Little Greta of Denmark Part 13

"I guess Princess Ingrid and her sister have left the castle," said Greta, in an unhappy tone. She was ready now to leave it herself, for it held no further interest for her.

"Now for the most wonderful room of all," said Anna, after they had gone through all the drawing-rooms. She almost had to drag Greta to the chapel, which formed an important part of the castle itself. When the royal family lived at Frederiksborg, services were held here every Sunday. This chapel was really as large as a church. As they came in, the organist was playing softly, and Greta sat down to listen to the music, while Anna and her mother went to look at the paintings which were on exhibition in the balcony of the chapel.

Afterwards, Greta never remembered exactly how it happened. She must have closed her eyes for a minute in order to enjoy the music completely. The first thing she remembered was a soft voice saying, "Are you all alone here, my dear?"

When Greta had opened her eyes and recognized the speaker she jumped to her feet. "Why, it's the little girl who found my handkerchief the other day. How very nice to see you again. When we saw you here asleep, we thought you had gotten lost in this great castle."

Greta explained that her aunt and her cousin were up in the balcony.

Then her eyes shone like stars and her heart almost skipped a beat as the lovely Princess Ingrid took a rosebud from the bouquet which she carried and held it out to Greta. "Perhaps you would like to wear this little flower," she said in her gentle way. Then, with another smile, she and the Princess Louise went out of the chapel.

Greta stood like one in a dream. Now she knew how the knights of olden times felt when they had been honored by the King. She, little Margrete, had a flower from the hands of the Crown Princess of Denmark. All her life long she would remember this moment.

CHAPTER XII

CHOUSE IS HOMESICK

"Chouse, will you promise to be a _really_ good dog if we take you with us?"

Chouse answered Greta by barking three times, which meant, "Yes, I will."

Chouse had not been allowed to go with the girls since the evening at Tivoli. Greta didn't want to send home any _more_ bad reports about him.

Even now, she was almost afraid to open her father's letters, for each day she expected him to write that he had found a new home for Chouse.

Sometimes Greta wished that her visit in Copenhagen could go on forever.

Then she would never have to part with her pet.

"We'll climb up in the Round Tower first of all," said Anna, as she and Greta and Chouse started off gaily for a day's wandering. "Then you can look over the city and decide what you want to see next."

As they walked through the winding streets of the business district of Copenhagen, Anna told Greta the story of the famous Round Tower.

"It was built more than three hundred years ago by King Christian the Fourth," she explained. "He wanted to do something that would make the people remember him always, so he built this high tower as an observatory, where scientists could study the stars."

The Round Tower stood in the very heart of the city. At the time it was built it was the tallest building in Copenhagen, but now the Marble Church rose high above it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ROUND TOWER]

Just before they reached the tower, Anna surprised Greta by saying, "This Tower is over a hundred feet high, but you won't have to climb a single step to reach the top."

"But how do we get to the top?"

"You'll see in just a minute, Greta."

"Come, Chouse," called Greta, as the girls reached the door of the Round Tower. The dog had started down the street ahead of them. He seemed to be looking for something, but he ran back quickly when his little mistress called.

Once inside the tower, the children started up a sloping walk that went up and up and up. At the same time it went round and round and round, like a corkscrew. Every little while Chouse dashed on ahead and then came running back, barking joyously.

"This is the funniest tower I have ever seen," said Greta. "Does this walk go to the very top?"

"Yes," answered Anna. "They say that a long time ago, when Peter the Great, the Czar of Russia, visited Denmark he rode up here on horseback, and at another time the Empress Catherine drove her coach and four up to the very top of the Round Tower."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MARBLE CHURCH, AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE ROUND TOWER]

Greta stopped a moment to look at the winding, sloping walk. "I guess one really _could_ drive a coach up here. It seems to be wide enough."

From the platform on the top of the tower, the girls could look out over the city and the harbor. Wherever they looked, they saw towers and spires--on the Parliament Building, on the Stock Exchange, on the castles, on the churches. Some of them were gilded and they gleamed brightly in the sunshine. Some of them were shiny green, like the dome of the Marble Church.

"What is that building whose tower has a crown at the top?" asked Greta.

"That is Christiansborg Castle, where the Parliament meets," explained Anna. "Would you like to visit it?"

"Yes. Let's go there next, if it isn't too far away," said Greta.

As they walked to Christiansborg, Anna told Greta a funny story about the Round Tower.

"Once upon a time a Norwegian was visiting Copenhagen. The people he visited were eager to show him all the wonderful and beautiful things in the city. The Norwegians are very proud of their own country, you know, and they like to boast about it. When they came to the Round Tower, the Danish people said, 'I'm sure you haven't anything like the Round Tower in Norway.' The Norwegian looked at it a minute and then answered, 'No, but if we had, it would be bigger and rounder.'"

Greta laughed. "But it _couldn't_ be rounder, could it, Anna?"

"No, of course not. If a thing is round, it's round; you can't make it more or less round."

When they came to the entrance of Christiansborg, the guard told them that dogs were not allowed inside the castle.

"What will we do with him, Greta?" asked Anna.

"He will have to wait here at the door for us," said Greta. Turning to the dog she spoke to him very sternly, "Chouse, you must be a good dog and stay right here until Anna and I come out."

Chouse barked twice, as if to say, "All right," and then he lay down on the floor beside the guard.

"There has been a castle on this spot for eight hundred years," said Anna, as they walked through the long hall.

"But this castle looks quite new."

"Oh, there have been three or four castles here. When one burned down, they built another one. This one is about forty years old. It was really built as a home for the King, but he has never lived here. He likes Amalienborg better."

"I think I would, too," said Greta. "These rooms are so large and the ceilings are so high that it wouldn't seem like a home at all."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHRISTIANSBORG CASTLE]

In one part of the castle there were two large halls, where the Parliament meets. One hall was for the House of Commons and the other was for the Upper House. Parliament did not meet during the summer, so Greta and Anna were allowed to visit both these stately halls. Greta thought they had seen everything in Christiansborg, when Anna suddenly announced, "We're going downstairs now, Greta. The most interesting part of Christiansborg is under the ground."

They went down a narrow stairway and carefully made their way through a dark, underground pa.s.sage. Soon they came to a scattered heap of stones that marked the outlines of an old, old castle.

"This is the very first castle that was built here," explained Anna. "It was built by Bishop Absalon in 1167, when Copenhagen was just a little fishing village. Here is the old well that has been used for hundreds of years," she said as they walked on farther, "and here is a part of the Blue Tower where Princess Leonora Christina was kept a prisoner for many years."

"Oh, how could they keep anyone in such a terrible dungeon?" asked Greta, who shivered at the thought of spending even an hour in this gloomy place. "Let's go upstairs, Anna."