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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44030 ***
+
+Our Little Danish Cousin
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+Little Cousin Series
+
+(TRADE MARK)
+
+    Each volume illustrated with six or more full page plates in
+    tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover
+    per volume, 60 cents
+
+
+LIST OF TITLES
+
+    BY MARY HAZELTON WADE, MARY F.
+    NIXON-ROULET, BLANCHE MCMANUS,
+    CLARA V. WINLOW, FLORENCE E.
+    MENDEL AND OTHERS
+
+    =Our Little African Cousin=
+    =Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
+    =Our Little Arabian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Argentine Cousin=
+    =Our Little Armenian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Australian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Austrian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Belgian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Bohemian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Boer Cousin=
+    =Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Bulgarian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Canadian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Chinese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Cossack Cousin=
+    =Our Little Cuban Cousin=
+    =Our Little Danish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Dutch Cousin=
+    =Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
+    =Our Little English Cousin=
+    =Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
+    =Our Little French Cousin=
+    =Our Little German Cousin=
+    =Our Little Grecian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hindu Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hungarian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Indian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Irish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Italian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Japanese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Jewish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Korean Cousin=
+    =Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin=
+    =Our Little Mexican Cousin=
+    =Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Panama Cousin=
+    =Our Little Persian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Philippine Cousin=
+    =Our Little Polish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
+    =Our Little Portuguese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Russian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Scotch Cousin=
+    =Our Little Servian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Siamese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Spanish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Swedish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Swiss Cousin=
+    =Our Little Turkish Cousin=
+
+
+    THE PAGE COMPANY
+    53 Beacon Street,      Boston, Mass.
+
+[Illustration: "LITTLE CHILDREN WERE PLAYING ABOUT THE STATUED FORM OF
+THEIR BELOVED STORY-TELLER, HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN"
+
+(_see page 52_)]
+
+
+
+
+OUR LITTLE DANISH COUSIN
+
+    By
+    Luna May Innes
+
+    Illustrated by
+    Elizabeth Otis
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    Boston
+    THE PAGE COMPANY
+    PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+    _Copyright, 1912_,
+    BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
+    (INCORPORATED)
+
+    _All rights reserved_
+
+
+    First Impression, June, 1912
+    Second Impression, January, 1917
+
+
+
+
+    TO MY LITTLE NEPHEW
+
+    =Graeme Lorimer=
+
+    ON HIS NINTH BIRTHDAY
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+
+DENMARK means "Land of dark woods." Although one of the smallest states
+of Europe, the little kingdom of Denmark holds a very large place in
+the world's history, having supplied rulers for many of the countries
+of Europe.
+
+The Dane loves his beautiful country, the land of Thorvaldsen and of
+Hans Christian Andersen, of blue lakes, and "fairy-tale" castles.
+
+Since the days of Leif and Biarne, Denmark and the United States have
+been allied, and therefore I feel sure that the children of America
+will be interested in the story of their little Danish Cousin.
+
+I wish to express grateful acknowledgment to Hr. Georg Beck, Consul for
+Denmark in Chicago; also to Mr. Haakon Arntz, and to Mr. and Mrs. Oscar
+Andersen, for generous information given in regard to the manners and
+customs of the Danish people.
+
+                                                 LUNA MAY INNES.
+
+    CHICAGO, _February, 1912_.
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+    CHAPTER                                     PAGE
+          PREFACE                                vii
+       I. THE DISTINGUISHED VISITOR                1
+      II. COPENHAGEN                              22
+     III. "HURRAH FOR KING FREDERIK!"             48
+      IV. UP THE SOUND TO HAMLET'S CASTLE         59
+       V. "FAIRY-TALE" CASTLES AND PALACES        73
+      VI. THE LEGEND OF THE SACRED "DANNEBROG"    82
+     VII. THE STORY OF THE DANISH "AHLHEDE"      100
+    VIII. SKAGEN                                 117
+      IX. A DANISH PEASANT WEDDING               134
+       X. JUL-TIDE AT GRANDMOTHER INGEMANN'S     144
+
+
+
+
+List of Illustrations
+
+
+                                                              PAGE
+    "LITTLE CHILDREN WERE PLAYING ABOUT THE STATUED FORM
+          OF THEIR BELOVED STORY-TELLER, HANS CHRISTIAN
+          ANDERSEN" (_see page 52_)                   _Frontispiece_
+    "VALDEMAR BURST INTO THE ROOM"                             13
+    "WHERE JOLLY-LOOKING WOMEN WITH QUAINT HEADDRESSES
+          WERE SELLING THEIR WARES"                            35
+    "THEY SPREAD THEM ON THE GRASS IN THE SHADOW OF THE
+          GREAT BRICK TOWER"                                   90
+    "IN THE CENTRE OF THE STUDIO STOOD THE UNFINISHED
+          STATUE OF THE LITTLE CROWN PRINCE"                  119
+    "'WELCOME! AND _GLAEDELIG JUL!_' CALLED OUT BOTH
+          GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER INGEMANN"               145
+
+[Illustration: Map of DENMARK]
+
+
+
+
+Our Little Danish Cousin
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DISTINGUISHED VISITOR
+
+
+"HURTIG! _kaere Karen, mit lommetørklæde!_"
+
+Fru Oberstinde Ingemann and her little flaxen-haired daughter, Karen,
+were sitting at their embroidery work in the deep window-seat that
+made one whole side of the cozy Ingemann living-room overlooking the
+Botanical Gardens. Between stitches, Karen was watching the rain patter
+on the little diamond window-panes, now and then pausing to take a
+quick look at some favorite newly-blossomed flower in the brilliant,
+long line of window-boxes which bordered the windows "like a long
+bright ribbon," as Karen said.
+
+The bell rang.
+
+"_Hurtig! kaere Karen, mit lommetorklaede!_" sounds like something
+terrible, but Fru Ingemann was only saying in Danish: "Quick, dear
+Karen, my handkerchief!"
+
+"Thank you, Karen," said the lady, as the fair child replaced the sheer
+bit of linen in her mother's hand with a pretty courtesy, for Karen was
+a well-bred little girl.
+
+It was a morning of excitement for Fru Else Ingemann. Two important
+letters had come to her from over the seas. One had come from Chicago
+in far-away America, saying that her brother-in-law, the Hon. Oscar
+Hoffman, was coming once more to pay a visit to dear old Denmark.
+Mr. Hoffman was an important man in America. He was the president of
+the "Danish-American National Park" in north Jutland, and it was in
+his loyal Danish brain that the whole idea of the great Park had
+originated. It had been his dream to save to the glory of Denmark,
+for all time to come, a wonderful, wild tract of heather-covered
+hills where, year by year, thousands of loyal Danish-Americans might
+meet in the Fatherland, and celebrate America's Independence Day on
+Danish soil. At last the Park was a reality, and he was coming to make
+necessary arrangements.
+
+He was bringing his son, Karl, with him, and, while they were to be in
+Copenhagen, they would spend their time with the Ingemanns. He hoped
+that the little cousins would become great friends. They would arrive
+in Copenhagen on Saturday. To-day was Thursday.
+
+The other exciting message came from Fru Ingemann's favorite brother,
+Hr. Thorvald Svensen. It was postmarked Rome, Italy, and informed
+her that at last he was coming back to live in his dear old home in
+Copenhagen, and that he would arrive on that day.
+
+Hr. Svensen had been living in Rome for eight long years, and in those
+years of persistent, hard work he had finally realized his one great
+ambition, and become Denmark's greatest sculptor--greatest, at least,
+since the day of Denmark's beloved Thorvaldsen, whose namesake he was.
+
+To Fru Ingemann there was no more welcome news in all the world. His
+letter said that he longed to see her and the children once more.
+
+Little Valdemar, who was the sculptor's godson, was wild with joy. "Let
+me stay home from school to-day, mother!" he implored.
+
+"No, no, Valdemar," firmly answered his mother, as she handed him his
+school luncheon, a box of delicious _smörrebröd_.[1] When Valdemar's
+mother said "No, no," he knew that further protests were useless. So
+he kissed her and was off, calling back: "Good-bye, mother dear; keep
+_Gudfar_[2] Thor until I come home from school, _please_!"
+
+All that morning Fru Ingemann flew about in happy expectancy, making
+more cozy the pretty little apartment. Karen could hear her mother, as
+she worked, singing softly those familiar old lines from Baggesen, the
+well-known Danish poet:
+
+    "Ah, nowhere is the rose so red,
+       Nowhere so small the thorn,
+     Nowhere so soft the downy bed
+       As those where we were born."
+
+Above the patter of the rain came the sound of approaching carriage
+wheels. Fru Ingemann paused.
+
+"Quick, Karen,--the bell! It may be Uncle Thor!"
+
+And so it proved! All the eight, long, lonesome years since she had
+last seen this dear brother, years in which she had lost her husband,
+were quickly forgotten in his great hearty embrace.
+
+"_Min kaere Soster!_"
+
+"_Min kaere Broder!_"
+
+Their hearts were so full they could not find words.
+
+Karen, tiptoeing, wanted to fling her tiny arms about her big,
+yellow-bearded, Viking-like, Uncle Thor's neck, so he lifted the little
+maid high in his strong arms and kissed her.
+
+"Ah, Karen, _min lille skat_![3] How you have grown!" he said
+affectionately. Soft yellow curls framed her pretty face, and two heavy
+braids of the same glorious hair hung far down her back. "Why, you were
+just a little, two-year-old baby when I went away to Rome, and now,
+I've no doubt, you are dreaming of a boarding-school off in France or
+Switzerland one of these days!"
+
+But Karen only shook her little blond head and laughed, while Uncle
+Thor's beauty-loving eye beamed on the dainty little damsel in white
+embroidered frock, half-hose and slippers, as he settled himself
+comfortably in the big arm-chair near the great, green-tiled stove,
+whose top almost touched the living-room ceiling.
+
+"Congratulations, dear brother," said Fru Ingemann. "Why didn't you
+write us all about the great honor you have brought to the family?
+I saw in this morning's 'Nationaltidende,' that you have just been
+appointed Court Painter to His Majesty, the King! It is the greatest
+honor that can come to a Danish artist. I am so proud of you!"
+
+"It is true," he acknowledged, briefly, "but tell me, sister Else, how
+are the boys, Aage and Valdemar?"
+
+"Oh, Aage is now a big boy of sixteen, off doing his eight years of
+compulsory military service in the army. Aage will grow up with a
+straighter back and a better trained body because of his soldiering
+days. He will be home for Christmas with us."
+
+"And Valdemar?"
+
+"Valdemar is only thirteen, but he is in his second year at the
+Metropolitan School, one of the best State Latin Schools in all
+Denmark. He will be back home at three o'clock. I could hardly get him
+to consent to go to school at all, this morning, after he was told that
+his Gudfar Thor was coming."
+
+"And Karen studies with her private tutors, here, at home?"
+
+"Yes, Thorvald, besides learning to be a good little housekeeper,
+as well. But you must be both hungry and tired. It is nearly twelve
+o'clock. Come, Karen, help me spread the table with something good for
+_Frokost_,[4] for Uncle Thor."
+
+A cloth of snowy damask was quickly spread with various viands and
+meats; tongue, salad, salmon, anchovies, plates of butter, with trays
+containing French (white) bread, and other trays full of thin slices
+of rye bread, which is such a favorite with all Danes. Fru Ingemann
+then placed a bottle of beer beside Hr. Svensen's plate, and brought
+in the steaming hot tea, which she herself poured into the delicate
+cups of that wonderful crystalline ware, the famous Royal Copenhagen
+porcelain--a set doubly cherished by her as an heirloom in her family
+for many generations.
+
+Karen, who could herself make delicious tea, loved to gaze at the
+fascinatingly delicate decoration of the cups, which looked, as she
+said, "like frost on the window-pane;" but she never was allowed to
+touch this precious set of old Royal Copenhagen, of which not one piece
+had yet been broken.
+
+"And _smörrebröd_, brother?" politely urged Fru Ingemann, for no good
+Danish housewife would ever think of inviting any one to breakfast
+without having _smörrebröd_ on the table.
+
+"Thanks, sister Else," replied the hungry artist, who immediately set
+about thickly spreading butter--famous Danish butter--over a slice
+of rye bread, as did also Karen and her mother, after which each
+proceeded to select the particular kind of fish or meat preferred, and,
+arranging it upon the slice of buttered bread, ate it much as we would
+a sandwich. Uncle Thor made an especially delicious one for Karen, who
+had already become a great favorite with him.
+
+_Frokost_ over, Fru Ingemann arose, and, bowing slightly to her
+brother, said: "_Velbekomme!_"[5] And Hr. Svensen did the same.
+
+"_Tak for Mad, Moder_,"[6] said Karen courtesying first to her mother
+and then to her Uncle Thor, and kissing them both--a beautiful old
+Danish custom.
+
+Uncle Thor was a great lover of flowers. To-day there were beautiful
+flowers on the table, in the windows, everywhere! In fact, the whole
+Ingemann apartment seemed overwhelmed with the loveliness of them.
+Besides the vases, there were little flower-pots galore, all decked in
+brightly-colored paper, some containing blooming plants, others, little
+growing trees.
+
+"Ah, Karen, has there been a birthday here?" asked Uncle Thor, in mock
+surprise. "Run out in the hall and see what came all the way from
+Naples, Italy, to Frederiksberg-Alle, in Copenhagen, for a good little
+girl with long pigtails."
+
+Karen came running back with a tiny white kid box in her hand. Opening
+it, she beheld the most beautiful set imaginable of pale pink corals.
+She just couldn't wait to put the necklace on before hugging her dear
+old Uncle Thor, who himself had to fasten the pretty chain around her
+slender little neck for her.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Thor, we had a splendid time, and mother gave us chocolate,
+tea and cakes, and this is what all the boys and girls at my party
+yesterday sang:
+
+    "'London Bridge is broken down,
+      Gold is won and bright renown,
+        Shields resounding, war-horns sounding,
+      Hild is shouting in the din,
+        Arrows singing,
+        Mailcoats ringing,
+      Odin makes our Olaf win.'"
+
+Karen had hardly finished singing her song describing the days of old,
+when there had been a mighty encounter on London Bridge between the
+Danes and King Olaf the Saint, ending in the burning of the bridge,
+when there came a sudden great clatter and uproar on the stairs, with
+the loud barking of a dog, and the sound of a boy's heavy boots, and
+Valdemar burst into the room.
+
+[Illustration: "VALDEMAR BURST INTO THE ROOM"]
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear Gudfar Thor!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms tight
+round his uncle's neck.
+
+"Why, Valdemar, you are the very image of your father!" exclaimed Hr.
+Svensen. "Don't you think so, sister Else?" he questioned, as he gazed
+admiringly at the sturdy, big frame, rumpled flaxen hair, and the merry
+twinkle in the honest blue Danish eyes of his godson.
+
+"Oh, yes, Thorvald, Valdemar certainly is the image of his father. The
+King thinks so, too," agreed Fru Ingemann.
+
+"King Frederik? Why, how is that, sister? Has the king never forgotten
+Valdemar?" questioned Hr. Svensen in surprise.
+
+"Oh, Thorvald, you know the King's wonderful memory. It never fails
+him. And you must remember the great friendship that always existed
+between my dear husband and King Frederik, from the days when, as boys
+together, they went through the Military College; and later both were
+recruits in the same regiment, and had to do sentry duty, turn about,
+outside his grandfather's palace. Only the other day, Valdemar came
+bounding into the house, overjoyed, to tell me that he had just passed
+their Majesties, King Frederik and Queen Lowisa, out walking on the
+_Langelinie_,[7] entirely unattended, and that, when he doffed his
+cap to the King, his Majesty immediately returned his salute, with a
+friendly smile!"
+
+"But, sister Else, how do you _know_ that King Frederik thinks Valdemar
+the image of his father? I don't understand," persisted Hr. Svensen,
+perplexed.
+
+"We know!" Fru Ingemann spoke softly as she.
+
+"Valdemar was only a little child when his father died," she
+continued. "His father had always taught Valdemar to love the King, and
+he does so with all his boyish little heart. An accident, a broken arm,
+soon afterwards put the child in the Queen Lowisa Children's Hospital,
+where, as you know, King Frederik makes a monthly visit to cheer the
+little sufferers. The King loves children. They say that not one
+little baby-face ever escapes him, and that he even notes each child's
+improvement from time to time.
+
+"Valdemar, in his little cot near the door, heard the nurses saying:
+'The King comes to-day!'
+
+"His little mind was all expectation. Finally, the King arrived.
+Valdemar was the first little patient to see him enter, silk hat in his
+hand as usual. Sick as he was, the boy drew himself quickly from out
+of the covers, stood up in the middle of his bed, and saluted his King
+with a low bow, so low that his forehead almost touched his pillow.
+The King paused in surprise at Valdemar's cot and spoke:
+
+"'My child, why do you do that? Why do you salute me?'
+
+"'Because I like you! You are the King!'
+
+"They say that the King looked into the child's face a moment, drew
+his hand to his eyes, lost in thought, then, turning quickly to Prince
+Christian, who accompanied him, exclaimed with a smile:
+
+"'_Du ligner din Fader! Oh, vilde jeg onske at din Fader levede! Gid
+Legligheden maa komme til at hjälpe denne opvagte Dreng, for min käre
+gamle Ven Ingemann's Skyld!_'[8]
+
+"Then, placing his hand on the child's golden locks, he spoke tenderly:
+'Yes, little Valdemar Ingemann, I am the King. Always remember that
+your father and I were great friends,' and he passed on.
+
+"Valdemar has never forgotten that moment. He never will. You and the
+King are the two great heroes of the world in his eyes."
+
+"Where is he now? Come, Valdemar! Tell me all about what you like most
+to read," called Uncle Thor.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor, I love to read in the old Sagas and Chronicles all
+about the mighty sea-fights of the Vikings, and about the glorious
+battles of the Valdemars, in the books that Aage left me. They make me
+want to be a soldier. Then I love to read everything about Linnæus, who
+loved the trees and the flowers and the whole outdoors just as I do.
+But, best of all, I'd rather become a famous sculptor like my Godfather
+Thor! I'd like that better than anything else in all the world! See,
+Uncle Thor, I've modelled some little things already. Here is one,--my
+Great Dane, Frederik,--and here is a stork, and here is a little
+Viking ship. They're not very good, but--"
+
+"Oh, _min lille Billedhugger_!"[9] interrupted Hr. Svensen, with
+feeling, as he took the little toy animals from Valdemar to examine
+them. "This is not half bad work. But _what_ have you done them in, my
+boy?"
+
+"In pie-paste!" laughed his mother. "I have to hide the pie-paste when
+I'm baking, to keep Valdemar from slipping it off to use for modelling!"
+
+"Valdemar, you shall have some modelling clay. Thorvaldsen once made
+the Lion of Lucerne in butter. I must tell you that story some day,"
+said Hr. Svensen, as he patted his little nephew's head affectionately.
+
+There was a sharp ring at the bell.
+
+Karen flew to the door, then back to her mother, excitedly exclaiming:
+"A box and a letter for you, mother!"
+
+Fru Ingemann tore the note open and read: "Will be expelled if it
+occurs again!" The words swam before her eyes.
+
+"Oh, Valdemar, my son, come explain all this to me at once! It is from
+your Latin teacher. Surely there is some mistake. It is not like my
+boy!"
+
+Meantime Karen had opened the box, and displayed a most laughable
+clay caricature of Valdemar's Latin teacher, with the word "TEACHER"
+scratched underneath in large letters. She burst out giggling. Even
+Uncle Thor's look of mock horror soon gave way before the cleverly done
+effigy, and he laughed. He had been a boy once himself, and it _was_
+funny.
+
+"Well, that's exactly the way teacher looks!" vehemently protested
+Valdemar in self-justification. "Indeed he does. Ask Hendrik or any of
+the boys. None of us like him one bit, and at recess to-day Hendrik
+drew chalk cartoons of teacher all over the blackboard, and said: 'Oh,
+Valdemar, you'd never dare do it in clay!'
+
+"'Yes, I _would_ dare do it in clay!' I answered him, and then,
+mother,--I did it. But I didn't mean Hr. Professor Christiansen to see
+it. I'm glad school's over for all summer on Friday!"
+
+Even Valdemar's mother had to laugh, as Uncle Thor took the offending
+statuette in his hand to give it a closer examination, for it was as
+irresistibly funny as it was clever.
+
+"Brilliant, Valdemar!" he exclaimed. "Your work has merit. Work hard
+enough, my boy, and you may become a great artist, some day. You have
+the talent. Come over to my studio to-morrow morning. I'll help you a
+little with your modelling, and then, after luncheon with me, I will
+take you through the Thorvaldsen Museum. Would you like that? And, by
+the way, I think there is something nice for you in my trunk. Now I am
+due at the Royal Palace. I must go and pay my respects to the King. He
+will be expecting me."
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor, I'll be there!" called out Valdemar. "Good-bye, Uncle
+Thor, good-bye!"
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: The great Danish national dish.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Godfather.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "My little treasure."]
+
+[Footnote 4: Breakfast]
+
+[Footnote 5: "Well may it agree with you."]
+
+[Footnote 6: "Thank you for the food, mother."]
+
+[Footnote 7: Long Line.]
+
+[Footnote 8: "The face of his father! Oh, that his father were still
+living! May the opportunity some day be given me to benefit this bright
+boy, for my dear old friend Ingemann's sake!"]
+
+[Footnote 9: "My little sculptor."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+COPENHAGEN
+
+
+SUMMER bursts suddenly in Copenhagen. First, winter, with its deep
+snows, its fogs and frosts and thaws; then a few days of showers
+and a few of sunshine, _Blinkeveir_[10] the Danes call this showery
+weather; and then, all at once, the bare trees throw out their tender
+green foliage and the spring flowers burst into life! The long cold
+winter is over. Even then, there sometimes come dense sea-mists which
+envelop Denmark's capital, and only vanish with the sun's warm rays. So
+Copenhageners have a popular weather saying:
+
+    "'Monday's weather till mid-day is the week's weather till Friday,
+      Friday's weather is Sunday's weather,
+      Saturday has its own weather."
+
+Saturday's weather fortunately proved ideal, a rare June day.
+Copenhagen's beautiful Public Gardens and Parks were all aglow with
+fragrant, blossoming spring flowers. Valdemar's school was at last over.
+
+"Now to the woods!" he cried in joy. "And, mother dear, can't we
+keep Cousin Karl all summer with us up at our country place on the
+_Strandvej_,[11] while Uncle Oscar has to be away in Jutland attending
+to that Park of his? But I should like to be there with him when they
+have their big American Fourth of July celebration, and see them raise
+their great Star Spangled Banner over our beloved flag! Wouldn't you,
+Karl? I've heard about the American 'Fourth,' with the Stars and
+Stripes waving everywhere, and of the army manoeuvres and big times
+they have over there in the States on that historic day! But Denmark's
+never had anything like it before, has she, Uncle Thor?"
+
+They were in Fru Ingemann's pretty dining-room having their twelve
+o'clock little _frokost_ of tea and _smörrebröd_, this happy little
+party of six, for the American relatives had arrived.
+
+Early that morning, Valdemar and his Uncle Thor had hurried to the dock
+to meet the steamer, "and, but for Uncle Oscar's waving handkerchief,
+and his good memory for faces, we might have missed them entirely,"
+explained Valdemar, who was delighted with this first acquaintance with
+his new American cousin.
+
+With the first warm spring day, half of Copenhagen whitewashes her
+town house windows against the sun's hot rays, and prepares to migrate
+farther north, to the famous _Strandvej_, where soft breezes from the
+blue Sound play all day over the broad sandy beach, and rustle through
+the leaves of the beech-trees in the Deer Park near by. Rich and poor
+alike own their own villas, country houses or little cottages, as the
+case may be, and these thickly dot the beautiful east Sound Shore all
+the way from Copenhagen to Elsinore, for great is the Dane's love of
+_at ligger på Landet_.[12]
+
+Like all the rest, through wise and careful planning, Fru Ingemann had
+her little country place on the beautiful east Shore, where each summer
+Karen and Valdemar took long walks through the glorious beech-woods,
+went swimming, boating and bathing, made their own flower-gardens and
+dug in the ground to their hearts' content. By the end of each short,
+happy summer, they were both as tanned and brown as the baskets of
+beech-nuts they gathered and brought back with them for the winter.
+
+"We will have great times, if only Cousin Karl can come up for the
+summer with us!" begged little Karen.
+
+"I'll think about it," was the only promise they could get out of Uncle
+Oscar for the moment. "I'm sure Karl would like it, but I'm not ready
+to decide anything just now."
+
+"If I'm not mistaken, the first thing Karl wants is to see some of
+the sights of Copenhagen," said Hr. Svensen, as they were leaving the
+breakfast table. "Suppose we all go together and give him a bird's-eye
+view of Copenhagen and the Harbor from the top of the Round Tower!
+How's that, Karl?"
+
+"Great! Can't we start right away?" said the little American, for Karl
+was a typical little Chicago boy, eager-minded and anxious to take in
+everything at once.
+
+"And the Thorvaldsen Museum, Uncle Thor? Can't we go back there again
+to-day?" urged Valdemar, for the wondrous beauty of Thorvaldsen's
+masterpieces still filled all his thoughts. On the way home from the
+Museum, the previous day, he had listened to fascinating stories told
+him by his godfather, stories about the "Lion of Lucerne," and about
+the little peasant boy who loved art, and worked hard, and finally
+became one of the world's greatest sculptors. Valdemar couldn't forget
+Thorvaldsen's lovely "Guardian Angel," or his wonderful figure of
+"Christ," with its bowed head and arms outstretched in benediction, or
+the heavenly beauty of his "Angel of the Baptism kneeling at Christ's
+feet." Never, thought Valdemar, had he seen anything half so beautiful
+in all his life! Then, there were mighty gods and heroes, and graceful
+nymphs. "And only think," continued Valdemar, "when Thorvaldsen was
+just a little boy eleven years old,--three years less than I am--he
+so loved his drawing and modelling that his father, who was a poor
+Icelandic ship-builder and carver of figureheads, placed him in school
+at the Academy of Arts, where he won prize after prize, not stopping
+until he had gained even the great gold medal, together with the
+travelling scholarship which took him to Italy to study. There he
+worked hard day by day, from early dawn till dark without stopping. No
+wonder the great Museum is completely filled with masterpieces from his
+hand!"
+
+"Valdemar, my boy, you, too, shall enter as a student at the Academy
+next fall, if your work during the summer continues to show the talent
+and improvement that will justify my sending you. But that means you
+must work hard. I leave next week for my summer studio up at Skagen,
+but, until I go, you shall have a lesson each day, if you like, and
+more lessons up there all summer long, if you will come, for there
+is no little boy in all the world I would rather help than you, my
+Valdemar."
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor!" cried Valdemar, throwing his arms around his
+godfather's neck, wild with joy. "I will begin to-morrow. And do you
+really mean that I am to study at the Academy?"
+
+"Yes, my little artist," answered Hr. Svensen. "And now let us start
+at once and see some of Copenhagen's sights."
+
+"And will Fru Oberstinde not accompany us?" politely inquired Mr.
+Hoffman, of his sister-in-law.
+
+Danish wives and widows are given the same titles their husbands bear,
+so that Fru Ingemann, who was the widow of a Colonel, or "Oberst," in
+the King's army, was often addressed as "Oberstinde," or "Coloneless."
+
+"Not to-day, thank you. Karen and I will wait for you at home," said
+Fru Ingemann, smiling as she observed the big book in her child's
+hands. "You see what Karen is reading, Hans Christian Andersen's
+fascinating '_Billedbog unden Billeder_.'[13] Be sure to be back in
+time for dinner," she called as the party set off.
+
+"_God Dag_,"[14] said the tram conductor politely as they entered.
+Karl smiled. Then he began to ask questions, for he had never
+crossed the ocean before, and never before had he seen any city
+like Copenhagen. Chicago certainly had its broad avenues, parks and
+boulevards, great skyscrapers and fine buildings; but Chicago had never
+dreamed of permitting its one great canal to run right up through the
+city streets, among the office buildings and houses, with all its
+shipping, launches and water-craft, as the Copenhagen canals all seemed
+to do in the friendliest possible fashion.
+
+"Copenhagen must look much more like Amsterdam than like Athens,
+father. I can't see why it is called the 'Athens of the North.' I don't
+see any Greek-looking buildings here," protested Karl.
+
+"Yes," agreed Karl's father, who had once lived in Denmark long years
+ago. "Copenhagen may look much more like Amsterdam, Karl; but, while
+you will not see Greek buildings here, nevertheless the title of
+'Athens' comes justly, not only because of Copenhagen's charming
+position on the borders of the Sound at the entrance to the Baltic,
+giving the city a great advantage commercially, and because of its
+beautifully wooded environs, but particularly on account of its
+splendid libraries, art galleries, museums and great university and
+schools, which rank among the best to be found anywhere in Europe.
+Before we reach the Round Tower we will doubtless get a view of some of
+these."
+
+"_Fa' vel_,"[15] said the tram conductor, bowing pleasantly to them as
+they got off at their destination.
+
+Karl laughed outright. "Dear me! In Chicago car conductors are given
+prizes for politeness, but I must say, none of them have ever yet
+reached the point of saying 'farewell' to you as you leave. I'm glad
+they don't. Gee! We'd never get anywhere in Chicago if we stopped for
+all that."
+
+"Half of Copenhagen seems to be out on the streets to-day," remarked
+Mr. Hoffman, who had not been back to Denmark's beautiful capital
+for so long that he had forgotten what a large city it was. "Look, I
+believe that must be the New Picture Gallery, isn't it?"
+
+"You are right," replied Hr. Svensen. "Half the charm of Copenhagen
+must be traced to her museums and rich art treasures. Shall we give the
+boys a peep inside?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" exclaimed both boys at once, for Karl had pleasant memories
+of Saturday afternoons he had spent studying all the fine exhibits in
+the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago. They had soon climbed the
+broad granite steps, and were walking through the long corridors and
+halls filled with great paintings, each bearing the artist's name on
+the frame.
+
+"The New Picture Gallery affords a good opportunity for studying Danish
+pictorial art, just as the New Glyptothek does for studying Danish
+sculpture," said Hr. Svensen, as they were leaving.
+
+"What canal is that?" asked Karl. "It certainly is a pretty one, with
+that beautiful promenade and park along one side."
+
+"Yes, that is Holmen's Canal, one of the finest in Copenhagen,"
+answered Hr. Svensen. It was full of ships and other water-craft.
+"And that marble building which looks like an Etruscan tomb is the
+Thorvaldsen Museum, one of the principal attractions of Copenhagen. We
+shall have to take another day for that. But, just to please Valdemar,
+we will spend a moment inside the church where Thorvaldsen's 'Christ,'
+the 'Angel of the Baptism' and 'The Twelve Apostles' are all standing
+in the places for which they were designed."
+
+"The Danes have accomplished much more in sculpture than in painting,
+haven't they, Uncle Thor?" Valdemar asked.
+
+"Yes, you are quite right, Valdemar. Denmark, as yet, has produced no
+painter to compare with Thorvaldsen."
+
+They paused a moment at the _New Raadhus-plads_, with its castellated
+roof, and paved semicircle in front, and again, near by, at the New
+City Hall.
+
+"What an attractive part of Copenhagen this is," remarked Karl, as
+he observed the many broad, fine, well-kept _Pladser_,[16] with
+their electric cars gliding noiselessly back and forth with American
+celerity. "Copenhagen seems to me a much cleaner, prettier city than
+Chicago, father. Don't you think so? But where are its beggars? We've
+not yet seen one."
+
+Hr. Svensen was quick to answer that they were not likely to see one.
+That Copenhagen, with a population of nearly five hundred thousand,
+has a pauper element of less than three per cent. "For the Danes are
+naturally a thrifty, industrious people, more than half of whom are
+farmers, and many also go to sea in ships," explained Hr. Svensen.
+
+[Illustration: "WHERE JOLLY-LOOKING WOMEN WITH QUAINT HEADDRESSES WERE
+SELLING THEIR WARES"]
+
+They took a tram down Stormgade over a bridge to the island of
+Slotsholmen, with its famous Fruit and Flower Market, where
+jolly-looking women with quaint headdresses were selling their wares;
+then over another bridge into _Kongens Nytorv_, the King's New Market.
+
+"Here we are in a different world from that which we just left," said
+Hr. Svensen. They had reached a large Square, a great centre of life
+and bustle, from which thirteen busy streets radiated. Through the
+trees in the centre of this great open space the statue of a king was
+seen, and red omnibuses crept slowly along on each side of the tram
+line. Here they saw the Royal Theatre, the famous Tivoli Gardens, and
+the beautiful old Palace of Charlottenburg, close to an inlet of the
+sea, which reached right into the Square with all its shipping, so
+that masts and sails and shops and buildings took on the same friendly
+aspect that they have in Holland.
+
+"But I don't see any 'skyscrapers,' Uncle Thor, like we have in
+Chicago, sometimes twenty stories high! Where are they?" inquired the
+little American.
+
+"In a moment or so, Karl, I will show you two 'skyscrapers' that will
+amuse you!" said Hr. Svensen. "But, look! here is a lively scene for us
+first."
+
+They were passing the Copenhagen fish-market, or _Gammelstrand_, as it
+is called, where the fish are sold alive, after having been kept in
+large perforated boxes in the canal.
+
+"Now look, Karl! how's that for a skyscraper?"
+
+They were looking at the tall tower of the _Bors_, or Exchange, one
+hundred and fifty feet high, with its upper part formed by four great
+dragons whose tails were so intertwined and twisted together, high
+up in the air, that they gradually tapered to a point, like a spire
+against the sky.
+
+Then there was another tower which interested Karl. It was on the
+Church of Our Redeemer. Circled by a long spiral stairway of three
+hundred and ninety-seven steps of gleaming brass, which wound round and
+round and up and up to the very top of the sharp cone, this tower gave
+the persevering climber a good panoramic view over Copenhagen.
+
+"But not so good a view as we can get from the top of the Round Tower,"
+said Hr. Svensen. "Here we are now."
+
+They were glad to quit the jostling crowds on the streets,--throngs
+of busy shoppers, students in cap and gown, sightseers, and, to-day,
+bright-coated soldiers at every turn. The soldiers were arriving in
+Copenhagen by hundreds every day now, they were told, in order to
+be ready, Monday morning, to welcome King Haakon of Norway, who was
+expected to arrive by ship.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor, will you or Uncle Oscar not bring us down to the city,
+Monday, and let us see King Haakon drive past?" cried out both boys at
+once.
+
+"Yes, boys," said Mr. Hoffman, "I will be glad to bring you. I leave
+for Jutland in the afternoon, Monday, and that will give me my last
+chance to see a little more of Copenhagen."
+
+At last they were in the Round Tower, and felt themselves slowly
+ascending. Up and up, and round and round and round on an inclined
+plane, they went--past curious niches in the wall, containing ancient
+monuments covered with Runic inscriptions; past a door leading to the
+university library, with its valuable collection of rare Icelandic
+manuscripts; slowly, on and on, until finally they reached the very
+top with its observatory, once the home of the great astronomer, Tycho
+Brahe.
+
+"Peter the Great once drove a coach and four to the top of this very
+same tower," volunteered Karl. "I've read all about that at school in
+Chicago. What a splendid view of the city we are having. It is all
+spires, and red roofs and gables built stairway fashion, isn't it?"
+
+"And how beautiful and sparkling the waters of the harbor look, all
+alive with ships, great and small," said Valdemar. "It certainly is a
+splendid seaport!"
+
+Far away, the Baltic, blue as the Bay of Naples, shimmered in
+the bright sunlight; and close at hand, at the various wharves,
+merchantmen, with valuable cargoes from far countries, were loading and
+unloading. It was a scene of busy life. The boys counted the flags of
+many different nations. No wonder the city had been named Merchant's
+Haven, or _Kjöbenhavn_.
+
+"What a good view of the coast of Sweden we get up here," said
+Valdemar. "And north of us lies Elsinore, the scene of Hamlet's
+tragedy. And, Karl, I'm sure that, on a clearer day, we could see
+Rugen, the German island, where, one day long ago, the Kaiser sat on
+the top of the cliff four hundred feet high, and watched the famous
+sea-fight between the Swedes and the Danes. But I don't like to talk
+about Germany. I'm glad that Aage is a soldier. Some day he will help
+us get Schleswig back again!" said patriotic little Valdemar. "And,
+only think, some of the geography books have even dared to call the
+North Sea the German Ocean! Kiel Harbor, now bristling with German
+war-ships, once belonged to Denmark, and so did the whole Baltic!"
+
+"Yes, and once the Danes were ruling half of England, Ireland, and
+Scotland, and they even gained a foothold in Normandy," said little
+Cousin Karl by way of consolation.
+
+"And the Germans once stood in terror of our great Vikings, who lorded
+it over the seas in every direction!" added Valdemar, with growing
+enthusiasm. "Their graves may be seen on both sides of the North Sea
+to-day. And wasn't it here, Uncle Thor, when an unusually severe winter
+had bridged the Baltic, that the Swedish king, Karl Gustav, led his
+army, horse, foot and guns, over the frozen seas where no one had dared
+to cross before, and finally took Copenhagen? But Denmark and Sweden
+are at peace now."
+
+"I'm glad that they are," replied Karl, "and that Norway and Denmark
+are, too, or we might not see King Haakon next Monday!"
+
+"Come!" said Uncle Thor. "Let us hurry home now, before we are late to
+dinner. It is a wonderful old tower, having survived both fires and
+bombardments. Once Copenhagen was fortified with a wall and a moat, for
+Denmark's capital has passed through many vicissitudes, but in these
+peaceful days they both have been turned into parks for the people."
+
+Dinner had been awaiting the hungry sightseers for some time when they
+reached home.
+
+When they had all gathered about the dinner table, it was plain that
+there was some great secret in the air. Fru Ingemann's face wore a
+bright smile, in spite of the late dinner, and little Karen held
+herself with an air of supreme importance, her cheeks bright, and her
+blue eyes dancing with suppressed excitement.
+
+"Great news, Brother Thorvald!" began Fru Ingemann, handing him a great
+white envelope bearing the arms of His Majesty, King Frederik. "When
+Karen and I were quietly studying the recipe book, and thinking of
+the dinner far more than of kings, the bell rang sharply, and, lo and
+behold! there stood the King's royal _Jaeger_[17]--in green uniform,
+three-cornered hat and all--inquiring for you, brother!
+
+"'His Majesty, the King, sends this message to Hr. Professor Svensen,'
+he said with a gracious bow, and, again bowing low, departed. Karen
+and I, as you can well imagine, have been guessing everything possible
+and impossible ever since, and given up in despair, waiting for you to
+explain it all to us yourself, Thorvald."
+
+By this time, Valdemar's and Karen's eyes were bulging wild with
+curiosity, and even Mr. Hoffman's face showed extreme interest. What
+could it be?
+
+"I am summoned to the Royal Palace Tuesday at eleven o'clock,"
+explained Hr. Svensen, "to begin immediate work upon a statue of His
+Royal Highness, the Crown Prince Olaf of Norway, who has graciously
+consented to give me a few sittings during his short visit in Denmark."
+
+When Uncle Thor had finished reading, he passed the great white
+envelope, headed "Royal Palace," with its interesting contents, over to
+his sister and the children. Never before had the King's _Jaeger_ come
+to Fru Ingemann's little apartment out on Frederiksberg-Alle!
+
+Valdemar was the first to speak.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor! I wonder if dear little Prince Olaf will pose with his
+beautiful big dog! He is never without him, you know. And oh, _dear_!
+Uncle Thor, can't you take me along with you to mix your clay--keep it
+damp for you, and just do lots of things you'd like done? I want to go
+with you so much, Uncle Thor, to watch you work! I know I could help
+you ever so much, if _only_ you would just take me!" urged the little
+embryo sculptor of the now great one.
+
+"My dear little Valdemar," said Uncle Thor with much tenderness in his
+voice, "you are very welcome to go with me to the Royal Palace 'to
+watch me work.' But, first, I want to watch _you_ work. Watching me
+will not do you much good, my little artist, until _you_ have done more
+work, yourself! This summons may delay my leaving for my summer studio,
+up at Skagen, until the end of the week, and I am willing to give half
+of every day, until I go, to teaching you. Now try to have some work
+ready to show me by to-morrow. I will bring you more modelling clay
+when you have used up what you have here. In fact, I will bring you
+some of my own tools, and some casts for you to use as studies. Perhaps
+I can fit up a real little studio right here in your own home for you.
+I want to see what talent you have, Valdemar."
+
+"Oh, brother, how very good of you!" exclaimed Fru Ingemann. "Valdemar
+must work very hard. He has talent, I feel sure."
+
+They had all finished their soup, a kind of very sweet gruel with
+vegetables, and a dish of ham was then placed before Fru Ingemann, who
+carved it, and passed around the slices, beginning with her nearest
+guest. Fish, preserves, and stewed fruits were served with it. Then
+followed _Rod-grod_, a kind of jelly to which the juice of different
+fruits had been added, tea and coffee, and the little dinner ended
+with the same ceremony as breakfast. Karl tried to suppress a smile
+as Valdemar and little Karen courtesied to their mother and uncles,
+as they said politely: "Thank you for the food," and went around and
+kissed them.
+
+"My son," said Karl's father, reprovingly, "I like these beautiful old
+Danish customs. I only wish you and all our little American boys and
+girls had more of this feeling of gratitude."
+
+"Come, Karl," called Valdemar, "and see my beautiful Della Robbia
+'Singing Boys,' that Uncle Thor brought to me all the way from Italy!"
+
+As the boys disappeared, the two men withdrew to the smoking-room for
+a chat over their cigars, while Fru Ingemann busied herself assembling
+all the "birthday flowers" into the front window overlooking the
+avenue, according to an old-time custom in Copenhagen. Then she tucked
+little Karen snugly in bed with a great pillow propped up against her
+feet to keep the drafts off, for the early June day had grown suddenly
+cooler towards night.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 10: Blinking weather.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Sea-side.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Lingering in the country.]
+
+[Footnote 13: "Picture Book without Pictures."]
+
+[Footnote 14: Good day.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Farewell.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Squares.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Hunter, or Messenger.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"HURRAH FOR KING FREDERIK!"
+
+
+"VALDEMAR, tell me! What is a real king like?" exclaimed Karl, as both
+boys sprang quickly out of bed bright and early Monday morning. "Is
+a real king something like a President, only he's all gorgeous with
+flashing decorations, and a sword and helmet,--like the pictures of
+Napoleon and the German Emperor?"
+
+"Karl, you must have been dreaming about kings! I can't tell you
+whether a king is like a President or not, for I've never seen a
+President," said Valdemar. "But I am sure of one thing, and that is
+that our King isn't one bit like the German Emperor! King Frederik just
+looks like the very best king Denmark ever had, and that is what he
+really is!"
+
+"Oh, excuse me, Valdemar. I forgot that you don't love the Germans. But
+does King Frederik come riding a great prancing charger with an arched
+neck and--"
+
+"You'll soon enough see for yourself how the King looks, Karl. Oh,
+there's Uncle Thor! Uncle Thor, how long before we can start?" cried
+Valdemar, who was himself almost as excited over the prospect of seeing
+two great kings at once, as was Karl. Valdemar had never seen King
+Haakon of Norway, son of his own dear King, and, although Karl, who was
+nearly twelve years old, had seen two Presidents, and gone once with
+his father to the White House in Washington, he had never seen a real
+live king in all his short life.
+
+"Oh, father dear!" he cried, "when _can_ we start? There! I think I
+heard a bugle! Oh, do let's go!"
+
+"We will start before very long, Karl, but not until you boys have had
+your tea and bread. And, if I'm not mistaken, I heard Valdemar's uncle
+say that he was to have a good lesson in drawing this morning. King
+Haakon's ship does not arrive in Copenhagen harbor before almost noon,
+so there will be plenty of time."
+
+"Yes, I do want my lesson!" said Valdemar, as they finished their cups
+of hot tea. "I'm ready, Uncle Thor," he called out, as he saw his uncle
+passing.
+
+Valdemar was in a very happy frame of mind this fine June morning, for
+his uncle had praised his work of the day before. Valdemar had modelled
+a half life-sized figure of his Great Dane, Frederik, and, to his great
+surprise, Uncle Thor had not only said that it was good, but had told
+his mother that it undeniably showed evidence of real talent. Nothing
+could please Valdemar more.
+
+Saturday's sightseeing had given them all a taste for more.
+Fortunately, Karl had brought his bicycle with him from Chicago, and
+so the two boys followed on their wheels, while Fru Ingemann took her
+brother, Mr. Hoffman, and little Karen all in a carriage, and drove
+the length of the beautiful Shore Road, called the _Langelinie_, or
+Long Line,--Copenhagen's fashionable drive, that stretches for miles
+along the sea. The place was gay with Sunday crowds,--walking, riding,
+wheeling, driving,--all out enjoying the warm June sunshine, as well as
+the bracing sea-breeze.
+
+When they reached the quaint old Citadel, they left the carriage and
+strolled about the earthworks, viewing the monument made from the
+guns of the wrecked _Dannebrog_, a ship fitly named after the Danish
+flag. Promenaders thronged the Shore Road at this point, gazing at the
+shipping of all nations which here covered the Sound, and off into the
+dim distance, at the shores of Sweden.
+
+Karl thought that his Aunt Else must have hosts of little friends, for
+all the small boys bowed, and the little girls courtesied so prettily,
+as she passed. But Fru Ingemann explained to him that it was only a
+custom of all well-bred Danish children to bow and courtesy to their
+elders, and then she told him how, every spring at _Paaske_, or Easter,
+as we call it, this beautiful Shore Road is thronged all day long with
+gay crowds all decked out in their _Paaske_ finery, as it is again
+later at _Store Bededag_, or Great Praying Day, on the fourth Friday
+after Easter.
+
+From here they drove out to the old Castle of Rosenborg, with its
+fine garden where little children were playing about the statued-form
+of their beloved story-teller, Hans Christian Andersen; and then
+straight home again, passing, on their way, the royal residential
+quarter, Amalienborg, which forms a great open Square, adorned with
+the beautiful Marble Church, and, in the centre of the Square, with a
+statue of King Frederik V.
+
+"Now we're off!" said Uncle Thor, as Valdemar finished a very good
+drawing lesson, for Karl and his father, and Karen and her mother were
+already waiting.
+
+At first the electric tram simply flew. But, as they approached the
+down-town section of the city, its way was often blocked by the dense
+crowds, who, like themselves, were coming to witness the arrival of
+Copenhagen's honored royal guest, His Majesty, King Haakon of Norway.
+
+"Norroway-over-the-Foam, as it was once called," laughed Fru Ingemann,
+"is a land of beauty which we must all visit some day. It is so many,
+many times the size of our little Denmark that it makes us feel, by
+comparison at least, a very small country indeed."
+
+"But Denmark occupies more space on the map than either Belgium or
+Holland," said Valdemar.
+
+"And Denmark is nearly twice the size of Massachusetts," added Karl.
+"But, oh! Just do look at the terrible crowds!--and right here is where
+we get off! Father says 'Come!'"
+
+All at once they were thrust into the vast crowd. All Copenhagen seemed
+suddenly to have poured by thousands forth into the streets, and the
+flags of Norway and Denmark floated everywhere side by side.
+
+"If only we can make the opposite side of the street!" said Uncle Thor,
+nervously looking about him in every direction, "we shall be safe, for
+right up there, on the second floor of that building, is my friend's
+office, from the window of which we are to view the royal procession.
+Ah! we're safe now!"
+
+No sooner had they taken their positions in the large open window, than
+they heard, in the distance, a cannon's loud report. It was followed by
+a salute of guns and loud cheering.
+
+"There!" said both boys at once. "That means that King Haakon has
+landed, and is now on his way here!"
+
+The cheering sounded nearer and nearer, and the cannon continued to
+boom.
+
+"Forty guns!" said Valdemar, who had been counting. "Forty guns is
+Denmark's royal salute. Karen dear, can you see?"
+
+"Yes, thank you, brother," said the child, whose feet were fairly
+dancing with so much excitement. "But look! They are clearing the
+street! The people are being made to keep back on the sidewalks.
+Listen! That is our glorious old National Hymn that the splendid Royal
+Guards are now playing. The King must be near! Listen, Karl! Oh, isn't
+it all thrilling!"
+
+Nearer and nearer sounded the familiar strains.
+
+"It _is_ splendid, Karen," conceded Karl, "but I'd like the Star
+Spangled Banner just as well, and, besides, I guess a king's no
+bigger'n a President! Oh, look!" But it was only an advance guard of
+mounted police.
+
+"I'm glad, mother, that our window has the largest flag in town flying
+from it," said Valdemar. "I just _do_ hope the King will look up here
+and see it! Listen! Now the people are beginning to cheer right down
+here under our very window! And the men are doffing their hats!"
+
+"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" cheered the loyal thousands, as the
+scarlet-coated King's Guard came in view.
+
+"Oh!" gasped Karen, with a long-drawn breath of delight. "Oh! isn't it
+glorious! Hear the bugle! And here come the mounted Hussars with their
+little red capes fastened on one shoulder, and swords flashing! How
+splendidly they ride!"
+
+"Mother, I'm going to wave my own flag when the King's carriage
+passes!" cried patriotic little Valdemar. "If King Frederik will only
+look up! Don't you hope he will, Karl? Oh! there's his carriage now!
+Yes, he sees my flag waving! He's looking! I'm going to cheer! Hurrah
+for King Frederik!"
+
+The King heard and raised his head. His eyes fell directly upon
+Valdemar's bright face, as had been the case that long ago day, in the
+Children's Hospital. King Frederik smiled, bowed, and gave the lad a
+military salute of recognition. King Haakon was seated beside King
+Frederik, but Valdemar did not see him. In the following carriage were
+the two queens, Queen Maud of Norway, and their own beloved Danish
+Queen Lowisa, with little Crown Prince Olaf, of Norway, seated between
+them; but Valdemar saw only King Frederik.
+
+"Mother! He _knew_ me!" cried Valdemar, as the brilliant procession
+passed slowly out of sight, and the music, whose strains came faintly
+back to them, had changed from Denmark's "Kong Christian" to the
+Norwegian National Hymn in honor of King Haakon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+UP THE SOUND TO HAMLET'S CASTLE
+
+
+"MOTHER dear, how fine and cool the sea-breeze feels!" exclaimed
+Valdemar, as the little Sound steamer puffed along over the bright
+Baltic waves, past the big merchant-ships on the blue Sound, making
+many stops on its way up towards historic old Elsinore, the spot made
+famous by Shakespeare.
+
+Uncle Oscar had departed three days before, going directly to the
+Jutland Park, to begin preparations for the entertaining of the
+thousands of loyal Danish-American visitors, expected to arrive in time
+for the Fourth celebration, and Fru Ingemann had given him her promise
+to meet him there, with the three children, for that great event.
+
+For it had not taken Fru Ingemann long to decide that Uncle Oscar's
+plan for the summer was best. Summer days are long, but few, in
+Denmark,--the winters cold and stormy,--and Karen and Valdemar needed
+the trip as much as did Karl, she told herself. So the little party
+of four were already on their way north, to see for themselves all
+the wonders and beauties of Jutland, of which Karl's father had been
+telling them.
+
+Once Fru Ingemann had decided, the days fairly flew. Valdemar wanted to
+start at once. But there was all the packing to be done--of things to
+be left, and things to be taken--and the flat to be closed for at least
+several months.
+
+Karen, who had never before been farther from home than their own
+little villa up on the _Strandvej_, was overjoyed and danced busily
+about, saving her mother steps in a thousand different ways; while
+Valdemar and Karl surprised Fru Ingemann by getting out ladders,
+buckets and brushes, and nicely whitewashing all the flat windows,
+which was really being very useful indeed.
+
+"Aunt Else, why is our steamer so awfully crowded with people? Are the
+Sound boats always like this?" asked Karl, who could hardly turn his
+chair around without knocking into some one.
+
+"Yes, Karl, it's like this every year at 'Deer-Park-time.' The huge
+crowds are as eager as ourselves to leave Copenhagen with the first
+warm day and flee to _Skoven_,[18] for we Danes love our beautiful
+woods. With the first bursting of the beech-buds, everybody asks
+everybody else: 'Have you been in the woods yet?' And then by
+thousands--young and old--they flock to our beloved beech-woods. Those
+who cannot find room on the boats take the first train, or carriage,
+or cycle, or car, or even foot it--any way at all in order to reach
+the Deer Park, for that is where most of them go. After we make a stop
+there, we shall have plenty of room on our boat, Karl. Look! We are
+passing Charlottenlund, the Crown Prince's palace. You can see it up
+among those fine old trees."
+
+"Then, Aunt Else," asked Karl, "isn't 'Deer-Park-time' something like
+our American 'Indian Summer,' only that it comes in the spring? It's
+your finest part of spring, and our best part of fall, when every one
+wants to live out of doors. Isn't that it?"
+
+"That's just right, Karl," laughed Fru Ingemann. "And a little Danish
+boy would feel almost as badly not to be taken to the beech-woods
+when 'Deer-Park-time' comes, as would a little English boy if he got
+no plum pudding on Christmas day, or a little Scotch boy without his
+currant bun on New Year's Day, or a nice little American boy like
+you, Karl, if he couldn't have any firecrackers for his Fourth of July
+celebration. But here we are stopping at the Deer Park now. Half the
+people are getting off."
+
+Valdemar's eyes looked far beyond the disembarking crowds landing at
+the pier. He saw only the dark pine trees in the distance, straight and
+tall, suggesting to his imaginative mind giant masts for Viking ships.
+Many a fine day had he spent tramping through those tree-shaded walks
+with his mother, while she told him wonderful stories about Denmark's
+great heroes of old.
+
+"In America, we like to go to the woods, too," said Karl; "but not just
+to walk and walk all day. We like to play ball, or climb the trees for
+nuts, or keep doing something all the time. Do you ever do anything but
+just walk, in your woods?"
+
+"Sometimes, on a warm summer's evening in the woods, we sing some
+beautiful old hymn, like Grundtwig's:
+
+    "'For Danes have their home where the fair beeches grow,
+      By shores where forget-me-nots cluster,
+      And fairest to us, by cradle and grave,
+      The blossoming field by the swift-flowing wave.'
+
+There are no people in all the world, Karl, who have the same simple
+love for their trees, as do the Danes," explained his Aunt Else.
+
+"There, Karl, we are starting again," said Valdemar.
+
+The beautiful Deer Park, with its masses and pyramids of green foliage,
+followed the Sound-Shore for five miles before the steamer had left it
+behind. The boat kept close to the shore, stopping frequently at the
+little, red-roofed settlements, inviting little villas and sea-bathing
+resorts, to let off more passengers, for everybody in Copenhagen who
+can, must lie on the _Strandvej_ for at least a part of every summer,
+enjoying the out-of-doors amusements, the bathing, the woods, sea,
+sky and sunshine. Nestling among the trees of the _Strandvej_, for
+miles, were little white, yellow, and green villas, among them Fru
+Ingemann's,--at the sight of which Karen, who always felt a little sick
+on the water, brightened, and exclaimed:
+
+"There, Karl, is ours! You must come back and spend another summer with
+us up there. We do have the best times, don't we, Valdemar?"
+
+The afternoon was singularly fine. Hundreds of ships were gliding
+silently past them in one continuous procession.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Karl, "there must be the flags of every nation
+on the globe. I've counted the Russian, German, French, English,
+Swedish, Norwegian, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese flags, and,
+look!--there is a steamer with our dear old United States flag! How
+narrow the sound is growing, Aunt Else. The mountains of Sweden look
+nearer and nearer. I believe that, if I yelled loud enough, the people
+over there could easily hear me."
+
+"Yes, Karl, we must be nearing Helsingör, for the Sound certainly
+is narrowing rapidly. It is less than two miles wide at that point.
+It hardly seems three hours since we left Copenhagen," remarked Fru
+Ingemann.
+
+"Oh, mother, look! Isn't that old Kronborg now?" exclaimed Valdemar.
+"That is surely Hamlet's Castle, mother! Helsingör is where we land!"
+
+"Yes, it is grim old Kronborg Castle, Valdemar. Many a tale its old
+gray walls could tell of terrible fighting, royal merrymaking, and of
+sadness. Karen and you, boys, shall go all through it when we land.
+For three hundred years Kronborg was the key to the Sound, keeping a
+sentry-like guard over the gate between the Baltic and the North Sea.
+For before the Kiel Canal was cut, as many as twenty thousand ships
+every year passed through this narrow strait, bound for Russian and
+Swedish ports; and Denmark grew rich from the Sound dues she collected.
+Now, the gates are open to the ships of all countries, and, when
+foreign sovereigns or men-of-war glide through this narrow silvery
+streak dividing Sweden and Denmark, old Kronborg's cannon give a
+friendly salute. But, come, we are landing now."
+
+It was but a few minutes' walk up to the frowning old fortress on the
+promontory, with its many lofty, gray stone towers rising from the
+castellated roof. Karl was seeing for the first time in all his life a
+real "fairy-tale" castle, surrounded by a broad moat and ramparts.
+
+First they were shown the apartments occupied by the royal family
+when, at rare times, they visit Kronborg. Passing a little chapel,
+with its carved choir-stalls and pulpit, they found themselves, after
+a fatiguing ascent, out upon the flat roof of a great square tower,
+from which they gazed in admiration in all directions, for the day was
+remarkably clear and bright.
+
+Far and near, over land and sea, the view was magnificent. To the east
+rose the mountainous Swedish coast, and, to the north, the gleaming
+blue waters of the Sound expanded into the equally blue Kattegat. All
+was still, like noon. Nothing seemed to move but the multitude of white
+sails silently passing and repassing through the narrow silvery strait
+below.
+
+"Mother dear, do you think I shall ever be able to paint anything so
+beautiful as this? Uncle Thor could do it justice, mother; but I--"
+
+"Yes, dear, if you work hard enough," was his mother's only answer, as
+she drew his coat collar closer about his neck, for a chill wind had
+risen.
+
+"The Swedish coast is so near, mother, that I can see the windows of
+the houses," said Karen. "The coast doesn't look dangerous, does it,
+mother; but Valdemar says the guard told him he had seen as many as six
+shipwrecks here in one night."
+
+"Yes, child, there are often bad storms on this coast; for the Kattegat
+is very rough and dangerous at times. Now we must go."
+
+"But Aunt Else, I want to see the famous platform where the ghost of
+Hamlet's father walked that night," protested Karl, as the little party
+started down.
+
+"Why, my dear boy, the ghost of Hamlet's father is believed to have
+paraded this very platform, right here where we are standing," laughed
+his aunt, as she put her arm about little Karen, who shuddered at the
+thought.
+
+"Don't you know the familiar verse, Karl?
+
+    "'And I knew that where I was standing,
+        In old days long gone by,
+      Hamlet had heard at midnight
+        The ominous spectre cry.'
+
+"This is, indeed, the far-famed castle of Elsinore, of glorious
+Shakespeare's fancy, Karl. You must, of course, have read about it in
+your school in Chicago," said Fru Ingemann, with a twinkle in her eye.
+"Through the magic of Shakespeare's great genius this out-of-the-way
+corner of our beloved little Denmark has become forever famous the
+whole world over. But come quickly, all of you; we have much yet to see
+this afternoon, before we take our steamer for Aarhus."
+
+"Wasn't it here in this fortress, too, that beautiful Queen Caroline
+Matilda was imprisoned until her brother, George III, sent her to
+Germany, where she soon died?" asked Valdemar, as they hurried down.
+
+"And, oh, Aunt Else, isn't it right here in this castle that Holger
+Danske stays?" demanded Karl.
+
+"Yes, Valdemar, Queen Caroline Matilda was a prisoner here; and Karl,
+no one can ever see Holger Danske, although it is believed that he is
+alive somewhere down in the underground vaults of this fortress, and
+that, whenever Denmark needs him, he will arise and come to her aid.
+All little Danish boys know him. Valdemar, you tell Karl the story,"
+said Fru Ingemann, as the little party hurried on.
+
+"Well, Karl, Holger Danske is the great national hero of Danish
+tradition, the founder of the Danish nation, in fact," began Valdemar,
+who was thoroughly familiar with his country's history and traditions.
+"Holger Danske's cradle was a warrior's shield, so the story goes, and
+he sits down in the deep dark dungeon of this fortress, all alone, clad
+in iron and steel, his head forever resting on his strong arms, bending
+over a marble table to which his great long beard has grown fast.
+There he forever slumbers and dreams that he sees and knows everything
+that is happening above in his beloved Denmark. Whenever his country
+is in peril, or stands in need of his services, he will appear. But,
+every Christmas night, one of God's angels visits him in his dungeon,
+and assures him that all his dreams are true, and that Denmark is
+threatened with no extraordinary danger, and that he may sleep on
+again."
+
+As they reached the Castle grounds, the guide pointed out the old
+moat, where Ophelia drowned herself, and the spring near by that bears
+her name. Then he took them to the grave of the melancholy Dane, in a
+beautiful shaded spot, marked by a moss-grown cairn of stones, and a
+granite shaft bearing the inscription:
+
+    +--------------------+
+    |                    |
+    |  "HAMLET'S GRAV."  |
+    |                    |
+    +--------------------+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[Footnote 18: The woods.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"FAIRY-TALE" CASTLES AND PALACES
+
+
+"'FREDENSBORG' means 'Castle of Peace.' It is an idyllic spot near
+here, famous the whole world over as the happy holiday gathering-place,
+every summer, of half the present crowned heads, majesties, and royal
+highnesses of Europe," said Fru Ingemann. "Let us take this waiting
+carriage now for a quick drive over there and back again in time
+for our steamer this afternoon to Aarhus. All this part of Eastern
+Zealand is so rich in romantic, fairy-tale castles and palaces, that
+I only wish we had time enough to see them all. But Fredensborg's
+hospitable roof has sheltered all the royal children, grandchildren,
+and great-grandchildren of good old King Christian IX, of Denmark,
+who was affectionately called 'The Grandfather of Europe.' Only think
+of a family reunion including King Frederik VIII and Queen Lowisa, of
+Denmark; their son, King Haakon, of Norway; former Queen Alexandra, of
+England, and her sister, the Dowager Empress Dagmar, of Russia, who
+were both Danish princesses; King George and Queen Mary, of England;
+King George, of Greece; and the Czar of all the Russias,--all meeting,
+every summer, in a quiet little family reunion in our obscure little
+Denmark at Fredensborg Palace!"
+
+"But, Aunt Else, you left out the German Emperor!" observed Karl, who
+persisted in always mentioning the Germans.
+
+"The German Emperor never comes to these royal gatherings, Karl. He
+is the only king who is not welcomed on Danish soil," explained Fru
+Ingemann, gently. "But here we are now at the palace."
+
+They approached the palace through an avenue of magnificent old
+lindens, through whose interlaced branches they caught glimpses of the
+blue sky and of the still bluer Lake Esrom, near by. Then, entering a
+very stony courtyard, the carriage stopped before a few steps, guarded
+by two stone lions.
+
+Soon they were walking through the apartments of the Queen, on the
+right, and of those of the King, on the left. From the King's plain
+working room, on the floor above, they looked out over the beautiful
+Marble Garden, so called from the elaborate statuary romantically
+placed among the old beech-trees, under whose deep shadows King Edward
+and Queen Alexandra, of England, did their courting. Nor was theirs the
+only royal love tale those mighty old trees could tell.
+
+In one room still stood the historic old Settee of the Czar, so called
+because the present Czar's father, who loved children, used to sit
+there and play for hours with his own royal children, whom he loved so
+well.
+
+Nothing interested them all more than the inscriptions--tender and
+pathetic--which they found on several of the historic old windows.
+Karl could only read a few, which happened to be in English, such as
+"Alexandra, September, 1868," and another, "Willie," which the King of
+Greece had written. But, when it came to a French inscription: "_Que
+Dieu veille sur la Famille Royale et la protège._ Alexandra, 1867,"
+Karl had to call upon Valdemar to translate it for him, as well, of
+course, as all the Danish ones.
+
+"'May God watch over the royal family and protect it,' is the
+translation of the French one, Karl, by Queen Alexandra; and Olga,
+Queen of Greece, has written in Danish here on this window: '_Danmark,
+Danmark, elskede Hjem_,' which means: 'Denmark, Denmark, beloved home,'
+and here is a touching one by the late Czar: '_Farvel kjaere gamle
+Fredensborg_,' 'Farewell, dear old Fredensborg.'"
+
+"And, mother," said Karen, "here is: 'Farewell, my beloved Fredensborg.
+Alexandra, September, 1868;' and 'Christian-Louise, 1864,' and
+'Valdemar-Marie, 1885.'"
+
+They drove away through the royal grounds, which reached down to the
+shores of beautiful Esrom Lake, glimmering like a sapphire in the
+setting sun's soft light, and were soon back once more at Helsingör.
+
+"Aunt Else," said Karl, "Fredensborg Castle looked exactly like the
+pictures of castles in the books of fairy tales."
+
+"If that is what you like, Karl, then some day you must surely see
+Frederiksborg Palace, in the lovely forest region north of Copenhagen.
+It stands on an island in a lake, and is all spires, turrets and
+battlements, and certainly looks like a real fairy-tale castle," said
+Fru Ingemann. "Some of its venerable beeches are five hundred years
+old. But here is the little inn where we must have something nice and
+warm to eat before we take our steamer, in just a few minutes, for we
+will be sailing all night. We have barely time, if we hurry."
+
+After finishing their little dinner of hot cinnamon-flavored soup,
+broiled fish, rye bread, preserves and _röd-gröd_, all of which tasted
+so good after their drive back through the woods, they boarded the
+little steamer which was to take them on their all-night trip over the
+Kattegat to Aarhus, on the east coast of the peninsula of Jutland, or
+the Continent, as the Danes call it.
+
+"Aunt Else, on one of those windows at Fredensborg, was the
+inscription: 'Valdemar-Marie, 1885.' Won't you tell me all about the
+Valdemars? They were Denmark's greatest kings, weren't they?" urged
+Karl.
+
+"Yes, but Valdemar will be glad to tell you all about them and about
+all the other kings of Denmark, too, Karl; but wait--here comes Fróken
+Johanne Nielsen, with her little nephews, Tykke and Hans, to talk to
+us. Fróken Nielsen is a great traveller. Children, don't you remember
+meeting them one summer up on the Strandvej?"
+
+Karen courtesied prettily, while the boys arose, bowed, and politely
+gave their seats to the Nielsens. Then Fru Ingemann listened while
+Fróken Johanne, who only remained a few minutes, told them of the
+famous sights of Stevns Klint, or cliff, on Zealand's eastern coast,
+where they had just been; and of the still more wonderful scenery
+on the romantic little island of Möen, in the Baltic, where the
+dazzling white limestone cliffs of Lille and the Store Klint adorn the
+sea-coast, and where the summer-time sunset comes after nine o'clock,
+and the clear northern light lasts until morning.
+
+"And don't forget about Faxö, Aunt Johanne, or Svendborg. Faxö was the
+best of all," put in little Tykke, as he delved deep down into his
+pockets and brought forth some pieces of fine coral.
+
+"Yes, Faxö is an ancient coral crag jutting out into the Baltic,"
+explained Fróken Johanne. "It is full of beautiful and rare fossils,
+and from Svendborg, on Fyen Island, we had such a beautiful view for
+miles and miles. From one high place the children could see alternate
+land and water five times, as well as the coasts of Sweden and Germany.
+The islands seemed like stepping-stones in the Baltic. But come,
+children, say good-bye; we must go."
+
+While they had been talking the setting sun had thrown a yellow glory
+over the waters in front of Elsinore, which was now fading slowly
+away. The forests about the old castle on the promontory became dark,
+blurred masses, and the white sails below were mere moving shadows. The
+children could no longer see even the many fine specimens of fossils
+and coral which Hans and Tykke had generously divided with them.
+
+The little steamer advanced upon the rolling _Kattegat_, with great
+flocks of white-winged sea-gulls following in its wake. Fru Ingemann
+noticed that Karen, who never could stand the churning motion of a
+boat, was turning perceptibly pale, and that a vague, uncertain feeling
+seemed to be creeping over even Valdemar and Karl, so she took her
+sleepy little brood below and soon had them all tucked snugly into bed
+for the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE LEGEND OF THE SACRED "DANNEBROG"
+
+
+"IT'S a letter from Uncle Oscar, mother! I just know it is!" cried
+Valdemar, as Fru Ingemann opened and commenced reading aloud the only
+letter found awaiting them the next day, upon their arrival in the
+ancient town of Aarhus.
+
+"And best of all," concluded the letter, "I have a great surprise in
+store for you all when you reach the Park next week. Karl will be
+especially delighted."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Else, what can it be? How I wish I knew what father means!"
+exclaimed Karl, dancing about the room in anticipation of so soon
+seeing his father again.
+
+"Let us make plans quickly," said Fru Ingemann. "I am wondering how we
+shall ever crowd into one short week all the fine trips and excursions
+we shall want to take before we leave here, for Fru Petersen tells
+me that the surrounding country is far more interesting than Aarhus
+itself."
+
+"Yes, mother, the Riis Skov and the Marselisborg Skov, on the outskirts
+of Aarhus, are at their very best now for picnicking," added Valdemar,
+who always loved the woods. "A farmer passed us on our wheels this
+morning, and told us so."
+
+"And he said we should not fail to visit the beautiful chains of lakes
+and fir-forests around Silkeborg," put in Karl. "He told us that
+Silkeborg was once just a manor, the property of the bishops of Aarhus;
+and that it came to be built in such a funny way. He said that one of
+the bishops was so charmed with the scenery in that part of the country
+that he took a vow that he would build a house wherever his silk cap,
+which a gust of wind had blown away, should remain. And so the strange
+name came about. Isn't that a funny story, Karen? Can't we go over to
+Silkeborg right now, Aunt Else?"
+
+"Oh, not to-day, Karl, for it's much too late. Besides, the sky looks
+threatening. I thought I heard something like low, distant thunder
+just a moment ago. But to-morrow we can take an all-day trip over to
+Mt. Himmelbjaerg and back, if we're all up bright and early in the
+morning," said Fru Ingemann.
+
+They were stopping with the Petersen family, in a little red-roofed,
+many-gabled house on a quiet side street in Aarhus. Karen and her
+mother had taken a short walk through the residential portion of the
+old town and back, and the two boys had been out on their wheels most
+of the day, eagerly exploring every nook and cranny of the healthy
+little trading city on the Kattegat, which was a town of standing in
+the far-off days when Copenhagen was but a mere little fishing village.
+They had ridden past the Public Library, the artistic Custom-house,
+pretty little theatre, the interesting Art Gallery, with its fine
+collections by Danish artists, the grim old red-brick Gothic Cathedral,
+with its gables, narrow pointed windows and massive tower, and finally
+down to the busy harbor of Jutland's thriving capital, where large
+vessels enter, for it is built out on the open shore.
+
+"Aunt Else, the other day, I remember, you called Jutland 'the
+peninsula;' Fru Petersen always says 'the Continent;' and once I heard
+somebody speak of 'us Islanders;' so which is it?" asked Karl.
+
+"I'm not surprised that you are confused, Karl. I will try to explain
+it all to you," said his aunt. "Denmark is literally an Island Kingdom,
+for she has about two hundred islands in all, situated at the entrance
+of the Baltic. Since the cutting of the Kiel Canal, even Jutland, which
+originally was, and still is in name, the Cimbrian Peninsula, has
+now become in reality an island, some of whose parts, being actually
+below the sea-level, are protected by dykes and embankments. Even the
+Limfjord, which is no longer a fjord but a Sound, cuts Jutland in two
+again, adding one more to the list of Denmark's many islands. Even
+Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, is built upon two islands,--the great
+island of Zealand and the little island of Slotsholmen, over which it
+extends.
+
+"Besides these, and many other smaller islands of the Danish
+archipelago, Denmark has colonies, much larger than herself, which,
+strangely enough, are all islands. One is Iceland, with its volcanic
+fires and geysers spouting through the ice; and the great snow-buried
+island of Greenland is another of Denmark's frigid possessions. There
+is also a group of islands in the West Indies.[19]
+
+"Yes, Aunt Else, thank you for telling me all about it. But I do wish
+I knew what father's 'great surprise' is to be!" sleepily murmured
+Karl, closing his eyes. "Valdemar, you were going to tell us all about
+Denmark's kings. Won't you do it now?"
+
+"Yes, do, brother," begged Karen, as she yawned and buried her flaxen
+head in a big, soft pillow.
+
+"Tell my best stories to such a sleepy audience? I guess not!" said
+Valdemar, himself yawning.
+
+"Such a sleepy lot of children! Off to bed, every one of you, and up
+early in the morning," said Fru Ingemann, kissing them good night.
+
+Hardly had they been in bed an hour, when a terrific thunder-storm
+broke over Aarhus. With the first deafening crash of thunder, the whole
+Petersen family sprang from their beds, dressed and rushed to the
+sitting-room, where they huddled around the great tile stove, their
+arms loaded down with their most treasured family possessions, Fru
+Petersen herself carrying the family plate and the cherished recipe
+book, which in Danish households is handed down from grandmother to
+mother and daughter.
+
+The storm passed as quickly as it had come. By morning the ground was
+dry, the sky fair and blue, and Fru Ingemann and her charges well on
+their way to famous old Himmelbjaerg, which means Heaven's Mountain,
+for it is the highest spot in all Denmark.
+
+"Why didn't we all jump out of our beds last night, too, mother,"
+questioned Karen, as their train was passing through much low, hilly
+country, in the midst of beautiful woods and lakes.
+
+"Oh, that was just _noget snak_,[20] Karen. The Petersens were brought
+up in the country, and they were afraid of fire by lightning. But here
+we are, Karl, in the scattered little town of Silkeborg, where the
+bishop's silk cap blew."
+
+They first armed themselves with a large basket of provisions, then
+took a trim little motor-boat, which carried them past woods and
+gardens and picturesque little stork-inhabited farmsteads, up a
+pleasant river which soon widened into a lake, and then from one blue
+lake into another, on and on, until they finally stopped at the foot
+of heather-covered old Himmelbjaerg, on whose summit they could see a
+tall, obelisk-like monument.
+
+"It's Denmark's Pike's Peak! Isn't it, Aunt Else?" exclaimed Karl in
+delight. "Father and I have climbed Pike's Peak in Colorado, and, I
+can tell you, mountain climbing is just lots of fun! Can't we go to the
+very top to-day, Aunt Else?"
+
+With their long alpenstocks, Karen and the boys led the way up the
+gentle slope, while Fru Ingemann closely followed with the basket of
+good things to eat--_smörrebröd_, oranges, tarts, cake and sugar-plums,
+which disappeared as though by magic when they spread them on the grass
+in the shadow of the great brick tower.
+
+The view from the "Kol," or top, was indescribably beautiful, reaching
+as far as eye could see over far-stretching forests, and valleys and
+corn fields and chains of lakes, in every direction to the unbroken
+horizon.
+
+"Mother, mother! how wonderful!" exclaimed Valdemar, after he had
+looked long and silently at the impressive scene before him. "It's like
+one of Turner's great paintings!"
+
+[Illustration: "THEY SPREAD THEM ON THE GRASS IN THE SHADOW OF THE
+GREAT BRICK TOWER"]
+
+The grass on the mountain-side waved in the strong summer wind.
+Beetles hummed, insects buzzed in the heather about them, and a little
+field-lark, perched on a near-by beech-tree, poured forth its song,
+while Karen chased the brilliant-winged butterflies as they dashed
+through the sunlight.
+
+"'Erected by Frederik VII,'" read Valdemar aloud, deciphering the
+inscription on the base of the brick tower.
+
+Karen and Karl came running up, their arms full of mountain
+wild-flowers they had found almost hidden among the deep heather.
+
+"Valdemar, are you going to tell us all about the Danish kings now?"
+urged Karl, who was a good student of United States history, and loved
+hero-tales of any country. "Please start at the very beginning. Karen
+wants to hear, too."
+
+"And, after the story is finished, perhaps we shall have time for a
+little row on the lake," added Fru Ingemann.
+
+Quickly they ranged themselves comfortably on the grass in the shade
+of one of Himmelbjaerg's giant old beeches, whose long arms swept the
+ground about them.
+
+"Denmark means 'land of dark woods,'" began Valdemar, who loved his
+beautiful country, and was familiar with her legends and history from
+his babyhood up. "The Northmen were a fire-worshipping heathen people,
+according to Snorre Sturlason, who says that Odin, their chief god, was
+a real personage, who used to appear to men. But all this early history
+of Denmark is so full of legend, petty fights of kings, piratical
+exploits, and strange, wild stories and romances of the Skalds, that it
+is very hard to tell which is fact or fable, until we come to the last
+thousand years of Danish history.
+
+"But in those early mythological days, when Denmark was covered with
+dark forests of mighty firs, Dan the Famous was one of the earliest
+kings, reigning in 1038 B. C. He became powerful, after uniting many
+small chieftains to himself, and so, according to some authorities, the
+country was called 'Danmark,' or the border of the 'Dans,' or Danes.
+
+"Gorm the Old, in the middle of the ninth century, was really the first
+king to rule over the whole of Denmark, and his was called the Golden
+Age. His beautiful young wife, Queen Thyra Dannebod (the Dane's Joy),
+was full of goodness and wisdom, and after Gorm's death, she built the
+famous Dannewirke, a great wall that stretched across Denmark from
+the North Sea to the Baltic, for her people's protection against the
+fearful inroads and plunderings of their southern neighbors. One may
+see the graves near Jellinge, to-day, of Gorm the Old and Queen Thyra,
+two heather-covered, flat-topped cairns marked by massive old Runic
+stones.
+
+"Then Gorm's son, King Harold Blaatand (Blue-tooth), ruled over
+Denmark, and was slain one night as he slept by a camp-fire, by the
+gold-tipped arrow of his heathen enemy, Planatoke. After him came his
+son, Svend Tveskaeg, who commenced the conquest of England, which was
+ended by Knud den Store, or Canute the Great, thus uniting the crowns
+of both kingdoms during his reign and that of his son, Harthaknud
+(Hardicanute), who was followed by King Svend Estridsen.
+
+"Sometime I must tell Karl some of the wonderful tales I've read
+about all these old kings--tales re-told from the ancient Sagas and
+Chronicles, with their warrior-songs, giant-songs, hero-tales and
+ballads. Danish literature is full of them.
+
+"But now we come to the three great Valdemars, and their glorious
+battles."
+
+"And all about our _Dannebrog_--the flag that fell from heaven,
+Valdemar," broke in Karen, who never could hear that story often
+enough.
+
+"And tell us all about the king who was put into a bag, won't you,
+Valdemar?" urged Karl.
+
+"Yes, I'm coming right now to both those stories, which happened in the
+reign of Valdemar II. But first I want to say that it was Valdemar I
+who cleared the Baltic and North Seas of all the terrible Wend pirates,
+and it was also during his reign that Denmark's war-like bishop,
+Absalon, founded Copenhagen and gave the people a constitution.
+
+"With Valdemar II a great and glorious era for Denmark set in. The old
+ballads and folk-songs tell how he courted Dagmar, the fair Bohemian
+princess, for his bride, and never was Danish queen more beloved by her
+people.
+
+"Indeed, the Golden Age seemed to have returned to Denmark under the
+early reign of this successful young monarch, who was as knightly
+and handsome as he was courageous. His empire grew until he finally
+became master of Holstein, Schwerin, and all the provinces of Northern
+Germany, and his people called him Valdemar Seir (the Victorious).
+When the Pope granted him sovereignty over all the peoples he could
+convert, he set out upon a crusade against the pagans of Esthonia,
+with more than a thousand ships, and many thousands of men. With the
+Pope's blessing he sailed across the Baltic, but so vast did the host
+of the enemy appear, as his fleet neared the shore, that the Danes at
+first feared to land. But their archbishop reassured them, and they
+landed in safety. Towards evening, with King Valdemar at their head,
+the battle raged furiously. The struggle grew fiercer and fiercer,
+until the Danes, who were outnumbered, were beginning to give way, when
+there arose a great cry: 'The Banner! The Banner!' Pagan and Christian
+paused. All eyes turned towards the sky, where, as though miraculously
+flung from heaven, was seen falling into the midst of the Christian
+ranks a blood-red banner bearing a great white cross,--our sacred
+_Dannebrog_. 'For God and the King,' cried the crusading Christians, as
+they seized the Heaven-sent flag, and again charged their enemy, who
+now fled in terror. The victory was won, and the _Dannebrog_, from that
+hour, became the sacred national standard of Denmark.
+
+"Now I'm coming to the 'king in a bag' story, Karl," said Valdemar.
+"Denmark's power was now supreme throughout Scandinavia, Northern
+Germany and even over to Russia. Valdemar's reign was at its height.
+His people adored him. But there were secret foes--the conquered
+princes of Germany--awaiting his downfall. Among them was one in
+particular called Black Henry, who hated Valdemar, and was biding his
+chance to overthrow, if not to kill him. All in one single night the
+treacherous deed was done. Wearied by a day spent in hunting, the King
+and his son slept that night in a small, unguarded tent in the woods of
+the little island on Lyö. Suddenly their slumber was broken into by an
+unseen foe. The King could scarcely move, or speak, or see, or breathe.
+Black Henry had fallen upon King Valdemar and his son, bound, gagged
+and tied them up into two bags, and fled with his royal captives to a
+waiting boat in the river, and hurried them to Germany, where they were
+thrown into prison.
+
+"Some years after, the King was ransomed by his loyal people with gold
+and lands, and he finally returned to his beloved Denmark amid the
+greatest rejoicing, to find most of his splendor gone. He was no longer
+king of a great empire, but he had his people's love, and spent his
+remaining years faithfully improving all the laws of his country."
+
+"Oh, what glorious stories you do tell!" exclaimed Karl, who, with
+Karen, had been listening spell-bound to the end. "I shall never again
+see the famous old _Dannebrog_, without thinking of that wonderful
+story of how it fell from heaven, and saved the battle for the Danes."
+
+"If Valdemar never makes his mark in the world as a celebrated
+sculptor, he certainly will as a great historian, with that memory of
+his," said his mother, indulgently. The afternoon sun was sinking in
+the west as they made their way down the mountainside, and soon left
+beautiful old Himmelbjaerg far behind.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: In 1902 the United States negotiated with Denmark for the
+purchase of St. Thomas, one of these islands, as a coaling station,
+or naval base; but the Danish Rigsdag refused, by a single vote, to
+authorize the sale. It is believed that the matter will shortly be
+again considered by the two countries.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Some nonsense.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE STORY OF THE DANISH "AHLHEDE"
+
+
+SOON they were tramping past wind-tossed rye-fields and through
+sweet-smelling meadows from which, every now and then, a long-legged
+stork flapped its wings and flew skyward at their approach.
+
+Their way to the boats of pretty Tul Lake,--gleaming through the trees
+in the sunlight,--lay along the banks of the Gudenna River, which
+has its source among the picturesque hills near Veile; then meanders
+northward through ranges of hills and green fields, winding with many
+a bend and curve on past old Himmelbjaerg, past Silkeborg and Randers,
+finally emptying through Randers Fjord into the Kattegat.
+
+"Are you looking for the row-boats?" came a sweet voice just behind
+them. "They are just around the bend. I will show you the way."
+
+Turning in the direction of the voice, Valdemar saw a pretty,
+rosy-cheeked, blue-eyed little peasant girl, in embroidered bodice and
+cap, carrying a great arm-load of poppies and forget-me-nots, and,
+stiltily walking along the middle of the road back of her, was a great
+white, red-billed stork.
+
+"There are the boats now," she said, pointing down a wooded bank just
+ahead of them, and turning to go. Fru Ingemann offered her a small coin
+with her thanks and a smile, but the proud child refused the coin with
+an indignant: "_Nej tak! Ingenting! Ingenting!_"[21] and started on her
+way,--the stork still following in stately tread.
+
+"Is that your stork?" Karl couldn't help calling after her, for he
+thought it awfully funny to see the big white stork following a little
+girl in such friendly fashion.
+
+"My stork? Why, no! I have no stork," laughed the merry-faced little
+peasant maid. "But there is a stork's nest on the top of the white
+church tower over there, and another one up on farmer Andersen's
+chimney, where he placed an old wagon wheel last year for them. And
+over yonder, in the eaves of the village houses, there must be several
+hundred storks. They are very tame, and often follow the plough in
+search of food for their nestlings, which they find in the newly-turned
+earth. This is their nesting time now. Then, when fall comes, they will
+fly with their little ones down to France and Egypt for the winter. But
+the same storks always come back. This same one followed me about last
+year. I think it knows me."
+
+In Karl's land there were no friendly, red-legged storks stalking about
+the country roads, but he had read all about them in his "Andersen's
+Fairy Tales."
+
+"Storks bring happiness and good luck," explained Valdemar, "and to
+kill a stork in Denmark is a greater crime, if anything, than to kill a
+fox in England."
+
+As the boat moved out into the blue lake, through the silent reeds
+and water-lilies along the shore, with its drowsy white swans, Karl
+could still see in the distance the little peasant girl with her
+wild-flowers, the stork in the middle of the road still keeping stately
+pace with her. Then he burst out laughing at the funny sight.
+
+Valdemar and Karl were both good oarsmen, and so they rowed far
+out across the lake, then drifted lazily along, while Fru Ingemann
+entertained them with one of Evald's charming fairy-tales, parts of
+Öhlenschläger's delightful "Aladdin," and tales from old Danish
+Saga-lore.
+
+"Mother, won't you sing something?" begged Valdemar, who always loved
+to hear his mother's beautiful voice.
+
+"Yes, while you are both rowing back to shore, for it is growing late,"
+said Fru Ingemann, as she began and sang for them one of Weyses's old
+Saga-like romances.
+
+The cool evening breezes, whispering among the trees, told them that
+the long, happy day was over, and that they must catch their train back
+to Aarhus at once.
+
+Then came the day when they went by boat down the coast and sailed up
+Veile Fjord, to spend two happy days at the Munkebjerg,[22] with many
+a ramble through the woods, guided to and from all the loveliest views
+by following the red or the yellow arrows on the trees, pausing now and
+then, after a stiff climb, to rest a moment in front of some little
+wooden chalet, or to sit and enjoy the scene from Atilla's Bench or
+Baron Lovenskjold's Bench, if they had followed the red route, or at
+Ryeholm's Bench or The Bench of the Four-Leaved Clover, when they had
+followed the yellow marks.
+
+And from Munkebjerg they had gone to Jellinge, a town perched upon
+the breezy upland, and there they saw the two large, flat-topped,
+heather-covered "barrows," or graves, of Gorm the Old and Queen Thyra,
+of which Valdemar had been telling them, and Karl was surprised to hear
+that there still remained in Zealand, alone, some thousands of these
+Viking cairns, or Warrior's Hills, as they are called.
+
+Then, as the end of their short week drew near, the children begged Fru
+Ingemann to take them by motor-car to Randers, where the famous annual
+Horse-Fair was being held, and they strolled through the streets of
+the cheerful old town, with its quaint old houses with their slanting
+roofs and protruding windows.
+
+The Danish flag, with its sharp white cross on a blood-red field,
+fluttered everywhere. Hundreds of them decorated the exhibition field,
+to which the towns-folk and farmers, in their Sunday-best, swarmed,
+from far and near, to hear the speeches and witness the awarding of
+prizes to the superbly groomed, arch-necked horses of the famous
+Jutland breed.
+
+The children had hoped to see the peasants still wearing Hessian
+boots and velvet coats covered with great silver buttons, but Fru
+Ingemann told them it was fifty years too late for that. They bought
+tickets--little bits of blue and white ribbon with "Randers" and the
+date printed on them--to the cake-man's booth, and there they bought
+all sorts of cakes fantastically made into queer-shaped men and horses
+and hearts, all covered with sugar and almonds and candies, each with
+a little motto on it.
+
+Karen soon grew tired and sleepy, so they did not stay to witness
+the general fun and frolic and peasant dancing at night. As they
+left the grounds Karl, who was beginning to learn a few Danish
+words, exclaimed at an advertisement he saw on a signboard:
+_Industriforeningsbygningen_![23] "Valdemar, is all that just one
+word?" he asked.
+
+"Just one word, Karl," replied his cousin.
+
+"As we are all to leave Monday morning for the Park, and Randers is
+half-way there," said Fru Ingemann, "I have decided not to return to
+Aarhus at all, but to remain here over Sunday."
+
+No one wanted to go anywhere on Sunday, so the day was quietly passed
+at home. In Monday morning's mail came a letter from Uncle Thor, asking
+how soon Valdemar could start up to Skagen, and also a telegram from
+Uncle Oscar, saying: "Meet me at noon, Monday, at Ribald. Pleasant
+surprise for Karl."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Else, what _can_ father's surprise be? I don't see how I
+can ever wait to find out." But his aunt only advised him to be more
+patient, for he would soon know.
+
+"Tell me all about the Heath then, Aunt Else, and this Park, where we
+are going," said Karl, as their train sped rapidly northward through
+the low moorland hills, past clover fields where herds of fat red
+Danish cattle stood separately tethered; past prosperous little farms,
+some of them with their waving rye-fields, others all aglow with
+yellowing grain.
+
+"Long, long ago," began Fru Ingemann, "in the days when Grandmother
+Ingemann was only a little girl, before there was any telegraphs or
+telephones, the very heart of all Jutland--as large a space as the
+whole island of Zealand--was just a dangerous, wild, barren desert, all
+sand and peat-bogs. The few Heath-dwellers who tried to live there led
+very lonely and dangerous lives. The Natmaend, a strange race of gypsy
+robbers, smugglers and kidnappers, wandered there. History records many
+dark tragedies enacted on the Heath. It was on Grathe Heath that young
+King Valdemar the Great met and overpowered his treacherous enemy,
+Svend; and, a century later, the Heath was the scene of a still grimmer
+tragedy, the murder of King Erik by Marsk Stig.
+
+"The Ahlhede, or All-Heath, as the Danes called it, had not always
+been a desert-land, covered for miles with Viking barrows. There had
+once been beautiful forests of spruce and oak and fir-trees stretching
+over this four thousand miles of waste land. But what forests the long
+droughts and merciless west winds and cold blasts from the North Sea
+failed to destroy the ancient Vikings and their subjects cut down for
+their ships, huts and for fuel, leaving only a great silent, desolate,
+desert land. It remained thus for such ages that no one ever believed
+that it could be reclaimed,--that is, no one until Captain Dalgas set
+to working out his dreams and theories for conquering it. His hope
+was to win back to Denmark, through the conquering of the Heath, the
+territory lost through the Schlesvig-Holstein war. He formed the Heath
+Society and replanted the treeless wastes.
+
+"To-day, countless farmsteads, meadows and pastures of the Danish
+peasantry dot the Heath from Germany to the Skaw. Trees again flourish;
+all has been changed as if by magic, and the plough goes over more
+and more acres of it every year, until a group of patriotic Danes,
+like your Uncle Oscar, have taken alarm lest all the breezy stretches
+of heather be reduced to farms, and none of the old-time Heath be
+preserved untouched for its own natural beauty's sake."
+
+"Uncle persuaded a lot of Danes away off in Chicago, where he lives,
+to buy up a lot of the wildest and most beautiful part of it so that
+Denmark might keep it forever as a Park. Isn't that it, mother?"
+questioned Valdemar.
+
+"Yes, exactly, Valdemar," replied his mother. "And, because of
+the untiring efforts of a group of patriotic American Danes, like
+your Uncle Oscar, a beautiful wild spot of three hundred acres up
+in Northern Jutland, near Ribald, has been purchased, and will be
+formally presented to the Danish government as a reservation, with the
+one condition that, every year, in that spot, when Danish-Americans
+cross the ocean to meet there and celebrate their Fourth of July on
+Danish soil, the Stars and Stripes shall float above Denmark's sacred
+_Dannebrog_. Now that everything is ready, the Park is to be formally
+presented to the Danish Government."
+
+"Presented to-day, mother?" asked Karen in surprise.
+
+"Yes, this very afternoon. There will be a great crowd. Every steamer
+for weeks past has been bringing over hundreds of Americans, and, Karl,
+look out, for you may meet some of your Chicago friends among them."
+
+"From home, Aunt Else? There's nobody I'd rather see from home than
+my own mother!" said little Karl, rather wistfully. "Gee! I do wish I
+could see my mother! I just wonder what daddy's 'great surprise' can
+be! Oh, just look at the big crowd!"
+
+The train had stopped. "Ribald!" sang out the conductor. In a twinkling
+the car was emptied. As Fru Ingemann and her charges reached the
+platform, Karl saw two waving handkerchiefs making their way through
+the dense crowd towards him, and in an instant more he felt his
+mother's arms around him.
+
+"Mother! mother! I'm so glad you've come!" he cried in joy. "Daddy, you
+did give me a pleasant surprise!" He laughed as Fru Ingemann and her
+sister Amalia greeted each other.
+
+"Aunt Amalia, won't you stay over here in Denmark with us all summer?"
+urged Valdemar, as the happy little party was being driven rapidly on
+their way to the Park.
+
+"Yes, Valdemar,--that is, I'm going to remain until your Uncle Oscar
+can get back from the United States again. That is why I have come--so
+as to stay with Karl, and let him see some more of Denmark, during his
+father's absence. And then I'm glad to see this wonderful Park, too, of
+course."
+
+"Why, Daddy! Must you go back to America, and leave us?" protested
+Karl, who was having another surprise.
+
+"I'm sorry, but business calls me back to Chicago at once, my little
+Karl. I leave this afternoon, immediately after the festivities, but
+I'll come back again soon. Here we are at the Park now."
+
+As Mr. Hoffman, as president of the Danish-American Park, took his
+place upon the speaker's platform, and began his address, welcoming
+the thousands of American visitors he saw before him, back to the
+Fatherland,--to the Park--_their_ Park forever,--a great cheer
+arose, which was redoubled in volume as the Stars and Stripes were
+impressively hoisted over the beloved _Dannebrog_--and then from a
+thousand voices the Star Spangled Banner floated forth over the Danish
+hills.
+
+There were complimentary speeches by both the American and Danish
+ministers, and by Crown Prince Christian. Then every one sang one of
+those beautiful old national songs the Danes love so well to sing in
+their woods, and Karl told Valdemar and Karen the story of the "Birth
+of Old Glory,"--as the United States flag is sometimes called.
+
+In the evening, the whole forest seemed one vast fairy-land, with
+its myriad sparkling lights, strains of soft music, gay crowds and
+waving flags. Multitudes of lamps, of all colors and sizes, swung from
+the trees, throwing a romantic fairy-like light over the rustling
+beech-trees. Torches had been stuck wherever it had been possible to
+fasten them, and here and there a huge bon-fire flung its lurid glare
+over the whole scene, sending up great volumes of black smoke into the
+darkness overhead.
+
+Three very tired and sleepy children were those whom Fru Ingemann put
+to bed that night, even before their usual time. The happiness of the
+long day--so full of new sights, surprises and excitement for Valdemar
+as well as Karl--was only marred by the leave-taking of Uncle Oscar for
+his long trip back to his home in far-away Chicago.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 21: "No, thank you. Nothing! nothing!"]
+
+[Footnote 22: Monk's Mountain.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Manufacturers and Sealers' Associations Building.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SKAGEN
+
+
+TO Valdemar it seemed like a week, rather than just three days, since
+he had bidden good-bye to his mother, Karen and Aunt Amalia, and
+brought Karl with him up to the little painter's village of Skagen
+on the Kattegat, where they were to spend the months of July and
+August visiting Uncle Thor, who had built for himself one of the most
+charming of all the pretty, long, low, vine-covered homes of the famous
+Artist-Colony, of which he, as Court Painter, was by far the most
+distinguished member.
+
+Up here was Uncle Thor's summer studio, with its row of fifteen great
+windows between which glorious red hollyhocks towered almost up
+to the red roof-tiles. On the south, the windows overlooked a gay,
+flower-massed garden where, on warm summer afternoons, the great
+sculptor loved to chat with painter-friends, and serve tea under his
+wind-swept old elms.
+
+Here, in this bare and lofty studio, with its half-finished paintings
+and groups in clay, and, if the day be chilly, its crackling wood
+hearth-fire at the further end, throwing a flickering, rosy light over
+all,--here Valdemar was to spend many hard, long hours every day under
+his gifted godfather's instruction.
+
+[Illustration: "IN THE CENTRE OF THE STUDIO STOOD THE UNFINISHED STATUE
+OF THE LITTLE CROWN PRINCE"]
+
+"In the whole of Denmark was there ever any boy half so fortunate?"
+thought Valdemar to himself, as he made a mental resolution to show
+Uncle Thor his appreciation by the hardest work of his life. Valdemar
+could work hard, and he meant not only to prove to his uncle what
+earnest toil and definite purpose could do, but also to win his
+offer to send him to the Academy in the fall.
+
+On a low platform, in the centre of the studio, stood the unfinished
+statue of the little Crown Prince Olaf of Norway which Uncle Thor had
+commenced in Copenhagen at the Royal Palace. Day by day it was nearing
+completion.
+
+"And here," said Valdemar's great teacher, uncovering a smaller but
+similar clay figure of the same charming subject, "is work my ambitious
+little pupil is to finish before he leaves Skagen. It will be hard
+work, Valdemar, and it will put your ability as a young sculptor to a
+fine test. But you can do it, Valdemar, and do it creditably, too!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle Thor! Do you really think so? I'll try hard enough!"
+promised the lad as he set to work in good earnest.
+
+The long hours, which Valdemar spent daily in the studio, Karl passed
+either out of doors or in reading all the fascinating books on Danish
+history in Uncle Thor's library.
+
+There were frequent letters to both boys from Fanö, the little island
+in the North Sea, where Karen, her mother, and Aunt Amalia were
+spending the summer. Later they were going to spend a few weeks on a
+large farm, for a change.
+
+And so the weeks passed. Finally Holme Week, with its clear, bright
+evenings, came; but the midsummer sun was growing uncomfortably warm
+even as far north as Skagen.
+
+Valdemar's work on his little Prince Olaf statue was so far advanced
+that Uncle Thor readily consented when the two boys begged him to let
+them take the dog, Frederik, along with them, and tramp over the two
+miles of mountainous sand-ridges which led to Denmark's most northern
+point, Grenen, or the Gren,--a mere desolate sand-reef, the last
+little tip of Jutland's mainland, which extends between the waters of
+the North Sea and the Baltic.
+
+The only signs of life the boys passed on the way, as they trudged
+along together, often ankle-deep in the sand, were a few long-legged
+birds, and several huge hares which shot across the road in front of
+them.
+
+"We didn't bring along more than half the sand-hills with us, did we,
+Valdemar?" laughed Karl, as they threw themselves down on the beach at
+Grenen, emptied the sand from their shoes, and donned their bathing
+suits.
+
+"Talking about sand, Karl, some day I must show you all that remains of
+an old Gothic church tower near Skagen. One day, during a service, a
+great sand-storm came up and buried the church itself so suddenly that
+the only escape the people had was from the belfry. That is all that
+can be seen of that church even to-day."
+
+Frederik barked loudly and dashed back and forth after the two boys,
+who were soon bubbling over with the fun and excitement of dipping
+their feet first into the breakers of the Skager-Rak, and then into
+the waters of the Kattegat, the warm July salt wind and spray tanning
+their bare arms and faces. Then, Frederik following, Valdemar swam far
+out into the sea and back again, with the utmost ease. All Danish boys
+can swim well, and Valdemar wanted to give Karl a demonstration of his
+ability as an expert swimmer.
+
+"Kattegat! Skager-Rak!" shouted Karl, who liked something in the sound
+of the words. "Grenen's great! But, honest, Valdemar, never in my life
+did I expect to bathe in both these raging seas at once! But here I
+go--look now!" and he plunged out into the breakers. Frederik dashed
+after him to make sure that he was safe, then came bounding back again
+to Valdemar.
+
+"Ow! ow!" cried Karl, limping back on one foot.
+
+"Crabber?" inquired Valdemar. "Uncle Thor warned us to look out for
+crabs and shrimps up here on the beach. You sit down here and rest,
+Karl. I'm going to gather some of those fine sea-gull's feathers
+scattered along the beach for you to take back home with you for your
+collection of Danish souvenirs. It was mighty nice of Uncle Thor to
+give you that letter from King Frederik!"
+
+"And I'm going to put my shoes and stockings right back on again while
+you're gone!" said Karl, surveying his painful foot with a frown.
+
+"Oh, look, Karl!" exclaimed Valdemar, as he soon came running back, his
+arms full of something. "Look what I've found for you! Sea-gulls' eggs!
+All greenish, with brown peppery spots on them, and here's a lot of the
+loveliest white wing-feathers, every one tipped with black! They're
+all for you, Karl."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Valdemar. Let's blow the eggs. Do you know how?"
+
+"Yes, of course. I've got a piece of wire in my pocket. You just run
+this wire straight through both ends--so! Then blow and blow!"
+
+Together the boys had soon blown all the eggs, and tied them up with
+the feathers in a piece of old fish-net they found on the beach. Then
+Karl watched Valdemar while he made a hasty sketch of Skagen Fyr, the
+great white lighthouse towering above the sand-hummocks near the Signal
+Station, where it is said that every year seventy thousand ships are
+signalled.
+
+As they started on their two-mile tramp over the desolate sand-ridges
+back to Skagen, Valdemar gave one last lingering look towards the wild,
+wind-swept stretch of endless beach they were leaving, where the North
+Sea and the Baltic have battled against each other for countless
+ages, with one ceaseless roar. Back of them, range after range of low
+shifting sand-dunes glistened in the sun, as they stretched towards the
+unbroken horizon in every direction. It was a strange new world to both
+boys.
+
+"What are you thinking so long about, Valdemar?" asked Karl.
+
+"Oh, Karl, it was off there that our noble Tordenskjold's little
+frigate, _White Eagle_, pursued the great Swedish man-of-war _Ösel_,
+and made her fly in terror. There's something about the very desolation
+of this place that, I like," said Valdemar. "Something strange, and
+picturesque, and romantic, I mean, Karl. One feels some way--up here at
+the Gren--as though he had actually reached the world's end! I'd like
+to come back up here often. Wouldn't you, Karl?"
+
+"No! There's something I don't like one bit about it! I liked the
+Massachusetts Cape Cod beach at home; but that was different. I'd hate
+to have to live very long anywhere near here! Romantic isn't the right
+word, Valdemar. It's a lonely, wild, and forsaken spot, with nothing at
+all 'romantic' about it in my eyes. To me it feels like the 'jumping
+off place,' all right. And I've heard, too, Valdemar, that when a great
+storm is blowing, and the waves are rolling mountain high, that there
+are just terrible shipwrecks up here at this dangerous point! Down
+at the Skagen Hotel, the figureheads and name-boards, that they have
+collected from ships of all nations, tell the tale, Valdemar."
+
+"That's true. There was the wreck of the _Daphne_, with the lives of
+eight of the brave life-saving crew lost. Sometimes there are twenty
+shipwrecks a year. But, Karl, this is the sea that made Vikings! Over
+these same seas, where our smoky steamers now pass, once danced _Long
+Ship_, _Serpent_ and _Dragon_, with their gilded dragon-beaks gleaming
+in the sunlight! Can't you see them, Karl? I can! Uncle Thor has
+often told me the wonderful Viking tales. And I've read about their
+marvellous courage and daring. The Eddas and Sagas of the Vikings are
+rich in lore of those fiery-hearted warriors, who sailed over the
+stormy seas in their fleets of light ash-wood ships, conquering far and
+wide, and meeting death light-heartedly! They say some great Viking
+chief is buried near here. Their cairns and barrows by thousands cover
+Denmark to-day."
+
+"Oh, I've read about them at home," answered Karl, who loved courage
+and bravery as much as did any healthy American boy, but who loved also
+to tease. "They were just a race of bold sea-robbers, and pirates,
+always 'hatching their felonious little plans,' always ready to burn
+and kill; and, according to history, some of the deaths they dealt out
+to their enemies were truly 'Vikingish.'"
+
+"And yet, Karl, the ancient Sagas and chronicles tell that it was our
+brave Vikings who first of all discovered your North America, and
+founded a colony they called Vineland, near where your great Harvard
+College is to-day. The Sagas say that, five hundred years before
+Columbus lived, Viking Biarne sailed to America with his ship _Eyrar_,
+and that, later, Lief, a son of Eric the Red, went over to America,
+too."
+
+"Yes, I know. I've read Longfellow's poem, 'The Skeleton in Armor,'
+and I've seen the 'Old Mill' at Newport, which was long believed to be
+a Viking relic," said Karl. "But we know differently now. Nothing has
+been really proved."
+
+The sun was sinking in the west as the two tired, but happy boys
+reached the outskirts of the straggling little village of Skagen, and
+trudged down the sandy road which led in and out among the fishermen's
+huts, with their tarred or heavily thatched roofs, and color-washed
+walls--some of them even built from wreckage.
+
+Strings of fish, strung from pole to pole, were hung out to dry.
+Groups of sturdy fish-wives, here and there, with bronzed arms bare
+to the shoulder, and prettily kerchiefed heads, sat at tubs, dressing
+flounders for drying; and from the doorway of one hut came a voice so
+sweet and clear, crooning a quaint old Danish lullaby to the sleeping
+baby in the mother's arms, that the boys paused to listen as she sang:
+
+    "_Den lille Ole, med Paraplyen
+      Han kender alle Smaa Folk i Byen
+      Hver lille Pige, hver lille Dreng,
+      De sover sodt i deres lille Seng._"
+
+"That was a pretty song. Tell me what it was all about," asked Karl, as
+they hurried on at a more rapid gait, for they were getting hungrier
+every minute.
+
+"Oh, it was just a little folk-song every Dane knows. She was singing
+to her baby about the 'Sandman,' or _den lille Ole_, as we Danes say.
+She was telling him that the 'Sandman, with his umbrella, knows all
+about the little folks in town. Each little girl--each little boy--they
+are all sleeping sweetly in their beds.'"
+
+They passed an old fisherman, mackintosh-clad, and another one in
+jersey and high boots, both hurrying towards the beach, where, in
+the gathering twilight, they could see a dim craft, a small fishing
+boat, with a few dark figures plying their trade, slowly rounding the
+promontory, its lights reflecting picturesquely in the water.
+
+"Some day we must come back earlier, when more of the fishermen are
+home from their trips, and watch the crews at practice," said Valdemar.
+"These Skagen fishermen are true sons of the Vikings. It is said that
+there was one, once, who boasted of having saved two hundred lives."
+
+"I hope you didn't worry about our getting home so late, Uncle Thor,"
+said Valdemar, at the supper table that night.
+
+"No, but here is a letter for you."
+
+"Hurrah!" exclaimed Valdemar, as he finished reading it. "It's from
+mother. She says that Grandmother Ingemann has invited us all to spend
+Christmas with her down in Odense, and that Aage will be home for his
+vacation from the Military College, and be there with us, and Uncle
+Oscar, too, will be back again from America. Mother has decided that I
+am not to return to school until after Christmas, for she thinks that
+Karl and I are learning more by seeing our country than we could learn
+in school. And, best of all, mother says that I can remain up here
+studying with you, Uncle Thor, until September!"
+
+"Hurrah!" said Karl. "No school until New Year's for me!"
+
+"That means five more weeks up here with you, dear Uncle Thor!"
+continued Valdemar. "Now I can entirely finish the task you gave me to
+do, the Prince Olaf statue. I'm so glad, Uncle Thor!"
+
+"And I'm glad, too, Valdemar, for you are doing me great credit as a
+pupil. I am going to be very proud of that statue of yours, Valdemar,
+when it is finished."
+
+These last five weeks passed for Valdemar much as the first five
+had--in the studio.
+
+"Study--diligent, earnest and honest," said Uncle Thor, "will win many
+honors for you when you are older, Valdemar. If you work hard, you
+should some day gather some of the roses that strew the path of the
+Danish artist, my boy."
+
+"But once you said that Denmark was almost overcrowded with art
+students, Uncle Thor, didn't you?"
+
+"That is true. But many of them fail to go on with their work; they
+lose courage and drop out. Others become interested in something else,
+and so leave their art studies. The few who do keep on usually learn
+all they can from the art schools in Denmark, and then go to Italy for
+further study."
+
+"Yes, as you did, Uncle Thor, and as Thorvaldsen did, too," said
+Valdemar. "Oh, Uncle Thor! Do you think that, when I am older, I may
+ever be able to study in Italy?"
+
+"My dear little Valdemar, anything is possible for you, if you work
+hard enough," was the great artist's answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A DANISH PEASANT WEDDING
+
+
+KAREN'S fair skin was tanned so many shades darker than her flaxen
+locks that Valdemar and Karl hardly knew her. Far down on the
+delightful _Vesterhavet_,[24] on the sandy little island of Fanö, she
+had spent the happy summer-time with her mother and Aunt Amalia, first
+at the seashore, and later on the great farm of Peder Sörensen, near
+Nordby, where, most of the time, she had played out of doors in the sun
+and wind.
+
+The merry harvest season had passed soon after Valdemar and Karl had
+arrived. They remembered how the harvesters had laid aside the last
+sheaf, decorated it with flowers and ribbons, and carried it in
+procession. Then had followed the great _Höst Gilde_, or Harvest Feast,
+a very festive function when sturdy men and rosy-cheeked maidens danced
+hand-in-hand.
+
+Then, later, in the same beautiful month of October, had followed
+another folk-festival, and Mortin's Day,[25] when in the evening
+everybody ate "Mortin's Goose," stuffed with boiled apples and black
+fruit.
+
+Sometimes, on some of the children's many trips over to play on the
+beach by the West Sea, they had brought back pieces of amber washed up
+by the water. Karl found some pretty big pieces to add to his rapidly
+growing collection of Danish souvenirs, which now included not only the
+coral specimens, sea-gull's eggs and wing-feathers, but Fanö amber,
+and, best of all, Uncle Thor's gift of the great white envelope and
+letter from the Royal Palace.
+
+Peder Sörensen was not a farmer himself. Like most of the men of
+Fanö, he was a sailor. It was the Fanö wives who, in their picturesque
+though rather unbecoming dress, cultivated the land, drove the cattle
+to pasture and the sheep to graze among the sand-hills, and it was they
+who milked the fine "Red Danish" cows at night, and made the far-famed
+"Best Danish" butter, with which they welcomed home their seafaring
+husbands.
+
+Fru Anna Sörensen, who had studied farming and dairying at the
+Agricultural College, always presented a neat and attractive appearance
+in her dark blue dress with its one note of bright color down around
+the very hem, and her quaint red and blue kerchief head-dress, with
+its inevitable loose ends, which Valdemar graphically described as
+"rabbit's ears."
+
+All the women of Fanö dressed just so, except, of course, upon some
+great occasion like Lowisa Nielsen's wedding, which was to take place
+in November.
+
+Almost before they knew it, the short summer had flown, and November,
+with its cool, bright days, had come, bringing Lowisa Nielsen's wedding
+invitation, which the _Bydemand_,[26] in white trousers, topboots, and
+a nosegay in his buttonhole, carried over to the Sörensens on horseback.
+
+For propriety's sake, Fru Sörensen allowed him to knock a second time
+before opening the door, then politely asked him within.
+
+"Greetings from the father and mother, and Lowisa, to yourself, your
+husband and guests," he began, as he took the proffered seat. "Your
+presence is truly desired at the wedding on Thursday next at ten
+o'clock. Come early, accompany the bridal party to the church, and hear
+their marriage service, return with them for dinner, remain for supper,
+then amuse yourselves with dancing and games the whole night; and then
+come again the next day, and take your places from the first day, and
+they will be sure to do the same for you when wanted from choice, on
+some enjoyable occasion."
+
+This unique invitation being delivered, the _Bydemand_ arose as if
+to go, but Fru Sörensen, with Danish hospitality, and according to
+an old custom, quickly produced a flagon of home-brewed beer, and a
+raisin-decorated wheaten cake, which she offered him.
+
+As he finished the flagon and was about to leave, he turned at the door
+to add, as though an afterthought: "Then you must not forget to send a
+convenient amount of butter, eggs, a pail of fresh milk and two jars of
+cream."
+
+"I will gladly," replied Fru Sörensen, as he departed.
+
+On the wedding morning, at the appointed time, Fru Anna Sörensen and
+her guests, Fru Ingemann, Mrs. Hoffman, and the children, who had
+never seen a peasant wedding before, drove over to the great Nielsen
+_Bonnegaard_,[27] passed through the massive stone gateway, and into
+the open courtyard. They were graciously received by Fru Nielsen, and
+seated with the other guests upon wooden benches ranged around the
+walls of a spacious family apartment, whose polished rafters converged
+into a sharp-spiked peak at the centre.
+
+Lowisa, a fair-haired, blue-eyed Danish peasant maiden, to-day
+looked unusually attractive, decked out in bridal array,--a pretty
+but tight-fitting homespun, escaping the floor all around by several
+inches. From Lowisa's richly gold-embroidered, tall scarlet cap, or
+"hood," as the Danes call it, hung pendent innumerable brilliant
+ornaments--round balls of metal and other fantastic dangles, all waving
+and twinkling as she moved. Extending from the back were vast bows and
+streamers of scarlet ribbon, under which she wore a head-dress of very
+rare and delicate lace. And the filmy white fichu, which crossed over
+her bosom, disclosed a rounded throat, circled by a bangle necklace of
+gold and silver coins.
+
+As soon as the last guest had arrived, the whole party was driven over
+to the church,--the bride and her family in the forward "rock-away,"
+the bridegroom in the next, then, in another, a band of rustic
+musicians, who, as soon as all the guests were seated in the different
+vehicles, struck up a lively air.
+
+At the proper moment, the bridegroom, young Nils Rasmussen, a
+fine-looking fellow of true Saxon type, took his position beside Lowisa
+at the altar.
+
+On returning to the house, the little church party was met by an eager,
+expectant company of guests, who had been invited to join them for
+the wedding-dinner. The bridal couple took their places at the middle
+of the cross-tables, which were arranged to form a square, after
+the fashion of ancient banquet tables, and, when all the guests were
+seated, the serving-maids brought in great bowls of steaming rice, and
+placed four to each table, deftly dividing the contents of each into
+as many sections, by making deep cross-shaped indentures, into which
+they sprinkled cinnamon and sugar and poured a cupful of hot butter.
+Then each guest, four to a bowl, lifted his spoon, dipped it into
+the delicious _gröd_, and began to eat. Meats followed, with wheaten
+cakes, highly decorated, and home-brewed beer of a very peculiar, rich,
+honeyed taste, and with the singing of a beautiful old Danish hymn the
+repast was brought to a close.
+
+Then the room was cleared and the dancing began. It was certainly a
+beautiful sight, with every one decked out in festive attire.
+
+"_Nie tak_,"[28] coyly refused each girl upon her first invitation to
+dance, according to an old law of peasant decorum, which also prevented
+the bridal couple, who led the dancing, from speaking to, or even
+noticing each other again during the entire festivities.
+
+As the afternoon wore on the dancing continued. Between seven and
+eight, supper without rice was served, followed immediately by more
+dancing, which continued until four o'clock in the morning.
+
+By ten o'clock the next morning the fiddlers had again arrived, and the
+dancing was renewed, this time with a noticeable increase in the number
+of rosy-cheeked, snowy-haired, elderly couples, in quaint holiday dress
+of homespun, with silver-buckled shoes. The bride continued to dance
+gracefully and bravely on, although paling cheeks told of her weariness.
+
+Fru Nielsen explained that the third and last day would only differ
+from the first in that there would be fewer guests present, after
+which all would begin making formal calls upon the bride, which was
+considered the height of good form.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 24: West Sea.]
+
+[Footnote 25: So named for Martin Luther.]
+
+[Footnote 26: The "Asking Man."]
+
+[Footnote 27: Literally, "Peasant's Domain."]
+
+[Footnote 28: "No, thank you."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+JUL-TIDE AT GRANDMOTHER INGEMANN'S
+
+
+A FRESHLY fallen, deep, feathery snow covered Odense on Christmas Eve,
+and the merry jingle of sleigh-bells was in the air, as the little
+Ingemann party reached Fyen's prosperous capital.
+
+Grandmother Ingemann did not live within the town itself, but a long
+drive in a big sleigh brought her Christmas guests within sight of
+the great old house with its many gables--all of the oddest stairway
+design--where most of her long, happy life had been lived.
+
+[Illustration: "'WELCOME! AND "GLAEDELIG JUL!'" CALLED OUT BOTH
+GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER INGEMANN"]
+
+Although it was only the middle of the wintry afternoon, darkness was
+fast gathering, and from many a window on their way a candle's soft
+glow shone out through the fluttering snow to guide the wayfarer to
+warmth and cheer.
+
+"Welcome! and _Glaedelig Jul_!"[29] called out both Grandfather and
+Grandmother Ingemann, who, in spite of the cold, had appeared on the
+door-step as the sleigh drew up.
+
+"_Glaedelig Jul!_" cried Valdemar and Karen, kissing their dear
+grandparents, as Fru Ingemann introduced Aunt Amalia and cousin Karl.
+
+"Where's Uncle Thor, and where's Aage?" demanded Valdemar as they
+entered the house. "And where's Daddy? Didn't Daddy come?" was Cousin
+Karl's first question.
+
+"Yes, dear children, everybody's here," gently answered Grandmother
+Ingemann, smiling as she glanced out of the window.
+
+Out rushed the children to welcome the sleigh that came jingling up
+to the door, out of which jumped Uncle Thor, Aage, and Uncle Oscar,
+just back from the States. Such huggings and greetings as then took
+place! Never had there been such a happy Christmas family reunion at
+Grandmother Ingemann's for long years and years!
+
+Since his mother had last seen him, Aage had grown into a tall,
+broad-shouldered young man who carried himself with such fine military
+bearing--and preceded all his remarks with: "In my regiment"--that
+Valdemar and Karl soon idolized him. And as for skating--well, he would
+show them something in the half hour, or so, that still remained before
+the time to start for the annual Christmas Eve service at the little
+church on the hill.
+
+Then it was Valdemar's turn to receive compliments. Uncle Thor had
+great news! He announced that his talented little pupil's work had
+appeared at the Fall Exhibit of the Academy,--and had won a prize!
+
+"A prize at the Academy! Oh, Uncle Thor!" exclaimed Valdemar, throwing
+his arms about his distinguished master's neck for joy. "Dear Uncle
+Thor! You didn't even tell me that my statue was to be entered at the
+Academy Exhibit this fall! Oh, I am so happy!"
+
+Compliments showered upon him from Grandfather, and Grandmother, and
+from his own dear mother, and everybody, so fast that he was glad to
+make his escape with Aage and Karl, who were starting out to the frozen
+lake, with their skates.
+
+Aage and Valdemar, like all Danish boys, were famous skaters. Karl was
+a fair one. Soon the two brothers were outdoing each other cutting
+figure-eights, hearts and arrows on the ice, and Aage even cut the
+face of his sweetheart. Then, as the music of a waltz Aunt Amalia was
+playing reached them, they called: "Come on, Karl, it's easy," and
+proceeded to waltz on the ice as gracefully as if on a ballroom floor.
+But Karl fell flat, and felt he had made a miserable failure.
+
+Then they all came rushing into the house at the sight of several
+waiting sleighs at the door, which reminded them that it must be nearly
+time for the five o'clock Christmas Eve service. Soon every one was
+bundled into warm furs and crowded into the sleighs, servants and all,
+and the happy little procession made its way through the falling snow
+to the church.
+
+As they passed through the village streets candle-lights gleamed from
+hundreds of windows, and here and there the children caught glimpses
+inside of brightly festooned little Christmas trees, and of sheaves
+of wheat or rye, fastened to the window-shutters out in the snow for
+the birds; and, strangest of all, Karl thought, were bowls of steaming
+hot oatmeal standing on many door-steps. But his mother explained to
+him that the bowls of oatmeal were placed there for the good little
+_Jul-nissen_, the Little People, or Christmas Nixies, the knee-high,
+little red-jacketed old men, with pointed red caps and long gray
+beards, who are supposed to form a part of every good Danish household.
+
+When Grandmother's sleighing party entered the little whitewashed
+church, and took the places reserved for them, they found it already
+full to overflowing, and a crowd gathering outside as well.
+
+The smiling priest in his dignified long black gown and deep-gauffered
+white _Pibekrave_[30] around his neck, joined heartily in the singing
+of hymns and carols, which were re-echoed by the voices of the greater
+throng standing out in the snow. Then followed the Christmas sermon,
+and the usual touching prayer "for our brethren in South Jutland."
+
+It was Holy Eve, the one night in all the year when services are held
+by candle-light, and the myriad wax candles, burning on the altar,
+threw a soft and mysterious light over the spruce and laurel boughs
+decorating the chancel.
+
+The light snowfall had become a blinding snow storm before the little
+procession of sleighs had finally reached home, where the great
+dinner of the year was awaiting them, with its roast goose, stuffed
+with prunes and chestnuts, its cinnamon-flavored rice pudding, and a
+famous Danish dessert called _Röd Gröd_, the repast ending with nuts,
+Christmas cakes, candy and hot tea. Low over the table, illumined with
+a dozen tiny, candle-lighted Christmas trees, hung green festoons of
+laurel and spruce with a secreted sprig of mistletoe; while at every
+one's place were little mementoes, stuffed Nixies, snappers, and a
+small Danish flag,--except at Uncle Oscar's, Aunt Amalia's and Karl's
+places, where the Stars and Stripes were thoughtfully combined with
+the _Dannebrog_.
+
+Towards the end of the dinner Grandfather Ingemann arose and proposed
+a toast to "our Danish-American guests,"--whereupon all arose, touched
+glasses and drank, uttering the word for health, "_Skaal!_" Again,
+Grandfather Ingemann proposed the healths of "Our illustrious Court
+Painter and his talented little pupil,"--when all again arose with
+their host, and the process was repeated. The last toast was "for our
+absent friends," after which Grandfather made a complimentary little
+speech, wishing every one joy in the years to come.
+
+Then all withdrew to the drawing-room, where the lights suddenly went
+out, and the folding-doors of an adjoining room were flung wide, where,
+in dazzling beauty, its topmost boughs brushing the rafters, stood
+the great Jule-tree. Then every one formed a circle around the tree,
+and Grandfather distributed a basket of hymn books, from which all
+joined in singing that beautiful old Danish carol, "A Child is Born in
+Bethlehem."
+
+Then, to the soft notes of a violin, all joined hands again, and slowly
+danced around the tree, singing as they danced another beautiful old
+carol. The servants were then called in, and Grandfather Ingemann
+called off the names, and distributed the presents. There were so many
+gifts for every one, from little Karen up to Grandfather Ingemann
+himself, that the floor was soon covered deep with the tissue-paper
+wrappings.
+
+When the laughter and merrymaking had reached its height, there came
+a sharp ring at the door-bell, so sharp that every one paused in
+strange expectation, and little Karen rushed to the door after the
+maid. In the fast-falling snow stood a tall man in a green uniform
+and a three-cornered hat, who handed a great white envelope to the
+servant, with the words: "To Valdemar Ingemann, from his Majesty, King
+Frederik," then quickly departed.
+
+Karen rushed breathlessly back to her mother ahead of the serving-maid.
+"Oh, mother! It was the King's _Jaeger_! Valdemar, it's for you! For
+you!" she cried, as the awe-stricken maid put into the boy's hands the
+great white envelope inscribed with the words: "To Valdemar Ingemann,
+from his Majesty, the King."
+
+Every one looked inquiringly at every one else, but in the Court
+Painter's eye there lurked a knowing twinkle.
+
+"Oh, mother! _mother!_ Oh, _Uncle Thor_!" excitedly exclaimed the
+little artist, dancing about the room. "It's from my friend the King!
+He says he has visited the Academy and seen with great pleasure my
+statue of little Prince Olaf of Norway. He congratulates me upon
+winning a prize, and, mother dear, he wants to see me at the Palace,
+Thursday, at one!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Even before Twelfth Night had come and gone, the American relatives had
+said their good-byes to Copenhagen and to the Ingemanns, and sailed for
+New York. Valdemar, accompanied by his Uncle Thor, had made the call
+at the Palace, and been entered as a student at the Academy, with the
+King's promise to him of long years of study in Rome just as soon as he
+was ready for it. So we too will bid good-bye to our ambitious little
+Danish Cousin, with his rose-colored dreams of the future.
+
+    THE END.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 29: "Merry Christmas."]
+
+[Footnote 30: Starched ruffle.]
+
+
+
+
+Selections from The Page Company's Books for Young People
+
+
+THE BLUE BONNET SERIES
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.50
+
+
+=A TEXAS BLUE BONNET=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS.
+
+"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of
+wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND EDYTH ELLERBECK READ.
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON;= Or, BOARDING-SCHOOL DAYS AT MISS NORTH'S.
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its
+many human touches."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE;= OR, THE NEW HOME IN THE EAST.
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their teens."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET--DÉBUTANTE=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES
+
+By HARRISON ADAMS
+
+    _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_      $1.25
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO;= OR, CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
+
+"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the
+young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
+ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;= OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE IROQUOIS.
+
+"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only
+interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling
+type of character which these days of self-reliance and trial
+produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;= OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE
+WILDERNESS.
+
+"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."--_New York
+Sun._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;= OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
+
+"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations,
+true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for
+boys."--_Watchman Examiner, New York City._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;= OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF WONDERS.
+
+"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well
+told."--_Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA;= OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT
+NORTHWEST.
+
+"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable
+historical information."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+
+
+THE HADLEY HALL SERIES
+
+By LOUISE M. BREITENBACH
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.50
+
+
+=ALMA AT HADLEY HALL=
+
+"The author is to be congratulated on having written such an appealing
+book for girls."--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR=
+
+"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things in girls'
+books."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR=
+
+"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are strongly drawn,
+the incidents are well developed and the action is never dull."--_The
+Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR=
+
+"Incident abounds in all of Miss Breitenbach's stories and a healthy,
+natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES
+
+By HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.50
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE=
+
+"A book sure to please girl readers, for the author seems to understand
+perfectly the girl character."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION=
+
+"It is a wholesome, hearty story."--_Utica Observer._
+
+
+=SCHOOL DAYS ON FRIENDLY TERRACE=
+
+The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting
+incidents.
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS=
+
+The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting
+incidents.
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES
+
+By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.50
+
+
+=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS=
+
+"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young
+readers with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+"It is a book that will stir the heart of every boy and will prove
+interesting as well to the adults."--_Lawrence Daily World._
+
+
+=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS=
+
+"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation
+of battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the
+whites for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United
+States History."--_New York Marine Journal._
+
+
+=FAMOUS SCOUTS=
+
+"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
+and young men, and while it entertains them it will also present
+valuable information in regard to those who have left their impress
+upon the history of the country."--_The New London Day._
+
+
+=FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA=
+
+"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
+stirring the blood with thrilling force and bringing new zest to the
+never-ending interest in the dramas of the sea."--_The Pittsburgh Post._
+
+
+=FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER=
+
+This book is devoted to a description of the adventurous lives and
+stirring experiences of many pioneer heroes who were prominently
+identified with the opening of the Great West.
+
+"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable,
+making a book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
+adventure."--_Cleveland Leader._
+
+
+
+
+HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+Eleven Volumes
+
+
+The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and
+ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular
+series of books for girls ever written.
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.25
+  _The eleven volumes boxed as a set_                           $13.75
+
+
+LIST OF TITLES
+
+    =QUEEN HILDEGARDE=
+
+    =HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY=
+
+    =HILDEGARDE'S HOME=
+
+    =HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS=
+
+    =HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST=
+
+    =THREE MARGARETS=
+
+    =MARGARET MONTFORT=
+
+    =PEGGY=
+
+    =RITA=
+
+    =FERNLEY HOUSE=
+
+    =THE MERRYWEATHERS=
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+    _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_    50 cents
+
+
+=CAPTAIN JANUARY=
+
+A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose success has been very
+remarkable.
+
+    SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_                   $1.25
+    SAME, FRENCH TEXT. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_      $1.25
+
+
+=MELODY:= THE STORY OF A CHILD.
+
+    SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_      $1.25
+
+
+=MARIE=
+
+A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January."
+
+
+=ROSIN THE BEAU=
+
+A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie."
+
+
+=SNOW-WHITE;= OR, THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD.
+
+
+=JIM OF HELLAS;= OR, IN DURANCE VILE, and a companion story, BETHESDA
+POOL.
+
+
+=NARCISSA=
+
+And a companion story, IN VERONA, being two delightful short stories of
+New England life.
+
+
+="SOME SAY"=
+
+And a companion story, NEIGHBORS IN CYRUS.
+
+
+=NAUTILUS=
+
+"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's powers, and is
+certain to achieve the wide success it so richly merits."
+
+
+=ISLA HERON=
+
+This interesting story is written in the author's usual charming manner.
+
+
+=THE LITTLE MASTER=
+
+"A well told, interesting tale of a high character."--_California
+Gateway Gazette._
+
+
+
+
+DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE FOLKS
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+
+=THREE MINUTE STORIES=
+
+Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color and many text
+illustrations by Josephine Bruce.
+
+    _Net_ $1.25; carriage paid $1.40
+
+"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and
+poems."--_Indianapolis News._
+
+
+=FIVE MINUTE STORIES=
+
+    Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated      $1.25
+
+A charming collection of short stories and clever poems for children.
+
+
+=MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES=
+
+    Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated      $1.25
+
+A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems for children, which
+will prove as popular with mothers as with boys and girls.
+
+
+=FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP=
+
+    Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated      $1.25
+
+The story of their lives and other wonderful things related by the Man
+in the Moon, done in the vernacular from the lunacular form by Laura E.
+Richards.
+
+
+=WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE=
+
+    Cloth, 8vo, illustrated      $1.25
+
+The title most happily introduces the reader to the charming home life
+of Doctor Howe and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, during the childhood of the
+author.
+
+
+=A HAPPY LITTLE TIME=
+
+    Cloth, 8vo, illustrated      $1.25
+
+Little Betty and the happy time she had will appeal strongly to mothers
+as well as to the little ones who will have this story read to them,
+and appeal all the more on account of its being such a "real" story.
+
+
+
+
+THE BOYS' STORY OF THE RAILROAD SERIES
+
+By BURTON E. STEVENSON
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.50
+
+
+=THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND;= OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST.
+
+"A thrilling story, well told, clean and bright. The whole range
+of section railroading is covered in the story, and it contains
+information as well as interest."--_Chicago Post._
+
+
+=THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER=
+
+"A vivacious account of the varied and often hazardous nature of
+railroad life, full of incident and adventure, in which the author has
+woven admirable advice about honesty, manliness, self-culture, good
+reading, and the secrets of success."--_Congregationalist._
+
+
+=THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER=
+
+"It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to anyone who loves a
+good, wholesome, thrilling, informing yarn."--_Passaic News._
+
+
+=THE YOUNG APPRENTICE;= OR, ALLAN WEST'S CHUM.
+
+"The story is intensely interesting, and one gains an intimate
+knowledge of the methods and works in the great car shops not easily
+gained elsewhere."--_Baltimore Sun._
+
+"It appeals to every boy of enterprising spirit, and at the same
+time teaches him some valuable lessons in honor, pluck, and
+perseverance."--_Cleveland Plain Dealer._
+
+"The lessons that the books teach in development of uprightness,
+honesty and true manly character are sure to appeal to the
+reader."--_The American Boy._
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS
+
+(Trade Mark)
+
+By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
+
+    _Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume_      $1.50
+
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner Series, "The
+Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of Kentucky," and "The Giant
+Scissors," in a single volume.
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING-SCHOOL=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =MARY WARE IN TEXAS=
+
+    =MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND=
+
+_These twelve volumes, boxed as a set_, $18.00.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS
+
+    _Each small quarto, cloth decorative, per volume_      $1.25
+
+New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page drawings in
+color, and many marginal sketches.
+
+
+    =THE LITTLE COLONEL=
+          (Trade Mark)
+
+    =TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY=
+
+    =THE GIANT SCISSORS=
+
+    =BIG BROTHER=
+
+
+
+
+THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES
+
+    _Each small 16mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece
+       and decorative text borders, per volume_      _Net_ $0.50
+
+
+=IN THE DESERT OF WAITING:= THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN.
+
+
+=THE THREE WEAVERS:= A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND MOTHERS AS WELL AS
+FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS.
+
+
+=KEEPING TRYST:= A TALE OF KING ARTHUR'S TIME.
+
+
+=THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART=
+
+
+=THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME:= A FAIRY PLAY FOR OLD AND YOUNG.
+
+
+=THE JESTER'S SWORD=
+
+
+=THE LITTLE COLONEL'S GOOD TIMES BOOK=
+
+    Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series      $1.50
+    Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold          _Net_ 3.00
+
+Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg.
+
+"A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may record the good
+times she has on decorated pages, and under the directions as it were
+of Annie Fellows Johnston."--_Buffalo Express._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page 1, "lommetorklaede" changed to "lommetørklæde" (Karen, mit
+lommetørklæde)
+
+Page 34, "Raadhaus" changed to "Raadhus" (New Raadhus-plads)
+
+Page 35, "Nytory" changed to "Nytorv" (Kongens Nytorv)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Our Little Danish Cousin, by Luna May Innes
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44030 ***