"Didn't the peasants know who he was?" asked Anna. "Some of them did. They wanted to save him from the Danish soldiers. Father saw a house where a woman helped him to escape. She hung a towel from a window. With that for a rope, he climbed down and ran away. "The story I like best is the one about the farmer who hid Gustaf Vasa in a load of straw. The soldiers thrust their spears all through the straw, but they could not find him. "One spear did wound him. The farmer feared the soldiers would return and see the blood-stains on the snow. So he took his jack-knife and cut a small place on his horse's leg. When the soldiers came back, they saw the red spots on the white ground. The peasant showed them the wound on the horse and they were satisfied." "Don't forget about Margit's quick wits," said Major Lund. "She was a peasant woman in whose house Gustaf Vasa stayed," continued Sigrid. "One day she heard the soldiers coming. "'My lord, where shall I hide you?' she cried. "That day she had brewed a huge tub of Christmas ale. In a second, she thought of a plan. "'Here, hurry down this ladder.' She pulled up a trap-door in the kitchen floor and he fled into the cellar. By the time the soldiers reached the gate she had pulled the tub of ale over the trap-door. The soldiers never guessed where the prince was." "I suppose they caught him, at last," said Anna. "That's the best part," said Sigrid. "After a long time, he gathered an army. Then he fought the Danes and made them give up Sweden for ever." "Did you ever fight in a real war, Major Lund?" asked Anna, after a minute of silence. "Not yet," he replied. "Awhile ago, when Norway wanted her own king, many people feared war between Norway and Sweden. But everybody is glad that Haakon, the new King of Norway, was chosen without blood-shed." "That Frenchman you were talking to this morning, father, called King Oscar a 'Bernadotte.' What did he mean?" asked Sigrid. "He was only referring to King Oscar's French ancestor. King Karl XIII, who lived a hundred years ago, had no children. So the people tried to decide who should be the next king. Finally they chose a famous French officer, named Bernadotte, who fought under Napoleon. He was elected crown prince." "I am sure that must be Vadstena in sight now," said Mrs. Lund. "It will be pleasant to go ashore for awhile. Grandmother asked me to buy her some of the lovely lace they make here." "You will have to be quick, if you want to see the castle, too," said Major Lund. The last few hours of the journey, they steamed down the Göta River toward the city of Göteborg. "Gustaf Adolf chose well when he built a city at the mouth of this river," said Major Lund to his wife. They were watching the huge rafts of timbers that were floating on their way to the seaport. "Was he any relation to Gustaf Vasa?" asked Sigrid.