"Will the daylight never end!" sighed Gerda, looking out at the red and
yellow sky which told that sunset was near. Then she tied a new blue
ribbon on her hair and ran to help Karen.

"The postman has just left two big packages," she whispered to her
friend. "I looked over the stairs and saw him give them to the maid."

"Perhaps one is for me," replied Karen. "Mother wrote that she was
sending me a box."

"Come, girls," called Birger at last; "Father says it is dark enough now
to light the tree." And so it was, although it was only three o'clock,
for it begins to grow dark early in Stockholm, and the winter days are
very short.

All the family gathered in the hall, the doors were thrown open, and a
blaze of light and color met their eyes from the sparkling, shining tree.
With a shout of joy the children skipped round and round it in a merry
Christmas dance, and even Karen hopped about with her crutch.

The cook in her white apron, and the maids in their white caps, stood in
the doorway adding their chorus of "ohs!" and "ahs!" to the general
excitement; and then, after a little while, the whole family gathered
around the table while Herr Ekman gave out the presents.

It took a long time, as there were so many gifts for each one, and with
almost every gift there was a funny rhyme to be read aloud and laughed
over. But no one was in a hurry. They wondered and guessed; they peeped
into every package; they admired everything.