"Look, Greta, at the two little patches of green grass in the middle of that field of hay. Why in the world did the farmer skip those spots?"
"I'll tell you why, Anna," said her uncle. "You will notice that those little green patches are always on small hills. They are the graves of Vikings."
"But I thought that the Vikings lived more than a thousand years ago," interrupted Anna.
"Yes, they did. They were a strong, bold race who lived in what is now Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They roamed the sea and conquered many other lands. Some of them even went to America, long before the time of Columbus. It is against the law for anyone to disturb a Viking grave. You will see many of these little mounds on the farms in this part of the country. The farmers never plant anything on these graves. They carefully plow all around them."
"We must be quite near the ocean now, for there's a lighthouse," said Greta. "It would be fun to climb to the top of it. May we, Father?"
"Yes, if you want to."
It didn't take Greta and Anna long to climb the narrow, winding stairs. From the top of the lighthouse they could see for many miles over the ocean and over the land. Heavy waves beat upon the beach, and even as they looked, the sand hills kept shifting, for the wind from the North Sea was very strong. Not far away was the harbor, and in its quiet waters some of the fishermen had fastened their sailboats. Near by they had hung up their nets to dry. Each net was carefully spread over a rope that was fastened to stakes in the ground. Other fishing boats, with sails full spread, were far out at sea.
