annot certainly be attributed solely,
or even mainly, to luck or chance. It has been, after all, chiefly
its virtues which have won it such a high position in Europe. The
good breeding and excellent character of the king's children have
won for them the prominence they now hold; for the daughters are as
womanly and virtuous as they are physically attractive, and the sons
are models of manly bearing and irreproachable habits.

THE STORY OF A KING WHO WAS PUT INTO A BAG.

"His realm was once a cradle, and now it is a coffin," might be said
of the most powerful monarch that ever lived. Kings are but human,
and they are pitiable objects indeed when they fall from their high
estate into the power of their enemies. Never did a king present a
more humiliating spectacle in his fall than Valdemar II., called the
Conqueror.

Under the early reign of this king, the Golden Age seemed to have
returned to Denmark. Never was a young monarch more prosperous or
glorious in so narrow a kingdom.

His empire grew. He annexed Pomerania. He wrested from the German
Empire all the territories in their possession north of the Elbe and
Elde, and he finally became the master of Northern Germany.

He was a champion of the Church. A papal bull conceded to him the
sovereignty of all the people he might convert, and he entered the
field against the pagans of Esthonia, with an army of 60,000 men,
and 1,400 ships! He baptized the conquered with kingly pomp and
pride.

His reign was now most splendid. Denmark was supreme in Scandinavia
and Northern Germany. The Pope revered the Danish power, and the
world feared it.

But secret foes are often more dangerous than open enemies. The
conquered princes of Germany hated him, and planned his downfall.

Among these was the Count-Duke of Schwerin. He pretended great
respect and affection for Valdemar. He laid many snares for the
king's ruin, but they failed. He was called "Black Henry" in his own
country on account of his dark face and evil nature, and Valdemar
had been warned against him as a false friend.

[Illustration: THE KING IN THE BAG.]

But he was warm, obsequious, and fascinating to the king, and the
king liked him.

In the spring of 1233 Valdemar invited him to hunt with him in the
woods of Lyo.

"Tell the king I am disabled and cannot leave my couch," said the
artful count, who now thought of a way t