A DAY AT THE SHORE
"Why don't you have a windmill on your farm, Uncle Frederick?" asked
Anna. "Every one of these farms has a big windmill."
Anna and her uncle and Greta were driving through the country on their
way to the shore. Greta's father had to make a business trip to a small
town on the coast, and he was taking the girls with him. Chouse was
comfortably curled up on the back seat.
"We don't need a windmill, Anna, because we have the river."
"But how can the river take the place of a windmill?" asked Anna.
[Illustration: THE WINDMILLS PROVIDE ELECTRIC POWER]
"Greta, haven't you shown Anna the dam in the river?" asked her father.
"This dam causes the water to fall from a great height. The force of the
water, as it falls on a large machine, provides the power that is
turned into electricity. These other farms get their electric power from
the windmills. As the great arms are turned by the wind, they provide
power that is changed, by the machinery, into electricity."
Anna had lived in Copenhagen all her life, and everything about the
country was new to her. She liked to watch the men cutting the hay and
piling it up on the large wagons. On some of the farms the women were
also working in the fields. This was the busiest time of year on the
farm, and everyone had to help. Children hoed the long rows of cabbages
and potatoes and beets.
Every time they drove through a village, Greta and Anna played a game to
see who could be first to find the oldest house. Each house had a name
painted in large letters over the door or near it. This wasn't the name
of the family; it was the name of the house itself. The year when the
house was built was usually there, too. So each girl tried to be the
first one to find the oldest house. Greta usually found it before Anna,
because Anna saw so many other things that interested her.
[Illustration: MIRRORS ON THE WINDOWS]
"What are those funny little mirrors in front of the windows, Greta?"
Anna pointed to the two small projecting mirrors fastened by an iron
frame to the window of a small brick house.
"Oh, the people put those there so that they can sit beside the window
and see who is coming down the street," explained Greta. "There is one
mirror facing up the street and one facing down the street. With these
mirrors they can sit in the house and still see everything that goes
on."
"But they have so many plants and flowers in the windows that I don't
see how they can see anything outdoors."
Every home, whether in a village or on a farm, had a large flower
garden. And in every home, large or small, there were many plants in the
windows, where they could get the sunshine. All Denmark looked like a
large garden, for there were roses, poppies, peonies, iris, pansies,
or other brilliant flowers wherever one looked.
[Illustration: ALONG THE SHORE OF THE NORTH SEA]
"Look, Greta, at the two little patches of green grass in the middle of
that field of hay. Why in the world did the farmer skip those spots?"
"I'll tell you why, Anna," said her uncle. "You will notice that those
little green patches are always on small hills. They are the graves of
Vikings."
"But I thought that the Vikings lived more than a thousand years ago,"
interrupted Anna.
"Yes, they did. They were a strong, bold race who lived in what is now
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They roamed the sea and conquered many
other lands. Some of them even went to America, long before the time of
Columbus. It is against the law for anyone to disturb a Viking grave.
You will see many of these little mounds on the farms in this part of
the country. The farmers never plant anything on these graves. They
carefully plow all around them."
"We must be quite near the ocean now, for there's a lighthouse," said
Greta. "It would be fun to climb to the top of it. May we, Father?"
"Yes, if you want to."
It didn't take Greta and Anna long to climb the narrow, winding stairs.
From the top of the lighthouse they could see for many miles over the
ocean and over the land. Heavy waves beat upon the beach, and even as
they looked, the sand hills kept shifting, for the wind from the North
Sea was very strong. Not far away was the harbor, and in its quiet
waters some of the fishermen had fastened their sailboats. Near by they
had hung up their nets to dry. Each net was carefully spread over a rope
that was fastened to stakes in the ground. Other fishing boats, with
sails full spread, were far out at sea.
[Illustration: THERE ARE MANY BOATS IN THE HARBOR]
"Anna, do you see those people way down the beach? I wonder what they
are looking for." Greta pointed to two women who were evidently
searching for something along the shore.
"I haven't any idea. Shall we go help them with their search? Look,
Greta. Your father is motioning to us to come down. I think Chouse wants
us, too."
Greta's father had to go on to the next village, but he told the girls
that they could stay here until he came back.
"Chouse will take good care of you while I'm gone," he said, "that is,
if he doesn't run off and get into some kind of mischief himself."
Greta and Anna were curious about the women they had seen down the
beach, so they decided to join them. With Chouse jumping and barking at
their heels, they ran along the water's edge. The tide was coming in,
and every now and then a large wave almost caught them. As they went
farther from the harbor, they found more and more sand dunes: gently
rolling hills with long blades of grass poking up here and there through
the sand. Along this part of the beach there were many summer cottages,
with fences around them to keep the sand from covering them completely.
[Illustration: ALMOST EVERY FARM HAS ITS WINDMILL]
"Have you lost something?" asked Anna as they came near the two women.
"We'll be glad to help you look for it."
"No, we haven't lost anything," answered one of the women. "We thought
we might find some amber along the beach."
"Amber?" asked Greta in surprise. "I didn't know it was found here."
"Oh, certainly. We have often found some very fine pieces of amber on
this very beach."
"Is amber a stone?" asked Greta. "Of course I know what it looks like,
but what is it made of?"
"It has taken thousands of years to form the lovely clear yellow
material that we call amber," explained the second woman. "It was once
the sticky, yellowish fluid given off by the pine trees. As time went
by, those trees were buried under the ground or under the water. The
sticky fluid gradually became hard as stone. It is those stone-like
pieces that we sometimes dig up along the beach of the North Sea."
[Illustration: CHOUSE LIKES TO PLAY]
"They are very valuable, aren't they?" asked Anna.
"Yes, some of them are. Those that are perfectly clear and have no
flaws always bring a good price."
"We'll help you look," said Greta.
The two girls began to search for the little yellow lumps that lay
hidden in the sand. At first it was fun, but after a while they got
tired. They were just about to quit, when one of the women called out
happily, "Here is a beautiful, large piece. It must weigh a pound."
The others rushed up to look at it. Amber is very light, so it took a
large piece indeed to weigh a pound. After this they began searching
with fresh interest. Suddenly Greta found what she thought was a
beautiful piece of amber. But when she showed it to the two women they
said it was much too heavy for amber.
Greta got down on her knees and began poking among the stones and
shells. Every now and then she dug into the sand and poked and looked
and dug some more. While the girls were busy in this absorbing work,
Chouse ran up and down the beach. No one paid any attention to him. Once
in a while he ran up to Greta to see if she would play with him. But she
just pushed him away. "Run away, Chouse. I'm too busy to play now."
[Illustration: FISH NETS SPREAD OUT TO DRY]
When Chouse got tired of playing by himself, he lay down on the sand
near Greta, watching her every minute. Suddenly he noticed something
wriggling along the sand not far away. He sat up and looked. Soon the
wriggling stopped. But Chouse kept on watching this strange object. Then
he got up and walked nearer to it, walking ever so quietly and
carefully. He simply _must_ see what this strange creature was. Greta
wasn't paying any attention to Chouse or to the strange object near by.
She was too busy looking for amber. Chouse stood without moving,
watching the now motionless creature.
"Oh, Greta, I think I've found a real piece of amber!" Anna ran across
the beach in great excitement. When she was ten feet from Greta she
stopped in terror. "Greta!" she screamed. "Look out! Run!"
Greta stood up and looked around, too startled to run. What had
happened? Then she saw. Not two feet away lay a green snake, coiled and
ready to strike. Greta knew at once that this was the most poisonous
snake in all Denmark. Her father had often warned her about it. But she
simply couldn't run. She was so frightened that she had lost the power
to move. Greta knew that in less than a minute the snake would strike
her. She knew that she must get away. But she couldn't.
At that very instant Chouse sprang forward. He had been watching this
crawling green creature for many minutes. Now was the time for him to
act. And he did act. He seized the snake by the neck and quickly carried
it off to a high sand dune. In less than two minutes the snake was dead.
Greta sank down on the sand and Anna rushed up to her. "Oh, Greta, are
you all right?"
"Yes, Anna, I'm all right. But I was so frightened that I couldn't
move."
Chouse came back to Greta and she took him in her lap. "After this,
Chouse, I think you will have to go with us wherever we go. I am quite
sure that Father won't send you away."