saying to each other something like this: 'See how these good-for-nothing
children go in good-for-nothing boats over this good-for-nothing
ditch.'"

"With their good-for-something father," cried Gerda, throwing her arms
around his neck and giving him a loving kiss.

"Am I really good for something?" he asked, as soon as he could
speak. "Well then, you must be good for something, too. In olden
times the Vikings sailed the seas and brought home many a treasure
from foreign shores. See that you take home some treasures from your
journey,--something that will remind you of the towns we visit and the
sights we see," and he put his hand into his pocket and took out three
coins.

"The Vikings had a fashion of taking what they wanted without paying for
it," suggested Birger.

"You'd better not try it now, my son," replied Herr Ekman; and he gave
each one of the children a krona.

"Here's a kringla to remind me of Södertelje," said Gerda, slipping one
of the cakes into her pocket; and then the three children went off to
the forward deck to watch the boat sail out into the ocean.

For fifty miles they sailed among wooded islands and rocky ledges, and
then entered the canal which connects the Baltic Sea with Lake Roxen. On
the way the boat stopped at two or three ports, and each tune the
children went ashore to buy a souvenir.