rs have taken the business all away from
them. They hired a boat for the season, and paid the owner one half of
the fares."

"Their costume is rather picturesque," added Paul.

"But that woman is far from handsome," laughed Mrs. Kendall.

"None of them are pretty," replied the doctor.

The dress was a rather short petticoat, with a fanciful bodice, in
which red predominated. Quite a number of them were seen by the party
during their stay in Stockholm, but all of them had coarse features
and clumsy forms.

The carriage returned to the centre of the city by another street,
passing through Carl XIII. Torg, or square, where stands the statue of
that king.

"There is the Cafe Blanche, where they have music every afternoon in
summer, with beer, coffee, and other refreshments. The Swedes are very
fond of these gardens," said Moeller. "Here is the Hotel Rydberg. This
is Gustaf Adolf Torget, and that is his statue."

Crossing the bridge to the little island in the stream, the carriage
stopped, to enable the party to look down into the garden, which is
called Stroemparterren, where a band plays, and refreshments are
dispensed in the warm evenings of summer. Passing the immense
palace, the tourists drove along the Skeppsbron, or quay, which is the
principal landing-place of the steamers. Crossing another bridge over
the south stream, or outlet of Lake Maeler, they entered the southern
suburb of the city, called Soedermalm. Ascending to the highest point
of land, the party were conducted to the roof of a house, where a
magnificent view of the city and its surroundings was obtained.

"We will sit down here and rest a while," said the doctor, suiting the
action to the words. "This promontory, or some other one near it, was
formerly called Agne's Rock, and there is a story connected with it.
Agne was the king of Sweden about 220 B.C. In a war with the Finns, he
killed their king, and captured his daughter Skiolfa. The princess,
according to the custom of those days, became the wife, but
practically the slave, of her captor. She was brought to Sweden, where
Agne and his retainers got beastly drunk on the occasion of
celebrating the memorial rites of her father. Skiolfa, with the
assistance of her Finnish companions, passed a rope through the
massive gold chain on the neck of the king, and hung him to a tree,
beneath which their tent was pitched. Having avenged the death of her
father, the princess and her friends embarked in