THE COURTYARD OF VOSBORGTHE COURTYARD OF VOSBORG
"We'll help you look for it," offered Greta. So the three began searching one shelf of books after another.
"I suppose Hans would say that one of the Nisser had taken it," said Anna jokingly, when they had gone about halfway through the shelves of books.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if onehadtaken it," answered Greta quite seriously.
They kept on looking for almost an hour. By this time Mr. Christianson was really worried. He finally called in all the servants and asked if any of them had been in the library that day. None of them had. The disappearance of the book had become a real mystery.
"I should hate to lose this book more than any other book in the library."
"Let's look once more on the shelf where it's supposed to be," said Anna.
Mr. Christianson laughed. "But we looked there very carefully when we first came in."
Anna wanted to look there again, so she ran down the long room to the special shelf.
"Here it is!" she shouted. "Right here on the shelf where it is always kept."
The others rushed up at once. "Well, thisisstrange," said Mr. Christianson. "Itwasn't here an hour ago, and no one has been in this part of the room since then."
"Except maybe a Nisse," said Greta.
In the front of the book Hans Christian Andersen had written a beautiful poem about Vosborg. It was no wonder that Mr. Christianson treasured this book, for Andersen is the most famous writer of all Denmark. Children all over the world love his fairy tales.
"It's getting late, Greta, and I think we should—" began Anna and then stopped. A long, low moan cut through the stillness of the room. It seemed to come from quite near.
"What—what was that?" asked Greta.
"Oh, I suppose that was Lady Margaret," explained Mr. Christianson. "About a hundred years ago she was kept a prisoner in this room for many years, and every now and then we hear her moaning."
"Did you ever see her?" asked Anna.
"Well, no, I never did. But whenever we hear that low moan from this room we know it is Lady Margaret."
"Doesn't it frighten you?" asked Greta.
"Oh, no. We are quite used to it."
"This is really a haunted castle, isn't it?" asked Anna.
"Every castle in Denmark has at leastoneghost, Anna."
All the way home the girls talked about the ghost of Lady Margaret. Anna was beginning to think that maybe there reallyweresuch things as ghosts and Nisser. When they reached the house, Hans was just getting out of his boat.
"Did you get any fish, Hans?" called Anna.
"No luck today, Anna."
"Are you sure you were trying to catch fish?" asked Greta, in her most teasing manner.
"What do you mean by that, Greta?"
"I thought maybe you had decided to go after books instead."
Anna looked at Hans. Could he have been playing a joke on them at Vosborg? Was it Hans who had taken the book and then put it back? But how could he have gotten into the library? And anyway, she and Greta had both seen him start down the river in the opposite direction.
Just then Greta's mother called from the door. "Anna, you have a letter from your mother."
"It's too bad you didn't take Chouse with you today, Greta," said Hans, when Anna had gone into the house.
"Why? What happened?"
"He was naughtier than he's ever been before. He chased the young turkeys all over the place and injured three or four of them."
"Did Father see him?"
"Yes. He came along just as Chouse caught one of the turkeys and he was terribly angry. You know how proud Father is of those turkeys."
"Oh, Hans, whatamI going to do?" sobbed Greta. "We can't seem to break Chouse of his awful habit of chasing things. And yet I can't bear to part with him."
Just then Anna came running out of the house. "Greta, I have the grandest news. Mother wants you to come to Copenhagen with me when I go home."
For a moment Greta forgot her worries about Chouse. "Oh, Anna, that will be wonderful. Let's ask Mother if I may go."
It was soon decided that Greta would go back to Copenhagen with Anna. At dinner that evening the girls talked about nothing else, for Greta had never been in Copenhagen before.
"While you are away, Greta, I'll look around and find a new home for Chouse," her father announced suddenly.
At last it had come—this terrible thing that she had been dreading.
"But I thought that Chouse had been a very good dog lately." For the moment Greta had forgotten Hans's report about the turkeys.
"I had hoped he would learn to behave better," said her father, "but today he injured several of the young turkeys, and I justcan'thave it, Greta. So we must find another home for him. I know how you love Chouse, and I hate to do this, but I don't see any other way out."
"Why can't Chouse come to Copenhagen with us?" asked Anna, hoping that maybe this would solve the problem, at least for a while.
"Do you think your mother would want him?"
"Oh, yes, I'm sure it would be all right with Mother," said Anna. "We don't have any chickens or turkeys, so Chouse couldn't very well get into mischief at my house."
Greta's father hesitated a minute or two before he answered, while Greta watched him anxiously. "All right, Anna, Chouse may go to Copenhagen with you and Greta."
A TYPICAL VILLAGE SCENEA TYPICAL VILLAGE SCENE
Greta sank back in her chair with a deep sigh. By the time she came home from Copenhagen, the whole matter would probably be forgotten. At any rate, the evil day had been postponed.
When the day came for Greta and Anna to leave for Copenhagen, the whole family went to the train with them.
Hans gave Chouse a goodbye pat on the head. "Take good care of my little sister, Chouse," he said.
"And you take good care of the kittens, Hans," warned Greta.
Soon all the goodbyes were said and the two girls were on the train.
"I wish we could get seats by the window," said Greta. They walked up and down the aisle, which was on one side of the train, but there wasn't a single empty seat beside a window. Each car was divided into a dozen sections, like little rooms, with two long seats facing each other. There was space for four people on each seat, or eight people in each section. The girls sat down in a section where there were only three people. At the very next station, two of them got off, and then there was a vacant seat beside the window. Greta and Anna decided to take turns at sitting there.
"What time will it be when we reach Copenhagen, Anna?"
"After seven o'clock. You see we have to cross the peninsula of Jutland and then the island of Zealand before we come to Copenhagen."
"I have never seen a really large city before, Anna."
"You will love Copenhagen, Greta. It has such beautiful parks and shops and castles and, oh,everything!"
"Oh, look, Anna, here we are at Lemvig already. Do you know the story about Lemvig?"
"No; what is it?"
"A long, long time ago, when Denmark was at war with Sweden, the Swedish soldiers had been ordered to march upon Lemvig and take the town. You can see that almost the whole town is down in the valley; there are just a few houses on the hills. Thesoldiers couldn't see the town at all, so they asked a farmer where it was. He pointed to the houses on the hill on the other side of the valley. Then the Swedish soldiers rode very fast, keeping their eyes on these houses on the distant hill. They didn't see the valley at all and they rode so fast that they all fell down the hill and into the river. So Lemvig wasn't captured after all."
As the train started again and left Lemvig, Anna leaned out the window. "Oh, it's too late now," she said sadly.
"Too late for what?" asked Greta.
"I wanted to get an ice-cream bar, but the train started just as the boy with the ice-cream bars came up to our window."
"We'll surely get one at the next town, Anna."
As soon as the train stopped again, Anna let down the window and they each bought an ice-cream bar and also one for Chouse.He had been standing on Greta's lap, with his front feet on the window sill, watching with great interest as they passed fields of yellow hay, forests of evergreens, pastures with large herds of cows, and great fields of cabbage and beets.
When they had finally ridden clear across Jutland, which forms the main part of Denmark, and then across the island of Funen, which is connected with the mainland by a large bridge, they came to a wide stretch of water called the Great Belt.
"Get your suitcase, Anna," said Greta. "We will have to get off the train and take a boat here."
Anna laughed, but she didn't make a move to get her suitcase down from the rack overhead.
"The whole train takes the boat, Greta. We don't have to get off at all."
"The whole train? But how can it?"
FARM HOUSES IN THE VALLEYFARM HOUSES IN THE VALLEY
"Just look out the window and you'll see for yourself."
The railroad tracks ran to the very edge of the water, where a large ferry boat was waiting for the train. It had tracks on it, too, and the train ran right on to the boat. Greta could hardly believe her eyes. To think that one could ride on a train and a boat at the same time! It took about two hours to cross the water, and then they wereon the island of Zealand. The boat went right up to the railroad tracks and the train was soon on land again and speeding on its way.
"Everything here looks so different," remarked Greta, as she looked out the window. "There are so many more trees, and it isn't so flat as it is at home."
Before long they reached the large railroad station in Copenhagen, where Anna's mother was waiting for them.
"Your father will be here very soon, Anna, and then we are all going to Tivoli for dinner."
"Is Tivoli a restaurant?" asked Greta.
"No, Tivoli is one of the most famous parks in all the world," explained Anna. "It's right in the center of Copenhagen. In fact, it's right next to this station. Oh, I wish Father would hurry."
When Greta first saw Tivoli she thoughtshe was in fairyland. Surely it couldn't be real. The gay beds of flowers and the tinkling fountains and the colored lights among the trees all seemed to be part of a magic world. Besides all this beauty, Tivoli had many restaurants and theatres and places for concerts and games and other amusements.
They had dinner in one of the outdoor restaurants, and Greta was so interested in watching the people as they passed by that she could hardly eat. After dinner they started to walk through the park and let Greta decide for herself what she would most enjoy. When they had gone only a little way they came to a large open stage, where a play was being given. They all stopped to watch it for a few minutes, and Greta wouldn't leave the spot. To her it was the most fascinating thing in Tivoli.
Suddenly she noticed that something hadgone wrong on the stage. The actors seemed confused and they hesitated over their lines. What could be the matter? Then, to her horror, she saw Chouse run across the stage and jump up on one of the actors. He was a young lad who looked something like Hans. Chouse soon saw his mistake and began wandering around the large stage as if he were lost. The audience laughed. They knew that this wasn't part of the play, and it seemed very funny to them.
The minute that Greta saw Chouse she started toward the stage. Going around to the back, where the audience could not see her, she whistled and called to her dog. Chouse was glad to hear his name. Happily he ran off the stage at once and the play went on.
"I think we had better go home now," said Anna's father, when Greta came back withthe dog, "before Chouse gets into any more mischief."
Greta's heart sank. They had barely gotten into Copenhagen—in fact, they hadn't even reached Anna's home yet—and Chouse had already gotten into mischief. What in the world was she going to do with him?
"Anna, please don't walk so fast," begged Greta. The two girls were walking down Langelinie, the beautiful parkway along the ocean. Greta was much shorter than Anna and she could not walk nearly so fast. Then, too, she liked to stop and watch the boats coming into the harbor. The name Copenhagen means "merchants' harbor," and this city has one of the finest harbors in Europe. All kinds of ships, from tiny sailboats to large ocean liners, come here from all parts of the world.
When they had gone a little farther, Greta wanted to sit down and rest.
"Can't you walk just a tiny bit more,Greta? On the other side of this little bay there is someone I want you to meet."
"Who, Anna?"
"She is called 'Den Lille Havfrue,'" said Anna.
"'Den Lille Havfrue,'" repeated Greta. "'The Little Ocean Lady.' I still don't understand, Anna. Who can this be?"
"Just keep on walking, and I'll show you," answered Anna in her most mysterious manner.
In a few minutes the girls had gone around the bay.
"Oh, Anna, how beautiful she is!" said the delighted Greta. Sitting on a rock at the edge of the water was the statue of a lovely mermaid—"the little ocean lady."
"She looks like a real live person," went on Greta, "except for her fish's tail instead of feet. Is there really such a person as a mermaid, Anna?"
A SIDE VIEW OF THE GEFION FOUNTAINA SIDE VIEW OF THE GEFION FOUNTAIN
"I'm not sure, Greta, whether there is or not. But if there really is a Nisse, then maybe there are mermaids, too. This Little Mermaid is the most beautiful statue in Copenhagen. Some people think it is the loveliest one in all Europe."
"How large is Copenhagen, Anna?"
THE GEFION FOUNTAINTHE GEFION FOUNTAIN
"It has about a million people. That's a third of the whole population of Denmark."
After a short walk the girls came to a large fountain, the largest that Greta had ever seen. At the top of the fountain there was a statue of four oxen, hitched to a plow and driven by a woman.
"This is called the Gefion Fountain, andit shows how the island of Zealand was made," explained Anna. "There is an old, old story that says that Denmark was given permission to take as much of Sweden as one could plow around in a day. So the ruler of Denmark changed her four sons into oxen and with them she plowed out the island on which Copenhagen stands. This statue shows how she had to whip them and urge them on in order to plow out this large island before night came."
"Oh, I wish we had brought Chouse along," said Greta. "He would love to play in this fountain."
"Chouse likes to play in lots of places where he shouldn't. I think it's a good thing that we left him home. He was very naughty at Tivoli the other night."
"He didn't mean to be naughty, Anna. Don't you think we can take him with us sometime?"
"Maybe; sometime," said Anna.
As the girls walked along they stopped now and then to look in the shop windows. Whenever Greta saw a window full of beautiful silverware or china she wanted to stop and buy a gift for her mother. This china, decorated with figures in a soft blue color, was called Royal Copenhagen Porcelain, and it was famous all over the world. The silverware was designed by a Danish artist named Georg Jensen, and it was also very famous.
"You will have lots of time to buy a gift for your mother, Greta. Don't stop now. I hope you aren't tired, for we have a hard climb ahead of us."
"A climb? Why, there isn't a hill in all Copenhagen."
"Do you see that church with the dome-shaped roof that's all green and shiny? Well, that's what we are going to climb."
"Oh, Anna, how can we? Why, it's tallerthan any of the other buildings in Copenhagen." Greta looked around her at the four- and five-story buildings. The shiny green dome of the church rose far above them.
"It is usually called the Marble Church," explained Anna, "because it is built of marble. Its real name is Frederick's Church, because it was built by King Frederick the Fifth."
"That shiny green dome isn't made of marble, is it?" asked Greta.
"Oh, no," laughed Anna. "The church cost a great deal to build, and when they had gotten as far as the dome, there was no money left. So all the housewives in Copenhagen gave their copper kettles to be melted up and used to make the dome of the church."
Inside the church it was cool and quiet. The girls started up the stairs and climbed for quite a while without saying a word.Greta began to think that they would never reach the top.
A COUNTRY SCENEA COUNTRY SCENE
"Is it much farther, Anna?"
"This is the easy part of the climb, Greta. Don't give up yet."
They kept on climbing. The stairs wound round and round, and as the girls went higher and higher the stairs became moreand more narrow. Finally they came to the place where the stairs were so narrow and so steep that a rope had been hung from the top to help those who climbed. It was like climbing the side of a mountain.
"Now we've come to the hard part," said Anna. "Take hold of this rope and don't let go."
"Anna, do you think we ought to go any higher?" Greta was frightened but she didn't want to admit it.
"Why, of course. There is no point in climbing this far and then stopping. You aren't afraid, are you, Greta?"
"I guess not."
"Don't look down at all, and then you'll be all right," advised Anna.
All of a sudden Greta remembered what her father had told her when she was climbing the tower in the forest. "A girl who is named after a queen must not be afraid ofanything." After all, what was there to be afraid of? The stairs were narrow and steep, but she would hold tightly to the rope and she would be quite safe.
When Greta was about ten steps from the top, she did glance down and saw a handkerchief lying on the step below her. Very carefully she backed down one step, holding to the rope with her left hand and clutching her purse with her right. As she took her left hand off the rope to pick up the handkerchief, she started to lose her balance. In terror she grabbed at the rope. She didn't fall, but the handkerchief fell six or seven steps below her.
Anna had reached the top and called down to Greta. "What's the matter, Greta? You mustn't stop now, when you are almost at the top."
"Did you drop your handkerchief, Anna? There is one here on the stairs."
Anna felt in all her pockets. "No, I didn't drop mine, Greta."
Greta backed down the steps slowly and carefully. This time she would not let go of the rope at all. She laid her purse on the step above while she picked up the tiny handkerchief and put it in her pocket. In a short time she had reached the top of the stairs, where Anna was waiting for her. Greta showed her the dainty little handkerchief, with its wide border of lace.
"Look, Greta. It has an 'I' embroidered in one corner."
"I wonder whose it is, Anna."
As the girls walked out on the platform on top of the dome, they almost ran into two beautifully dressed ladies. Greta made her prettiest curtsy.
"Perhaps this handkerchief is yours," she said, holding it out to them.
"Why, yes, it is," said the taller of the twoladies. "Thank you very much, my dear." She and her companion then started down the narrow stairway.
"I'm sure I have seen that lady before, but I can't remember where," said Anna, when they had gone. "Come over here, Greta. I want to show you the King's palace."
Just a block away from the Marble Church was Amalienborg, the palace of the King. The palace consisted of four beautiful buildings, built around a large open square. Day and night, a tall guard in uniform marched slowly back and forth in front of the palace. King Christian is probably the best loved king in all Europe, and no one would ever want to harm him. Nevertheless, the guard is always there.
AMALIENBORG PALACEAMALIENBORG PALACE
THE KING'S GUARDTHE KING'S GUARD
"That is the famous Round Tower over there," explained Anna. "Some day we will climb up in it. The building with all the dragons on the roof is the Stock Exchange."Anna went on to point out other interesting buildings. Greta was most interested in the harbor and the hundreds of boats, which seemed to be everywhere in the city. Little arms of the sea come right into the heart of Copenhagen, so there really are boats and bridges wherever one looks.
Finally the girls started home. After a long bus ride, they walked the few remaining blocks to Anna's home.
"Anna, why does that building have so many little porches? Do they all belong to one house?" Greta pointed to a long brick building that had fully a hundred porches.
"That's a new apartment building, Greta. More than a hundred families live there, and each family has its own little sun porch. Notice how each porch is built up solid on one side, but the other side and the top are open. In that way, every porch gets lots of sunshine, but the neighbors can't possibly see in it."
"They look more like bird cages than porches," said Greta.
"BIRD CAGE" PORCHES"BIRD CAGE" PORCHES
"Oh, Greta," exclaimed Anna suddenly. "I believe that was the Princess."
"Who, Anna?"
"Why, the lady whose handkerchief you found. Let's hurry home and ask Mother. I'm sure she will know."
Greta told Anna's mother about the finding of the handkerchief, and Anna described the two ladies.
"Do you suppose it could have been Princess Ingrid, Mother?"
"I think it must have been, Anna. And the other lady was her sister Louise. You know that Princess Ingrid, the wife of our Crown Prince, is a Swedish princess by birth. Today's newspaper says that Princess Louise has come from Sweden to visit her sister Ingrid. Here is their picture. Does it look like the two whom you saw?"
Both girls looked at the paper eagerly. "Yes, itwasPrincess Ingrid and Princess Louise," said Greta. "Oh, I must write Hans about this. He has never evenseena Princess. And now I have seen two of them and even talked to one."
"Now it's our turn to showyousome castles, Greta," said Anna, as she and her mother and Greta got in the car. Anna's mother had promised to take the girls on an all-day trip to northern Zealand. This part of Denmark is as full of castles as a plum-cake is full of plums.
After driving about twenty-five miles along the shore, they came to Kronborg Castle, in the town of Elsinore.
"This is the most famous castle in Denmark," said Anna's mother.
"Why?" asked Greta.
KRONBORG CASTLEKRONBORG CASTLE
"Haven't you ever read 'Hamlet,' Greta?" asked Anna in surprise. "Kronborg Castleis where Hamlet lived. Only Shakespeare called it Elsinore, which is the name of the town instead of the castle."
As she walked across the old drawbridge and entered the outer yard of the castle, Greta thought that Kronborg was the loveliest castle she had ever seen. It was much larger and much more wonderful than Vosborg. When they came to the drawbridge across the second moat, Anna pointed out the high battlement where the ghost of the murdered king once walked.
"Does he still walk there, Anna?" asked Greta.
"Maybe he does, Greta. All we really know about him is what Shakespeare tells us in his play."
When they crossed the last bridge and passed through the last gateway into the inner courtyard of Kronborg, Greta stopped in surprise. "Oh, Anna, it's so large and sobeautiful." Then, just to show that she wasn't really afraid of climbing, she asked, "Tante Elsie, do you suppose we could climb to the top of one of the towers?"
"Yes, I think so."
From the little balcony on the tower they looked out over the ocean.
"Is that an island across the water?" asked Greta.
"Oh, no, Greta. That is Sweden, only three miles away. In the olden days, Kronborg was a fortress that guarded the entrance to the Baltic Sea. All the ships that came from the North Sea into the Kattegat and then into the Baltic had to pass this point of land, and every ship that went by here had to pay money to Denmark. Up here in this very tower there were guards who watched all the ships to see that every one stopped and paid for the privilege of going past this point. In those days, Kronborgwas the most important castle in Denmark."
THE MOAT AROUND KRONBORGTHE MOAT AROUND KRONBORG
"Don't they have to pay this money now?"
"No. About a hundred years ago Denmark stopped asking for this payment. Ships that are going to the Baltic Sea can now go through the Kiel Canal in Germany, instead of going all the way around Denmark," explained Anna's mother.
As they walked down the narrow, winding stairs, Anna suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, Mother, we forgot to tell Greta why Kronborg is still an important castle."
"Maybe she already knows."
"No, I don't. Please tell me, Anna."
"According to an old, old story, Holger the Dane sleeps in the dungeon that is deep below this tower. If Denmark is ever in trouble of any kind, he will awake and come to her rescue."
"I've heard of Holger the Dane, of course," said Greta, "but I thought he was just an imaginary person."
"He's no more imaginary than a Nisse," said Anna, with a twinkle in her eye.
Greta hated to leave Kronborg, but when Anna told her that they were going to see even finer castles than this one, she was willing to go. After driving about fifteen miles, they turned off the main road and drovedown a long avenue of beech trees. At the end of this avenue there was a large white building, with a four-cornered tower rising from the center.
"This is Fredensborg Palace, where the King and Queen live in the autumn," said Anna. "The King comes here for the hunting season."
"Can we go inside this palace?" asked Greta. "I would love to see the Queen's own room."
"Of course you would, little Margrete," said Tante Elsie. "We will ask the guide to show us the Queen's apartments."
It seemed to Greta that the guide took them through miles and miles of rooms. Even then, he showed them only a part of the two hundred and seventy rooms. The palace was much larger than it looked from the front, for it was very long.
"Surely this isn't theQueen'sroom," saidGreta, as she stood in the doorway of the large, sunny bedroom.
"Why not, Greta?" asked Anna in surprise.
"Why, I thought it would be a very grand room, with furniture of gold."
Tante Elsie laughed. "Oh, Greta, you forget that the King and Queen of Denmark are people of simple tastes. This is a beautiful room, and it shows that the Queen likes lovely things. But it also shows that she does not spend money just to make a grand display."
"Perhaps the young lady would like to see the ballroom," said the guide. "I think she will find that it is all that she imagined and really fit for a queen."
FREDERIKSBORG CASTLEFREDERIKSBORG CASTLE
He led them through several drawing-rooms and then into the ballroom. It was a large, square room, with windows clear up to the ceiling. The walls and ceiling werelight blue, so that it seemed as if the room were open to the sky.
"This is what I always thought a royal palace would be like," said Greta in deep contentment.
"The ceiling of this room is eighty-one feet high," explained the guide. "It forms the tower in the middle of the palace."
Greta didn't want to leave this lovely room. She was fascinated by the pictures painted on the walls, the gorgeous hangings at the windows, and the large groups of glass candlesticks that hung from the ceiling and sparkled like icicles as the sun shone on them.
"Do you want to see the Queen's crown?" asked Anna, as they reluctantly left the beautiful ballroom.
"The Queen's crown?" said Greta. "The Queen is in Copenhagen now; surely her crown wouldn't be here at Fredensborg."
"She has a crown here, too. It is really lovelier than the one she wears at court," said Anna.
When they came to the garden behind the palace, Greta saw what Anna meant. In the middle of the sloping green lawn there was a huge bed of pansies, arranged in the shape of a crown. In the lower part of the crown the pansies were all purple, and in the upper part they were all gold.
"You are right, Anna. This is prettier than any crown of real gold."
"Come, girls. We must be on our way now," said Anna's mother. "We have a long ride ahead of us."
"Are we going to seeanothercastle?" asked Greta.
"Yes, the finest one of all."
THE COURTYARD OF FREDERIKSBORGTHE COURTYARD OF FREDERIKSBORG
After a short drive through a large forest of beech trees, they came to Frederiksborg Castle. It was built on three small islands inthe center of a lake. The castle itself was so large that it covered the islands completely and seemed to rise up out of the water itself. When King Frederick built the first castle here, nearly four hundred years ago, he purposely chose these islands in the center of a lake because they were the safest place for a castle. Enemies could not easily reach ithere. When this old, old castle was destroyed by fire, a much finer one was built on the islands.
FREDENSBORG PALACEFREDENSBORG PALACE
As they crossed the bridge to the main part of the castle, Greta saw two women entering the main doorway.
"Look, Anna," she said in great excitement. "Isn't that Princess Ingrid and PrincessLouise going into the castle right this minute?"
When Anna looked, the women had disappeared. Greta was now more eager than ever to visit the castle. Maybe she would see her beloved Princess Ingrid again. Would the Princess remember the little girl who had found her handkerchief on the stairs of the Marble Church? Greta wondered. She was anxious to go inside, but Anna stopped in the courtyard to listen to the chimes on the castle tower. Every hour of the day the ringing chimes played a different tune.
"Let's see the Knights' Hall first," suggested Anna, when they went inside.
Greta wanted to say, "Let's follow Princess Ingrid," but she didn't know which way the Princess had gone. So she followed Anna without a word. The Knights' Hall was the largest room Greta had ever seen.The walls were covered with hangings whose colored threads were woven in such a way as to show scenes from Danish history. Greta thought she would like to study history if she could learn it from pictures like these instead of from textbooks. While she was looking at one of the hangings in a far corner of the room, Anna grabbed her arm.
"There they go, Greta. Don't you want to follow them?"
Then Greta remembered that Princess Ingrid was here in the castle. How could she have forgotten? She and Anna and Tante Elsie left the Knights' Hall and entered the long series of drawing-rooms that filled one wing of Frederiksborg. Greta scarcely looked at the paintings that hung on every wall. She wanted to see a real live princess, not a painted lady in a golden frame. They walked slowly through room after room, but not a glimpse of the Princess did they get.
"I guess Princess Ingrid and her sister have left the castle," said Greta, in an unhappy tone. She was ready now to leave it herself, for it held no further interest for her.
"Now for the most wonderful room of all," said Anna, after they had gone through all the drawing-rooms. She almost had to drag Greta to the chapel, which formed an important part of the castle itself. When the royal family lived at Frederiksborg, services were held here every Sunday. This chapel was really as large as a church. As they came in, the organist was playing softly, and Greta sat down to listen to the music, while Anna and her mother went to look at the paintings which were on exhibition in the balcony of the chapel.
Afterwards, Greta never remembered exactly how it happened. She must have closed her eyes for a minute in order to enjoy themusic completely. The first thing she remembered was a soft voice saying, "Are you all alone here, my dear?"
When Greta had opened her eyes and recognized the speaker she jumped to her feet. "Why, it's the little girl who found my handkerchief the other day. How very nice to see you again. When we saw you here asleep, we thought you had gotten lost in this great castle."
Greta explained that her aunt and her cousin were up in the balcony. Then her eyes shone like stars and her heart almost skipped a beat as the lovely Princess Ingrid took a rosebud from the bouquet which she carried and held it out to Greta. "Perhaps you would like to wear this little flower," she said in her gentle way. Then, with another smile, she and the Princess Louise went out of the chapel.
Greta stood like one in a dream. Now sheknew how the knights of olden times felt when they had been honored by the King. She, little Margrete, had a flower from the hands of the Crown Princess of Denmark. All her life long she would remember this moment.
"Chouse, will you promise to be areallygood dog if we take you with us?"
Chouse answered Greta by barking three times, which meant, "Yes, I will."
Chouse had not been allowed to go with the girls since the evening at Tivoli. Greta didn't want to send home anymorebad reports about him. Even now, she was almost afraid to open her father's letters, for each day she expected him to write that he had found a new home for Chouse. Sometimes Greta wished that her visit in Copenhagen could go on forever. Then she would never have to part with her pet.
"We'll climb up in the Round Tower firstof all," said Anna, as she and Greta and Chouse started off gaily for a day's wandering. "Then you can look over the city and decide what you want to see next."
As they walked through the winding streets of the business district of Copenhagen, Anna told Greta the story of the famous Round Tower.
"It was built more than three hundred years ago by King Christian the Fourth," she explained. "He wanted to do something that would make the people remember him always, so he built this high tower as an observatory, where scientists could study the stars."
The Round Tower stood in the very heart of the city. At the time it was built it was the tallest building in Copenhagen, but now the Marble Church rose high above it.