THE STORKS
"Greta, I didn't know that you had storks on your farm," said Anna.
"Of course we do," said Greta. "Every farm has a nest of storks."
Hans and Greta had been showing Anna the garden and the river and all
the animals on the farm. Greta herself had almost forgotten about the
storks, because she was so used to them. And anyway, they weren't
animals you could play with, like the kittens and the dog.
"They bring us good luck," explained Hans. "Every farmer puts up an old
wheel, or something else that is round, so the storks can build their
nest on it. Sometimes he puts it on the roof of the barn and sometimes
on the house."
"Don't you have storks at home, Anna?" asked Greta.
"Goodness, no! I don't think there's a stork in all Copenhagen, except
maybe in the zoo." Anna couldn't take her eyes from the large round nest
on the roof of the barn. "Do they stay here all the year round?" she
asked.
"It's too cold for them here in the winter. When cold weather comes,
they all fly south. Father says that some of them go as far as Africa.
But early in the spring they always come back."
"Does the same family of storks come back every year?" asked Anna.
"We _think_ it's the same family," answered Greta, "but we're never
really sure, for you can't ever get very near the storks."
While the children had been talking, one of the storks was standing on
one leg on the edge of the nest.
"That's the papa stork that you see now," explained Hans. "He's away
most of the day, gathering food, but every now and then he comes back to
the nest to rest. He always stands on one leg, just like that, when he
rests."
[Illustration: THE STORKS]
"The mama stork has to stay on the nest all the time until the eggs
hatch," said Greta. "Sometimes she stands up for a little while, but she
never flies away."
"I wonder how many eggs there are." Anna was more interested in the
storks than in anything else on the farm.
"Only four this year," said Hans. "I climbed up on the roof yesterday to
find out. Some years there are five, and sometimes only three."
"My, but you _are_ brave, Hans!" Anna looked at Hans in admiration.
"That roof is terribly steep. I know _I'd_ be afraid to climb it."
"But you are only a girl, Anna," teased Hans.
"Just the same, I can climb as well as a boy. I'll show you." And before
Hans could argue, Anna ran over to the house and climbed up the tree to
Greta's balcony.
"I'll take it all back, Anna. You really _can_ climb." Hans hadn't
expected this cousin from the city to be such a tomboy. He would have to
find some other way to tease her.
"When will the baby storks hatch out, Greta?" Anna couldn't get her mind
off this fascinating subject.
"In another week or two, I expect."
"If the Nisser don't take the eggs first," said Hans.
"Oh, Hans, you don't _really_ think they would?" Greta was upset at the
very thought.
"You know how the kittens disappeared, Greta. The same thing might
happen to the baby storks." Hans told Anna about the lost kittens and
how only two of them were found. "Greta and I decided that the Nisser
took them," he finished.
"Why, Hans, how very silly!" said Anna. "Of course the Nisser wouldn't
do a thing like that. In fact, I don't believe there is such a thing as
a Nisse anyway."
Greta didn't know whether to be shocked or not. There were times when
she herself had her doubts about the Nisser, but right now she felt sure
that they were the ones who had carried off the kittens.
"The Nisser don't play pranks all the time, Anna. They do lots of nice
things for us, too. Do you see that castle on the hill over there, with
the trees all around it?"
Greta pointed to Vosborg Castle, about a mile away. "Let me tell you
what the Nisser did _there_ one winter. There was snow five feet deep
and it lasted for more than a week. No one could get outdoors at all.
The cows were in the barn, where they had plenty of food, but there were
six new calves in a shed out in the field. Everyone was afraid that they
would starve to death, but no one could get out and feed them. When the
snow finally melted and the men went out to see the calves, they found
them fat and healthy! The Nisser had taken care of them and fed them
during the snowstorm."
"So you see there really _are_ Nisser," said Hans.
Anna wasn't at all convinced, but she didn't know how to argue against
proof like this. Finally she asked, "When did this happen, Hans?"
[Illustration: ANNA IS A TOMBOY]
"Oh, a long time ago. A hundred years ago, I guess."
"Then no one can really _prove_ it," argued Anna. "It's just a story
that has been told over and over again, like a fairy tale." Anna
believed in the things she could _see_, not in the things that people
imagined they saw.
"We're going to this castle for dinner on Wednesday evening," said Hans.
"Then you can ask Mr. Christianson himself. He will certainly know
whether or not this really happened."
"We're going to a real castle for dinner?" asked Anna. "That will be
lots of fun. Do you know how many rooms there are in the castle?"
"At least fifty," answered Hans. "Greta and I have never been in
Vosborg, for Mr. Christianson has been living in England for a long
time. But now he has come back here to live."
[Illustration: ON THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER]
While they were talking about the castle, Greta's mother called to Anna.
"Wouldn't you like to write your mother, Anna, and tell her that you
arrived safely?"
"Oh, yes, Tante [Aunt] Agnes. And I'll tell her that we are going to a
real castle for dinner." Anna ran into the house in great excitement.
"Hans, I wonder why Anna doesn't believe in the Nisser," said Greta.
"_You_ believe in them, don't you?"
"Of course I do, Greta." Hans was quiet and thoughtful for a minute, and
then a merry twinkle came into his eyes. "Before Anna goes back to
Copenhagen, _she_ will believe in the Nisser, too."
"What do you mean, Hans?" Greta knew that her brother had some kind of
mischief in mind.
"I mean just that. She will believe in the Nisser just as strongly as
you and I believe in them."
"I don't see how you're going to convince her, Hans."
"_I'm_ not going to convince her, Greta. The Nisser themselves will do
that." Greta begged and begged, but Hans would not explain. "Just wait
and you'll find out, Greta." And Hans started off toward his boat,
whistling to Chouse to come along.