A DAY OF HAPPY SURPRISES
"Anna, please don't walk so fast," begged Greta. The two girls were
walking down Langelinie, the beautiful parkway along the ocean. Greta
was much shorter than Anna and she could not walk nearly so fast. Then,
too, she liked to stop and watch the boats coming into the harbor. The
name Copenhagen means "merchants' harbor," and this city has one of the
finest harbors in Europe. All kinds of ships, from tiny sailboats to
large ocean liners, come here from all parts of the world.
When they had gone a little farther, Greta wanted to sit down and rest.
"Can't you walk just a tiny bit more, Greta? On the other side of this
little bay there is someone I want you to meet."
"Who, Anna?"
"She is called 'Den Lille Havfrue,'" said Anna.
"'Den Lille Havfrue,'" repeated Greta. "'The Little Ocean Lady.' I still
don't understand, Anna. Who can this be?"
"Just keep on walking, and I'll show you," answered Anna in her most
mysterious manner.
In a few minutes the girls had gone around the bay.
"Oh, Anna, how beautiful she is!" said the delighted Greta. Sitting on a
rock at the edge of the water was the statue of a lovely mermaid--"the
little ocean lady."
"She looks like a real live person," went on Greta, "except for her
fish's tail instead of feet. Is there really such a person as a mermaid,
Anna?"
[Illustration: A SIDE VIEW OF THE GEFION FOUNTAIN]
"I'm not sure, Greta, whether there is or not. But if there really is a
Nisse, then maybe there are mermaids, too. This Little Mermaid is the
most beautiful statue in Copenhagen. Some people think it is the
loveliest one in all Europe."
"How large is Copenhagen, Anna?"
[Illustration: THE GEFION FOUNTAIN]
"It has about a million people. That's a third of the whole population
of Denmark."
After a short walk the girls came to a large fountain, the largest that
Greta had ever seen. At the top of the fountain there was a statue of
four oxen, hitched to a plow and driven by a woman.
"This is called the Gefion Fountain, and it shows how the island of
Zealand was made," explained Anna. "There is an old, old story that says
that Denmark was given permission to take as much of Sweden as one could
plow around in a day. So the ruler of Denmark changed her four sons into
oxen and with them she plowed out the island on which Copenhagen stands.
This statue shows how she had to whip them and urge them on in order to
plow out this large island before night came."
"Oh, I wish we had brought Chouse along," said Greta. "He would love to
play in this fountain."
"Chouse likes to play in lots of places where he shouldn't. I think it's
a good thing that we left him home. He was very naughty at Tivoli the
other night."
"He didn't mean to be naughty, Anna. Don't you think we can take him
with us sometime?"
"Maybe; sometime," said Anna.
As the girls walked along they stopped now and then to look in the shop
windows. Whenever Greta saw a window full of beautiful silverware or
china she wanted to stop and buy a gift for her mother. This china,
decorated with figures in a soft blue color, was called Royal Copenhagen
Porcelain, and it was famous all over the world. The silverware was
designed by a Danish artist named Georg Jensen, and it was also very
famous.
"You will have lots of time to buy a gift for your mother, Greta. Don't
stop now. I hope you aren't tired, for we have a hard climb ahead of
us."
"A climb? Why, there isn't a hill in all Copenhagen."
"Do you see that church with the dome-shaped roof that's all green and
shiny? Well, that's what we are going to climb."
"Oh, Anna, how can we? Why, it's taller than any of the other buildings
in Copenhagen." Greta looked around her at the four- and five-story
buildings. The shiny green dome of the church rose far above them.
"It is usually called the Marble Church," explained Anna, "because it is
built of marble. Its real name is Frederick's Church, because it was
built by King Frederick the Fifth."
"That shiny green dome isn't made of marble, is it?" asked Greta.
"Oh, no," laughed Anna. "The church cost a great deal to build, and when
they had gotten as far as the dome, there was no money left. So all the
housewives in Copenhagen gave their copper kettles to be melted up and
used to make the dome of the church."
Inside the church it was cool and quiet. The girls started up the stairs
and climbed for quite a while without saying a word. Greta began to
think that they would never reach the top.
[Illustration: A COUNTRY SCENE]
"Is it much farther, Anna?"
"This is the easy part of the climb, Greta. Don't give up yet."
They kept on climbing. The stairs wound round and round, and as the
girls went higher and higher the stairs became more and more narrow.
Finally they came to the place where the stairs were so narrow and so
steep that a rope had been hung from the top to help those who climbed.
It was like climbing the side of a mountain.
"Now we've come to the hard part," said Anna. "Take hold of this rope
and don't let go."
"Anna, do you think we ought to go any higher?" Greta was frightened but
she didn't want to admit it.
"Why, of course. There is no point in climbing this far and then
stopping. You aren't afraid, are you, Greta?"
"I guess not."
"Don't look down at all, and then you'll be all right," advised Anna.
All of a sudden Greta remembered what her father had told her when she
was climbing the tower in the forest. "A girl who is named after a queen
must not be afraid of anything." After all, what was there to be afraid
of? The stairs were narrow and steep, but she would hold tightly to the
rope and she would be quite safe.
When Greta was about ten steps from the top, she did glance down and saw
a handkerchief lying on the step below her. Very carefully she backed
down one step, holding to the rope with her left hand and clutching her
purse with her right. As she took her left hand off the rope to pick up
the handkerchief, she started to lose her balance. In terror she grabbed
at the rope. She didn't fall, but the handkerchief fell six or seven
steps below her.
Anna had reached the top and called down to Greta. "What's the matter,
Greta? You mustn't stop now, when you are almost at the top."
"Did you drop your handkerchief, Anna? There is one here on the
stairs."
Anna felt in all her pockets. "No, I didn't drop mine, Greta."
Greta backed down the steps slowly and carefully. This time she would
not let go of the rope at all. She laid her purse on the step above
while she picked up the tiny handkerchief and put it in her pocket. In a
short time she had reached the top of the stairs, where Anna was waiting
for her. Greta showed her the dainty little handkerchief, with its wide
border of lace.
"Look, Greta. It has an 'I' embroidered in one corner."
"I wonder whose it is, Anna."
As the girls walked out on the platform on top of the dome, they almost
ran into two beautifully dressed ladies. Greta made her prettiest
curtsy.
"Perhaps this handkerchief is yours," she said, holding it out to them.
"Why, yes, it is," said the taller of the two ladies. "Thank you very
much, my dear." She and her companion then started down the narrow
stairway.
"I'm sure I have seen that lady before, but I can't remember where,"
said Anna, when they had gone. "Come over here, Greta. I want to show
you the King's palace."
Just a block away from the Marble Church was Amalienborg, the palace of
the King. The palace consisted of four beautiful buildings, built around
a large open square. Day and night, a tall guard in uniform marched
slowly back and forth in front of the palace. King Christian is probably
the best loved king in all Europe, and no one would ever want to harm
him. Nevertheless, the guard is always there.
[Illustration: AMALIENBORG PALACE]
"That is the famous Round Tower over there," explained Anna. "Some day
we will climb up in it. The building with all the dragons on the roof is
the Stock Exchange." Anna went on to point out other interesting
buildings. Greta was most interested in the harbor and the hundreds of
boats, which seemed to be everywhere in the city. Little arms of the sea
come right into the heart of Copenhagen, so there really are boats and
bridges wherever one looks.
[Illustration: THE KING'S GUARD]
Finally the girls started home. After a long bus ride, they walked the
few remaining blocks to Anna's home.
"Anna, why does that building have so many little porches? Do they all
belong to one house?" Greta pointed to a long brick building that had
fully a hundred porches.
[Illustration: "BIRD CAGE" PORCHES]
"That's a new apartment building, Greta. More than a hundred families
live there, and each family has its own little sun porch. Notice how
each porch is built up solid on one side, but the other side and the top
are open. In that way, every porch gets lots of sunshine, but the
neighbors can't possibly see in it."
"They look more like bird cages than porches," said Greta.
"Oh, Greta," exclaimed Anna suddenly. "I believe that was the Princess."
"Who, Anna?"
"Why, the lady whose handkerchief you found. Let's hurry home and ask
Mother. I'm sure she will know."
Greta told Anna's mother about the finding of the handkerchief, and Anna
described the two ladies.
"Do you suppose it could have been Princess Ingrid, Mother?"
"I think it must have been, Anna. And the other lady was her sister
Louise. You know that Princess Ingrid, the wife of our Crown Prince, is
a Swedish princess by birth. Today's newspaper says that Princess Louise
has come from Sweden to visit her sister Ingrid. Here is their picture.
Does it look like the two whom you saw?"
Both girls looked at the paper eagerly. "Yes, it _was_ Princess Ingrid
and Princess Louise," said Greta. "Oh, I must write Hans about this. He
has never even _seen_ a Princess. And now I have seen two of them and
even talked to one."