CHOUSE SEEKS THE SPOTLIGHT
It was soon decided that Greta would go back to Copenhagen with Anna. At
dinner that evening the girls talked about nothing else, for Greta had
never been in Copenhagen before.
"While you are away, Greta, I'll look around and find a new home for
Chouse," her father announced suddenly.
At last it had come--this terrible thing that she had been dreading.
"But I thought that Chouse had been a very good dog lately." For the
moment Greta had forgotten Hans's report about the turkeys.
"I had hoped he would learn to behave better," said her father, "but
today he injured several of the young turkeys, and I just _can't_ have
it, Greta. So we must find another home for him. I know how you love
Chouse, and I hate to do this, but I don't see any other way out."
"Why can't Chouse come to Copenhagen with us?" asked Anna, hoping that
maybe this would solve the problem, at least for a while.
"Do you think your mother would want him?"
"Oh, yes, I'm sure it would be all right with Mother," said Anna. "We
don't have any chickens or turkeys, so Chouse couldn't very well get
into mischief at my house."
Greta's father hesitated a minute or two before he answered, while Greta
watched him anxiously. "All right, Anna, Chouse may go to Copenhagen
with you and Greta."
[Illustration: A TYPICAL VILLAGE SCENE]
Greta sank back in her chair with a deep sigh. By the time she came home
from Copenhagen, the whole matter would probably be forgotten. At any
rate, the evil day had been postponed.
When the day came for Greta and Anna to leave for Copenhagen, the whole
family went to the train with them.
Hans gave Chouse a goodbye pat on the head. "Take good care of my little
sister, Chouse," he said.
"And you take good care of the kittens, Hans," warned Greta.
Soon all the goodbyes were said and the two girls were on the train.
"I wish we could get seats by the window," said Greta. They walked up
and down the aisle, which was on one side of the train, but there wasn't
a single empty seat beside a window. Each car was divided into a dozen
sections, like little rooms, with two long seats facing each other.
There was space for four people on each seat, or eight people in each
section. The girls sat down in a section where there were only three
people. At the very next station, two of them got off, and then there
was a vacant seat beside the window. Greta and Anna decided to take
turns at sitting there.
"What time will it be when we reach Copenhagen, Anna?"
"After seven o'clock. You see we have to cross the peninsula of Jutland
and then the island of Zealand before we come to Copenhagen."
"I have never seen a really large city before, Anna."
"You will love Copenhagen, Greta. It has such beautiful parks and shops
and castles and, oh, _everything_!"
"Oh, look, Anna, here we are at Lemvig already. Do you know the story
about Lemvig?"
"No; what is it?"
"A long, long time ago, when Denmark was at war with Sweden, the Swedish
soldiers had been ordered to march upon Lemvig and take the town. You
can see that almost the whole town is down in the valley; there are just
a few houses on the hills. The soldiers couldn't see the town at all,
so they asked a farmer where it was. He pointed to the houses on the
hill on the other side of the valley. Then the Swedish soldiers rode
very fast, keeping their eyes on these houses on the distant hill. They
didn't see the valley at all and they rode so fast that they all fell
down the hill and into the river. So Lemvig wasn't captured after all."
As the train started again and left Lemvig, Anna leaned out the window.
"Oh, it's too late now," she said sadly.
"Too late for what?" asked Greta.
"I wanted to get an ice-cream bar, but the train started just as the boy
with the ice-cream bars came up to our window."
"We'll surely get one at the next town, Anna."
As soon as the train stopped again, Anna let down the window and they
each bought an ice-cream bar and also one for Chouse. He had been
standing on Greta's lap, with his front feet on the window sill,
watching with great interest as they passed fields of yellow hay,
forests of evergreens, pastures with large herds of cows, and great
fields of cabbage and beets.
When they had finally ridden clear across Jutland, which forms the main
part of Denmark, and then across the island of Funen, which is connected
with the mainland by a large bridge, they came to a wide stretch of
water called the Great Belt.
"Get your suitcase, Anna," said Greta. "We will have to get off the
train and take a boat here."
Anna laughed, but she didn't make a move to get her suitcase down from
the rack overhead.
"The whole train takes the boat, Greta. We don't have to get off at
all."
"The whole train? But how can it?"
[Illustration: FARM HOUSES IN THE VALLEY]
"Just look out the window and you'll see for yourself."
The railroad tracks ran to the very edge of the water, where a large
ferry boat was waiting for the train. It had tracks on it, too, and the
train ran right on to the boat. Greta could hardly believe her eyes. To
think that one could ride on a train and a boat at the same time! It
took about two hours to cross the water, and then they were on the
island of Zealand. The boat went right up to the railroad tracks and the
train was soon on land again and speeding on its way.
"Everything here looks so different," remarked Greta, as she looked out
the window. "There are so many more trees, and it isn't so flat as it is
at home."
Before long they reached the large railroad station in Copenhagen, where
Anna's mother was waiting for them.
"Your father will be here very soon, Anna, and then we are all going to
Tivoli for dinner."
"Is Tivoli a restaurant?" asked Greta.
"No, Tivoli is one of the most famous parks in all the world," explained
Anna. "It's right in the center of Copenhagen. In fact, it's right next
to this station. Oh, I wish Father would hurry."
When Greta first saw Tivoli she thought she was in fairyland. Surely it
couldn't be real. The gay beds of flowers and the tinkling fountains and
the colored lights among the trees all seemed to be part of a magic
world. Besides all this beauty, Tivoli had many restaurants and theatres
and places for concerts and games and other amusements.
They had dinner in one of the outdoor restaurants, and Greta was so
interested in watching the people as they passed by that she could
hardly eat. After dinner they started to walk through the park and let
Greta decide for herself what she would most enjoy. When they had gone
only a little way they came to a large open stage, where a play was
being given. They all stopped to watch it for a few minutes, and Greta
wouldn't leave the spot. To her it was the most fascinating thing in
Tivoli.
Suddenly she noticed that something had gone wrong on the stage. The
actors seemed confused and they hesitated over their lines. What could
be the matter? Then, to her horror, she saw Chouse run across the stage
and jump up on one of the actors. He was a young lad who looked
something like Hans. Chouse soon saw his mistake and began wandering
around the large stage as if he were lost. The audience laughed. They
knew that this wasn't part of the play, and it seemed very funny to
them.
The minute that Greta saw Chouse she started toward the stage. Going
around to the back, where the audience could not see her, she whistled
and called to her dog. Chouse was glad to hear his name. Happily he ran
off the stage at once and the play went on.
"I think we had better go home now," said Anna's father, when Greta came
back with the dog, "before Chouse gets into any more mischief."
Greta's heart sank. They had barely gotten into Copenhagen--in fact,
they hadn't even reached Anna's home yet--and Chouse had already gotten
into mischief. What in the world was she going to do with him?