"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?"
[Ill.u.s.tration: 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."
[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.
CHAPTER VI
DINNER AT VOSBORG CASTLE
"The carriage should be here any minute now." Greta ran to the window again to look down the road.
"The carriage!" said Anna in surprise. "Are we going to Vosborg in a _carriage_, Greta?"
"Yes. Mr. Christianson is sending his carriage for us. He doesn"t like automobiles, so he still keeps the old coach that has belonged to the castle for a hundred years."
"There it is now, Greta," said Hans, who was just as eager to visit the castle as Greta and Anna were.
Soon they were all on their way to Vosborg. Although it stood on a hill, you could hardly see the castle itself, because of the trees all around it. After a short ride they reached the castle"s outer wall and drove through the wide entrance, with its high tower that formed an archway.
There was a long stretch of level ground inside the wall, before one came to the stone bridge over the moat. The moat was a wide, deep ditch filled with water, which ran all the way around the castle. In the olden days it was an important protection, for enemies could not cross it and thus could not reach the castle buildings. Inside the moat there was a rampart, or a high ridge of earth, which was also a protection to the castle. Then there was still another wall before one finally reached the castle itself.
"There has been a castle on this spot for hundreds of years," Greta"s mother told the children as they rode along in the old coach. "This building is only four hundred years old, so you see that it is rather new! The castle that stood here before was destroyed in 1532."
[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. CHRISTIANSON"S COACH]
"Mother, tell Anna about the Englishman who built the tower of Vosborg Castle," urged Hans.
"All right, Hans," said his mother. "A long, long time ago, when the first castle was being built, the owner decided that he wanted a tower on his castle that would be finer than that of any other castle in Denmark. He hunted the country over, but he couldn"t find anyone who could build such a grand tower. Finally he heard of a man in England who could do this. So he sent for this man and told him to build a tower on Vosborg that would be the finest in the land. The Englishman solemnly promised that he would do so.
"It took him three full years to build the tower, for he was determined to make it the finest in all Denmark. And it was. When it was done he went to the owner of Vosborg and asked if he were satisfied. The owner was well pleased, and he paid the builder a large sum of money. Long before this, however, he had decided that he would test the builder and the honesty of his work. So after the Englishman had left the castle and was walking down the road, a servant from Vosborg came running after him, shouting, "The tower is leaning."