es from Stockholm, travelled night
and day, and never rested until he held the poor child in his arms. On her
recovery, he made a solemn festival, in order to show his joy to the
people of Sweden and express his gratitude to Heaven. After this event, he
took his daughter with him in all the journeys which he made through his
kingdom.

Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy little girl. When she was
two years old, the king and herself, in the course of a journey, came to
the strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were soldiers clad in
steel armor, which glittered in the sunshine. There were likewise great
cannons, pointing their black mouths at Gustavus and little Christina, and
ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; for whenever a king enters a
fortress it is customary to receive him with a royal salute of artillery.

But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and his daughter, as they
were about to enter the gateway.

"May it please your Majesty," said he, taking off his steel cap and bowing
profoundly, "I fear that if we receive you with a salute of cannon, the
little princess will be frightened almost to death."

Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and was indeed apprehensive
that the thunder of so many cannon might perhaps throw her into
convulsions. He had almost a mind to tell the captain to let them enter
the fortress quietly, as common people might have done, without all this
head-splitting racket. But no; this would not do.

"Let them fire," said he, waving his hand. "Christina is a soldier's
daughter, and must learn to bear the noise of cannon."

So the captain uttered the word of command, and immediately there was a
terrible peal of thunder from the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that it
enveloped the whole fortress in its volumes. But, amid all the din and
confusion, Christina was seen clapping her little hands, and laughing in
an ecstasy of delight. Probably nothing ever pleased her father so much as
to see that his daughter promised to be fearless as himself. He determined
to educate her exactly as if she had been a boy, and to teach her all the
knowledge needful to the ruler of a kingdom and the commander of an army.

But Gustavus should have remembered that Providence had created her to be
a woman, and that it was not for him to make a man of her.

However, the king derived great happiness from his beloved Christina. It
must have been a pleasant sight to see the pow