Part 2 (1/2)

_I would like to have you come and visit me this summer. I know we can have lots of fun. Hans says you may use his bicycle and also his boat. That is a real honor, for he won't let me use his boat.

He says I am too small._

_I had four darling little kittens, but now they are gone and I can't find them anywhere. Do you suppose a Nisse took them away?_

_Chouse, my dog, has been very naughty and Father says he may have to send him away. I hope he won't, because I like to play with Chouse._

_Come as soon as you can. Mother and Father and Hans all send their love. So do I._

_Your cousin Greta._”

She addressed the envelope, writing ”Copenhagen” in very large letters.

Just as she was going out of the door, her mother called to her.

”When you are in the village, Greta, please stop at the bakery and bring back some bread. I told Marie to bake an extra loaf today, but she forgot it. And we have company coming tonight.”

”All right, Mother. I won't forget.”

As Greta rode into the village she thought of all the things that she and Anna could do that summer. She didn't have to pay much attention to cars coming down the gravel road, for there were many more bicycles than automobiles. Chouse ran right along beside her bicycle, but once in a while, when he saw a rabbit, he would suddenly dart away into the field.

In a short time he would come tearing back and soon catch up with Greta.

The fields were especially beautiful right now. The hay was yellow and almost ready to cut. Greta could see for several miles in every direction, for the land was flat and there were not many trees. In this part of Denmark the trees do not grow very large because of the wind that blows all the time, summer and winter. This wind from the North Sea never seems to stop blowing, and it blows so hard that the trees all lean to one side, away from the wind. There are scarcely any branches on the side that the wind comes from.

The farmers are thankful for this wind from the sea, because it keeps their windmills turning. And from the windmills they get electric power to light their houses.

Greta mailed her letter and started back home. She didn't stop to visit with any of her friends in the village, because she was eager to get home and look for her kittens again. She hadn't given up the hope of finding them, though she really didn't know where to look. When more than halfway home, she suddenly remembered the loaf of bread.

”Come, Chouse. We must go back to the village.” Chouse had run to the side of the road, looking for rabbits again.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A BARBER'S SIGN]

From away down the road, Greta could see the sign of the bakery. Shaped like a large pretzel, it hung 'way out in front of the store. Every bakery had a sign like this, and many of the other shops had their own special signs. Each barber shop had a large metal plate hanging out in front. The plate was cut in a deep curve on one side, where it was supposed to fit around a man's neck when he had his hair cut. Of course barbers didn't use plates like this any more, but these signs were still used to mark a barber shop.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A BAKERY SIGN]

When Greta got home, Hans was just getting ready to start out in his new boat.

”Want to come along, Greta?”

”Sure I do. Where are you going?”

”Oh, just down the river.” The little river which ran in front of the house and wound around through the fields seemed like the nicest part of the farm to Hans and Greta. They fished in the river in the summer and skated on it in the winter. Hans was proud of his new boat, which was a birthday present from his father. Although he never let Greta go out in it alone, he often asked her to go with him.

”Wait just a minute, Hans. I must take this bread in the house and then I'll go with you.”

Chouse was already in the boat when Greta came out. The minute that Hans started toward the boat, Chouse always jumped in ahead of him. He never sat still in it long. He would dash back and forth from the front to the back, and every now and then he tried to jump out, when he saw a rabbit running across the field.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHOUSE LIKED THE BOAT]

”Are you going to let me paddle, Hans?” asked Greta.