. He remembered long
the man's reply to a particularly pessimistic statement. "Our future
depends on ourselves. Have we not the sea? Does it not stand for power
and freedom? Shame, I say, on those who do not see it!"
Things in camp went along quietly enough until near the end of the
season, when two of the men had a fight which might have ended seriously
had they not been separated in time, for both had drawn their _pukkos_
(knives).
Before Juhani left for home the driver invited him to come on a trip
much further east than they were stationed. His uncle consented. It gave
Juhani an opportunity to see the very primitive and wasteful
agricultural methods that are still practiced in Finland in
out-of-the-way places, that of burning down the forest to fertilize the
land.
They spent the first night with the owner of a place on which this was
done. He did his best to entertain them well.
After they had had supper the family gathered around the big rude
fireplace, and while the fire crackled and a drink of some kind was
passed around the talk drifted to the future prospects of the country.
Then the peasant proprietor told of the time when the deposed Tzar of
Russia, Nicholas II, through the Manifesto of February fifteenth, 1899,
had tried to deprive Finland of most of her independence. "I heard
through my young son who had just returned from further South, that
signatures for a petition to the Tzar were being sought. 'They shall not
lack mine,' I told my wife. It was bitterly cold even for one used to
severe months of blinding snow, but I put on my skis and made my way
through the dense forest in the face of a harsh wind, to the nearest
settlement Here I learned that a messenger gathering signatures had just
left. Without stopping for food or drink, I followed the direction he
had taken through a frozen swamp and came up with him just before
nightfall. And there, with nothing to be seen but snow around us, I
signed the paper and returned to the settlement while he went on for
another hour to the neighboring hamlet."
"I know of a case to match that somewhat," said the driver. "After the
Tzar's Manifesto, a well-to-do farmer, who lived too far away to go to
Helsingfors, wrote a petition himself to the Tzar, had it signed by the
family, servants and those nearest, and then forwarded it."
Here the old grandmother, an intelligent looking peasant woman, with a
brown plaid shawl tightly pinned around her neck, took the lead in the
conversation, harking back to older times when she had known Elias
Lönnrot who made the folk songs he gathered into a whole as the great
Finnish epic, the "Kalevala." This was evidently a favorite subject with
her. "I was only a young girl," she said, "when he came as a physician
to Kajana, which is a place of which it was then said there were two
streets, 'Along one go pigs when it's wet, along the other the
inhabitants when it's dry.' Lönnrot was a strong fine fellow, very
gentle. People used to say he would cry if he happened to kill a fly. He
was rather careless about his clothes. I met him one day just as he was
starting on one of his searches for folk songs. He was dressed like a
peasant, with a short pipe in his mouth and a staff in his hand. A small
flute hung from his button-hole, while a valise and gun were slung on
his back. After he came back we spoke of nothing for weeks except his
adventures. In one place he was taken for a tramp and found it
impossible to secure any sort of vehicle to take him on his way. In
another village the people thought him a wizard. They wouldn't give him
any food. He remembered that an eclipse of the sun would take place that
day. 'I'll make the sun die,' he said, 'if you don't attend to my
wants.' The people laughed and hooted, but when the sun actually did
disappear they were badly frightened and begged him on their knees to
make it come back and brought him all kinds of good things to eat."
"It seems to me," said her son reflectively, "that Lönnrot published
something else besides the 'Kalevala.'"
"Indeed he did," said the grandmother quickly, proud of her knowledge,
"why, I've taught you many a verse given in the _Kanteletaar_ (the
Daughter of the Kantele). It contains about seven hundred ancient songs
and ballads."
Juhani and the driver were somewhat surprised at hearing all this at
such a far off place. They would have gladly continued the conversation
had it not been necessary to retire early to be prepared for the journey
to the north on the morrow.
CHAPTER IV
LAPLANDERS
A HEAVY snow fell during the night. After they had had breakfast, Juhani
and the driver found two _pulkas_ (boat shaped sleighs) awaiting them.
To each of these there was harnessed reindeer of a dark gray color, with
huge branching antlers. There was only one rein for each of those in the
_pulkas_ to hold.
"Notice the reindeer's foot," Juhani's companion bade him. "See how
broad and flexible it is. It is divided, too, and so spreads when it
touches the snow."
"How can I get the reindeer to stop?" asked Juhani anxiously.
"Well, if you really need to stop and he refuses," replied the driver,
"all you have to do is to fall out."
Their host wrapped furs around them as each took his place in one of the
sleds hardly big enough to hold even one person. Then while his wife
held the deer, the farmer showed Juhani how to wrap the rein properly
around his wrist. This being managed, the wife let go, and they were
off.
The country through which they now passed was tiresomely flat and
covered with small birch and fir trees. After they had gone some
distance it began to snow in thick cloud-like masses and the wind began
to blow the snow about as if in violent play. Juhani did very well
considering that this was his first reindeer ride. He managed to stay in
the sled even when the reindeer bumped it hard against the trees.
Fortunately the deep furrows in the road helped steady the sleighs, and
Juhani began to feel proud of himself when finally the Lapp settlement
came into view. Whether it was the sight of it or something else, Juhani
did not know, but just then the reindeer suddenly swerved in such a way
that Juhani was pitched out. He arose quickly and called to the reindeer
to stop, but in vain. His companion was far ahead and so, somewhat angry
and mortified, he made his way as best he could on foot the short
distance still remaining.
These Lapp settlements in Northern Finland are few in number. It is said
that there are not more than two thousand Lapps in Finland. The Finnish
word Lapp or Lappu means Land-End folk. The Lapps use another name for
themselves; it is Samelats and for their country, Same. Many of the
Lapps are fishermen, but there are also forest and mountain Lapps.
One wonders how they could get along without the reindeer, which
furnishes them with milk, meat, and even clothing, besides drawing their
sledges. Because of these animals the Lapps prefer the open country
where reindeer moss is plentiful. When it is not found, the spruce tree
serves as a substitute, and a very extravagant one, for nearly a hundred
trees are needed yearly for one reindeer.
When Juhani came up, he found the whole village surrounding his friend,
who laughing, advanced with a muscular, well-proportioned Lapp to him.
The Lapp shook his hand and assured him gravely that no one thought the
worse of him for the mishap.
This Lapp was dressed in a loose reindeer costume reaching below the
knees and fitting closely about the throat. It was adorned with gay
trimmings of blue and scarlet and yellow. On his feet were soft, pliable
skin boots.
He led them to the largest hut. Juhani noticed the quarters of frozen
reindeer meat hanging from the branches of the trees near it and also
the buckets full of frozen reindeer milk.
When they had entered, they seated themselves on the floor on skins and
waited while snow was brought in, placed in a kettle over the fire,
melted, and coffee made. This and food was soon placed before them. The
latter consisted of reindeer meat, a kind of rye and barley bread, milk
and a strong oily cheese. It tasted very good to Juhani after his cold
walk. When he had eaten enough to satisfy himself as well as his
hospitable hosts, he was shyly invited to join in an outside game with a
group of dark-skinned children with straight silky brown hair, broad
flat faces and noses, and very round eyes compared to their elders.
These children looked like funny little bears, wrapped as they were in
fur.
Two of the boys carried wooden sticks which they drove into the snow.
These were made so that a stone could rest on the top. Each child tried
his best to see how many of these he could knock off with snowballs in a
given time.
Juhani found himself far behind his little friends. He was not so good a
shot, and he lacked their quickness in making the balls. But he kept on
trying.
In the afternoon when it grew too dark and cold to remain longer out of
doors (it was thirty degrees below zero), two of the children went with
Juhani into the unventilated hut, and sitting down near the fire took
out their knives and began to carve. Juhani watched the older of the
two, a boy about his own age, and soon saw that he was making a running
reindeer on the handle of a knife. Great was his surprise next morning
to have this presented him. The mother, in the meantime, had just laid
down some reindeer intestines that she was making into gloves.
"How many reindeer have you?" Juhani asked the Lapp boy.
"Oh, nearly a thousand," the latter answered carelessly.
"What a number of uses you put them to! I wish you would tell me all of
them."
[Illustration: "JUHANI WAS LISTENING TO THE MOST MARVELOUS TALES"]
The Lapp boy smiled. "To tell all would take me all day. I will tell you
a few though. We make butter and cheese from their milk, eat their flesh
as food, make our beds and tents, of their skins; their tendons give us
our thread and many of our eating utensils are made out of their
antlers."
"It must be much trouble to milk the reindeer every day," Juhani
remarked.
"But we don't milk them every day," the Lapp boy quickly put in. "Only
about twice a week. Oftener it would certainly be much trouble."
Juhani wanted to know still more. "Since the reindeer are loose, how can
they find food when the ground is covered with snow several feet deep?"
he asked.
"They can smell it," returned the Lapp. "They never make a mistake. As
soon as they smell it, they scrape at the snow with their feet and
nose until they get to it."
After another meal all gathered still closer to the log fire to listen
to news of the outside world. For a long time the woodman talked, and
then, growing tired, he begged the Lapp mother to tell some stories.
This she did in the Finnish language, which, like all the rest of her
family, she spoke well. Soon Juhani was listening to the most marvelous
tales, of giants as big as mountains with one enormous eye, of ugly
witches that fly about like bats at night, and of frightful goblins that
do much harm. Then, changing her tone, she softly told the story of the
goddess, _Nyavvinna_, the kindly daughter of the Sun, a being who first
caught and tamed the reindeer and gave them to the Lapps for their
comfort and joy.
"Will you tell our fortune?" asked the woodman driver, eying her
somewhat askance, when she had stopped. She smiled good naturedly at
him, and going to a rude cabinet took from it a kind of drum by means of
which she foretold a pleasant return journey on the morrow.
Juhani watched her with simple curiosity; his companion, however, was
plainly uneasy, and when they were alone for a minute before lying down
to sleep, he whispered, "Awfully uncanny folks, these Lapps are."
The next morning, too, despite the kindly parting, it was plain to
Juhani that he was glad to get away. They had another exhilarating ride
behind the reindeer. It had a delightful tang to it, a trace of
wildness, to which something, even in Juhani's stolid nature, responded.
When they had left their sleds at the home of their Finnish friends the
driver grew talkative and told Juhani many stories of other trips to
Lapland, one the summer before to this same family. He laughed when he
thought of the children. "They would have had a pleasant time gathering
berries," he said, "had it not been for the mosquitoes. There were so
many of these that they had to wear a sort of mosquito net fastened
around the waist. When they tore these or objected too much, their
mother rubbed tar all over their hands and faces. My! but they did look
funny then," and he laughed so heartily that Juhani could not help but
join him.
The man had many other interesting things to tell, for his experiences
had been varied. Among other things he explained the old system still in
use in parts of Finland of getting tar, an important Finnish industry.
"Those are fine tar trees," he said, when they had come to a clump of
fir and larch. "Nothing better. Do you know how they work the thing?
Well, the wood, after being cut, is piled high on a big platform that
slopes from all sides to the center where there is an opening into a vat
underneath. This pile is covered over with a thick layer of earth and
grass and then lit from below. It smolders for several days until the
pile sinks and a flame springs up. When the tar begins to flow it is
caught in barrels. Shafts are afterwards attached to these barrels and
they are then drawn by horses to the nearest water and loaded on boats
for the coast.
"These boats are built to shoot the rapids. There is no iron used in
them, the fir planks being bound together with wooden fibers. They don't
weigh much so that they give in to slight shocks. Wood only
three-fourths of an inch thick separates one from the water. The boats
are about thirty by three feet, very long and narrow, you see, yet big
enough to hold about twenty barrels, with high sides to keep out the
foam.
"I tell you it takes skill and nerve to steer one of these boats. The
pilots have to have a license. Besides the pilot, the crew generally
consists of two men or a man and a woman. I wasn't much older than you
are now when I first went in one. We started at Kajana on the Ulea
River. My! how the boat did skim along! It seemed as free as a bird. I
held my breath most of the time. And what a shock it was when it went
plunk into the rapids which extend many miles! I'll never forget that
first ride and the peculiar joy I felt at the danger. The last rapids
are the Pyhakoski or Sacred Rapids. They are twelve miles long, but the
trip over them took us barely twenty minutes. Here you can see the slope
of the stream. Every second you go faster. Now you have to avoid a
whirlpool, now a rock; sometimes both. I thought I'd just go deaf from
the roar of the waters. When we reached smooth water again I thought I
really was deaf, the silence was so overpowering."
"What causes the rapids?" asked Juhani.
"It's the enormous bowlders," responded his companion. "The rapids are
mighty pretty. I've seen our largest waterfall, too. It's in a narrow
gorge at Imatra and is sixty feet high. How many lakes make it, do you
think? They say it is a thousand! There are always lots of tourists
gazing at it and listening to its hissing and sputtering and roaring.
When you first hear it you think there is a storm brewing. The spray is
tossed thirty feet into the air and looks like a mass of rainbows."
CHAPTER V
SCHOOL
SCHOOL opened later that year than usual, to last until June. There was
to be a vacation of three weeks at Christmas with an occasional week in
between, as well as on special days.
Two languages were studied by all the children, Finnish and Swedish
instead of Finnish and Russian as might have been expected from
Finland's connection with Russia. The teacher told the children that
there had been a time when all schooling was Swedish, the Finnish tongue
being considered too uncouth for culture. "Happily," he would always
add, "that time is past. It was unjust, for eighty-six per cent of the
inhabitants are Finns. We are now fully awake." All the children had
manual training, the girls being taught cooking, sewing and darning,
the boys woodwork and carpentry. The schoolhouse was surrounded by
trees, and once a week, at least, the teacher talked of the necessity of
conserving them.
The teacher lived near the school in a furnished house provided by the
country people. Around it was enough grazing land for a cow. The people
saw, too, that he always had a sufficient supply of firewood.
When Maja and Juhani reached the schoolhouse on the first day they found
all the names by which Finland is sometimes known beautifully written on
the blackboard. There were "Strawberry Land," "The Land of a Thousand
Lakes," "The Land of a Thousand Heroes," "The Land of a Thousand Isles,"
"Marsh Land," and "Last Born Daughter of the Sea." "This last name our
country has earned," the master explained, "because it is in fact still
rising out of the sea. As for 'Land of a Thousand Lakes' that should
rather be the 'Land of Many Thousand Lakes.' Let all these names merely
serve to remind you," he concluded, "of our duty to our country and our
determination not to give up that freedom to which we feel ourselves
entitled."
The singing of the Finnish National Hymn followed:
"Our Land, our Finnish Fatherland!
Ring out dear name and sound!
No hill nor dale, nor sea-worn strand,
Nor lofty mountain whitely grand,
There is more precious to be found
That this--our fathers' ground."[1]
What Juhani liked best at school that year perhaps, was his connection
with the School Paper. Every Saturday night the higher grades, beginning
with the one in which he now was, met at the schoolhouse to consider
original contributions to it. Both poetry and prose were submitted, and
also charades and plays. Juhani won some praise for an article entitled
"What We Owe to the Trees." In this he spoke of the vast number of trees
in Finland, but particularly of the uses to which they were put. "The
birch is one of our best friends. I may not wear birch shoes but many
peasants do. From its twigs we make brooms and bath whisks; from its
bark, baskets and cups. Its blocks are fed to our locomotives and
steamboats, and its leaves provide food for our cattle. In time of need,
when crops fail, we even make bread from its bark."
Once a month came Guest Day and the children worked hard to do
themselves and the teacher credit, for then the fathers, mothers and
friends invited had the right to ask the pupils questions. An
entertainment was always provided; sometimes there were tableaux,
sometimes a play. These were always followed by refreshments.
This year, at the first of these nights, Juhani was honored by having an
introductory recitation from the Finnish poet Topelius. A part of it
is:
"On the world's farthest peopled strand
Fate gave to us a Fatherland,
The last where man his foot has set,
Daring the North Pole's threat;
The last and wildest stretch of earth
Where Europe's genius built a hearth;
The last and farthest flung outpost
'Gainst night and death and frost."
A boy, somewhat younger, followed this with a stirring recitation about
a thick-headed peasant hero who, with a small troop, was placed to
defend a bridge. All but five of this troop were killed and the order
was given to return. The dull peasant leader did not understand and
remained at his post alone until help came, when he died with a bullet
in his heart.
Then came the most effective part of the program. A girl, a pupil in one
of the higher grades, appeared dressed in the traditional dress of a
certain portion of Finland, consisting of a white loose blouse and
short full embroidered skirt. There was also a bodice and a colored
fringed apron. She carried a _kantele_, a stringed instrument whose
music is of a monotonous and rather melancholy tone. This served as the
accompaniment to two or three folk songs, which she half sang, half
recited in a way that brought forth special applause. Coffee and cakes,
carefully prepared by the members of the Cooking Classes, were then
served, after which games were played and riddles given. Among the
latter was Maja's favorite: "What can't speak yet tells the truth?"
Answer.--Scales.
The next Guest Night was devoted entirely to the "Kalevala," that
wonderful national epic made up of the folk songs gathered by Elias
Lönnrot. It began with a tableau in which was seen _Wäinämöinen_, the
ancient bard of the poem, "renowned for singing and magic"; _Ilmarinen_,
the children's favorite hero, a wonderful smith; _Kullervo_, the wicked
shepherd, whose hand was against every man's; the jolly, reckless
_Lemminkainen_, and _Louhi_, the mistress of Pohjola (the North) and her
beautiful, much sought after daughter, the Rainbow Maiden. This was
followed by the reading of a passage describing _Wäinämöinen's_ playing,
"All the birds that fly in mid-air
Fell like snow flakes from the heavens,
Flew to hear the minstrel's playing
Hear the harp of _Wäinämöinen_."
Then came the description of how the eagle, the swans, the tiny finches
and the fish, and all within hearing, were affected by the magic harp
music.
The curtain dropped and rolled up again to show the meeting of
_Wäinämöinen_ and his envious rival _Youkahainen_, who wishes to fight.
The tableau changed before the audience into an act in which
_Wäinämöinen's_ magic singing causes his rival to sink helplessly into
quicksand, and in which he refuses every ransom _Youkahainen_ offers,
until it comes to _Youkahainen's_ beauteous sister.
One of the pupils now read the parts from the "Kalevala" describing the
various tasks that the heroes were called on to perform: the forging of
the magic _sampo_, a coin, corn, and salt mill which could grind out
good fortune for whoever had it; the capturing of the elk of Hiisi; the
bridling of the fire-breathing horse, and others.
Last the teacher himself took the platform to call the attention of the
audience to the beautiful expressions of mother love scattered
throughout. He showed how even the wise _Wäinämöinen_ thought first of
his mother when in distress:
"If my mother were now breathing
She would surely truly tell me
How I might best bear this trouble,"
and how the mother love of the hot-headed _Lemminkainen_ rescues him
from death.
It was not always easy for Juhani and Maja to get to school, yet it was
rarely that they or any of the other pupils were absent. Often the only
light they had going and coming was that thrown up by the snow.
Sometimes, however, the remarkable Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis)
helped the sun in its labors. They grew all the sturdier, too, for
having to face wild weather.
All the pupils came to school on skis, made of long narrow pieces of
wood with a leather strip in the center through which one merely slipped
the foot, so that in falling the foot was released. The front end was
pointed and curved upward. It does not take long to go a good distance
on skis. Juhani could go seven miles an hour on his. There were always
rows of skis at the school door, some large, some small, for the proper
length depends on the height of the individual. To find it one stands
with arms extended above one's head. The skis must reach from the ground
to the raised fingertips.
At home one of the older children's duties was to teach a young brother
or sister how to use skis. It was not unusual to see even three-year old
babes on them. At five years most of them could be trusted alone. The
first lesson was one of balance. One foot was placed in advance, the
knees bent with the body forward. This was followed by making the first
step.
Sometimes, during vacation days, there were ski races, but these were
forgotten when in the latter part of November announcement was made of a
ski jumping contest to be held in the nearest village. The age limit
kept the smaller boys from all hope of taking part, but they at once
organized a ski jumping contest of their own. Juhani was the youngest
admitted even here. "No, I've never tried jumping," he confessed when
asked, "but I know that I can do it." At the first meeting of the
schoolboys he had an opportunity to show what he could do. He advanced
with something like a swagger, made a good jump but landed in a heap
instead of on his feet. His companions, who knew that there was
something to learn, all shouted, "The cow cannot climb a hill! The cow
cannot climb a hill!" which is an old proverb, and means that one cannot
perform a feat beyond his ability.
Juhani picked himself up, shut his lips tightly together, and tried
again and again until he could outdistance many of the boys.
When the day of the great contest came everybody who could went to see
the sport. A strong little platform had been built on the side of a hill
near the town. From this the contestants were to spring.
There were six competitors. One especially seemed to have won favor
beforehand, not because he was better looking than the others, for he
was not, but probably because of the merry good humor in his eyes.
[Illustration: "WAVING HIS ARMS TO KEEP HIS BALANCE, JUMPED FAR
FORWARD"]
The signal came to start. First came a stalwart, serious-faced youth who
jumped over sixty feet, landed on his feet, and raced down the hill.
After him followed three others, all of whom jumped between sixty-five
and seventy-five feet. The fifth rushed after them, jumping seventy-nine
feet, but failing to land on his feet. Last came the popular youth. He
glanced around until he met the gaze of a little old lady in the crowd.
Then he smiled and waved his hat to her, ran up on the platform, doubled
up his legs, which he kept close together, and then waving his arms to
keep his balance, jumped far forward. A shout of applause burst forth as
he landed on his feet and raced down the hill. This increased still more
when it was learned that he had out-distanced all the others, his
jump being over eighty feet.
The last day of the term at school the children had a big Christmas
tree. It was decorated with Russian and Finnish flags and candles and
with sweets for all hanging from its branches. There were many visitors,
for on this day prizes were to be awarded to the most deserving pupils.
No one knew for certain to whom the chief prizes were to go, but there
were often clever guesses. In Juhani's Grade, however, a murmur of
surprise was heard when the name of the winner was announced. An
unusually shy youth stepped forward awkwardly. Juhani remembered him as
a poor boy who had entered that term. He remembered also how hard at
first he had found the studies, then how he improved by degrees until he
ranked with the best.
The teacher, in making the presentation, dwelt on the virtue of such
perseverance and then invited the visitors to ask him any questions in
his late studies that they desired.
Several were eager to do this, much to the lad's embarrassment. But no
sooner did he begin to answer than the embarrassment vanished, and he
surprised all present by the clearness of his replies.
At the conclusion the teacher said: "This year we have for good reasons
departed from our usual custom of presenting some book to be treasured
by the winner. Instead we present to this deserving pupil a certain
amount of money with only one stipulation, that he spend it in things
that will most help him in his future studies."
"What will most help me in my future studies," the pupil responded,
after some words of thanks, "will be the thought that my mother is more
comfortable. So I accept this gladly if you have no objection to my
giving it all at once to her."
The applause of all present showed their consent, and after an enquiring
look at his teacher he walked up to a poorly-dressed woman who sat at
the very rear of the room and whose eyes filled with tears as she took
the money from his hands.
The younger children were not the only ones provided with schooling. In
the nearest village to Juhani's home an adult school had been recently
established by a big association called the Society for Popular
Education. One half of the time each day was devoted to hand work, one
half to easy conversational lessons in history, literature, science or
any other study that appealed to the particular group gathered together.
All social classes were represented in this school. There were sons of
peasants, servants, shop-keepers. Some of the teachers were paid; others
volunteered their services to help make life more pleasant and useful
for their fellowmen. Among the latter was a rich neighbor who had just
finished a course in one of the big Agriculture Schools of the country
and was looking forward to having a farm of her own. Another teacher was
plainly a university student, for she wore the regulation student cap,
on which a golden lyre was embroidered. Much of the social life of this
community centered about this school. The people came not only to study
and learn but also to enjoy as a relief from hard daily work the
companionship of others.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] By the Finnish poet, J. L. Runeberg, from the translation by Anna
Krook.
CHAPTER VI
THE DECEMBER VACATION
LONG before the coldest weather came, everything was made ready for a
six or eight months' winter. The double windows were surrounded by
cotton wool and gummed paper to keep out the draughts. The open rafters
of the kitchen now served as a store room. From them hung dried fish,
smoked pork, and even several weeks' supply of rye bread in large hard
cakes with a hole in the middle of each.
As soon as the December holidays came, parties at neighboring houses
followed each other in quick succession. Sometimes these were ski-ing
parties of school children with the teacher in charge. Sometimes the
older folks gathered, and sometimes whole families. There was always a
dinner, and almost always dancing and the playing of games.
One day Juhani's whole family went to the home of a friend who lived
fully ten miles distant. It was only about nine in the morning when they
started in two low sleighs. The air was crisp and so still that it did
not seem to stir, the sky intensely blue, as they hurried over
snow-covered roads, past many forests, each tree bright in its pearly
gown; past two farms whose buildings looked strikingly red and bare
against their white background.
As they neared their destination, a bright-looking boy, accompanied by a
kind of wolf hound, raced up on his skis to meet them. "You're just in
time," he shouted when sufficiently near, "to help me make a fox trap.
An old scamp of a fox has been after our chickens and I mean to get
him."
"Where are you going to set the trap?" called back Juhani eagerly.
"I'm going to show you," responded the other, and as Juhani dismounted
from the sleigh, the two made their way to some distance back of the
barn. Here Juhani's friend had everything ready. First he drove a long
stake into the ground. This stake was forked at the end with the central
prong the longest. "Feel the edges," he said to Juhani.
Juhani did so and almost cut his finger. The edges were as sharp as
knives.
"I don't understand yet," he said, putting his hand up to his mouth,
"how that can catch a fox."
"Wait," returned his friend, and running to the barn he soon returned
with bait which he placed at the top.
"The old fellow will jump at that," he explained, "and catch his paw
between the prongs. You bet it'll hold him fast, too. There are a lot of
them around," he continued as they made their way to the house, "and
we're a good deal put out by them. Grandfather says, however, that it
is nothing to the time when father first moved here. Then there were
wolves and bears. I'd like to meet a bear. Do you remember the lines:
'Otso apple of the forest
With thy honey paws so curving'?
Grandfather says that they used to use charms to help them when they
went hunting. Do you know what he likes to talk about better than bear
hunting? It's seal shooting; perhaps because he did it only once. It
wasn't here, of course, but on the frozen sea. He says he lay flat on a
sled in front of which he had fastened a white sail so that the seal
would take it for a part of the ice around. He pushed the sled with his
feet, and, when near enough, shot."
"That was when he was a fisherman," conjectured Juhani.
His friend laughed. "Please don't use the past tense in regard to him.
Why, he's still a fisherman. Only last year he had a fishing adventure
that would make some people's hair rise. You look as if you didn't
believe. Come, I'll get him to tell you about it."
They found the old man sitting in a sunny workroom mending a basket. He
was quite ready to talk. "I don't belong here," he said, "but to the
east end of the gulf. You say that you want to hear what happened last
spring. Well, a whole camp of us went out together to fish through the
ice. That's done every year. We took tents and firewood and food and
expected to stay a long time. It was all right for a while and we got a
lot of fish. But the spring thaw came earlier than we expected; we had
fellows watching, but they were careless, and the first thing we knew
the ice had cracked and I and one other were carried out to sea on a
great ice floe. Our companions saw us when we were about twelve yards
away, but they couldn't do anything for they hadn't any boats. We
couldn't do anything but let the wind and wave carry us wherever they
wished. I had a bottle of rum in my pocket and a big hunk of hard bread.
My companion had nothing but a plug of tobacco. These three things we
divided and lived on for two days. At last we drifted to firm ice, from
which, stiff as we were, we managed to make our way to the mainland."
"You don't expect to go this year, do you?" asked Juhani.
"Yes, I do. Right after the holidays. Why shouldn't I?" asked the old
man sharply. "I wasn't drowned, was I?"
Right here they were fortunately called into the house. When they
reached it, Juhani at once noticed that it was some one's name day, for
the doors were prettily decorated with boughs. A big meal awaited them
indoors, and here Juhani found that the decorations were in honor of
the mother for her chair was also wreathed. He at once went up to her
and offered his congratulations, which the other members of his family
had had a chance to do before.
A long time was spent at the table. When the meal was finished each
person went up to the host and hostess, shook hands with them and said
"Tack," thank you.
Juhani's friend next took him for a visit to the farm's carpenter shop,
where he showed him the posts and gates he was making. "Are you going to
have the shoemaker come to your place this year?" he asked. "We expect
him here next week to make us enough shoes to last the year through. The
tailor isn't coming till January. Two weeks ago we had the harness
maker; I had to help him, and I tell you, I'm glad the harness is
mended."
Here he thought of something else with which to entertain his guest.
"Why, you haven't seen my new toboggan slide. Let's go quick."
They stopped at the barn to get a sled and then had several merry rides
down a short but steep hill. This was followed by snow-balling and fancy
ski jumping until time to bid each other good-by.
A few days following this pleasant visit, Juhani, Maja and the older
sister attended a "Riddle Evening" at the home of a much nearer
neighbor. Here quite a number of young people were gathered, each trying
to be called the Master Riddle Guesser. Whoever couldn't answer three
riddles in succession had to play the fool. He was seated in a chair in
the middle of the room. One of the girls handed over her embroidered
apron and it was tied around his waist. Another took off the kerchief
around her neck and it was put on his head. Still another lent her glass
beads. A saucer was then held over a candle flame until soot collected
and with this his face was painted. The jolly company circled around him
jeering and then forming a procession solemnly escorted him from the
room and bade him study out the answers that he had not been able to
guess.
CHAPTER VII
CHRISTMAS WEEK
SEVERAL days before Christmas, the whole farmhouse was scrubbed and
cleaned, while bread was baked and ale brewed.
[Illustration: "SHE CARRIED OUT A BASKET FILLED WITH CRUMBS AND GRAIN"]
On Christmas Eve little Maja scattered clean straw on all the floors.
"Don't forget the birds," her older sister cautioned her.
"As if I would!" responded Maja. Nodding to Juhani, who stood by the
door, she carried out a basket filled with crumbs and grain for the wild
birds and animals. Juhani soon followed her with a sheaf of corn, which
he placed where it would be sure to attract.
"You haven't forgotten, have you, Juhani," said Maja somewhat
breathlessly as they stood together, "that they all can speak
to-night?"
Juhani nodded and was silent for a moment. It always took him some time
to get stirred up enough to talk. Then he said slowly, "I've put some of
the food near the door, for 'tis said that if you listen behind it at
night you'll be able to understand what they say. Don't tell, but I'm
going to listen. Wouldn't it be hunky if I found out some secret?"
"Oh, then I must listen, too!" exclaimed Maja. But her brother did not
like the idea.
"We'd be found out sure if you did," he said. "Better let me do it alone
and I'll tell you about it to-morrow,--before I tell any one else."
Maja reluctantly agreed, and the two went indoors where they separated,
each to wrap up presents that they had made and to write the name of the
recipient together with an appropriate verse or sentence on an attached
paper. These were placed in the front room from which they mysteriously
disappeared while the family were having their supper of rice porridge
and _lut fisk_ (stock fish), prepared in a way peculiar to the country.
After supper all seated themselves near the big stove and were very
still with their eyes on the door. Presently a loud knock came.
"Welcome! Welcome!" every one shouted.
The door opened and Father Christmas dressed as a Yule Goat entered. He
carried a basket filled with gifts, and as he took one after another up
he first read the recipient's name, then the attached verse, some of
which were so funny that they caused much laughter. No one was left out.
The servants, who were all present, smiled happily at having been
remembered so generously, and even the big dog came in for his share
which was a piece of meat wrapped securely in paper.
When bed time came, the children prepared to go to sleep on straw in
memory of the Christ Child. Maja looked regretfully after Juhani, who
had received permission from his mother to have the straw for him
placed that night on the kitchen floor.
In the morning all rose early, Maja and Juhani running into the front
room to see "Heaven," a framework hung from the ceiling and made up of
threads and yarn and straws and decorated with gilt stars. It was lit by
a candle and seemed very beautiful to both of them, much to the
satisfaction of the older sister, who had followed them, and whose work
it was.
Long before six o'clock a visit had been paid to all the farm animals,
and a supply of food and some dainty given each. Candles were then
placed in all the windows, and putting on their heavy coats, their caps
with ear flappers, and their heavy boots, they all piled into sleighs
and were off to church.
It was very dark much of the way. Indeed it would be fortunate if the
sun shone for five or six hours before night. They did not mind the
dark, for they were not alone. From all sides people came, either on
skis or in sleighs.
After the service there was a race of skis and sleighs homewards over
the frozen lake in eager anticipation of the Christmas dinner, whose
chief dish, Maja whispered to Juhani, was to be a big ham. It was not
until they were home again that she found a chance to corner Juhani by
himself and demand eagerly: "What did they say?"
Juhani looked curiously at her. "I listened last night," he said slowly,
"for a long time but I didn't hear any animal or bird speak." Then,
seeing Maja's disappointed face, he added quickly, "There are other
things one can do. You know Esko's grandmother. Well, she once saw a
great assembly of snakes on a hill near Impivaare. She knows all about
snakes. She says that if you can kill an old adder and eat him just
before the first cuckoo, ever after that you'll understand the language
of birds and know all sorts of things."
Maja shuddered. "You wouldn't do that, would you?" she asked
appealingly.
Juhani looked at her for a moment, and then, unable to withstand the
temptation to tease her, said, "Why not?" and ran away.
Before New Year's with its special significance came, a guest arrived
from Helsingfors. It was Juhani and Maja's aunt, a woman who had
achieved some renown in the Capital as an architect.
They enjoyed her vivid descriptions of how the snow there was daily
shoveled from the pavements, and how when you step on what remains it
screams: "A hard winter! A hard winter!"
"We haven't gone in for as much ice yachting as usual," she remarked,
rather sadly, the children thought. "The times are too unsettled."
"Tell us about the yachting," urged Maja, seeing the look of interest in
Juhani's face, and knowing his slowness in asking for what he wanted.
"I know nothing more thrilling," the aunt returned, smiling, "than lying
flat on your stomach on an ice yacht in motion. The yacht may take
little leaps so that at times it seems to you as if it were about to
fly. Then you rush madly at something and prepare yourself surely for a
smash, but just in time the yacht swerves and you are safe to fly some
more. In a sense you do fly, for when the wind is strong the yacht is
sometimes lifted high into the air. When it comes down you feel as if
the world were coming to an end. It would have been fine for ice
yachting this year, for we had black ice."
"What is that?" asked Maja.
"I know," broke in Juhani unexpectedly. "It is when the ice forms before
snow falls."
His aunt nodded. "Yes; then the water looks like a mirror and it is
much smoother than when covered with snow."
"Did you come direct from Helsingfors?" asked Lilja after a pause.
"No," replied the aunt. "I had to go first to Viborg." And she described
to them the famous Saima Canal, one of the many canals of the country
which starts from there. It is built of Finnish granite and took eleven
years to complete. "It goes," she said, "to Saima Lake, called the lake
of a thousand islands, the most important lake of Finland. This lake is
about three hundred feet above the sea level, so that the vessels on the
canal have to be raised by locks. There are at least twenty-eight of
these. I once saw three steamers on it and they looked as if they were
walking up stairs. We mustn't forget that this canal is one of the good
things that we owe to the Russians. It probably would not have been
constructed but for the interest of Tzar Nicolas I, during whose reign
it was begun. Viborg seems to be made up of Russian soldiers, which of
course is no wonder, since it is the nearest town to the Russian
frontier."
She seemed inclined to say more but evidently thought better of it for
she changed the conversation. "Some friends with whom I had dinner at
Viborg told me a story that will interest you. It was regarding a
relative that they called Pekka (Peter) and who for a while lived in the
Castle of Olafsborg in the quaint town of Nyslott. It happened in this
way. He came to Nyslott to attend the Musical Festival held there in the
summer. The town was crowded and he despaired of getting a bed when he
ran across an acquaintance to whom he told his troubles.
"'Unfortunately,' said the latter, 'I am a stranger here. I don't know a
person,--except the watchman who has charge of the Castle.'
"The relative is of a somewhat romantic turn of mind. 'Excellent!' he
said. 'Just the thing. Let's go over at once and hire a room from the
watchman.'
"'Do you mean,' said his acquaintance incredulously, 'that you're
willing to stay in a ruined castle--probably haunted--all night?'
"But the young man was stubborn, and the two secured a boat and rowed
over to the Castle. Nyslott is built on islands but the castle has one
of its own. When they landed they found the watchman, who, after some
hesitation, offered the stranger his own room, which was in a separate
little building put up for his benefit.
"But Pekka would not have it so. 'I'd rather you'd fix me up something
in the castle itself.' The watchman thought this a joke and proposed
that they wander through the building to find a place that would suit.
"So they started. Everything looked very ancient, for the castle dates
back to 1475. They went through queer passages where the walls were
sometimes fifteen feet thick, under arches, up winding stairs, down
again, into cellars and dungeons and ruined chambers. At last they came
to the Hall of Knights, a long, dimly lighted room. The walls had fallen
here to enclose partly a little space that was still roofed over.
"'This shall be my lodging place,' declared the young man. 'Are you
serious?' asked the watchman.
"'I certainly am,' answered Pekka, putting some money in the watchman's
hand. The watchman thought for a while. 'I shall have to see the
authorities,' he said at last.
"'I'll wait here,' said Pekka, and wait he did.
"When the guardian of the place returned he was all smiles. 'All right,'
he said and set to work clearing the space. Then he brought rugs and a
big fur coat on which the man could sleep.
"The weather was warm and the bed couldn't have been very uncomfortable,
for Pekka stayed there three nights. He declared afterwards that he
dreamt wonderful dreams of the time when three races, the Swedes, the
Russians and the Finns, struggled for the possession of this spot. One
night he awoke shouting: 'The enemy! the enemy!' and then found that the
invaders were only some of the many bats, who thought that they had a
better right than he to this castle home."
Here the aunt brought forth some interesting photographs which she had
taken at Helsingfors. One was an active scene at the open air market
when the autumn sailing fleet came to sell winter provisions. It showed
the peasant carts and the bright stalls covered with white awnings and
blue umbrellas, the market women in gay attire, the butchers in bright
pink coats or blouses, and the boats laden with fruit and vegetables,
kegs of salted fish, and honey. There was also a picture taken earlier
in the year, showing one of the principal harbors with crafts of every
shape and size. There were enormous passenger boats, little market boats
rowed by bare-armed women, small pleasure yachts, big timber ships with
red brown sails, and a group of white Russian war vessels.
She had pictures, too, in which the older members of the family were
interested, showing two very distinct styles of architecture to be found
in Helsingfors. One was of a group of fine modern buildings on a broad
street called the Myntgatan. They were of gray stone, six or seven
stories high, dignified and well proportioned, with carefully selected
classical decorations. In contrast to this, she produced photographs of
other buildings of decided Finnish individuality. These buildings
showed great variety, being of rough granite or brick, with tiled roofs,
unusual balconies and porticos, fantastic plaster decorations, such as a
group of frogs, a procession of swimming swans, a bunch of carrots and
turnips, or a savage animal head.
Another group of pictures showed the types of work done by Helsingfors
women. In one of these a number of women were cleaning the streets,
using immense brooms for the sweeping. In one, they were washing clothes
on platforms built out into the sea. In still another, several stood on
a scaffold, plastering a house, while three others were at work
constructing a door.
Of all the pictures Maja liked best a view of the statue of Runeberg,
the national poet, showing how it was decorated with flowers and laurels
on the anniversary of his birthday. Juhani was attracted more
particularly to a picture of a magnificent horse harnessed to a sleigh,
his loins covered with a cloak coming far down to keep out the cold.
The aunt presented these to the children. "Our people are kind to their
horses," she said to Juhani; then turning to Maja: "On Runeberg's
birthday not only is his statue in the square decorated, but all houses
are lit up to show he is remembered, while in every restaurant people
give festal dinners in his honor."
Then the aunt brought forth something that the children appreciated
still more than the pictures. It was a sort of cake, especially peculiar
to Viborg, made in the form of a lover's knot, and it had been baked on
straw, some of which still stuck to the bottom.
CHAPTER VIII
SUMMER TIME
IN April the melting snow and ice showed that spring was on the way. How
dirty and muddy it was everywhere! Instead of skis, the children had to
wade to school in well greased boots.
New kinds of festivities took the place of the old. At Easter time eggs
were painted and the family feasted on _memma_, a dish of boiled
sweetened malt, eaten with cream and sugar.
On the first of May big swings were erected in the grove near the church
and there the people gathered from a considerable distance, the children
to swing and frolic, and their elders to listen to the singing of runes,
some so ancient that the meaning was no longer plain, or to speeches
welcoming the return of spring.
"Let's play! Let's play!" the children shouted as if they hadn't also
played in the winter. Play they did. Sometimes it was "Last Pair Out."
In this the boys and girls formed pairs and stood behind each other. At
a signal the last couples separated, each going on different sides of
the line and trying to unite in front before being caught by the one who
was "It." They danced "To-day is the First of May" in a double circle,
and the "Ring Dance" to which they sang:
My love is like a strawberry,
So red and sweet is she:
And no one else may swing her round,
No one else 'cept me.
There was one little girl who was quite a leader in the games. Perhaps
the reason was the enthusiastic way in which she played. She seemed to
have two favorites: "Hide and Seek," in which the children counted out
to see who was to be "It," and "Wolf." Both boys and girls played the
latter as they did most of the other games. Juhani was the first to be
the "Wolf," to the apparent joy of the leader, who took particular
delight in teasing and escaping from him until he just ran her down and
caught her.
Maja did not play this. She had found some children younger than herself
whom she joined in making miniature farms out of stones and sand. The
first building which she erected was not the dwelling-house but the
_Sauna_ or bath-house. Then followed the other farm buildings, and last
the cattle had stones carefully selected for them.
The spring, ushered in with such hearty welcome, went with a surprising
swiftness, and summer arrived with intense blue skies and floods of
sunshine and flowers. This was the time of the white nights,--a happy
holiday time,--when the sun shines for more than eighteen hours at a
time and for the remainder of the twenty-four leaves generously its
reflection behind.
[Illustration: "WOUND COLORED YARN AROUND THE RYE STALKS"]
During this springtime weather Maja saw that there were fresh wild
flowers--pansies, lilies of the valley, lilacs, or wild roses--daily in
the living-room. She loved the spring particularly for these. "How I
love the flowers!" she would exclaim enthusiastically to Juhani whenever
she found a new one.
Juhani would smile slowly, look thoughtfully into the distance, and
after a pause return: "I like the spring for many things, but best I
think for the change in the forest." Maja knew that he meant the new
bits of sunshine everywhere and the new growth of needles that glistened
so green against the background of the dark pines, and all the new bird
calls to be heard there.
In June the schools closed, and for a while nothing was talked of but
the preparations for the great midsummer festival to be held on June
twenty-fourth, John the Baptist Day.
There seemed no end of things to be done to show gladness. Maja wove
garlands of flowers, while Juhani and his friends cut down great
branches of birch trees in the forest, with which to decorate the
houses. Lilja and her girl friends were also busy. They went to the
fields and wound colored yarn around the rye stalks, arranging them to
indicate joy and sorrow, love and hate. Before the grain was harvested
these marked stalks would be found and the year's fortune foretold
according to which was highest.
Big bonfires, called _kokko_, were lit on all the highest points, and
also on rafts on the lake in honor of the Sun. These were kept burning
for twenty-four hours, for it is considered unlucky for them to go out
sooner. Around these the people gathered to dance, many of them coming
from a distance in farm carts trimmed with birch and filled with hay.
There was a feast, too, of warm soup, cold salmon, and fancy cakes. The
swings must not be forgotten. Several of them had been erected and not
merely for the children. On some, young men and women swung together,
while they sang the beautiful melancholy songs about this beautiful
fleeting time.
During this season tourists invaded the country districts, some on their
way to Aavasaksa Hill where the sun can then be seen at midnight,
shedding gray, faintly luminous rays. Among those who came were many
Russians of the wealthy and middle classes.
It was not all play. There was much, very much hard work in which the
children all had their set tasks. Juhani had to drive the cattle through
the woodlands, assist Lilja with the milking, and help make hay. Maja
had to gather berries, of which there was a great abundance. It is true
there were compensations for all these tasks. If children had to gather
berries, they could also eat big bowls of them with thick cream added,
at every meal. Some of the berries Maja gathered she sold to passengers
on the lake steamers. When she intended doing so, she made birch baskets
for them by stripping off a foot square of bark and bending it into the
shape of a box without a lid, then sewing the sides with twigs.
She had also to gather sacks full of _luikku_, a soft white cotton
flower with an odd perfume, to be used for stuffing the family pillows.
Although it was vacation there was one school task that all the children
had to do or cared to do. It was gathering, pressing, and mounting as
many as possible of the numerous wild flowers everywhere found in the
woods and fields. The best presented at the beginning of the school term
were always put on exhibition.
The only disagreeable part of the warm weather was the annoyance from
mosquitoes. This made it necessary to light smoldering fires for the
protection of the cattle who seemed to appreciate the fires, for without
being driven they would cluster around them. Twigs of juniper were
burned in the house for the same purpose. It was not always easy to get
juniper, for it grows only in clay soil and Maja and her friends
sometimes had a long tramp after it.
Once, remembering the story of the Lapp children, Juhani smeared tar all
over his face and hands and then teased Maja by threatening to put some
on her too.
After July, the long magic days grew shorter, and when the days and
nights were again almost equal, the children found themselves planning
what they would do when school reopened.
THE END
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Register-Democrat._
"There is a lofty ideal throughout, some court
intrigue, a smattering of the decadence of the old
church heads, and a readable story."--_Middletown
Press._
THE BOYS' STORY OF THE RAILROAD SERIES
By BURTON E. STEVENSON
_Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated_, $1.75
=THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST.
"The whole range of section railroading is covered in the
story."--_Chicago Post._
=THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER=
"A vivacious account of the varied and often hazardous nature of
railroad life."--_Congregationalist._
=THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER=
"It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to anyone who loves a
good, wholesome, thrilling, informing yarn."--_Passaic News._
=THE YOUNG APPRENTICE=; OR, ALLAN WEST'S CHUM.
"The story is intensely interesting."--_Baltimore Sun._
THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY SERIES
Of Worth While Classics for Boys and Girls
_Revised and Edited for the Modern Reader_
_Each large 12mo, illustrated and with a poster
jacket in full color_ $2.00
=THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY= By W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
=THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS= By C. M. YONGE.
=ERLING THE BOLD= By R. M. BALLANTYNE.
=WINNING HIS KNIGHTHOOD=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF RAOULF DE GYSSAGE.
By H. TURING BRUCE.
"Tales which ring to the clanking of armour, tales of marches and
counter-marches, tales of wars, but tales which bring peace; a peace and
contentment in the knowledge that right, even in the darkest times, has
survived and conquered."--_Portland Evening Express._
BARBARA WINTHROP SERIES
By HELEN KATHERINE BROUGHALL
_Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated_ $2.00
=BARBARA WINTHROP AT BOARDING SCHOOL=
=BARBARA WINTHROP AT CAMP=
=BARBARA WINTHROP: GRADUATE=
=BARBARA WINTHROP ABROAD=
"Full of adventure--initiations, joys, picnics, parties, tragedies,
vacation and all. Just what girls like, books in which 'dreams come
true,' entertaining 'gossipy' books overflowing with conversation."--_Salt
Lake City Deseret News._
"High ideals and a real spirit of fun underlie the stories. They will be
a decided addition to the bookshelves of the young girl for whom a
holiday gift is contemplated."--_Los Angeles Saturday Night._
DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL SERIES
By MARION AMES TAGGART
Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume, $1.75
=THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL=
"A charming story of the ups and downs of the life of
a dear little maid."--_The Churchman._
=SWEET NANCY=: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL.
"Just the sort of book to amuse, while its influence
cannot but be elevating."--_New York Sun._
=NANCY, THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE PARTNER=
"The story is sweet and fascinating, such as many
girls of wholesome tastes will enjoy."--_Springfield
Union._
=NANCY PORTER'S OPPORTUNITY=
"Nancy shows throughout that she is a splendid young
woman, with plenty of pluck."--_Boston Globe._
=NANCY AND THE COGGS TWINS=
"The story is refreshing."--_New York Sun._
THE PEGGY RAYMOND SERIES
By HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH
_Each one volume, cloth, decorative, 12mo,
illustrated, per volume_ $1.75
=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SUCCESS=; OR, THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE.
"It is a book that cheers, that inspires to higher
thinking; it knits hearts; it unfolds neighborhood
plans in a way that makes one tingle to try carrying
them out, and most of all it proves that in daily
life, threads of wonderful issues are being woven in
with what appears the most ordinary of material, but
which in the end brings results stranger than the most
thrilling fiction."--_Belle Kellogg Towne in The Young
People's Weekly, Chicago._
=PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION=
"It is a clean, wholesome, hearty story, well told and
full of incident. It carries one through experiences
that hearten and brighten the day."--_Utica, N. Y.,
Observer._
=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS=
"It is a bright, entertaining story, with happy girls,
good times, natural development, and a gentle
earnestness of general tone."--_The Christian
Register, Boston._
=PEGGY RAYMOND'S FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE=
"The story is told in easy and entertaining style and
is a most delightful narrative, especially for young
people. It will also make the older readers feel
younger, for while reading it they will surely live
again in the days of their youth."--_Troy Budget._
=PEGGY RAYMOND'S WAY=
"The author has again produced a story that is replete
with wholesome incidents and makes Peggy more lovable
than ever as a companion and leader."--_World of
Books._
FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES
By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON
_Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per
volume_ (_unless otherwise stated_) $2.00
=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS=
"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young readers
with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."--_New York
Sun._
=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS=
"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation of
battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the whites
for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United States
History."--_New York Marine Journal._
=FAMOUS SCOUTS=
"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
and young men."--_New London Day._
=FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA=
"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
stirring the blood with thrilling force."--_Pittsburgh Post._
=FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER=
"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable, making a
book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
adventure."--_Cleveland Leader._
=FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF AMERICA=
"The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and bravest adventures of
which the world has known."--_Brooklyn Daily Eagle._
=FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR=
Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.
"The pages of this book have the charm of romance without its unreality.
The book illuminates, with life-like portraits, the history of the World
War."--_Rochester Post Express._
=FAMOUS AMERICAN ATHLETES OF TODAY=
Cloth 12mo, illustrated from specially autographed
photographs $2.50
"From Lindy to Bobby Jones, including Helen and Trudy, they are all
here--and a right fine company they are. We are not acquainted with
anyone who will not enjoy these fascinating stories of virile
people."--_Monthly Book Talk._
By EDWIN WILDMAN
=THE FOUNDERS OF AMERICA= (Lives of Great Americans from the Revolution
to the Monroe Doctrine)
=THE BUILDERS OF AMERICA= (Lives of Great Americans from the Monroe
Doctrine to the Civil War)
=FAMOUS LEADERS OF CHARACTER= (Lives of Great Americans from the Civil
War to Today)
=FAMOUS LEADERS OF INDUSTRY.=--First Series
=FAMOUS LEADERS OF INDUSTRY.=--Second Series
"These biographies drive home the truth that just as every soldier of
Napoleon carried a marshal's baton in his knapsack, so every American
youngster carries potential success under his hat."--_New York World._
By CHARLES LEE LEWIS
_Professor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis_
=FAMOUS AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICERS= With a complete index.
"In connection with the life of John Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur, and
other famous naval officers, he groups the events of the period in which
the officer distinguished himself, and combines the whole into a
colorful and stirring narrative."--_Boston Herald._
STORIES BY EVALEEN STEIN
_Each one volume, 12mo, illustrated_ $1.65
=GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK=
=A LITTLE SHEPHERD OF PROVENCE=
=THE CHRISTMAS PORRINGER=
=THE LITTLE COUNT OF NORMANDY=
=PEPIN: A Tale of Twelfth Night=
=CHILDREN'S STORIES=
=THE CIRCUS DWARF STORIES=
=WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY=
=TROUBADOUR TALES=
"No works in juvenile fiction contain so many of the elements that stir
the hearts of children and grown-ups as well as do the stories so
admirably told by this author."--_Louisville Daily Courier._
"Evaleen Stein's stories are music in prose--they are like pearls on a
chain of gold--each word seems exactly the right word in the right
place; the stories sing themselves out, they are so beautifully
expressed."--_The Lafayette Leader._
MINUTE BOYS SERIES
BY JAMES OTIS AND EDWARD STRATEMEYER
_Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, fully
illustrated, per volume_ $1.50
This series of books for boys needs no recommendation. We venture to say
that there are few boys of any age in this broad land who do not know
and love both these authors and their stirring tales.
These books, as shown by their titles, deal with periods in the history
of the development of our great country which are of exceeding interest
to every patriotic American boy--and girl. Places and personages of
historical interest are here presented to the young reader in story
form, and a great deal of real information is unconsciously gathered.
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF PHILADELPHIA=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF BOSTON=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF NEW YORK CITY=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF LONG ISLAND=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF SOUTH CAROLINA=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF THE WYOMING VALLEY=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF THE GREEN MOUNTAINS=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF BUNKER HILL=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF LEXINGTON=
=THE MINUTE BOYS OF YORKTOWN=
THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES
BY HARRISON ADAMS
_Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.65
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO=; OR, CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
=THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES=; OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE IROQUOIS.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI=; OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE
WILDERNESS.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI=; OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE=; OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF WONDERS.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA=; OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT
NORTHWEST.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLORADO=; OR, BRAVING THE PERILS OF THE GRAND
CANYON COUNTRY.
=THE PIONEER BOYS OF KANSAS=; OR, A PRAIRIE HOME IN BUFFALO LAND.
"Such books as these are an admirable means of stimulating among the
young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
"Not only interesting, but instructive as well and shows the sterling
type of character which these days of self-reliance and trial
produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
"The stories are full of spirited action and contain much valuable
historical information. Just the sort of reading a boy will enjoy
immensely."--_Boston Herald._
HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES
BY LAURA E. RICHARDS
Eleven Volumes
The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and
ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular
series of books for girls ever written.
_Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated,
per volume_ $1.75
_The eleven volumes boxed as a set_ $19.25
LIST OF TITLES
=QUEEN HILDEGARDE=
=HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY=
=HILDEGARDE'S HOME=
=HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS=
=HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST=
=THREE MARGARETS=
=MARGARET MONTFORT=
=PEGGY=
=RITA=
=FERNLEY HOUSE=
=THE MERRYWEATHERS=
HONOR BRIGHT SERIES
BY LAURA E. RICHARDS
_Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated_ $1.75
=HONOR BRIGHT=
"This is a story that rings as true and honest as the name of the young
heroine--Honor--and not only the young girls, but the old ones will find
much to admire and to commend in the beautiful character of
Honor."--_Constitution, Atlanta, Ga._
=HONOR BRIGHT'S NEW ADVENTURE=
"Girls will love the story and it has plot enough to interest the older
reader as well."--_St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat._
DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE FOLKS
By LAURA E. RICHARDS
=THREE MINUTE STORIES=
_Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color
and many text illustrations_ $1.75
"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and
poems."--_Indianapolis News._
=FIVE MINUTE STORIES=
_Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated_ $1.75
A charming collection of short stories and clever poems for children.
=MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES=
_Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated_ $1.75
A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems for children, which
will prove as popular with mothers as with boys and girls.
THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS
(Trade Mark)
BY ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume. $2.00
=THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES=
(Trade Mark)
Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner Series, "The
Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of Kentucky," and "The Giant
Scissors," in a single volume.
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING-SCHOOL=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING=
(Trade Mark)
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM, MARY WARE=
(Trade Mark)
=MARY WARE IN TEXAS=
=MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND=
_These twelve volumes, boxed as a set, $24.00._
=THE ROAD OF THE LOVING HEART=
_Cloth decorative, with special designs and illustrations_ $1.25
In choosing her title, Mrs. Johnston had in mind "The Road of the Loving
Heart," that famous highway, built by the natives of Hawaii, from their
settlement to the home of Robert Louis Stevenson, as a memorial of their
love and respect for the man who lived and labored among them, and whose
example of a loving heart has never been forgotten. This story of a
little princess and her faithful pet bear, who finally do discover "The
Road of the Loving Heart," is a masterpiece of sympathy and
understanding and beautiful thought.
THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES
_Each small 16mo, decorative boards, per volume_ $0.75
=IN THE DESERT OF WAITING=: THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN.
THE THREE WEAVERS: A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND MOTHERS AS WELL AS FOR
THEIR DAUGHTERS.
=KEEPING TRYST=: A TALE OF KING ARTHUR'S TIME.
=THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART=
=THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME=: A FAIRY PLAY FOR OLD AND YOUNG.
=THE JESTER'S SWORD=
=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S GOOD TIMES BOOK=
Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series $2.50
Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold 6.00
Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg.
"A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may record the good times
she has on decorated pages, and under the directions as it were of Annie
Fellows Johnston."--_Buffalo Express._
THE SANDMAN SERIES
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume $1.75
BY WILLIAM J. HOPKINS
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS FARM STORIES.
"Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who take the little ones to
bed and rack their brains for stories will find this book a
treasure."--_Cleveland Leader._
=THE SANDMAN=: MORE FARM STORIES.
"Children will call for these stories over and over again."--_Chicago
Evening Post._
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS SHIP STORIES.
"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and their
parents will read between the lines and recognize the poetic and
artistic work of the author."--_Indianapolis News._
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS SEA STORIES.
"Once upon a time there was a man who knew little children and the kind
of stories they liked, so he wrote four books of Sandman's stories, all
about the farm or the sea, and the brig _Industry_, and this book is one
of them."--_Canadian Congregationalist._
BY JENNY WALLIS
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS SONGS AND RHYMES.
"Here is a fine collection of poems for mothers and friends to use at
the twilight hour. They are not of the soporific kind especially. They
are wholesome reading when most wide-awake and of such a soothing and
delicious flavor that they are welcome when the lights are
low."--_Christian Intelligencer._
BY HELEN I. CASTELLA
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS FAIRY STORIES.
This time the Sandman comes in person, and takes little Joyce, who
believes in him, to the wonderful land of Nod. There they procure pots
and pans from the pansy bed, a goose from the gooseberry bush, a chick
from the chickweed, corn from the cornflower, and eat on a box from the
boxwood hedge. They have almost as many adventures as Alice in
Wonderland.
By HARRY W. FREES
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS ANIMAL STORIES.
"The simplicity of the stories and the fascinating manner in which they
are written make them an excellent night-cap for the youngster who is
easily excited into wakefulness."--_Pittsburgh Leader._
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS KITTYCAT STORIES.
"The Sandman is a wonderful fellow. First he told farm stories, then
ship stories, then sea stories. And now he tells stories about the
kittens and the fun they had in Kittycat Town. A strange thing about
these kittens is the ability to talk, work and play like boys and girls,
and that is why all of the little tots will like the Sandman's
book."--_Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph._
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS BUNNY STORIES.
"The whole book is filled with one tale after another and is narrated in
such a pleasing manner as to reach the heart of every child."--_Common
Sense, Chicago._
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS PUPPY STORIES.
Another volume of Mr. Frees' inimitable stories for tiny tots, this time
about the "doggie mothers who lived with their puppies" on the other
side of Kitty-way lane in Animal Land. The illustrations are from
photographs posed by the author with the same appeal which has
characterized his previous pictures.
By W. S. PHILLIPS
(EL COMANCHO)
=THE SANDMAN=: HIS INDIAN STORIES.
The Indian tales for this Celebrated Series of Children's Bedtime
Stories have been written by a man who has Indian blood, who spent years
of his life among the Redmen, in one of the tribes of which he is an
honored member, and who is an expert interpreter of the Indian viewpoint
and a practised authority on Indians as well as a master teller of
tales.
THE MARJORY-JOE SERIES
By ALICE E. ALLEN
_Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated,
per volume_ $1.50
=JOE, THE CIRCUS BOY AND ROSEMARY=
These are two of Miss Allen's earliest and most successful stories,
combined in a single volume to meet the insistent demands from young
people for these two particular tales.
=THE MARTIE TWINS=: Continuing the Adventures of Joe, the Circus Boy
"The chief charm of the story is that it contains so much of human
nature. It is so real that it touches the heart strings."--_New York
Standard._
=MARJORY, THE CIRCUS GIRL=
A sequel to "Joe, the Circus Boy," and "The Martie Twins."
=MARJORY AT THE WILLOWS=
Continuing the story of Marjory, the Circus Girl.
"Miss Allen does not write impossible stories, but delightfully pins her
little folk right down to this life of ours, in which she ranges
vigorously and delightfully."--_Boston Ideas._
=MARJORY'S HOUSE PARTY=: Or, What Happened at Clover Patch
"Miss Allen certainly knows how to please the children and tells them
stories that never fail to charm."--_Madison Courier._
=MARJORY'S DISCOVERY=
This new addition to the popular MARJORY-JOE SERIES is as lovable and
original as any of the other creations of this writer of charming
stories. We get little peeps at the precious twins, at the healthy
minded Joe and sweet Marjory. There is a bungalow party, which lasts the
entire summer, in which all of the characters of the previous
MARJORY-JOE stories participate, and their happy times are delightfully
depicted.
THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES
(TRADE MARK)
Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, each $1.00
By LAURA E. RICHARDS, ANNA C. WINLOW, Etc.
Our Little African Cousin
Our Little Alaskan Cousin
Our Little Arabian Cousin
Our Little Argentine Cousin
Our Little Armenian Cousin
Our Little Australian Cousin
Our Little Austrian Cousin
Our Little Belgian Cousin
Our Little Bohemian Cousin
Our Little Brazilian Cousin
Our Little Bulgarian Cousin
Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Great Northwest
Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Maritime Provinces
Our Little Chilean Cousin
Our Little Chinese Cousin
Our Little Cossack Cousin
Our Little Cuban Cousin
Our Little Czecho-Slovak Cousin
Our Little Danish Cousin
Our Little Dutch Cousin
Our Little Egyptian Cousin
Our Little English Cousin
Our Little Eskimo Cousin
Our Little Finnish Cousin
Our Little French Cousin
Our Little German Cousin
Our Little Grecian Cousin
Our Little Hawaiian Cousin
Our Little Hindu Cousin
Our Little Hungarian Cousin
Our Little Indian Cousin
Our Little Irish Cousin
Our Little Italian Cousin
Our Little Japanese Cousin
Our Little Jewish Cousin
Our Little Jugoslav Cousin
Our Little Korean Cousin
Our Little Lapp Cousin
Our Little Lithuanian Cousin
Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin
Our Little Mexican Cousin
Our Little Norwegian Cousin
Our Little Panama Cousin
Our Little Persian Cousin
Our Little Philippine Cousin
Our Little Polish Cousin
Our Little Porto Rican Cousin
Our Little Portuguese Cousin
Our Little Quebec Cousin
Our Little Roumanian Cousin
Our Little Russian Cousin
Our Little Scotch Cousin
Our Little Servian Cousin
Our Little Siamese Cousin
Our Little South African (Boer) Cousin
Our Little Spanish Cousin
Our Little Swedish Cousin
Our Little Swiss Cousin
Our Little Turkish Cousin
Our Little Welsh Cousin
Our Little West Indian Cousin
THE LITTLE COUSINS OF LONG AGO
Our Little Athenian Cousin
Our Little Carthaginian Cousin
Our Little Celtic Cousin
Our Little Crusader Cousin
Our Little Feudal Cousin
Our Little Florentine Cousin
Our Little Frankish Cousin
Our Little Macedonian Cousin
Our Little Norman Cousin
Our Little Roman Cousin
Our Little Saxon Cousin
Our Little Spartan Cousin
Our Little Viking Cousin
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
First advertising page, price was stamped out and a new price stamped
in.
Page 44, "it" changed to "is" (ground is covered)
Page 55, "remainded" changed to "remained" (remained at his post)
Page 63, "awkardly" changed to "awkwardly" (stepped forward awkwardly)
Page 89, "anniversity" changed to "anniversary" (anniversary of his
birthday)
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Our Little Finnish Cousin, by
Clara Vostrovsky Winlow
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