He pressed a finger on a lark garnet in the mountain rock, and a thousand flames shot up.
The golden helmets awoke.
“Who goes there?” asked the man with the prophet’s beard.
“Swede,” answered the giant.
“A good name!” replied Gustav Eriksson Wasa, for it was he. “How much time has passed away?”
“In years, after the birth of Christ, one thousand nine hundred and three.”
“Time flies. But have you made arty progress? Are you still a country and a nation?”
“We are. But since Gustavus I, the country has grown. Jämtland, Herjedalen, and Gottland have been added.”
“Who conquered them?”
“Well, it was in the time of Queen Christina; but her guardians really conquered them.”