"Greta, I didn't know that you had storks on your farm," said Anna.

"Of course we do," said Greta. "Every farm has a nest of storks."

Hans and Greta had been showing Anna the garden and the river and all the animals on the farm. Greta herself had almost forgotten about the storks, because she was so used to them. And anyway, they weren't animals you could play with, like the kittens and the dog.

"They bring us good luck," explained Hans. "Every farmer puts up an old wheel, or something else that is round, so the storks can build their nest on it. Sometimes he puts it on the roof of the barn and sometimes on the house."

"Don't you have storks at home, Anna?" asked Greta.

"Goodness, no! I don't think there's a stork in all Copenhagen, except maybe in the zoo." Anna couldn't take her eyes from the large round nest on the roof of the barn. "Do they stay here all the year round?" she asked.

"It's too cold for them here in the winter. When cold weather comes, they all fly south. Father says that some of them go as far as Africa. But early in the spring they always come back."

"Does the same family of storks come back every year?" asked Anna.

"We think it's the same family," answered Greta, "but we're never really sure, for you can't ever get very near the storks."

While the children had been talking, one of the storks was standing on one leg on the edge of the nest.

"That's the papa stork that you see now," explained Hans. "He's away most of the day, gathering food, but every now and then he comes back to the nest to rest. He always stands on one leg, just like that, when he rests."

"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?"

"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."

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.