Chapter I: Front Matter

MÅRBACKA

BOOKS BY SELMA LAGERLÖF

JERUSALEM, A Novel

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

CHRIST LEGENDS

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF NILS

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

GIRL FROM THE MARSH CROFT

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

LEGEND OF THE SACRED IMAGE

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

MIRACLES OF ANTICHRIST

(_Trans. from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach_)

STORY OF GÖSTA BERLING

(_Trans. from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach_)

THE EMPEROR OF PORTUGALLIA

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

THE HOLY CITY, Jerusalem II

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

INVISIBLE LINKS

(_Trans. from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach_)

LILLIECRONA’S HOME

(_Trans. from Swedish by Anna Barwell_)

THE OUTCAST

(_Trans. from Swedish by W. Worster, M. A._)

MÅRBACKA

(_Trans. from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard_)

MÅRBACKA

BY

SELMA LAGERLÖF

TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH BY

VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

1925

COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES

AT

THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y.

CONTENTS

THE STRÖMSTAD JOURNEY

PAGE

I. The Nursemaid 1

II. Grand Company 10

III. The Drive to Karlstad 18

IV. In the Cabin on the _Uddeholm_ 21

V. At the Goldsmith’s Shop 26

VI. Gray Island 32

VII. The Bird of Paradise 39

VIII. The Keepsake 47

THE OLD HOUSEKEEPER’S TALES

I. Grandmother 53

II. The Ghost of Vilarstensbacken 55

III. Pastor Wennervik 63

IV. The Gander 67

V. The Lemmings 71

VI. The Neckan 80

VII. The Paymaster of the Regiment 84

VIII. The Militia-Men 96

OLD HOUSES AND OLD PEOPLE

I. The Stone Huts 105

II. The Money-Chest 112

III. The Larder on Stilts 120

IV. The Manservants’ Cottage 127

V. The _Jungfru_ 133

VI. The Bridal-Crown 142

VII. _Vackerfeldt_ 155

VIII. The Orchestra 169

THE NEW MÅRBACKA

I. The Seventeen Cats 179

II. The New Barn 188

III. The Garden 197

IV. The Roof Trusses 207

WORKDAYS AND FÊTE DAYS

I. Nooning 215

II. Mamselle Brorström 219

III. Riding to _Blåkulla_ 226

IV. Bellman Ballads 231

V. Boys and Girls 237

VI. The Old Soldier 244

VII. The Land of Heart’s Desire 247

VIII. The _Slom_ Season 252

IX. The Seventeenth of August 264

Postscript 285

THE STRÖMSTAD JOURNEY

MÅRBACKA