In the summer of 1866 there was an unusually large number of children at Mårbacka. Besides Daniel and Johan Lagerlöf, sons of the house, there were Teodor, Otto, and Hugo Hammargren, cousins on the paternal side, who, with their parents, were spending the whole summer at Mårbacka. Ernst and Klas Schenson, cousins on the maternal side, had also come for the summer. But, indeed, they were not all! Herman, Bernhard, and Edvin Milén of the neighbouring farm, must also be counted as members of the company, and Adolf Noreen of Herrestad came over two or three times a week to play with the boys. And of course there were Anna, Selma, and Gerda Lagerlöf, though Gerda, who was only three years old, hardly counted; nor were Anna and Selma of any importance when there were so many boys around.
That summer the lads had hit upon a jollier and more satisfying pastime than any of previous years. The first few weeks they spent in the usual way—picking berries, lying on the grass, swinging in the rope-swing, shooting arrows, pitching quoits, and playing leap-frog. But after a time they wearied of these
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