There was a battle, and eighteen hundred peasants were killed. The boys visited a museum, where they saw relics and learned how the townspeople were tortured by the Danish king.
They felt further depressed, as they went to the spot where sea robbers of old were hanged. They gazed raptly upon the gallows tree where pirates used to dangle.
"Like washing hanging out to dry, I suppose," said Erik solemnly.
Finally they stood on the warm beach, and they thought of the Vikings. Johan told Erik that those rugged seafarers had once lived upon this island.
"They traveled to far countries," said the banker's son, "and they brought back their treasure. They settled in many other places, too: in Scotland and Ireland and even in North America."
Johan knew so much. Erik wanted to show that he, too, knew interesting things.
So he said, "Old Scandinavian legends say that Leif Ericson was the first Norseman to land in North America."
That was important. Erik stuck his hands firmly into his pockets and frowned knowingly.
But Johan added, "Leif Ericson was said to have named that country Vinland because he and his men found grapes growing wild there. Today it is part of the United States. Historians think it may have been the states of Virginia and Maryland."