CHOUSE IS HOMESICK
"Chouse, will you promise to be a _really_ good dog if we take you with
us?"
Chouse answered Greta by barking three times, which meant, "Yes, I
will."
Chouse had not been allowed to go with the girls since the evening at
Tivoli. Greta didn't want to send home any _more_ bad reports about him.
Even now, she was almost afraid to open her father's letters, for each
day she expected him to write that he had found a new home for Chouse.
Sometimes Greta wished that her visit in Copenhagen could go on forever.
Then she would never have to part with her pet.
"We'll climb up in the Round Tower first of all," said Anna, as she and
Greta and Chouse started off gaily for a day's wandering. "Then you can
look over the city and decide what you want to see next."
As they walked through the winding streets of the business district of
Copenhagen, Anna told Greta the story of the famous Round Tower.
"It was built more than three hundred years ago by King Christian the
Fourth," she explained. "He wanted to do something that would make the
people remember him always, so he built this high tower as an
observatory, where scientists could study the stars."
The Round Tower stood in the very heart of the city. At the time it was
built it was the tallest building in Copenhagen, but now the Marble
Church rose high above it.
[Illustration: THE ROUND TOWER]
Just before they reached the tower, Anna surprised Greta by saying,
"This Tower is over a hundred feet high, but you won't have to climb a
single step to reach the top."
"But how do we get to the top?"
"You'll see in just a minute, Greta."
"Come, Chouse," called Greta, as the girls reached the door of the Round
Tower. The dog had started down the street ahead of them. He seemed to
be looking for something, but he ran back quickly when his little
mistress called.
Once inside the tower, the children started up a sloping walk that went
up and up and up. At the same time it went round and round and round,
like a corkscrew. Every little while Chouse dashed on ahead and then
came running back, barking joyously.
"This is the funniest tower I have ever seen," said Greta. "Does this
walk go to the very top?"
"Yes," answered Anna. "They say that a long time ago, when Peter the
Great, the Czar of Russia, visited Denmark he rode up here on
horseback, and at another time the Empress Catherine drove her coach and
four up to the very top of the Round Tower."
[Illustration: THE MARBLE CHURCH, AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE ROUND
TOWER]
Greta stopped a moment to look at the winding, sloping walk. "I guess
one really _could_ drive a coach up here. It seems to be wide enough."
From the platform on the top of the tower, the girls could look out over
the city and the harbor. Wherever they looked, they saw towers and
spires--on the Parliament Building, on the Stock Exchange, on the
castles, on the churches. Some of them were gilded and they gleamed
brightly in the sunshine. Some of them were shiny green, like the dome
of the Marble Church.
"What is that building whose tower has a crown at the top?" asked Greta.
"That is Christiansborg Castle, where the Parliament meets," explained
Anna. "Would you like to visit it?"
"Yes. Let's go there next, if it isn't too far away," said Greta.
As they walked to Christiansborg, Anna told Greta a funny story about
the Round Tower.
"Once upon a time a Norwegian was visiting Copenhagen. The people he
visited were eager to show him all the wonderful and beautiful things in
the city. The Norwegians are very proud of their own country, you know,
and they like to boast about it. When they came to the Round Tower, the
Danish people said, 'I'm sure you haven't anything like the Round Tower
in Norway.' The Norwegian looked at it a minute and then answered, 'No,
but if we had, it would be bigger and rounder.'"
Greta laughed. "But it _couldn't_ be rounder, could it, Anna?"
"No, of course not. If a thing is round, it's round; you can't make it
more or less round."
When they came to the entrance of Christiansborg, the guard told them
that dogs were not allowed inside the castle.
"What will we do with him, Greta?" asked Anna.
"He will have to wait here at the door for us," said Greta. Turning to
the dog she spoke to him very sternly, "Chouse, you must be a good dog
and stay right here until Anna and I come out."
Chouse barked twice, as if to say, "All right," and then he lay down on
the floor beside the guard.
"There has been a castle on this spot for eight hundred years," said
Anna, as they walked through the long hall.
"But this castle looks quite new."
"Oh, there have been three or four castles here. When one burned down,
they built another one. This one is about forty years old. It was really
built as a home for the King, but he has never lived here. He likes
Amalienborg better."
"I think I would, too," said Greta. "These rooms are so large and the
ceilings are so high that it wouldn't seem like a home at all."
[Illustration: CHRISTIANSBORG CASTLE]
In one part of the castle there were two large halls, where the
Parliament meets. One hall was for the House of Commons and the other
was for the Upper House. Parliament did not meet during the summer, so
Greta and Anna were allowed to visit both these stately halls. Greta
thought they had seen everything in Christiansborg, when Anna suddenly
announced, "We're going downstairs now, Greta. The most interesting
part of Christiansborg is under the ground."
They went down a narrow stairway and carefully made their way through a
dark, underground passage. Soon they came to a scattered heap of stones
that marked the outlines of an old, old castle.
"This is the very first castle that was built here," explained Anna. "It
was built by Bishop Absalon in 1167, when Copenhagen was just a little
fishing village. Here is the old well that has been used for hundreds of
years," she said as they walked on farther, "and here is a part of the
Blue Tower where Princess Leonora Christina was kept a prisoner for many
years."
"Oh, how could they keep anyone in such a terrible dungeon?" asked
Greta, who shivered at the thought of spending even an hour in this
gloomy place. "Let's go upstairs, Anna."
"All right," agreed Anna. "I wonder how Chouse and the guard have been
getting along."
[Illustration: THE MARKET PLACE IN COPENHAGEN]
The guard looked extremely worried when the girls appeared. Chouse was
nowhere in sight.
"I turned my back for just a minute," he said, "but when I turned around
again your little dog was gone. He must have run outside, for you can
see that he isn't here in the entrance hall."
Greta was so upset that she couldn't say a word.
"Come on, Greta. We shall have to go and hunt for him," said the
practical Anna. "You go in one direction and I'll go in the other, and
we'll meet here at Christiansborg in one hour."
There wasn't anything for Greta to do but to start looking. There was no
use in telling Anna that she didn't know one street from another. There
was no use in saying that she didn't have the faintest idea of where to
look. Anna had already started in the other direction and Greta heard
her calling, every now and then, "Here, Chouse. Come, Chouse."
So Greta started off bravely by herself. Christiansborg was built on a
small island, so she crossed the Marble Bridge to the mainland and began
walking slowly along the street by the side of the water. The shore was
lined with fishing boats and on the sidewalk there were hundreds of
little stands where the women were selling fresh fish which they took
right out of the boats. Now and then Greta stopped to ask one of them
if she had seen a little black and white dog. Not a one of them had seen
him.
[Illustration: FRESH FISH FOR SALE]
[Illustration: WEIGHING A LOAD OF FISH]
Greta decided that Chouse had not come along this street, so she walked
back to the bridge and started down another street. Soon she came into a
large open square filled with fruit and vegetable stands. The housewives
of Copenhagen came here every morning during the summer to get the
finest of fresh foods. Greta went from one stand to another, asking if
they had seen her dog. Surely _someone_ had seen him. Finally she came
to the very last stand, where a pretty girl was selling flowers. By this
time tears had filled Greta's eyes and there was such a lump in her
throat that she could hardly speak.
"Why, yes," said the pretty girl. "I did see a little black and white
dog not very long ago, but I don't know which way he went from here."
Greta smiled happily at this news. At last she was on the right trail.
She left the market and took one of the narrow, winding streets that led
through the main business district. Every little while she called,
"Here, Chouse. Come, Chouse." But no little dog came in answer to her
call. Maybe she had taken the wrong street after all.
Half blinded with tears she started across one of the large open
squares. When part way across she saw Chouse trotting down the street
ahead of her. Greta started to run and almost bumped into a bicycle. She
was not used to city streets, crowded with bicycles and automobiles. By
the time she had crossed the square, Chouse had disappeared.
[Illustration: FISHING BOATS CROWD THE CANALS]
Greta was tired and hungry, but she didn't stop to think about that. She
was very much afraid that she couldn't find her way back to
Christiansborg, but she didn't dare to think about that. Chouse was
somewhere on the street in front of her, and she must find him. So the
little girl kept on walking. The street had many curves, like all the
older streets in Copenhagen. In some places the sidewalk was so narrow
that Greta had to step out in the street to pass the people who stood
looking in the shop windows.
Suddenly a terrible fear came over Greta. What if she _never_ found
Chouse? But she simply _must_ find him--and keep him. She knew now just
how dear he was to her. As she walked along, the tears which filled her
eyes spilled over on her cheeks. She had never been in this part of the
city before, and now she was lost just as completely as Chouse was. Oh,
if only she could find him, nothing else would matter. In some way she
would get back to Christiansborg and Anna. In some way she would
persuade her father not to send Chouse away. She looked at her watch.
Goodness, she had already been walking an hour and a half! Anna would be
worried about her. But Greta felt that she must keep on looking for
her dog. She knew now that she was on the right street, at least.
[Illustration: SAILBOATS IN THE HEART OF COPENHAGEN]
Suddenly Greta came into a large open square that seemed familiar. She
stopped a minute to look around. Maybe she wasn't really lost, after
all. What was that large building over to the left? Then the tears
stopped and her face broke into a happy smile. Why, it was the railroad
station, where she had first come into Copenhagen. She lost all her
fears about being lost, but a great wave of homesickness came over the
little girl. Without quite knowing why, she crossed the busy square and
went into the station.
She would sit down in the station and rest a little bit before going on
with her search. Just as she found a seat on one of the long benches a
familiar little black and white figure caught her eye. Tired as she was,
Greta ran down the long station. Everyone turned to watch the excited
little girl who was running so desperately. At last she reached him, and
it really was her beloved Chouse.
[Illustration: A BUSY SQUARE IN COPENHAGEN]
He jumped up at her and barked joyously. "Oh, Chouse, _why_ did you run
away?" Greta took him in her arms and hugged him close. Then all of a
sudden she understood why he had gone away. Right in front of her was
the gate to the very train that she would take back home. Chouse was
homesick, too. That was why he had come straight to the railroad
station.
"Everything is all right, Chouse. We will be going home soon," said
Greta, as a single happy tear fell on his black and white fur.