all directions, and then the owner and his dogs have hard work to round
them up again.

Now, as the dogs walked along behind their master, they stopped once in a
while to sniff the air, and their keen eyes seemed to see everything.

The country was wild and desolate. As far as the eye could reach, there
was nothing but low hills, bare and rocky, with dark forests of fir and
birch. It was cold and the wind blew in strong gusts. Tiny rills and
brooks, formed by the melted snow and the frequent rains, chattered
among the rocks; and in the deepest hollows there were still small
patches of snow.

Birger gathered up some of the snow and made a snowball. "Put it in your
pocket, and take it home to Oscar as a souvenir of Lapland," Gerda
suggested.

"No," he replied, taking out his camera, "I'll set it up on this rock and
take a picture of it,--snowball in July."

"You'd better wait until you see the reindeer before you begin taking
pictures," called Gerda, hurrying on without waiting for her brother.
In a few moments more they came in sight of the herd, and saw animals of
all sizes, many of them having superb, spreading antlers.

"Look," said Erik's father, pointing to the reindeer with pride, "there
are over three hundred deer,--all mine."

"All the needs of the mountain Lapps are supplied by the reindeer,"
Lieutenant Ekman told the children. "These useful animals furnish their