r in Jaemtland, where there were only vacant homesteads.
I'll take you wherever you wish to go,' said the boy, 'but not before
winter. It's spring now, and my reindeer go westward toward the
mountains. You know that we who are of the Samefolk must go where our
reindeer take us.' The Swedish girl was the daughter of wealthy parents.
She was used to living under a roof, sleeping in a bed, and eating at a
table. She had always despised the poor mountaineers and thought that
those who lived under the open sky were most unfortunate; but she was
afraid to return to her home, where there were none but the dead. 'At
least let me go with you to the mountains,' she said to the boy, 'so
that I sha'n't have to tramp about here all alone and never hear the
sound of a human voice.'

"The boy willingly assented, so the girl went with the reindeer to the
mountains.

"The herd yearned for the good pastures there, and every day tramped
long distances to feed on the moss. There was not time to pitch tents.
The children had to lie on the snowy ground and sleep when the reindeer
stopped to graze. The girl often sighed and complained of being so tired
that she must turn back to the valley. Nevertheless she went along to
avoid being left without human companionship.

"When they reached the highlands the boy pitched a tent for the girl on
a pretty hill that sloped toward a mountain brook.

"In the evening he lassoed and milked the reindeer, and gave the girl
milk to drink. He brought forth dried reindeer meat and reindeer cheese,
which his people had stowed away on the heights when they were there the
summer before.

"Still the girl grumbled all the while, and was never satisfied. She
would eat neither reindeer meat nor reindeer cheese, nor would she drink
reindeer milk. She could not accustom herself to squatting in the tent
or to lying on the ground with only a reindeer skin and some spruce
twigs for a bed.

"The son of the mountains laughed at her woes and continued to treat her
kindly.

"After a few days, the girl went up to the boy when he was milking and
asked if she might help him. She next undertook to make the fire under
the kettle, in which the reindeer meat was to be cooked, then to carry
water and to make cheese. So the time passed pleasantly. The weather was
mild and food was easily procured. Together they set snares for game,
fished for salmon-trout in the rapids and picked cloud-berries in the
swamp.

"When the summer