His aunt nodded. "Yes; then the water looks like a mirror and it is much smoother than when covered with snow."
"Did you come direct from Helsingfors?" asked Lilja after a pause.
"No," replied the aunt. "I had to go first to Viborg." And she described to them the famous Saima Canal, one of the many canals of the country which starts from there. It is built of Finnish granite and took eleven years to complete. "It goes," she said, "to Saima Lake, called the lake of a thousand islands, the most important lake of Finland. This lake is about three hundred feet above the sea level, so that the vessels on the canal have to be raised by locks. There are at least twenty-eight of these. I once saw three steamers on it and they looked as if they were walking up stairs. We mustn't forget that this canal is one of the good things that we owe to the Russians. It probably would not have been constructed but for the interest of Tzar Nicolas I, during whose reign it was begun. Viborg seems to be made up of Russian soldiers, which of course is no wonder, since it is the nearest town to the Russian frontier."
She seemed inclined to say more but evidently thought better of it for she changed the conversation. "Some friends with whom I had dinner at Viborg told me a story that will interest you. It was regarding a relative that they called Pekka (Peter) and who for a while lived in the Castle of Olafsborg in the quaint town of Nyslott. It happened in this way. He came to Nyslott to attend the Musical Festival held there in the summer. The town was crowded and he despaired of getting a bed when he ran across an acquaintance to whom he told his troubles.
"'Unfortunately,' said the latter, 'I am a stranger here. I don't know a person,—except the watchman who has charge of the Castle.'
"The relative is of a somewhat romantic turn of mind. 'Excellent!' he said. 'Just the thing. Let's go over at once and hire a room from the watchman.'
"'Do you mean,' said his acquaintance incredulously, 'that you're willing to stay in a ruined castle—probably haunted—all night?'
"But the young man was stubborn, and the two secured a boat and rowed over to the Castle. Nyslott is built on islands but the castle has one of its own. When they landed they found the watchman, who, after some hesitation, offered the stranger his own room, which was in a separate little building put up for his benefit.
"But Pekka would not have it so. 'I'd rather you'd fix me up something in the castle itself.' The watchman thought this a joke and proposed that they wander through the building to find a place that would suit.