Karl is another boy at the picnic. He is fifteen years old. He speaks English very well from his study in school. Karl’s family go to the Fourth of July picnic because Karl’s uncle lives in America. Karl writes to his cousins in the United States. From them he has learned many things about our country.
Travelers in Denmark sometimes go to the Fourth of July picnic. They cannot feel strange on that picnic ground with the many American flags and the American songs.
Winter Sports in the North Land
1. With the Ski-jumpers
No sooner had Olaf entered the room where stood his Yule-tree than his eyes lighted on a big package standing behind the tree. “Skis,” he thought, “surely no other present could make such a huge package. But was his name on that package?”
Finally the moment came when his father called, “For Olaf,” and the big box was in Olaf’s hands. Olaf lost no time in opening the prize package. His eyes shone as he saw the new skis. At last he had a pair of skis fit for any ski-jumper!
Olaf had often watched ski-jumpers leap in the air like a bird and land safely on runners many feet away and go sliding gracefully down a steep hillside. Now he too could learn to be a ski-jumper!
Like most children of Norway and Sweden, Olaf had learned to run on skis when he was very young. By the time he had started to school, he could run very well. On that Christmas morning, Olaf’s little sister, only three years old, got a pair of skis too. Olaf gave her the first pair of skis he had used and she played in the snow on them, while Olaf tried his larger and finer pair.
