Children of the moor

"Children of the Moor" by Laura Fitinghoff is a children's novel written in the early 20th century. Set during a famine in northern Sweden, the story follows seven orphaned siblings—led by the resolute Andy—and their milk-giving goat, Golden Horn, as they trek from settlement to settlement seeking food, shelter, and kindness. It’s a tale of endurance, faith, and the contrasts between generosity and hard-heartedness they meet along the way. The opening of the novel sketches the bleak famine in Norrland, the father’s death and the mother’s passing, and the children’s flight to avoid the poorhouse, with Andy pulling a sled that carries the youngest girls. On the road they stave off fear of wolves by singing, then find unexpected refuge with “the Spectacle Man,” a lame shoemaker (Ladd-Pelle) who feeds them; in return they clean his cottage, bake bread, and he crafts new shoes for their blistered feet. Pressing on, they are rebuffed at a prosperous farm, then overtaken by a storm on the frozen river; amid the whiteout the toddler Martha-Greta falls from the sled unnoticed, and Andy searches in vain. Meanwhile a forester discovers the child, carries her to his warm home, and his compassionate wife tends her—while the rest of the children struggle forward through the snow, now separated from their smallest sister.

Children of the moor, by Laura Fitinghoff. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #76142.