Then the reindeer jumped for joy; and the little robber-girl lifted Gerda
on his back, and had the forethought to tie her on, and even to give her her
own little cushion to sit on.
“Here are your fur boots for you,” said she; “for it will be very cold; but I
must keep the muff; it is so pretty. However, you shall not be frozen for the
want of it; here are my mother’s large warm mittens; they will reach up to
your elbows. Let me put them on. There, now your hands look just like my
mother’s.”
But Gerda wept for joy.
“I don’t like to see you fret,” said the little robber-girl; “you ought to look
quite happy now; and here are two loaves and a ham, so that you need not
starve.” These were fastened on the reindeer, and then the little robber-
maiden opened the door, coaxed in all the great dogs, and then cut the string
with which the reindeer was fastened, with her sharp knife, and said, “Now
run, but mind you take good care of the little girl.” And then Gerda
stretched out her hand, with the great mitten on it, towards the little robber-
girl, and said, “Farewell,” and away flew the reindeer, over stumps and
stones, through the great forest, over marshes and plains, as quickly as he
could. The wolves howled, and the ravens screamed; while up in the sky
quivered red lights like flames of fire. “There are my old northern lights,”
said the reindeer; “see how they flash.” And he ran on day and night still
faster and faster, but the loaves and the ham were all eaten by the time they
reached Lapland.
Sixth Story: The Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman
They stopped at a little hut; it was very mean looking; the roof sloped
nearly down to the ground, and the door was so low that the family had to
creep in on their hands and knees, when they went in and out. There was no
one at home but an old Lapland woman, who was cooking fish by the light
of a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her all about Gerda’s story, after
having first told his own, which seemed to him the most important, but
Gerda was so pinched with the cold that she could not speak. “Oh, you poor
