Part 33 (2/2)
CHAPTER XXV.
”Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky.”
_The Complete Angler._
The yacht had anch.o.r.ed for the night to the east of Vaeir, an island and lighthouse. The pilot and steward had gone ash.o.r.e to purchase fresh milk. The morning was without a breath of wind, and the yacht was motionless.
”What a sense of calm and peace!” said Mrs. Hardy, as she came on deck. ”There is not a fish coming to the surface of the still water, or a bird in the air, or a boat visible. It is almost desolation.”
”We are out of the track of vessels,” said Pastor Lindal, ”and there are few fish just here, consequently no sea-birds in pursuit of them.”
”You will soon see more life, mother,” said Hardy, ”From our position we are seventeen knots to Vordingborg, which we shall reach shortly after breakfast. We shall have to take another pilot there, for the difficult channel by Grnsund out to the Baltic, as our present pilot is not allowed to go beyond Vordingborg.”
”Your pilots, Herr Pastor,” said Mrs. Hardy, ”appointed by your Government, appear men well selected for their duty. They are all experienced men and well-conducted. We have been yachting on many sh.o.r.es, but the pilots we have taken in Denmark have been all men that have given me a feeling of confidence.”
”There is much employment for pilots on some parts of our coast,” said the Pastor, ”and the men soon acquire experience.”
When they came on deck after breakfast, the yacht was half-way to Vordingborg.
”What is the land on the starboard bow?” asked Mrs. Hardy.
”Falster,” replied the Pastor, ”and to the south is Laaland. One of the chief towns is Mariebo; it is so called from the special wish of the Virgin, as evidenced by a s.h.i.+ning light having been seen there every night. Queen Margrethe bought the site for a church, from the owner, Jens Grim, and the place was called Mariebo. The termination 'bo' is present Danish for an abode or dwelling, as it was supposed the Virgin had been there. 'By' is present Danish for a town. In the church there is the figure of a monk on one of the pillars pointing at another pillar, where it is said a treasure is buried. A Danish antiquary is said to have found in the Vatican a paper stating that when the monks were driven out of Mariebo, they had hid their doc.u.ments in a pillar of the church. It is not known to me whether any search has been made. The owner of the site, Jens Grim, was attacked by people from Lubeck; they besieged his two fastnesses. They succeeded in taking one of them by a very simple stratagem. Jens Grim had lost his knife, which the Lubeckers found, and took it to the fastness, where they knew he was not, and said they had come to take possession by Jens Grimes order, and produced the knife. They were admitted and took the place.”
”What do you propose to do at Vordingborg, John?” asked Mrs. Hardy.
”We are close to it, mother,” replied John. ”It is likely to be a similar place to Svendborg.”
”There is not much to see at Vordingborg. There are the ruins of King Valdemar's castle; the portion most prominent is called the Goose Tower, because the figure of a goose was used as a weatherc.o.c.k,” said the Pastor. ”If I might suggest, a drive in a carriage in the neighbourhood would, I think, interest you. The scenery is the same type as at Svendborg.”
The Pastor's suggestion was followed, and he poured forth much historical learning connected with Vordingborg.
”Is there no legend?” asked Hardy.
”Yes,” replied the Pastor; ”but it is one common to a great many places. It is this. A giantess wished to remove a tumulus or Kaempehi from Vordingborg to Men. She put it in her ap.r.o.n; but there was a hole in it, and the Kaempehi fell into the sea near the coast, and formed what is called Borre, or Borre Island. That is the only legend I know, or can recollect at present, particularly attached to Vordingborg. But do you not propose an excursion to Men's Klint?”
”That we do, as it is different from any other place in Denmark,” said Hardy. ”The difficulty is, if it should come on to blow hard in the eastern sea, as you call the Baltic, the yacht would have to run back to Grnsund, or go to Copenhagen.”
”Then,” said the Pastor, ”why not leave the yacht at Grnsund? You can get a carriage and a pair of horses to drive through the whole of Men, about sixteen English miles, and return the same evening to the yacht.”
John Hardy laid Mansa's map and the chart before his mother, who a.s.sented.
”Where can we get horses?” he asked.
”At Phanefjord, I expect,” replied the Pastor. ”They could be ordered to be ready at the ferry at six in the morning, and in three hours we could reach Liselumd, from whence Men's Klint can be explored on foot.”
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