Hero Tales of the Far North

re of them in the street. Such was the fate of " the flag that fell from heaven," the sacred standard of the Danes. But it was not the end of it. The Danne- brog flies yet over the Denmark of the Valdemars, no longer great as then, it is true, nor master of its ancient foes; but the world salutes it with respect, for there was never blot of tyranny or treason upon it, and its sons own it with pride wherever they go. King Valdemar knighted five and thirty of his brave men on the battle-field, and from that day the Order of the Dannebrog is said to date. It bears upon a white crusader's cross the slogan of the great fight " For God and the King," and on its reverse the date when it was won, "June 15, 1219." The back of paganism was broken that day, and the conversion of all Esth- land followed soon. King Valdemar builtthe castle he had begun before he sailed home, and called it Reval, after one of the neighboring tribes. The Russian city of that name grew up about it and about the church which Archbishop Anders reared. The Dannebrog became its arms, and its people call it to this day " the city of the Danes." Denmark was now at the height of her glory. Her flag flew over all the once hostile lands to the south and east, clear into Russia. The Baltic was a Danish inland sea. King Valdemar was named "Victor" with cause. His enemies feared him; his people adored him. In a single night foul treachery laid the whole splendid structure low. The King and young Valdemar, Da...