The morning of his departure he had thought of
setting out the midget's food in a blue bowl, but, unluckily, he had
been unable to find one. All the Skansen folk--Lapps, peasant girls,
artisans, and gardeners--had come to bid him good-bye, and he had had no
time to search for a blue bowl. It was time to start, and at the last
moment he had to ask the old Laplander to help him.
"One of the tiny folk happens to be living here at Skansen," said
Clement, "and every morning I set out a little food for him. Will you do
me the favour of taking these few coppers and purchasing a blue bowl
with them? Put a little gruel and milk in it, and to-morrow morning set
it out under the steps of Bollnaes cottage."
The old Laplander looked surprised, but there was no time for Clement to
explain further, as he had to be off to the railway station.
The Laplander went down to the zooelogical village to purchase the bowl.
As he saw no blue one that he thought appropriate, he bought a white
one, and this he conscientiously filled and set out every morning.
That was why the boy had not been released from his pledge. He knew that
Clement had gone away, but _he_ was not allowed to leave.
That night the boy longed more than ever for his freedom. This was
because summer had come now in earnest. During his travels he had
suffered much in cold and stormy weather, and when he first came to
Skansen he had thought that perhaps it was just as well that he had been
compelled to break the journey.
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