LITTLE GRETA OF DENMARK
[Illustration: THE LITTLE MERMAID]
LITTLE GRETA
OF DENMARK
BY
BERNADINE BAILEY
_Illustrated with Photographs
Taken by the Author_
GROSSET & DUNLAP
_Publishers_ NEW YORK
_by arrangement with the A. Flanagan Company_
COPYRIGHT, 1939, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_Skarum Molle,
Vemb, Denmark_
_Dear Mrs. Bailey:_
_Thank you very much for the privilege of reading the manuscript of
LITTLE GRETA OF DENMARK. You have given a very faithful and realistic
picture of my country._
_I am extremely happy to know that the children in America will have a
chance to learn about Denmark through such a book as yours. It will help
to unite America and Denmark in even stronger bonds of mutual
understanding and friendship._
_Sincerely yours,
Laurids Villemoes_
_February 1, 1939_
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter I
A Search Begins 9
Chapter II
The Search Continues 21
Chapter III
A Ride down the River 34
Chapter IV
Excitement in the Forest 50
Chapter V
The Storks 63
Chapter VI
Dinner at Vosborg Castle 74
Chapter VII
A Day at the Shore 88
Chapter VIII
A Second Visit to Vosborg 106
Chapter IX
Chouse Seeks the Spotlight 118
Chapter X
A Day of Happy Surprises 130
Chapter XI
The Best Surprise of All 147
Chapter XII
Chouse Is Homesick 165
Chapter XIII
"Goodbye" 186
[Illustration: LITTLE GRETA OF DENMARK]
LITTLE GRETA OF DENMARK
CHAPTER I
A SEARCH BEGINS
Greta opened very sleepy eyes and stretched a long, long stretch. Every
single morning, before she got out of bed, she put her arms above her
head and stretched as far as she could reach. Greta wanted to grow tall,
and she thought that maybe if she pulled her arms 'way up and her feet
'way down, she would grow tall more quickly. Greta had been named after
the most famous queen of Denmark, and so she wanted to be tall and
graceful, just as that queen had been.
In about two minutes she jumped out of bed and started to dress. If she
dressed very fast, she would have time to run out to the barn and see
the kittens before breakfast. The kittens were only a week old, and
Greta loved them every bit as much as their own mother did. Greta lived
on a very large farm, and on the farm was a very large barn. In fact,
the barn was about three times as large as the house Greta lived in. The
barn was built of red brick and it formed three sides of a square. The
house itself made the other side of the square. It was also built of
brick, but it was painted white.
The horses were kept in one part of the barn, the cows in another part,
and the pigs in still another part. Then there was one large section
where the hay was kept. When the kittens were born, Greta made a nice
soft bed of straw for them in the farthest corner of the barn, where the
pigs and cows and horses could not possibly reach them. Every morning
she ran out to see the kittens to be sure that they were all right. She
picked up each of the four soft, furry little animals and gave it a
special hug before she went off to school. And when she came home from
school she played with the kittens until it was time for dinner.
Of course Chouse didn't like this one little bit. Chouse was the
wire-haired terrier, and he had always been Greta's special pet. In the
summer he played with her every minute of the day. But things were very
different now, since the kittens had come. Greta didn't pay much
attention to Chouse. The kittens took every minute of her time. Just the
same, Chouse was waiting for her this morning outside her bedroom door.
Breakfast would be ready in five minutes, so Greta ran quickly, with
Chouse barking at her heels. All out of breath, she reached the farthest
corner of the barn, where the kittens had their bed of straw.
Then Greta stopped very still. She rubbed her eyes. Surely this was just
a bad dream. The soft bed of straw was empty. No one would have taken
her kittens, and none of the horses or cows or pigs could reach them.
Where in the world could they be? She began to look all over that end of
the barn, poking about the straw that covered the floor. There wasn't a
sign of the soft balls of fur. Two large tears rolled down Greta's face.
Just then she heard her brother Hans calling.
"Greta, where are you? Breakfast is all ready and we are waiting for
you."
There was such a big lump in the little girl's throat that she could
hardly answer. Finally she said, "Here I am, Hans, but my kittens are
gone."
"Gone? What do you mean?" Hans had found her by now and he put his arm
around her shoulder. "Don't cry, Greta. We'll find them all right. Come
on to breakfast now."
[Illustration: GRETA'S HOME]
"I don't think I can eat anything, Hans. I wish I didn't have to go to
school today. I want to look for my kittens."
"I'll help you look for them as soon as we get home from school. Come
on, now. Mother and Father are waiting."
So Greta wiped the tears from her face and went into the house with
Hans. She sat down at the table, but the lump just wouldn't go out of
her throat, and she could hardly swallow.
"Remember, Greta, there are only two more days of school, and then you
will have all summer to play with the kittens." Hans tried his best to
cheer up his little sister. Hans was fifteen years old, so of course he
couldn't possibly be upset over a little thing like the loss of four
small kittens.
"Maybe Chouse has hidden your kittens, Greta," suggested her father.
"Day before yesterday I saw him chasing the baby pigs. I punished him
for that, but he didn't seem to learn, for yesterday he was chasing the
baby chickens and he killed two of them. Now you know we can't have that
sort of thing going on. I think we had better send Chouse away to some
other farm."
Greta could hardly believe her ears. "You don't really mean that you
would send _Chouse_ away?"
"Yes, I mean just that, Greta. We can't have a dog that is destructive.
And if he has hurt your kittens, I don't think you would want to keep
him, either."
Greta didn't say a word, but a choking feeling came into her throat.
"Finish your breakfast, Greta, or you will be late for school," reminded
her mother.
Greta went to school in the village, a mile away. When the weather was
good, she rode her bicycle. But whether she walked or rode, Chouse
always went with her to the door of the school. And he was always
waiting for her when school was out in the afternoon.
Greta didn't know her lessons very well that day. Her mind was on Chouse
and the kittens. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her playmate,
and yet, if he had hurt the kittens, maybe he ought to be sent away.
Suddenly she heard the teacher call her name.
"Greta, what was the Union of Kalmar?"
Greta's thoughts were far away from Danish history, and it was hard to
bring them back. Everyone in the room was looking at her. Slowly she
rose to her feet.
"The Union of Kalmar took place in 1397, when Norway and Sweden came
under the rule of Denmark." Gradually it was coming back to her.
"And who was the ruler of Denmark then?" asked the teacher. "You should
know that, Greta, better than anyone else in the class."
Greta's cheeks flushed a bright pink. How could she have forgotten?
"Queen Margrete brought about the Union of Kalmar," explained Greta.
"That is why she was the greatest queen Denmark has ever had." The other
children smiled when Greta said this. They all knew that her name was
really Margrete and that she had been named for this famous queen of
long ago.
[Illustration: HANS, GRETA, AND THE KITTENS]
Greta thought it was the longest day of her life, but school was finally
over. Chouse was waiting for her at the door when she came out of the
building. He was such a faithful little playmate, how could she bear to
send him away? Well, maybe she wouldn't have to.
She got on her bicycle and rode home just as fast as her legs could
pedal. Before she went into the house she looked again in the barn to
see if the kittens had, in some wonderful way, come back to their bed of
straw. But the bed was still empty.
Hans helped her search every part of the large barn--where the horses
were kept, where the cows were kept, where the pigs were kept, and where
the hay was kept. They took sticks and poked around in the hay. At last
the children decided that the kittens simply were not in the barn at
all.
"Let's go look in the chicken house, Greta," suggested Hans.
So they looked all through the chicken house just as carefully as they
had looked in the barn. But still there was no sign of the dear little
kittens.
"Oh, Hans, what am I going to do?" Greta was crying now as if her heart
would break. "Do you think that Chouse has taken them away some place?"
"No, I don't think so, Greta. But maybe one of the Nisser has carried
them off."
"Oh, Hans, why would a Nisse take my darling kittens?"
"Well, if you do something to make a Nisse angry at you, he is bound to
punish you in some way."
The Nisser are the little fairy folk, or brownies, that live in every
home in Denmark. If you are kind to them, they will do something nice
for you; but if you hurt them or make them angry, they will punish you.
When Greta went to bed that night she pulled the warm feather cover
tightly around her shoulders. She wasn't exactly afraid of the Nisser,
but she felt much better when she was all covered up. It was late in
June, but the nights were quite cool. Greta was glad that her mother had
left the feather cover on her bed. It was a large, thick cover, but it
was light and warm, for it was filled with duck feathers.
Soon Greta fell asleep, and all night long she dreamed that a little
Nisse was sitting on the foot of her bed, saying, "Greta, do you
_really_ want your kittens back again?"