“Speak it a little quicker, and you will have it right. It was first called simply the Haven; then in Danish, when many merchants carried on business here, Kaupmannahöfn, or merchants’ haven, from which it was shortened into chepenahn. Here is the Round Tower,” added Joseph, as the carriage stopped.
The party alighted and entered the structure, which was the tower of the Church of the Trinity.
“This used to be the watch tower, where men were kept to give the alarm in case of fire; but the observatory has been moved to the tower of St. Nicholas, and now we have a telegraphic fire alarm. Won’t you walk up to the top of this tower, where you can have a fine view of the whole city? The ascent is very easy,” continued Joseph.
There were no stairs, but an inclined plane, gradual in its rise, permitted the tourists to ascend to the summit with very little labor.
“We might have driven up in the carriage,” said Captain Lincoln.
“There would be no difficulty at all in doing so. In fact, Peter the Great, when he was in Copenhagen, in 1716, drove to the top with the Empress Catharine, in a coach and four.”
“Is that so?” asked the captain.
“I can’t remember so far back myself,” chuckled Joseph, “for I’m not much over a hundred years old; but everybody says it is true, and I see no reason to doubt the story. Peter the Great liked to do strange things, and you can see for yourself that a carriage would run very well here.”
“If he went up with a coach and four, of course he must have come down, unless the carriage and horses are up there now. How did he turn his team?”
“It is easier to ask some questions than to answer them,” replied Joseph. “History does not say that he drove down, only that he drove up.”