There had been heavy hoar frosts for several nights, and the trees had
become perfectly white,--the pines standing straight as powdered
sentinels, the birches bending under their silvery covering like frozen
fountains of spray. The ice was covered with skaters, their sharp steel
shoes flashing in the sun, their merry laughter ringing out in the cold,
crisp air.

It seemed as if everyone in Stockholm were skating, or snow-shoeing, or
skimming over the fields of snow on long skis. Even Fru Ekman, after
making Karen comfortable in the casino, strapped a pair of skates on her
own feet and astonished the little girl with the wonderful circles and
figures she could cut on the ice.

There was no place for beginners in such a company. And indeed, it almost
seemed as if Swedish boys and girls could skate without beginning, for
many little children were darting about among the crowds of grown people.

Of course Karen's eyes were fixed most often upon the twins, and as they
chased each other over the hurdles, or wound in and out among the
sail-skaters and long lines of merry-makers, for the first time in her
life she had a feeling of envy.

When Gerda left the skaters at last, to sit for a while beside her
friend, she saw at once the thought that was in Karen's mind. So, instead
of speaking about the fun of skating, she began to talk about the
doctor's promise that the lame back would be entirely cured before
summer.

"And there is really just as much fun in the summer-time," she said, "for