together with a pudding
made of salt herrings, skinned, boned, and cut in thin slices, which
are laid in a dish with slices of cold boiled potatoes and hard-boiled
eggs, covered with a dressing of cream, butter, and eggs-then baked
and served hot.

The fish, rice, and a fat goose are said to be served at every table
on Christmas from that of the king to that of the commonest of his
subjects.

Christmas morning opens with an early service in church, to which the
older members of the family go in sled parties of from forty to fifty
sleds, each drawn by one, two, or even three horses, over whose backs
jingle rows of silver-toned bells. The sled parties are an especial
feature of Christmas time. They start out while the stars are still
twinkling in the sky, and the lighted trees are illuminating the homes
they pass.

The day itself is observed with less hilarity than other days during
the season; the "Second Christmas," or day following, being far gayer.
Then begin the family parties, with the looking forward to the great
Twelfth-Night ball, after which the children and young folks end their
evening parties by untrimming the tree of their entertainer amidst
peals of laughter, songs, and shouts.

The tree, of course, has been supplied anew with candles, fruit, and
candy. The first are blown out and the last two struggled for while
the tree is drawn slowly toward the door out of which it is finally
pitched by the merry crowd.

The Swedes have four legal holidays at Yule, beginning the day
previous to Christmas, and they make merry while they last. Besides
having the _Jul-gran_ or Christmas tree, each family places in the
yard a pole with a sheaf of grain on top for the birds' Christmas
dinner, a pretty custom common to many countries.

Business is very generally suspended during Christmas, the day
following, Twelfth Day, and the twentieth day.

"Do as your forefathers have done, and you can't do wrong," is said to
be the motto of the Swedes. So the customs of their forefathers are
strictly observed at Yule-tide.

_Svea_, the feminine name of Sweden, the "Queen of the North,"
contains what is popularly believed to be the burial-places of Wodin,
Thor, and Freya. The mounds are about one mile from Upsala and are
visited by travelers from all parts of the world. Antiquarian
researchers, however, have recently had a word to say in doubt whether
these mounds contain the remains of the renowned beings, those ancient
trav