CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT FREDERICK
"I DECLARE, Hans, I should think you would get tired of playing war,"said Bertha. She was sitting under the trees rocking her doll. She wasplaying it was a baby.
Hans had just come home after an afternoon of sport with his boyfriends. But all they had done, Bertha declared, was to play war andsoldiers. She had watched them from her own yard.
"Tired of it! What a silly idea, Bertha. It won't be many years beforeI shall be a real soldier. Just picture me then! I shall have auniform, and march to music. I don't know where I may go, either. Whoknows to what part of the world the emperor will send his soldiers atthat time?"
"I know where you would like to go in our own country," said Bertha.
"To Berlin, of course. What a grand city it must be! Father has beenthere. Our schoolmaster was there while he served his time as asoldier. At this very moment, it almost seems as though I could hearthe jingling of the officers' swords as they move along the streets.The regiments are drilled every day, and I don't know how often thesoldiers have sham battles."
Hans jumped up from his seat under the tree and began to march up anddown as though he were a soldier already.
"Attention, battalion! Forward, march!" Bertha called after him. Butshe was laughing as she spoke. She could not help it, Hans looked soserious. At the same time she couldn't help envying her brother alittle, and wishing she were a boy, too. It must be so grand to bea soldier and be ready to fight for the emperor who ruled over hercountry.
STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.]
"The schoolmaster told us boys yesterday about the grand palace atBerlin. The emperor lives in it when he is in the city," said Hans,wheeling around suddenly and stopping in front of Bertha.
"I think you must have caught my thoughts," said the little girl, "forthe emperor was in my mind when you began to speak."
"Well, never mind that. Do you wish to hear about the palace?"
"Of course I do, Hans."
"The schoolmaster says it has six hundred rooms. Just think of it!And one of them, called the White Room, is furnished so grandly that2,400,000 marks were spent on it. You can't imagine it, Bertha, ofcourse. I can't, either."
A German mark is worth about twenty-four cents of American money, sothe furnishing of the room Hans spoke of must have cost about $600,000.It was a large sum, and it is no wonder the boy said he could hardlyimagine so much money.
"There are hundreds of halls in the palace," Hans went on. "Someof their walls are painted and others are hung with elegant silkdraperies. The floors are polished so they shine like mirrors. Thenthe pictures and the armour, Bertha! It almost seemed as though I werethere while the schoolmaster was describing them."
"I never expect to see such lovely things," said his sober littlesister. "But perhaps I shall go to Berlin some day, Hans. Then I cansee the statue of Frederick the Great, at any rate."
"It stands opposite the palace," said her brother, "and cost more thanany other bronze statue in the world."
"How did you learn that, Hans?"
"The schoolmaster told us so. He said, too, that it ought to stir theblood of every true German to look at it. There the great Fredericksits on horseback, wearing the robe in which he was crowned, andlooking out from under his cocked hat with his bright, sharp eyes. Thatstatue alone is enough to make the soldiers who march past it ready togive their lives for their country."
"He lived when the different kingdoms were separated from each other,and there was no one ruler over all of them. I know that," said Bertha.
"Yes, he was the King of Prussia. And he fought the Seven Years' Warwith France and came out victorious. Hardly any one thought he couldsucceed, for there was so much against him. But he was brave anddetermined. Those two things were worth everything else."
"That wasn't the only war he won, either, Hans."
"No, but it must have been the greatest. Did you know, Bertha, that hewas unhappy when he was young? His father was so strict that he triedto run away from Germany with two of his friends. The king found outwhat they meant to do. One of the friends was put to death, and theother managed to escape."
"What did his father do to Frederick?" Bertha's eyes were full of pityfor a prince who was so unhappy as to wish to run away.
"The king ordered his son to be put to death. But I suppose he wasangry at the time, for he changed his mind before the sentence wascarried out, and forgave him."
"I wonder how kings and emperors live," said Bertha, slowly. It seemedas though everything must be different with them from what it was withother people.
"I'll tell you about Frederick, if you wish to listen."
"Of course I do, Hans."
"In the first place, he didn't care anything about fine clothes, evenif he was a king and was born in the grand palace at Berlin. His coatwas often very shabby.
"In the next place, he slept only about four hours out of the wholetwenty-four for a good many years. He got up at three o'clock on summermornings, and in the winter-time he was always dressed by five, at thevery latest.
"While his hair-dresser was at work, he opened his most importantletters. After that, he attended to other business affairs of thecountry. These things were done before eating or drinking. But whenthey had been attended to, the king went into his writing-room anddrank a number of glasses of cold water. As he wrote, he sipped coffeeand ate a little fruit from time to time.
"He loved music very dearly, and sometimes rested from his work andplayed on his flute.
"Dinner was the only regular meal of the day. It was served at twelveo'clock, and lasted three or four hours. There was a bill of fare, andthe names of the cooks were given as well as the dishes they prepared."
"Did the king ever let them know whether he was pleased or not withtheir cooking?" asked Bertha.
"Yes. He marked the dishes he liked best with a cross. He enjoyed hisdinner, and generally had a number of friends to eat with him. Therewas much joking, and there were many clever speeches.
"When the meal was over, the king played on his flute a short time, andthen attended to more business."
"Did he work till bedtime, Hans?"
"Oh, no. In the evening there was a concert or lecture, or somethinglike that. But, all the same, the king was a hardworking man, even intimes of peace."
"He loved his people dearly, father once told me," said Bertha. "Hesaid he understood his subjects and they understood him."
"Yes, and that reminds me of a story the schoolmaster told. KingFrederick was once riding through the street when he saw a crowd ofpeople gathered together. He said to his groom, 'Go and see what is thematter.' The man came back and told the king that the people were alllooking at a caricature of Frederick himself. A caricature, you know,is a comical portrait.
"Perhaps you think the king was angry when he heard this. Not at all.He said, 'Go and hang the picture lower down, so they will not have tostretch their necks to see it.'
"The crowd heard the words. 'Hurrah for the king!' they cried. At thesame time, they began to tear the picture into pieces."
"Frederick the Great could appreciate a joke," said Bertha. "I shouldthink the people must have loved him."
"He had some fine buildings put up in his lifetime," Hans went on. "Anew palace was built in Berlin, besides another one the king called'Sans Souci.' Those are French words meaning, 'Without a Care.' Hecalled the place by that name because he said he was free-hearted anduntroubled while he stayed there.
"I've told you these things because you are a girl. But I'll tell youwhat I like to think of best of all. It's the stories of the wars inwhich he fought and in which he showed such wonderful courage. So,hurrah for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia!"
Hans made a salute as though he stood in the presence of the greatking. Then he started for the wood-pile, where he was soon sawing logswith as much energy as if he were fighting against the enemies of hiscountry.