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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13470 ***
+
+BERTHA
+
+Our Little German Cousin
+
+By
+
+MARY HAZELTON WADE
+
+Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman
+
+Boston
+
+1904
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+When the word Germany comes to our minds, we think at once of ruined
+castles, fairies, music, and soldiers.  Why is it?
+
+First, as to the castles.  Here and there along the banks of the
+River Rhine, as well as elsewhere throughout the country, the
+traveller is constantly finding himself near some massive stone ruin.
+It seems ever ready to tell stories of long ago,--of brave knights
+who defended its walls, of beautiful princesses saved from harm, of
+sturdy boys and sweet-faced girls who once played in its gardens.
+For Germany is the home of an ancient and brave people, who have
+often been called upon to face powerful enemies.
+
+Next, as to the fairies.  It seems as though the dark forests of
+Germany, the quiet valleys, and the banks of the beautiful rivers,
+were the natural homes of the fairy-folk, the gnomes and the elves,
+the water-sprites and the sylphs.  Our German cousins listen with
+wonder and delight to the legends of fearful giants and enchanted
+castles, and many of the stories they know so well have been
+translated into other languages for their cousins of distant lands,
+who are as fond of them as the blue-eyed children of Germany.
+
+As to the music, it seems as though every boy and girl in the whole
+country drew in the spirit of song with the air they breathe.  They
+sing with a love of what they are singing, they play as though the
+tune were a part of their very selves.  Some of the finest musicians
+have been Germans, and their gifts to the world have been bountiful.
+
+As for soldiers, we know that every man in Germany must stand ready
+to defend his country.  He must serve his time in drilling and
+training for war.  He is a necessary part of that Fatherland he loves
+so dearly.
+
+Our fair-haired German cousins are busy workers and hard students.
+They must learn quite early in life that they have duties as well as
+pleasures, and the duties cannot be set aside or forgotten.  But they
+love games and holidays as dearly as the children of our own land.
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. CHRISTMAS
+   II. TOY-MAKING
+  III. THE WICKED BISHOP
+   IV. THE COFFEE-PARTY
+    V. THE BEAUTIFUL CASTLE
+   VI. THE GREAT FREDERICK
+  VII. THE BRAVE PRINCESS
+ VIII. WHAT THE WAVES BRING
+   IX. THE MAGIC SWORD
+
+
+
+
+List of Illustrations
+
+  BERTHA
+  BERTHA'S FATHER AND MOTHER
+  THE RATS' TOWER
+  COURTYARD OF HEIDELBERG CASTLE
+  STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT
+  BERTHA'S HOME
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CHRISTMAS
+
+"Don't look!  There, now it's done!" cried Bertha.
+
+It was two nights before Christmas.  Bertha was in the big
+living-room with her mother and older sister.  Each sat as close as
+possible to the candle-light, and was busily working on something in
+her lap.
+
+But, strange to say, they did not face each other.  They were sitting
+back to back.
+
+"What an unsociable way to work," we think.  "Is that the way Germans
+spend the evenings together?"
+
+No, indeed.  But Christmas was near at hand, and the air was brimful
+of secrets.
+
+Bertha would not let her mother discover what she was working for
+her, for all the world.  And the little girl's mother was preparing
+surprises for each of the children.  All together, the greatest fun
+of the year was getting ready for Christmas.
+
+"Mother, you will make some of those lovely cakes this year, won't
+you?" asked Bertha's sister Gretchen.
+
+"Certainly, my child.  It would not be Christmas without them.  Early
+to-morrow morning, you and Bertha must shell and chop the nuts.  I
+will use the freshest eggs and will beat the dough as long as my arms
+will let me."
+
+"Did you always know how to make those cakes, mamma?" asked Bertha.
+
+"My good mother taught me when I was about your age, my dear.  You
+may watch me to-morrow, and perhaps you will learn how to make them.
+It is never too early to begin to learn to cook."
+
+"When the city girls get through school, they go away from home and
+study housekeeping, don't they?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Yes, and many girls who don't live in cities.  But I hardly think
+you will ever be sent away.  We are busy people here in our little
+village, and you will have to be contented with learning what your
+mother can teach you."
+
+"I shall be satisfied with that, I know.  But listen!  I can hear
+father and Hans coming."
+
+"Then put up your work, children, and set the supper-table."
+
+The girls jumped up and hurriedly put the presents away.  It did not
+take long to set the supper-table, for the meals in this little home
+were very simple, and supper was the simplest of all.  A large plate
+of black bread and a pitcher of sour milk were brought by the mother,
+and the family gathered around the table.
+
+The bread wasn't really black, of course.  It was dark brown and very
+coarse.  It was made of rye meal.  Bertha and Gretchen had never seen
+any white bread in their lives, for they had never yet been far away
+from their own little village.  Neither had their brother Hans.
+
+They were happy, healthy children.  They all had blue eyes, rosy
+cheeks, and fair hair, like their father and mother.
+
+"You don't know what I've got for you, Hans," said Bertha, laughing
+and showing a sweet little dimple in her chin.
+
+Hans bent down and kissed her.  He never could resist that dimple,
+and Bertha was his favourite sister.
+
+"I don't know what it is, but I do know that it must be something
+nice," said her brother.
+
+When the supper-table had been cleared, the mother and girls took out
+their sewing again, while Hans worked at some wood-carving.  The
+father took an old violin from its case and began to play some of the
+beautiful airs of Germany.
+
+When he came to the "Watch on the Rhine," the mother's work dropped
+from her hands as she and the children joined in the song that stirs
+every German heart.
+
+"Oh, dear! it seems as though Christmas Eve never would come," sighed
+Bertha, as she settled herself for sleep beside her sister.
+
+It was quite a cold night, but they were cosy and warm.  Why
+shouldn't they be?  They were covered with a down feather bed.  Their
+mother had the same kind of cover on her own bed, and so had Hans.
+
+But Christmas Eve did come at last, although it seemed so far off to
+Bertha the night before.  Hans and his father brought in the bough of
+a yew-tree, and it was set up in the living-room.
+
+The decorating came next.  Tiny candles were fastened on all the
+twigs.  Sweetmeats and nuts were hung from the branches.
+
+"How beautiful!  How beautiful!" exclaimed the children when it was
+all trimmed, and they walked around it with admiring eyes.
+
+None of the presents were placed on the tree, for that is not the
+fashion in Germany.  Each little gift had been tied up in paper and
+marked with the name of the one for whom it was intended.
+
+When everything was ready, there was a moment of quiet while the
+candles were being lighted.  Then Bertha's father began to give out
+the presents, and there was a great deal of laughing and joking as
+the bundles were opened.
+
+There was a new red skirt for Bertha.  Her mother had made it, for
+she knew the child was fond of pretty dresses.  Besides this, she had
+a pair of warm woollen mittens which Gretchen had knit for her.  Hans
+had made and carved a doll's cradle for each of the girls.
+
+Everybody was happy and contented.  They sang songs and cracked nuts
+and ate the Christmas cakes to their hearts' content.
+
+"I think I like the ones shaped like gnomes the best," said Hans.
+"They have such comical little faces.  Do you know, every time I go
+out in the forest, it seems as though I might meet a party of gnomes
+hunting for gold."
+
+"I like the animal cakes best," said Bertha.  "The deer are such
+graceful creatures, and I like to bite off the horns and legs, one at
+a time."
+
+"A long time ago," said their father, "they used to celebrate
+Christmas a little different from the way we now do.  The presents
+were all carried to a man in the village who dressed himself in a
+white robe, and a big wig made of flax.  He covered his face with a
+mask, and then went from house to house.  The grown people received
+him with great honours.  He called for the children and gave them the
+presents their parents had brought to him.
+
+"But these presents were all given according to the way the children
+had behaved during the year.  If they had been good and tried hard,
+they had the gifts they deserved.  But if they had been naughty and
+disobedient, it was not a happy time for them."
+
+"I don't believe the children were very fond of him," cried Hans.
+"They must have been too much afraid of him."
+
+"That is true," said his father.  "But now, let us play some games.
+Christmas comes but once a year, and you have all been good children."
+
+The room soon rang with the shouts of Hans and his sisters.  They
+played "Blind Man's Buff" and other games.  Their father took part in
+all of them as though he were a boy again.  The good mother looked on
+with pleasant smiles.
+
+Bedtime came only too soon.  But just before the children said good
+night, the father took Hans one side and talked seriously yet
+lovingly with him.  He told the boy of the faults he must still fight
+against.  He spoke also of the improvement he had made during the
+year.
+
+At the same time the mother gave words of kind advice to her little
+daughters.  She told them to keep up good courage; to be busy and
+patient in the year to come.
+
+"My dear little girls," she whispered, as she kissed them, "I love to
+see you happy in your play.  But the good Lord who cares for us has
+given us all some work to do in this world.  Be faithful in doing
+yours."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOY-MAKING
+
+"Wake up, Bertha.  Come, Gretchen.  You will have to hurry, for it is
+quite late," called their mother.  It was one morning about a week
+after Christmas.
+
+"Oh dear, I am so sleepy, and my bed is nice and warm," thought
+Bertha.
+
+[Illustration:  Bertha's Father and Mother.]
+
+But she jumped up and rubbed her eyes and began to dress, without
+waiting to be called a second time.  Her mother was kind and loving,
+but she had taught her children to obey without a question.
+
+Both little girls had long, thick hair.  It must be combed and
+brushed and braided with great care.  Each one helped the other.
+They were soon dressed, and ran down-stairs.
+
+As soon as the breakfast was over and the room made tidy, every one
+in the family sat down to work.  Bertha's father was a toy-maker.  He
+had made wooden images of Santa Claus all his life.  His wife and
+children helped him.
+
+When Bertha was only five years old, she began to carve the legs of
+these Santa Claus dolls.  It was a queer sight to see the little
+girl's chubby fingers at their work.  Now that she was nine years
+old, she still carved legs for Santa Claus in her spare moments.
+
+Gretchen always made arms, while Hans worked on a still different
+part of the bodies.  The father and mother carved the heads and
+finished the little images that afterward gave such delight to
+children in other lands.
+
+Bertha lives in the Black Forest.  That name makes you think at once
+of a dark and gloomy place.  The woods on the hills are dark, to be
+sure, but the valleys nestling between are bright and cheerful when
+the sun shines down and pours its light upon them.  Bertha's village
+is in just such a valley.  The church stands on the slope above the
+little homes.  It seems to say, "Look upward, my children, to the
+blue heavens, and do not fear, even when the mists fill the valley
+and the storm is raging over your heads."
+
+All the people in the village seem happy and contented.  They work
+hard, and their pay is small, but there are no beggars among them.
+
+Toys are made in almost every house.  Every one in a family works on
+the same kind of toy, just as it is in Bertha's home.
+
+The people think: "It would be foolish to spend one's time in
+learning new things.  The longer a person works at making one kind of
+toy, the faster he can make them, and he can earn more money."
+
+One of Bertha's neighbours makes nothing but Noah's Arks.  Another
+makes toy tables, and still another dolls' chairs.
+
+Bertha often visits a little friend who helps her father make
+cuckoo-clocks.  Did you ever see one of these curious clocks?  As
+each hour comes around, a little bird comes outside the case.  Then
+it flaps its wings and sings "cuckoo" in a soft, sweet voice as many
+times as there are strokes to the hour.  It is great fun to watch for
+the little bird and hear its soft notes.
+
+Perhaps you wonder what makes the bird come out at just the right
+time.  It is done by certain machinery inside the clock.  But,
+however it is, old people as well as children seem to enjoy the
+cuckoo-clocks of Germany.
+
+"Some day, when you are older, you shall go to the fair at Easter
+time," Bertha's father has promised her.
+
+"Is that at Leipsic, where our Santa Claus images go?" asked his
+little daughter.
+
+"Yes, my dear, and toys from many other parts of our country.  There
+you will see music-boxes and dolls' pianos and carts and trumpets and
+engines and ships.  These all come from the mining-towns.
+
+"But I know what my little Bertha would care for most.  She would
+best like to see the beautiful wax dolls that come from Sonneberg."
+
+"Yes, indeed," cried Bertha.  "The dear, lovely dollies with yellow
+hair like mine.  I would love every one of them.  I wish I could go
+to Sonneberg just to see the dolls."
+
+"I wonder what makes the wax stick on," said Gretchen, who came into
+the room while her father and Bertha were talking.
+
+"After the heads have been moulded into shape, they are dipped into
+pans of boiling wax," her father told her.  "The cheap dolls are
+dipped only once, but the expensive ones have several baths before
+they are finished.  The more wax that is put on, the handsomer the
+dolls are.
+
+"Then comes the painting.  One girl does nothing but paint the lips.
+Another one does the cheeks.  Still another, the eyebrows.  Even then
+Miss Dolly looks like a bald-headed baby till her wig is fastened in
+its place."
+
+"I like the yellow hair best," said Bertha.  "But it isn't real, is
+it, papa?"
+
+"I suppose you mean to ask, 'Did it ever grow on people's heads?' my
+dear.  No.  It is the wool of a kind of goat.  But the black hair is
+real hair.  Most dolls, however, wear light wigs.  People usually
+prefer them."
+
+"Do little girls in Sonneberg help make the dolls, just as Bertha and
+I help you on the Santa Claus images?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Certainly.  They fill the bodies with sawdust, and do other easy
+things.  But they go to school, too, just as you and Bertha do.
+Lessons must not be slighted."
+
+"If I had to help make dolls, just as I do these images," said
+Gretchen to her sister as their father went out and left the children
+together, "I don't believe I'd care for the handsomest one in the
+whole toy fair.  I'd be sick of the very sight of them."
+
+"Look at the time, Bertha.  See, we must stop our work and start for
+school," exclaimed Gretchen.
+
+It was only seven o'clock in the morning, but school would begin in
+half an hour.  These little German girls had to study longer and
+harder than their American cousins.  They spent at least an hour a
+day more in their schoolrooms.
+
+As they trudged along the road, they passed a little stream which
+came trickling down the hillside.
+
+"I wonder if there is any story about that brook," said Bertha.
+"There's a story about almost everything in our dear old country, I'm
+sure."
+
+"You have heard father tell about the stream flowing down the side of
+the Kandel, haven't you?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Yes, I think so.  But I don't remember it very well.  What is the
+story, Gretchen?"
+
+"You know the Kandel is one of the highest peaks in the Black Forest.
+You've seen it, Bertha."
+
+"Yes, of course, but tell the story, Gretchen."
+
+"Well, then, once upon a time there was a poor little boy who had no
+father or mother.  He had to tend cattle on the side of the Kandel.
+At that time there was a deep lake at the summit of the mountain.
+But the lake had no outlet.
+
+"The people who lived in the valley below often said, 'Dear me! how
+glad we should be if we could only have plenty of fresh water.  But
+no stream flows near us.  If we could only bring some of the water
+down from the lake!'
+
+"They were afraid, however, to make a channel out of the lake.  The
+water might rush down with such force as to destroy their village.
+They feared to disturb it.
+
+"Now, it came to pass that the Evil One had it in his heart to
+destroy these people.  He thought he could do it very easily if the
+rocky wall on the side of the lake could be broken down.  There was
+only one way in which this could be done.  An innocent boy must be
+found and got to do it.
+
+"It was a long time before such an one could be found.  But at last
+the Evil One came across an orphan boy who tended cattle on the
+mountainside.  The poor little fellow was on his way home.  He was
+feeling very sad, for he was thinking of his ragged clothes and his
+scant food.
+
+"'Ah ha!' cried the Evil One to himself, 'here is the very boy.'
+
+"He changed himself at once so he had the form and dress of a hunter,
+and stepped up to the lad with a pleasant smile.
+
+"'Poor little fellow!  What is the matter?  And what can I do for
+you?' he said, in his most winning manner.
+
+"The boy thought he had found a friend, and told his story.
+
+"'Do not grieve any longer.  There is plenty of gold and silver in
+these very mountains.  I will show you how to become rich,' said the
+Evil One.  'Meet me here early to-morrow morning and bring a good
+strong team with you.  I will help you get the gold.'
+
+"The boy went home with a glad heart.  You may be sure he did not
+oversleep the next morning.  Before it was light, he had harnessed
+four oxen belonging to his master, and started for the summit of the
+mountain.
+
+"The hunter, who was waiting for him, had already fastened a metal
+ring around the wall that held in the waters of the lake.
+
+"'Fasten the oxen to that ring,' commanded the hunter, 'and the rock
+will split open.'
+
+"Somehow or other, the boy did not feel pleased at what he was told
+to do.  Yet he obeyed, and started the oxen.  But as he did so, he
+cried, 'Do this in the name of God!'
+
+"At that very instant the sky grew black as night, the thunder rolled
+and the lightning flashed.  And not only this, for at the same time
+the mountain shook and rumbled as though a mighty force were tearing
+it apart."
+
+"What became of the poor boy?" asked Bertha.
+
+"He fell senseless to the ground, while the oxen in their fright
+rushed headlong down the mountainside.  But you needn't get excited,
+Bertha, no harm was done.  The boy was saved as well as the village,
+because he had pulled in the name of God.
+
+"The rock did not split entirely.  It broke apart just enough to let
+out a tiny stream of water, which began to flow down the mountainside.
+
+"When the boy came to his senses, the sky was clear and beautiful
+once more.  The sun was shining brightly, and the hunter was nowhere
+to be seen.  But the stream of water was running down the
+mountainside.
+
+"A few minutes afterward, the boy's master came hurrying up the
+slope.  He was frightened by the dreadful sounds he had heard.  But
+when he saw the waterfall, he was filled with delight.
+
+"'Every one in the village will rejoice,' he exclaimed, 'for now we
+shall never want for water.'
+
+"Then the little boy took courage and told the story of his meeting
+the hunter and what he had done.
+
+"'It is well you did it in the name of the Lord,' cried his master.
+'If you had not, our village would have been destroyed, and every one
+of us would have been drowned.'"
+
+"See! the children are going into the schoolhouse, Gretchen.  We must
+not be late.  Let's run," said Bertha.
+
+The two little girls stopped talking, and hurried so fast that they
+entered the schoolhouse and were sitting in their seats in good order
+before the schoolmaster struck his bell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE WICKED BISHOP
+
+"The Rhine is the loveliest river in the world.  I know it must be,"
+said Bertha.
+
+"Of course it is," answered her brother.  "I've seen it, and I ought
+to know.  And father thinks so, too.  He says it is not only
+beautiful, but it is also bound into the whole history of our
+country.  Think of the battles that have been fought on its shores,
+and the great generals who have crossed it!"
+
+"Yes, and the castles, Hans!  Think of the legends father and mother
+have told us about the beautiful princesses who have lived in the
+castles, and the brave knights who have fought for them!  I shall be
+perfectly happy if I can ever sail down the Rhine and see the noted
+places on its shores."
+
+"The schoolmaster has taught you all about the war with France,
+hasn't he, Bertha?"
+
+"Of course.  And it really seemed at one time as if France would make
+us Germans agree to have the Rhine divide the two countries.  Just as
+if we would be willing to let the French own one shore of our
+beautiful river.  I should say not!"
+
+Bertha's cheeks grew rosier than usual at the thought of such a
+thing.  She talked faster than German children usually do, for they
+are rather slow in their speech.
+
+"We do not own all of the river, little sister, as it is.  The baby
+Rhine sleeps in an icy cradle in the mountains of Switzerland.  Then
+it makes its way through our country, but before it reaches the sea
+it flows through the low lands of Holland."
+
+"I know all that, Hans.  But we own the best of the Rhine, anyway.  I
+am perfectly satisfied."
+
+"I wish I knew all the legends about the river.  There are enough of
+them to fill many books.  Did you ever hear about the Rats' Tower
+opposite the town of Bingen, Bertha?"
+
+[Illustration:  The Rats' Tower.]
+
+"What a funny name for a tower!  No.  Is there a story about it,
+Hans?"
+
+"Yes, one of the boys was telling it to me yesterday while we were
+getting wood in the forest.  It is a good story, although my friend
+said he wasn't sure it is true."
+
+"What is the story?"
+
+"It is about a very wicked bishop who was a miser.  It happened one
+time that the harvests were poor and grain was scarce.  The cruel
+bishop bought all the grain he could get and locked it up.  He
+intended to sell it for a high price, and in this way to become very
+rich.
+
+"As the days went by, the food became scarcer and scarcer.  The
+people began to sicken and die of hunger.  They had but one thought:
+they must get something to eat for their children and themselves.
+
+"They knew of the stores of grain held by the bishop.  They went to
+him and begged for some of it, but he paid no attention to their
+prayers.  Then they demanded that he open the doors of the storehouse
+and let them have the grain.  It was of no use.
+
+"At last, they gathered together, and said:
+
+"'We will break down the door if you do not give it to us.'
+
+"'Come to-morrow,' answered the bishop.  'Bring your friends with
+you.  You shall have all the grain you desire.'
+
+"The morrow came.  Crowds gathered in front of the granary.  The
+bishop unlocked the door, saying:
+
+"'Go inside and help yourselves freely.'
+
+"The people rushed in.  Then what do you think the cruel bishop did?
+He ordered his servants to lock the door and set the place on fire!
+
+"The air was soon filled with the screams of the burning people.  But
+the bishop only laughed and danced.  He said to his servants:
+
+"'Do you hear the rats squeaking inside the granary?'
+
+"The next day came.  There were only ashes in place of the great
+storehouse.  There seemed to be no life about the town, for the
+people were all dead.
+
+"Suddenly there was a great scurrying, as a tremendous swarm of rats
+came rushing out of the ashes.  On they came, more and more of them.
+They filled the streets, and even made their way into the palace.
+
+"The wicked bishop was filled with fear.  He fled from the place and
+hurried away over the fields.  But, the swarm of rats came rushing
+after him.  He came to Bingen, where he hoped to be safe within its
+walls.  Somehow or other, the rats made their way inside.
+
+"There was now only one hope of safety.  The bishop fled to a tower
+standing in the middle of the Rhine.  But it was of no use!  The rats
+swam the river and made their way up the sides of the tower.  Their
+sharp teeth gnawed holes through the doors and windows.  They entered
+in and came to the room where the bishop was hiding."
+
+"Wicked fellow!  They killed and ate him as he deserved, didn't
+they?" asked Bertha.
+
+"There wasn't much left of him in a few minutes.  But the tower still
+stands, and you can see it if you ever go to Bingen, although it is a
+crumbling old pile now."
+
+"Rats' Tower is a good name for it.  But I would rather hear about
+enchanted princesses and brave knights than wicked old bishops.  Tell
+me another story, Hans."
+
+"Oh, I can't.  Listen!  I hear some one coming.  Who can it be?"
+
+Hans jumped up and ran to the door, just in time to meet his Uncle
+Fritz, who lived in Strasburg.
+
+The children loved him dearly.  He was a young man about twenty-one
+years old.  He came home to this little village in the Black Forest
+only about once a year.  He had so much to tell and was so kind and
+cheerful, every one was glad to see him.
+
+"Uncle Fritz!  Uncle Fritz!  We are so glad you've come," exclaimed
+Bertha, putting her arms around his neck.  "And we are going to have
+something that you like for dinner."
+
+"I can guess what it is.  Sauerkraut and boiled pork.  There is no
+other sauerkraut in Germany as good as that your mother makes, I do
+believe.  I'm hungry enough to eat the whole dishful and not leave
+any for you children.  Now what do you say to my coming?  Don't you
+wish I had stayed in Strasburg?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, Uncle Fritz.  We would rather see you than anybody
+else," cried Hans.  "And here comes mother.  She will be just as glad
+as we are."
+
+That evening, after Hans had shown his uncle around the village, and
+he had called on his old friends, he settled himself in the
+chimney-corner with the children about him.
+
+"Talk to us about Strasburg, Uncle Fritz," begged Gretchen.
+
+"Please tell us about the storks," said Bertha.  "Are there great
+numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on
+the chimneys?"
+
+"Yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come
+back with me," said Uncle Fritz, laughingly.  "They seem to know the
+people love them.  If a stork makes his home about any one's house,
+it is a sign of good fortune to the people who live there.
+
+"'It will surely come,' they say to themselves, 'and the storks will
+bring it.'  Do you wonder the people like the birds so much?"
+
+"I read a story about a mother stork," said Bertha, thoughtfully.
+"She had a family of baby birds.  They were not big enough to leave
+their nest, when a fire broke out in the chimney where it was built.
+Poor mother bird!  She could have saved herself.  But she would not
+leave her babies.  So she stayed with them and they were all burned
+to death together."
+
+"I know the story.  That happened right in Strasburg," said her uncle.
+
+"Please tell us about the beautiful cathedral with its tall tower,"
+said Hans.  "Sometime, uncle, I am going to Strasburg, if I have to
+walk there, and then I shall want to spend a whole day in front of
+the wonderful clock."
+
+"You'd better have a lunch with you, Hans, and then you will not get
+hungry.  But really, my dear little nephew, I hope the time will soon
+come when you can pay me a long visit.  As for the clock, you will
+have to stay in front of it all night as well as all day, if you are
+to see all it can show you."
+
+"I know about cuckoo-clocks, of course," said Gretchen, "but the
+little bird is the only figure that comes out on those.  There are
+ever so many different figures on the Strasburg clock, aren't there,
+Uncle Fritz?"
+
+"A great, great many.  Angels strike the hours.  A different god or
+goddess appears for each day in the week.  Then, at noon and at
+midnight, Jesus and his twelve apostles come out through a door and
+march about on a platform.
+
+"You can imagine what the size of the clock must be when I tell you
+that the figures are as large as people.  When the procession of the
+apostles appears, a gilded cock on the top of the tower flaps its
+wings and crows.
+
+"I cannot begin to tell you all about it.  It is as good as a play,
+and, as I told Hans, he would have to stay many hours near it to see
+all the sights."
+
+"I should think a strong man would be needed to wind it up," said his
+nephew.
+
+"The best part of it is that it does not need to be wound every day,"
+replied Uncle Fritz.  "They say it will run for years without being
+touched.  Of course, travellers are coming to Strasburg all the time.
+They wish to see the clock, but they also come to see the cathedral
+itself.  It is a very grand building, and, as you know, the spire is
+the tallest one in all Europe.
+
+"Then there is so much beautiful carving!  And there are such fine
+statues.  Oh, children, you must certainly come to Strasburg before
+long and see the cathedral of which all Germany is so proud."
+
+"Strasburg was for a time the home of our greatest poet," said
+Bertha.  "I want to go there to see where he lived."
+
+The child was very fond of poetry, even though she was a little
+country girl.  Her father had a book containing some of Goethe's
+ballads, and she loved to lie under the trees in the pleasant
+summer-time and repeat some of these poems.
+
+"They are just like music," she would say to herself.
+
+"A marble slab has been set up in the old Fish Market to mark the
+spot where Goethe lived," said Uncle Fritz.  "They say he loved the
+grand cathedral of the city, and it helped him to become a great
+writer when he was a young student there.  I suppose its beauty
+awakened his own beautiful thoughts."
+
+The children became quiet as they thought of their country and the
+men who had made her so strong and great,--the poets, and the
+musicians, and the brave soldiers who had defended her from her
+enemies.
+
+Uncle Fritz was the first one to speak.
+
+"I will tell you a story of Strasburg," he said.  "It is about
+something that happened there a long time ago.  You know, the city
+isn't on the Rhine itself, but it is on a little stream flowing into
+the greater river.
+
+"Well, once upon a time the people of Zurich, in Switzerland, asked
+the people of Strasburg to join with them in a bond of friendship.
+Each should help the other in times of danger.  The people of
+Strasburg did not think much of the idea.  They said among
+themselves: 'What good can the little town of Zurich do us?  And,
+besides, it is too far away.'  So they sent back word that they did
+not care to make such a bond.  They were scarcely polite in their
+message, either.
+
+"When they heard the reply, the men of Zurich were quite angry.  They
+were almost ready to fight.  But the youngest one of their
+councillors said:
+
+"'We will force them to eat their own words.  Indeed, they shall be
+made to give us a different answer.  And it will come soon, too, if
+you will only leave the matter with me.'
+
+"'Do as you please,' said the other councillors.  They went back to
+their own houses, while the young man hurried home, rushed out into
+the kitchen and picked out the largest kettle there.
+
+"'Wife, cook as much oatmeal as this pot will hold,' he commanded.
+
+"The woman wondered what in the world her husband could be thinking
+of.  But she lost no time in guessing.  She ordered her servants to
+make a big fire, while she herself stirred and cooked the great
+kettleful of oatmeal.
+
+"In the meanwhile, her husband hurried down to the pier, and got his
+swiftest boat ready for a trip down the river.  Then he gathered the
+best rowers in the town.
+
+"'Come with me,' he said to two of them, when everything had been
+made ready for a trip.  They hastened home with him, as he commanded.
+
+"'Is the oatmeal ready?' he cried, rushing breathless into the
+kitchen,
+
+"His wife had just finished her work.  The men lifted the kettle from
+the fire and ran with it to the waiting boat.  It was placed in the
+stern and the oarsmen sprang to their places.
+
+"'Pull, men!  Pull with all the strength you have, and we will go to
+Strasburg in time to show those stupid people that, if it should be
+necessary, we live near enough to them to give them a hot supper.'
+
+"How the men worked!  They rowed as they had never rowed before.
+
+"They passed one village after another.  Still they moved onward
+without stopping, till they found themselves at the pier of Strasburg.
+
+"The councillor jumped out of the boat, telling two of his men to
+follow with the great pot of oatmeal.  He led the way to the
+council-house, where he burst in with his strange present.
+
+"'I bring you a warm answer to your cold words,' he told the
+surprised councillors.  He spoke truly, for the pot was still
+steaming.  How amused they all were!
+
+"'What a clever fellow he is,' they said among themselves.  'Surely
+we will agree to make the bond with Zurich, if it holds many men like
+him.'
+
+"The bond was quickly signed and then, with laughter and good-will,
+the councillors gathered around the kettle with spoons and ate every
+bit of the oatmeal.
+
+"'It is excellent,' they all cried.  And indeed it was still hot
+enough to burn the mouths of those who were not careful."
+
+"Good!  Good!" cried the children, and they laughed heartily, even
+though it was a joke against their own people.
+
+Their father and mother had also listened to the story and enjoyed it
+as much as the children.
+
+"Another story, please, dear Uncle Fritz," they begged.
+
+But their father pointed to the clock.  "Too late, too late, my
+dears," he said.  "If you sit up any longer, your mother will have to
+call you more than once in the morning.  So, away to your beds, every
+one of you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE COFFEE-PARTY
+
+"How would you like to be a wood-cutter, Hans?"
+
+"I think it would be great sport.  I like to hear the thud of the axe
+as it comes down on the trunk.  Then it is always an exciting time as
+the tree begins to bend and fall to the ground.  Somehow, it seems
+like a person.  I can't help pitying it, either."
+
+Hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father.
+A big sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the
+men in the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the Black
+Forest, or working in the sawmill.
+
+After the logs had been cut the right length, they were bound into
+rafts, and floated down the little stream to the Rhine.
+
+"The rafts themselves seem alive," said Hans to his friend.  "You men
+know just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, so
+they twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down the
+stream."
+
+"I have travelled on a raft all the way from here to Cologne,"
+answered the wood-cutter.  "The one who steers must be skilful, for
+he needs to be very careful.  You know the rafts grow larger all the
+time, don't you, Hans?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  As the river becomes wider, the smaller ones are bound
+together.  But is it true that the men sometimes take their families
+along with them?"
+
+"Certainly.  They set up tents, or little huts, on the rafts, so
+their wives and children can have a comfortable place to eat and
+sleep.  Then, too, if it rains, they can be sheltered from the storm."
+
+"I'd like to go with you sometime.  You pass close to Strasburg, and
+I could stop and visit Uncle Fritz.  Wouldn't it be fun!"
+
+"Hans!  Hans!" called a girl's voice just then.
+
+"I don't see her, but I know that's Bertha.  She came over to the
+village with me this afternoon.  One of her friends has a
+coffee-party and she invited us to it.  So, good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye, my lad.  Come and see me again.  Perhaps I can manage
+sometime to take you with me on a trip down the river."
+
+"Thank you ever so much."
+
+Hans hurried away, and was soon entering the house of a little friend
+who was celebrating her birthday with a coffee-party.
+
+There were several other children there.  They were all dressed in
+their best clothes and looked very neat and nice.  The boys wore long
+trousers and straight jackets.  They looked like little old men.  The
+girls had bright-coloured skirts and their white waists were fresh
+and stiff.
+
+Their shoes were coarse and heavy, and made a good deal of noise as
+the children played the different games.  But they were all so plump
+and rosy, it was good to look at them.
+
+"They are a pretty sight," said one of the neighbours, as she poured
+out the coffee.
+
+"They deserve to have a good time," said another woman with a kind,
+motherly face.  "They will soon grow up, and then they will have to
+work hard to get a living."
+
+The coffee and cakes were a great treat to these village children.
+They did not get such a feast every day in the year.  Their mothers
+made cakes only for festivals and holidays, and coffee was seldom
+seen on their tables oftener than once a week.
+
+In the great cities and fine castles, where the rich people of
+Germany had their homes, they could eat sweet dainties and drink
+coffee as often as they liked.  But in the villages of the Black
+Forest, it was quite different.
+
+"Good night, good night," said Hans and Bertha, as they left their
+friends and trudged off on a path through the woods.  It was the
+shortest way home, and they knew their mother must be looking for
+them by this time.
+
+It was just sunset, but the children could not see the beautiful
+colours of the evening sky, after they had gone a short distance into
+the thick woods.
+
+"Do you suppose there are any bears around?" whispered Bertha.
+
+The trees looked very black.  It seemed to the little girl as though
+she kept seeing the shadow of some big animal hiding behind them.
+
+"No, indeed," answered Hans, quite scornfully.  "Too many people go
+along this path for bears to be willing to stay around here.  You
+would have to go farther up into the forest to find them.  But look
+quickly, Bertha.  Do you see that rabbit jumping along?  Isn't he a
+big fellow?"
+
+"See!  Hans, he has noticed us.  There he goes as fast as his legs
+can carry him."
+
+By this time, the children had reached the top of a hill.  The trees
+grew very thick and close.  On one side a torrent came rushing down
+over the rocks and stones.  It seemed to say:
+
+"I cannot stop for any one.  But come with me, come with me, and I
+will take you to the beautiful Rhine.  I will show you the way to
+pretty bridges, and great stone castles, and rare old cities.  Oh,
+this is a wonderful world, and you children of the Black Forest have
+a great deal to see yet."
+
+"I love to listen to running water," said Bertha.  "It always has a
+story to tell us."
+
+"Do you see that light over there, away off in the distance?" asked
+Hans.  "It comes from a charcoal-pit.  I can hear the voices of the
+men at their work."
+
+"I shouldn't like to stay out in the dark woods all the time and make
+charcoal," answered his sister.  "I should get lonesome and long for
+the sunlight."
+
+"It isn't very easy work, either," said Hans.  "After the trees have
+been cut down, the pits have to be made with the greatest care, and
+the wood must be burned just so slowly to change it into charcoal.  I
+once spent a day in the forest with some charcoal-burners.  They told
+such good stories that night came before I had thought of it."
+
+"I can see the village ahead of us," said Bertha, joyfully.
+
+A few minutes afterward, the children were running up the stone steps
+of their own home.
+
+"We had such a good time," Hans told his mother, while Bertha went to
+Gretchen and gave her some cakes she had brought her from the
+coffee-party.
+
+"I'm so sorry you couldn't go," she told her sister.
+
+"Perhaps I can next time," answered Gretchen.  "But, of course, we
+could not all leave mother when she had so much work to do.  So I
+just kept busy and tried to forget all about it."
+
+"You dear, good Gretchen!  I'm going to try to be as patient and
+helpful as you are," said Bertha, kissing her sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL CASTLE
+
+"Father's coming, father's coming," cried Bertha, as she ran down the
+steps and out into the street.
+
+Her father had been away for two days, and Hans had gone with him.
+They had been to Heidelberg.  Bertha and Gretchen had never yet
+visited that city, although it was not more than twenty miles away.
+
+"Oh, dear, I don't know where to begin," Hans told the girls that
+evening.
+
+"Of course, I liked to watch the students better than anything else.
+The town seems full of them.  They all study in the university, of
+course, but they are on the streets a good deal.  They seem to have a
+fine time of it.  Every one carries a small cane with a button on the
+end of it.  They wear their little caps down over their foreheads on
+one side."
+
+"What colour do they have for their caps, Hans?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"All colours, I believe.  Some are red, some blue, some yellow, some
+green.  Oh, I can't tell you how many different kinds there are.  But
+they were bright and pretty, and made the streets look as though it
+must be a festival day."
+
+"I have heard that the students fight a good many duels.  Is that so,
+Hans?"
+
+"If you should see them, you would certainly think so.  Many of the
+fellows are real handsome, but their faces are scarred more often
+than not.
+
+"'The more scars I can show, the braver people will think I am.' That
+is what the students seem to think.  They get up duels with each
+other on the smallest excuse.  When they fight, they always try to
+strike the face.  Father says their duelling is good practice.  It
+really helps to make them brave.   If I were a student, I should want
+to fight duels, too."
+
+Bertha shuddered.  Duelling was quite the fashion in German
+universities, but the little girl was very tender-hearted.  She could
+not bear to think of her brother having his face cut up by the sword
+of any one in the world.
+
+"What do you think, girls?" Hans went on.  "Father had to go to the
+part of the town nearest the castle.  He said he should be busy for
+several hours, and I could do what I liked.  So I climbed up the hill
+to the castle, and wandered all around it.  I saw a number of English
+and American people there.  I suppose they had come to Heidelberg on
+purpose to see those buildings.
+
+"'Isn't it beautiful!' I heard them exclaim again and again.  And I
+saw a boy about my own age writing things about it in a note-book.
+He told his mother he was going to say it was the most beautiful ruin
+in Germany.  He was an American boy, but he spoke our language.  I
+suppose he was just learning it, for he made ever so many mistakes.
+I could hardly tell what he was trying to say."
+
+"What did his mother answer?" asked Bertha.
+
+"She nodded her head, and then pointed out some of the finest
+carvings and statues.  But she and her son moved away from me before
+long, and then I found myself near some children of our country.
+They must have been rich, for they were dressed quite grandly.  Their
+governess was with them.  She told them to notice how many different
+kinds of buildings there were, some of them richly carved, and some
+quite plain.  'You will find here palaces, towers, and fortresses,
+all together,' she said.  'For, in the old days, it was not only a
+grand home, but it was also a strong fortress.'"
+
+[Illustration:  Courtyard of Heidelberg Castle.]
+
+"You know father told us it was not built all at once," said
+Gretchen.  "Different parts were added during four hundred years."
+
+"Yes, and he said it had been stormed by the enemy, and burned and
+plundered," added Bertha.  "It has been in the hands of those horrid
+Frenchmen several different times.  Did you see the blown-up tower,
+Hans?"
+
+"Of course I did.  Half of it, you know, fell into the moat during
+one of the sieges, but linden-trees have grown about it, and it makes
+a shady nook in which to rest one's self."
+
+"You did not go inside of the castle, did you, Hans?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"No.  It looked so big and gloomy, I stayed outside in the pretty
+gardens.  I climbed over some of the moss-grown stairs, though, and I
+kept discovering something I hadn't seen before.  Here and there were
+old fountains and marble statues, all gray with age."
+
+"They say that under the castle are great, dark dungeons," said
+Bertha, shivering at the thought.
+
+"What would a castle be without dungeons?" replied her brother.  "Of
+course there are dungeons.  And there are also hidden, underground
+passages through which the people inside could escape in times of war
+and siege."
+
+"Oh, Hans! did you see the Heidelberg Tun?" asked Gretchen.
+
+Now, the Heidelberg Tun is the largest wine-cask in, the whole world.
+People say that it holds forty-nine thousand gallons.  Just think of
+it!  But it has not been filled for more than a hundred years.
+
+"No, I didn't see it," replied Hans.  "It is down in the cellar, and
+I didn't want to go there without father.  I heard some of the
+visitors telling about the marks of the Frenchmen's hatchets on its
+sides.  One of the times they captured the castle, they tried to
+break open the tun.  They thought it was full of wine.  But they did
+not succeed in hacking through its tough sides."
+
+"Good!  Good!" cried his sisters.  They had little love for France
+and her people.
+
+That evening, after Hans had finished telling the girls about his
+visit, their father told them the legend of Count Frederick, a brave
+and daring man who once lived in Heidelberg Castle.
+
+Count Frederick was so brave and successful that he was called
+"Frederick the Victorious."
+
+Once upon a time he was attacked by the knights and bishops of the
+Rhine, who had banded together against him.  When he found what great
+numbers of soldiers were attacking his castle, Count Frederick was
+not frightened in the least.  He armed his men with sharp daggers,
+and marched boldly out against his foes.
+
+They attacked the horses first of all.  The daggers made short work,
+and the knights were soon brought to the ground.  Their armour was so
+heavy that it was an easy matter then to make them prisoners and take
+them into the castle.
+
+But Frederick treated them most kindly.  He ordered a great banquet
+to be prepared, and invited his prisoners to gather around the board,
+where all sorts of good things were served.
+
+One thing only was lacking.  There was no bread.  The guests thought
+it was because the servants had forgotten it, and one of them dared
+to ask for a piece.  Count Frederick at once turned toward his
+steward and ordered the bread to be brought.  Now his master had
+privately talked with the steward and had told him what words to use
+at this time.
+
+"I am very sorry," said the steward, "but there is no bread."
+
+"You must bake some at once," ordered his master.
+
+"But we have no flour," was the answer.
+
+"You must grind some, then," was the command.
+
+"We cannot do so, for we have no grain."
+
+"Then see that some is threshed immediately."
+
+"That is impossible, for the harvests have been burned down," replied
+the steward.
+
+"You can at least sow grain, that we may have new harvests as soon as
+possible."
+
+"We cannot even do that, for our enemies have burned down all the
+buildings where the grain was stored for seed-time."
+
+Frederick now turned to his visitors, and told them they must eat
+their meat without bread.  But that was not all.  He told them they
+must give him enough money to build new houses and barns to take the
+places of those they had destroyed, and also to buy new seed for
+grain.
+
+"It is wrong," he said, sternly, "to carry on war against those who
+are helpless, and to take away their seeds and tools from the poor
+peasants."
+
+It was a sensible speech.  It made the knights ashamed of the way
+they had been carrying on war in the country, and they left the
+castle wiser and better men.
+
+All this happened long, long ago, before Germany could be called one
+country, for the different parts of the land were ruled over by
+different people and in different ways.
+
+This same Count Frederick, their father told them, had great love for
+the poor.  When he was still quite young, he made a vow.  He said, "I
+will never marry a woman of noble family."
+
+Not long after this, he fell in love with a princess.  But he could
+not ask her to marry him on account of the vow he had made.
+
+He was so unhappy that he went into the army.  He did not wish to
+live, and hoped he would soon meet death.
+
+But the fair princess loved Frederick as deeply as he loved her, and
+as soon as she learned of the vow he had made, she made up her mind
+what to do.
+
+She put on the dress of a poor singing-girl, and left her grand home.
+She followed Frederick from place to place.  They met face to face
+one beautiful evening.  Then it was that the princess told her lover
+she had given up her rank and title for his sake.
+
+How joyful she made him as he listened to her story!  You may be sure
+they were soon married, and the young couple went to live in
+Heidelberg Castle, where they were as happy and as merry as the day
+is long.
+
+
+
+
+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
+was playing it was a baby.
+
+Hans had just come home after an afternoon of sport with his boy
+friends.  But all they had done, Bertha declared, was to play war and
+soldiers.  She had watched them from her own yard.
+
+"Tired of it!  What a silly idea, Bertha.  It won't be many years
+before I shall be a real soldier.  Just picture me then!  I shall
+have a uniform, and march to music.  I don't know where I may go,
+either.  Who knows to what part of the world the emperor will send
+his soldiers at that 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
+been there.  Our schoolmaster was there while he served his time as a
+soldier.  At this very moment, it almost seems as though I could hear
+the jingling of the officers' swords as they move along the streets.
+The regiments are drilled every day, and I don't know how often the
+soldiers have sham battles."
+
+Hans jumped up from his seat under the tree and began to march up and
+down as though he were a soldier already.
+
+"Attention, battalion!  Forward, march!" Bertha called after him.
+But she was laughing as she spoke.  She could not help it, Hans
+looked so serious.  At the same time she couldn't help envying her
+brother a little, and wishing she were a boy, too.  It must be so
+grand to be a soldier and be ready to fight for the emperor who ruled
+over her country.
+
+"The schoolmaster told us boys yesterday about the grand palace at
+Berlin.  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,
+"for the 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 that
+2,400,000 marks were spent on it.  You can't imagine it, Bertha, of
+course.  I can't, either."
+
+A German mark is worth about twenty-four cents of American money, so
+the 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 hardly imagine so much money.
+
+"There are hundreds of halls in the palace," Hans went on.  "Some of
+their walls are painted and others are hung with elegant silk
+draperies.  The floors are polished so they shine like mirrors.  Then
+the pictures and the armour, Bertha!  It almost seemed as though I
+were there while the schoolmaster was describing them."
+
+"I never expect to see such lovely things," said his sober little
+sister.  "But perhaps I shall go to Berlin some day, Hans.  Then I
+can see the statue of Frederick the Great, at any rate."
+
+"It stands opposite the palace," said her brother, "and cost more
+than any 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
+the blood of every true German to look at it.  There the great
+Frederick sits on horseback, wearing the robe in which he was
+crowned, and looking out from under his cocked hat with his bright,
+sharp eyes.  That statue alone is enough to make the soldiers who
+march past it ready to give their lives for their country."
+
+[Illustration:  Statue of Frederick the Great.]
+
+"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' War
+with France and came out victorious.  Hardly any one thought he could
+succeed, for there was so much against him.  But he was brave and
+determined.  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
+he was unhappy when he was young?  His father was so strict that he
+tried to run away from Germany with two of his friends.  The king
+found out what they meant to do.  One of the friends was put to
+death, and the other managed to escape."
+
+"What did his father do to Frederick?" Bertha's eyes were full of
+pity for 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 was
+angry at the time, for he changed his mind before the sentence was
+carried out, and forgave him."
+
+"I wonder how kings and emperors live," said Bertha, slowly.  It
+seemed as though everything must be different with them from what it
+was with other 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, even
+if he was a king and was born in the grand palace at Berlin.  His
+coat was often very shabby.
+
+"In the next place, he slept only about four hours out of the whole
+twenty-four for a good many years.  He got up at three o'clock on
+summer mornings, and in the winter-time he was always dressed by
+five, at the very latest.
+
+"While his hair-dresser was at work, he opened his most important
+letters.  After that, he attended to other business affairs of the
+country.  These things were done before eating or drinking.  But when
+they had been attended to, the king went into his writing-room and
+drank a number of glasses of cold water.  As he wrote, he sipped
+coffee and ate a little fruit from time to time.
+
+"He loved music very dearly, and sometimes rested from his work and
+played on his flute.
+
+"Dinner was the only regular meal of the day.  It was served at
+twelve o'clock, and lasted three or four hours.  There was a bill of
+fare, and the 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 with
+their cooking?" asked Bertha.
+
+"Yes.  He marked the dishes he liked best with a cross.  He enjoyed
+his dinner, and generally had a number of friends to eat with him.
+There was much joking, and there were many clever speeches.
+
+"When the meal was over, the king played on his flute a short time,
+and then attended to more business."
+
+"Did he work till bedtime, Hans?"
+
+"Oh, no.  In the evening there was a concert or lecture, or something
+like that.  But, all the same, the king was a hard-working man, even
+in times of peace."
+
+"He loved his people dearly, father once told me," said Bertha.  "He
+said he understood his subjects and they understood him."
+
+"Yes, and that reminds me of a story the schoolmaster told.  King
+Frederick was once riding through the street when he saw a crowd of
+people gathered together.  He said to his groom, 'Go and see what is
+the matter.'  The man came back and told the king that the people
+were all looking 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 to stretch their necks to see it.'
+
+"The crowd heard the words.  'Hurrah for the king!' they cried.  At
+the same time, they began to tear the picture into pieces."
+
+"Frederick the Great could appreciate a joke," said Bertha.  "I
+should think the people must have loved him."
+
+"He had some fine buildings put up in his lifetime," Hans went on.
+"A new palace was built in Berlin, besides another one the king
+called 'Sans Souci.'  Those are French words meaning, 'Without a
+Care.'  He called the place by that name because he said he was
+free-hearted and untroubled while he stayed there.
+
+"I've told you these things because you are a girl.  But I'll tell
+you what I like to think of best of all.  It's the stories of the
+wars in which 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 great
+king.  Then he started for the wood-pile, where he was soon sawing
+logs with as much energy as if he were fighting against the enemies
+of his country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BRAVE PRINCESS
+
+"Listen, children!  That must be the song of a nightingale.  How
+sweet it is!"
+
+It was a lovely Sunday afternoon.  Every one in the family had been
+to church in the morning, and come home to a good dinner of bean soup
+and potato salad.  Then the father had said:
+
+"Let us take a long walk over the fields and through the woods.  The
+world is beautiful to-day.  We can enjoy it best by leaving the house
+behind us."
+
+Some of the neighbours joined the merry party.  The men smoked their
+pipes, while the women chatted together and the children frolicked
+about them and picked wild flowers.
+
+How many sweet smells there were in the fields!  How gaily the birds
+sang!  The air seemed full of peace and joy.
+
+They all wandered on till they came to a cascade flowing down over
+some high rocks.  Trees grew close to the waterfall, and bent over it
+as though to hide it from curious eyes.
+
+It was a pretty spot.
+
+"Let us sit down at the foot of this cascade," said Bertha's father,
+"It is a pleasant place to rest."
+
+Every one liked the plan.  Bertha nestled close to her father's side.
+
+"Tell us a story.  Please do," she said.
+
+"Ask neighbour Abel.  He knows many a legend of just such places as
+this.  He has lived in the Hartz Mountains, and they are filled with
+fairy stories."
+
+The rest of the party heard what was said.
+
+"Neighbour Abel!  A story, a story," they cried.
+
+Of course the kind-hearted German could not refuse such a general
+request.  Besides, he liked to tell stories.  Taking his long pipe
+out of his mouth, he laid it down on the ground beside him.  Then he
+cleared his throat and began to speak.
+
+"Look above you, friends.  Do you see that mark on the rocky platform
+overhead?  I noticed it as soon as I got here.  It made me think of a
+wild spot in the Hartz Mountains where there is just such a mark.
+The people call it 'The Horse's Hoof-print.'  I will tell you how
+they explain its coming there.
+
+"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was
+Brunhilda, and she lived in Bohemia.  She lived a gay and happy life,
+like most young princesses, till one day a handsome prince arrived at
+her father's palace.  He was the son of the king of the Hartz country.
+
+"Of course, you can all guess what happened.  The prince fell in love
+with the princess, and she returned his love.  The day was set for
+the wedding, and the young prince went home to prepare for the great
+event.
+
+"But he had been gone only a short time when a powerful giant arrived
+at Brunhilda's home.  He came from the far north.  His name was Bodo.
+
+"He asked for the princess in marriage, but her heart had already
+been given away.  She did not care for the giant, even though he gave
+her the most elegant presents,--a beautiful white horse, jewels set
+in gold, and chains of amber.
+
+"'I dare not refuse the giant,' said Brunhilda's father.  'He is very
+powerful, and we must not make him angry.  You must marry him, my
+daughter, in three days.'
+
+"The poor maiden wept bitterly.  It seemed as though her heart would
+break.  But she was a clever girl, and she soon dried her tears and
+began to think of some plan by which she might yet be free.  She
+began to smile upon the giant and treat him with great kindness.
+
+"'I should like to try the beautiful horse you brought me,' she said
+to him.  He was much pleased.  The horse was brought to the door.
+The princess mounted him and rode for a time up and down in front of
+the palace.
+
+"The very next day was that set apart for the wedding.  The castle
+was filled with guests who feasted and made merry.  The giant entered
+into everything with a will.  He laughed till the floors and walls
+shook.  Little did he think what was taking place.  For the princess
+slipped out of the castle when no one was watching, hurried into the
+stable, and leaped upon the back of her swift white horse.
+
+"'Lower the drawbridge instantly,' she called to the guard.  She
+passed over it, and away she flew like the wind.
+
+"You were too late, too late, O giant, when you discovered that
+Brunhilda was missing.
+
+"He flew out of the castle, and on the back of his own fiery black
+horse he dashed after the runaway princess.
+
+"On they went!  On, on, without stopping.  Over the plains, up and
+down the hillsides, through the villages.  The sun set and darkness
+fell upon the world, but there was never a moment's rest for the
+maiden on the white horse or the giant lover on his black steed.
+
+"Sometimes in the darkness sparks were struck off from the horses'
+hoofs as they passed over rough and rocky places.  These sparks
+always showed the princess ahead and slowly increasing the distance
+between herself and her pursuer.
+
+"When the morning light first appeared, the maiden could see the
+summit of the Brocken ahead of her.  It was the home of her lover.
+Her heart leaped within her.  If she could only reach it she would be
+safe.
+
+"But alas! her horse suddenly stood still.  He would not move.  He
+had reached the edge of a precipice.  There it lay, separating the
+princess from love and safety.
+
+"The brave girl had not a moment to lose.  The giant was fast drawing
+near.  She wheeled her horse around; then, striking his sides a sharp
+blow with her whip, she urged him to leap across the precipice.
+
+"The spring must be strong and sure.  It was a matter of life and
+death.  The chasm was deep.  If the horse should fail to strike the
+other side securely, it meant a horrible end to beast and rider.
+
+"But he did not fail.  The feet of the brave steed came firmly down
+upon the rocky platform.  So heavily did they fall that the imprint
+of a hoof was left upon the rock.
+
+"The princess was now safe.  It would be an easy matter for her to
+reach her lover's side.
+
+"As for the giant, he tried to follow Brunhilda across the chasm.
+But he was too heavy and his horse failed to reach the mark.  The two
+sank together to the bottom of the precipice."
+
+Every one thanked the story-teller, and begged him to tell more of
+the Hartz Mountains, where he had spent his boyhood days.  The
+children were delighted when he spoke of the gnomes, in whom he
+believed when he was a child.
+
+"Every time I went out in the dark woods," he said, "I was on the
+lookout for these funny little fairies of the underground world.  I
+wanted to see them, but at the same time I was afraid I should meet
+them.
+
+"I remember one time that my mother sent me on an errand through the
+woods at twilight.  I was in the thickest part of the woods, when I
+heard a sound that sent a shiver down my back.
+
+"'It is a witch, or some other dreadful being,' I said to myself.
+'Nothing else could make a sound like that.'  My teeth chattered.  My
+legs shook so, I could hardly move.  Somehow or other, I managed to
+keep on.  It seemed as though hours passed before I saw the lights of
+the village.  Yet I suppose it was not more than fifteen minutes.
+
+"When I was once more safe inside my own home, I told my father and
+mother about my fright.
+
+"'It was no witch, my child,' said my father.  'The sound you
+describe was probably the cry of a wildcat.  I thank Heaven that you
+are safe.  A wildcat is not a very pleasant creature to meet in a
+lonely place.'
+
+"After that, I was never sent away from the village after dark.
+
+"My boy friends and I often came across badgers and deer, and
+sometimes foxes made their way into the village in search of poultry,
+but I never came nearer to meeting a wildcat than the time of which I
+have just told you."
+
+"What work did you do out of school hours?" asked Hans.  The boy was
+thinking of the toys he had to carve.
+
+"My mother raised canary-birds, and I used to help her a great deal.
+Nearly every woman in the village was busy at the same work.  What
+concerts we did have in those days!  Mother tended every young bird
+she raised with the greatest care.  Would it become a good singer and
+bring a fair price?  We waited anxiously for the first notes, and
+then watched to see how the voices gained in strength and sweetness.
+
+"It was a pleasant life, and I was very happy among the birds in our
+little village.  Would you like to hear a song I used to sing at that
+time?  It is all about the birds and bees and flowers."
+
+"Do sing it for us," cried every one.
+
+Herr Abel had a good voice and they listened with pleasure to his
+song.  This is the first stanza:
+
+  "I have been on the mountain
+  That the song-birds love best.
+  They were sitting, were flitting,
+  They were building their nest.
+  They were sitting, were flitting,
+  They were building their nest."
+
+After he had finished, he told about the mines in which some of his
+friends worked.  It was a hard life, with no bright sunlight to cheer
+the men in those deep, dark caverns underground.
+
+"Of course you all know that the deepest mine in the world is in the
+Hartz Mountains."
+
+His friends nodded their heads, while Hans whispered to Bertha, "I
+should like to go down in that mine just for the sake of saying I
+have been as far into the earth as any living person."
+
+"The sun is setting, and there is a chill in the air," said Bertha's
+father.  "Let us go home."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+WHAT THE WAVES BRING
+
+Bertha's mother had just come in from a hard morning's work in the
+fields.  She had been helping her husband weed the garden.
+
+She spent a great deal of time outdoors in the summer-time, as many
+German peasant women do.  They do a large share of the work in
+ploughing the grain-fields and harvesting the crops.  They are much
+stronger than their American cousins.
+
+"Supper is all ready and waiting for you," said Bertha.
+
+The little girl had prepared a dish of sweet fruit soup which her
+mother had taught her to make.
+
+[Illustration:  Bertha's Home.]
+
+"It is very good," said her father when he had tasted it.  "My little
+Bertha is getting to be quite a housekeeper."
+
+"Indeed, it is very good," said her mother.  "You learned your lesson
+well, my child."
+
+Bertha was quite abashed by so much praise.  She looked down upon her
+plate and did not lift her eyes again till Gretchen began to tell of
+a new amber bracelet which had just been given to one of the
+neighbours.
+
+"It is beautiful," said Gretchen, quite excitedly.  "The beads are
+such a clear, lovely yellow.  They look so pretty on Frau Braun's
+neck, I don't wonder she is greatly pleased with her present."
+
+"Who sent it to her?" asked her mother.
+
+"Her brother in Cologne.  He is doing well at his trade, and so he
+bought this necklace at a fair and sent it to his sister as a
+remembrance.  He wrote her a letter all about the sights in Cologne,
+and asked Frau Braun to come and visit him and his wife.
+
+"He promised her in the letter that if she would come, he would take
+her to see the grand Cologne cathedral.  He said thousands of
+strangers visit it every year, because every one knows it is one of
+the most beautiful buildings in all Europe.
+
+"Then he said she should also see the Church of Saint Ursula, where
+the bones of the eleven thousand maidens can still be seen in their
+glass cases."
+
+"Do you know the story of St. Ursula, Gretchen?" asked her father.
+
+"Yes, indeed, sir.  Ursula was the daughter of an English king.  She
+was about to be married, but she said that before the wedding she
+would go to Rome on a pilgrimage.
+
+"Eleven thousand young girls went with the princess.  On her way home
+she was married, but when the wedding party had got as far as
+Cologne, they were attacked by the savage Huns.  Every one was
+killed,--Ursula, her husband, and the eleven thousand maidens.  The
+church was afterward built in her memory.  Ursula was made a saint by
+the Pope, and the bones of the young girls were preserved in glass
+cases in the church."
+
+"Did Frau Braun tell of anything else her brother wrote?" asked her
+mother.
+
+"He spoke of the bridge of boats across the river, and said she would
+enjoy watching it open and shut to let the steamers and big rafts
+pass through.  And he told of the Cologne water that is sold in so
+many of the shops.  It is hard to tell which makes the town most
+famous, the great cathedral or the Cologne water."
+
+"Father, how was the bridge of boats made?" asked Bertha.
+
+"The boats were moored in a line across the river.  Planks were then
+laid across the tops and fastened upon them.  Vessels cannot pass
+under a bridge of this kind, so it has to be opened from time to
+time.  They say it is always interesting to see this done."
+
+"Yes, Frau Braun said she would rather see the bridge of boats than
+anything else in the city.  She has already begun to plan how she can
+save up enough money to make the trip."
+
+"I will go over there to-morrow to see her new necklace," said
+Bertha.  "But what is amber, father?"
+
+"If you should go to the northern part of Germany, Bertha, you would
+see great numbers of men, women, and children, busy on the shores of
+the ocean.  The work is greatest in the rough days of autumn, when a
+strong wind is blowing from the northeast.
+
+"Then the men dress themselves as though they were going out into a
+storm.  They arm themselves with nets and plunge into the waves,
+which are bringing treasure to the shore.  It is the beautiful amber
+we admire so much.
+
+"The women and children are waiting on the sands, and as the men
+bring in their nets, the contents are given into their hands.  They
+separate the precious lumps of amber from the weeds to which they are
+clinging."
+
+Their father stopped to fill his pipe, and the children thought he
+had come to the end of the story.
+
+"But you haven't told us yet what amber is," said Bertha.
+
+"Be patient, my little one, and you shall hear," replied her father,
+patting her head.  "As yet, I have not half told the story.  But I
+will answer your question at once.
+
+"A long time ago, longer than you can imagine, Bertha, forests were
+growing along the shores of the Baltic Sea.  There was a great deal
+of gum in the trees of these forests.  It oozed out of the trees in
+the same manner as gum from the spruce-tree and resin from the pine.
+
+"Storms arose, and beds of sand and clay drifted over the forests.
+They were buried away for thousands of years, it may be.  But the
+motion of the sea washes up pieces of the gum, which is of light
+weight.
+
+"The gum has become changed while buried in the earth such a long,
+long time.  Wise men use the word 'fossilized' when they speak of
+what has happened to it.   The now beautiful, changed gum is called
+amber.
+
+"There are different ways of getting it.  I told you how it comes
+drifting in on the waves when the winds are high and the water is
+rough.  But on the pleasant summer days, when the sea is smooth and
+calm, the men go out a little way from the shore in boats.  They
+float about, looking earnestly over the sides of the boats to the
+bottom of the sea.
+
+"All at once, they see something.  Down go their long hooks through
+the water.  A moment afterward, they begin to tow a tangle of stones
+and seaweed to the shore.  As soon as they land, they begin to sort
+out the great mass.  Perhaps they will rejoice in finding large
+pieces of amber in the collection.
+
+"There is still another way of getting amber.  I know Hans will be
+most interested in what I am going to say now.  It has more of danger
+in it, and boys like to hear anything in the way of adventure."
+
+Hans looked up and smiled.  His father knew him well.  He was a
+daring lad.  He was always longing for the time when he should grow
+up and be a soldier, and possibly take part in some war.
+
+"Children," their father went on, "you have all heard of divers and
+of their dangerous work under the sea.  Gretchen was telling me the
+other day about her geography lesson, and of the pearl-divers along
+the shores of India.  I did not tell her then that some men spend
+their lives diving for amber on the shores of our own country.
+
+"They wear rubber suits and helmets and air-chests of sheet iron."
+
+"How can they see where they are going?" asked Bertha.
+
+"There are glass openings in their helmets, and they can look through
+these.  They go out in boats.  The crew generally consists of six
+men.  Two of them are divers, and four men have charge of the
+air-pumps.  These pumps force fresh air down through tubes fastened
+to the helmet of each diver.  Besides these men there is an overseer
+who has charge of everything.
+
+"Sometimes the divers stay for hours on the bed of the sea, and work
+away at the amber tangles."
+
+"But suppose anything happens to the air-tubes and the men fail to
+get as much air as they need?" said Hans.  "Is there any way of
+letting those in the boat know they are in trouble?  And, besides
+that, how do the others know when it is time to raise the divers with
+their precious loads?"
+
+"There is a safety-rope reaching from the boat to the men.  When they
+pull this rope it is a sign that they wish to be drawn up.  But I
+have told you as much about amber now as you will be able to
+remember."
+
+"Are you very tired, father dear?" said Bertha, in her most coaxing
+tone.
+
+"Why should I be tired?  What do you wish to ask me?  Come, speak out
+plainly, little one."
+
+"You tell such lovely fairy-tales, papa, I was just wishing for one.
+See!  The moon is just rising above the tree-tops.  It is the very
+time for stories of the wonderful beings."
+
+Her father smiled.  "It shall be as you wish, Bertha.  It is hard to
+refuse you when you look at me that way.  Come, children, let us sit
+in the doorway.  Goodwife, put down your work and join us while I
+tell the story of Siegfried, the old hero of Germany."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE MAGIC SWORD
+
+Far away in the long ago there lived a mighty king with his goodwife
+and his brave son, Siegfried.  Their home was at Xanten, where the
+river Rhine flows lazily along.
+
+The young prince was carefully taught.  But when his education was
+nearly finished, his father said:
+
+"Siegfried, there is a mighty smith named Mimer.  It will be well for
+you to learn all you can of him in regard to the making of arms."
+
+So Siegfried went to work at the trade of a smith.  It was not long
+before he excelled his teacher.  This pleased Mimer, who spent many
+spare hours with his pupil, telling him stories of the olden times.
+
+After awhile, he took Siegfried into his confidence.  He said:
+
+"There is a powerful knight in Burgundy who has challenged every
+smith of my country to make a weapon strong enough to pierce his coat
+of mail.
+
+"I long to try," Mimer went on, "but I am now old and have not
+strength enough to use the heavy hammer."
+
+At these words Siegfried jumped up in great excitement.
+
+"I will make the sword, dear master," he cried.  "Be of good cheer.
+It shall be strong enough to cut the knight's armour in two."
+
+Early the next morning, Siegfried began his work.  For seven days and
+seven nights the constant ringing of his hammer could be heard.  At
+the end of that time Siegfried came to his master with a sword of the
+finest steel in his right hand.
+
+Mimer looked it all over.  He then held it in a stream of running
+water in which he had thrown a fine thread.  The water carried the
+thread against the edge of the sword, where it was cut in two.
+
+"It is without a fault," cried Mimer with delight.
+
+"I can do better than that," answered Siegfried, and he took the
+sword and broke it into pieces.
+
+Again he set to work.   For seven more days and seven more nights he
+was busy at his forge.  At the end of that time he brought a polished
+sword to his master.
+
+Mimer looked it over with the greatest care and made ready to test it.
+
+He threw the fleeces of twelve sheep into the stream.  The current
+carried them on its bosom to Siegfried's sword.  Instantly, each
+piece was divided as it met the blade.  Mimer shouted aloud in his
+Joy.
+
+"Balmung" (for that was the name Siegfried gave the sword) "is the
+finest weapon man ever made," he cried.
+
+Siegfried was now prepared to meet the proud knight of Burgundy.
+
+The very first thrust of the sword, Balmung, did the work.  The head
+and shoulders of the giant were severed from the rest of the body.
+They rolled down the hillside and fell into the Rhine, where they can
+be seen even now, when the water is clear.  At least, so runs the
+story.  The trunk remained on the hilltop and was turned to stone.
+
+Soon after this Mimer found that Siegfried longed to see the world
+and make himself famous.  So he bound the sword Balmung to the young
+prince's side, and told him to seek a certain person, who would give
+him a fine war-horse.
+
+Siegfried went to this man, from whom he obtained a matchless steed.
+In fact it had descended from the great god Odin's magic horse.
+Siegfried, you can see, must have lived in a time when men believed
+in gods and other wonderful beings.
+
+He was now all ready for his adventures, but before starting out,
+Mimer told him of a great treasure of gold guarded by a fearful
+serpent.  This treasure was spread out over a plain called the
+Glittering Heath.  No man had yet been able to take it, because of
+its terrible guardian.
+
+Siegfried was not in the least frightened by the stories he heard of
+the monster.  He started out on his dangerous errand with a heart
+full of courage.
+
+At last, he drew near the plain.  He could see it on the other side
+of the Rhine, from the hilltop where he was standing.  With no one to
+help him, not even taking his magic horse with him, he hurried down
+the hillside and sprang into a boat on the shore.
+
+An old man had charge of the boat, and as he rowed Siegfried across,
+he gave him good advice.  This old man, as it happened, was the god
+Odin, who loved Siegfried and wished to see him succeed.
+
+"Dig a deep trench along the path the serpent has worn on his way to
+the river when in search of water," said the old boatman.  "Hide
+yourself in the trench, and, as the serpent passes along, you must
+thrust your sword deep into his body."
+
+It was good advice.  Siegfried did as Odin directed him.  He went to
+work on the trench at once.  It was soon finished, and then the young
+prince, sword in hand, was lying in watch for the dread monster.
+
+He did not have long to wait.  He soon heard the sound of rolling
+stones.  Then came a loud hiss, and immediately afterward he felt the
+serpent's fiery breath on his cheek.
+
+And now the serpent rolled over into the ditch, and Siegfried was
+covered by the folds of his huge body.  He did not fear or falter.
+He thrust Balmung, his wonderful sword, deep into the monster's body.
+The blood poured forth in such torrents that the ditch began to fill
+fast.
+
+It was a time of great danger for Siegfried.  He would have been
+drowned if the serpent in his death-agony had not rolled over on one
+side and given him a chance to free himself.
+
+In a moment more he was standing, safe and sound, by the side of the
+ditch.  His bath in the serpent's blood had given him a great
+blessing.  Hereafter it would be impossible for any one to wound him
+except in one tiny place on his shoulder.  A leaf had fallen on this
+spot, and the blood had not touched it.
+
+"What did Siegfried do with the golden treasure?" asked Hans, when
+his father had reached this point in the story.
+
+"He had not sought it for himself, but for Mimer's sake.  All he
+cared for was the power of killing the serpent."
+
+As soon as this was done, Mimer drew near and showed himself
+ungrateful and untrue.  He was so afraid Siegfried would claim some
+of the treasure that he secretly drew Balmung from out the serpent's
+body, and made ready to thrust it into Siegfried.
+
+But at that very moment his foot slipped in the monster's blood, and
+he fell upon the sword and was instantly killed.
+
+Siegfried was filled with horror when he saw what had happened.  He
+sprang upon his horse's back and fled as fast as possible from the
+dreadful scene.
+
+"What happened to Siegfried after that?  Did he have any more
+adventures?" asked Bertha.
+
+"Yes, indeed.  There were enough to fill a book.  But there is one in
+particular you girls would like to hear.  It is about a beautiful
+princess whom he freed from a spell which had been cast upon her."
+
+"What was her name, papa?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Brunhild, the Queen of Isenland.  She had been stung by the thorn of
+sleep."
+
+Odin, the great god, had said, "Brunhild shall not awake till some
+hero is brave enough to fight his way through the flames which shall
+constantly surround the palace.  He must then go to the side of the
+sleeping maiden and break the charm by a kiss upon her forehead."
+
+When Siegfried, in his wanderings, heard the story of Brunhild, he
+said, "I will make my way through the flames and will myself rescue
+the fair princess."
+
+He leaped upon the back of his magic steed, and together they fought
+their way through the fire that surrounded the palace of the sleeping
+beauty.  He reached the gates in safety.  There was no sign of life
+about the place.  Every one was wrapped in a deep sleep.
+
+Siegfried made his way to the room of the enchanted princess.  Ah!
+there she lay, still and beautiful, with no knowledge of what was
+going on around her.
+
+The young knight knelt by her side.  Leaning over her, he pressed a
+kiss upon her forehead.  She moved slightly; then, opening her blue
+eyes, she smiled sweetly upon her deliverer.
+
+At the same moment every one else in the palace woke up and went on
+with whatever had been interrupted when sleep overcame them.
+
+Siegfried remained for six months with the fair Brunhild and her
+court.  Every day was given up to music and feasting, games and
+songs.  Time passed like a beautiful dream.  No one knows how long
+the young knight might have enjoyed this happy life if Odin had not
+sent two birds.  Thought and Memory, to remind him there were other
+things for him yet to do.
+
+He did not stop to bid Brunhild farewell, but leaped upon his horse's
+back and rode away in search of new adventures.
+
+"Dear me, children," exclaimed their father, looking at the clock,
+"it is long past the time you should be in your soft, warm beds."
+
+"Papa, do you know what day to-morrow is?" whispered Bertha, as she
+kissed him good night.
+
+"My darling child's birthday.  It is ten years to-morrow since your
+eyes first looked upon the sunlight.  They have been ten happy years
+to us all, though our lives are full of work.  What do you say to
+that, my little one?"
+
+"Very happy, papa dear.  You and mother are so kind!  I ought to be
+good as well as happy."
+
+"She is a faithful child," said her mother, after Bertha had left the
+room.  "That is why I have a little surprise ready for to-morrow.  I
+have baked a large birthday cake and shall ask her little friends to
+share it with her.
+
+"Her aunt has finished the new dress I bought for her, and I have
+made two white aprons, besides.  She will be a happy child when she
+sees her presents."
+
+The mother closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to the All-Father
+that Bertha's life should be as joyful as her tenth birthday gave
+promise of being.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13470 ***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #13470 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13470)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bertha, by Mary Hazelton Wade
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Bertha
+
+Author: Mary Hazelton Wade
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2004  [eBook #13470]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+BERTHA
+
+Our Little German Cousin
+
+By
+
+MARY HAZELTON WADE
+
+Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman
+
+Boston
+
+1904
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+When the word Germany comes to our minds, we think at once of ruined
+castles, fairies, music, and soldiers.  Why is it?
+
+First, as to the castles.  Here and there along the banks of the
+River Rhine, as well as elsewhere throughout the country, the
+traveller is constantly finding himself near some massive stone ruin.
+It seems ever ready to tell stories of long ago,--of brave knights
+who defended its walls, of beautiful princesses saved from harm, of
+sturdy boys and sweet-faced girls who once played in its gardens.
+For Germany is the home of an ancient and brave people, who have
+often been called upon to face powerful enemies.
+
+Next, as to the fairies.  It seems as though the dark forests of
+Germany, the quiet valleys, and the banks of the beautiful rivers,
+were the natural homes of the fairy-folk, the gnomes and the elves,
+the water-sprites and the sylphs.  Our German cousins listen with
+wonder and delight to the legends of fearful giants and enchanted
+castles, and many of the stories they know so well have been
+translated into other languages for their cousins of distant lands,
+who are as fond of them as the blue-eyed children of Germany.
+
+As to the music, it seems as though every boy and girl in the whole
+country drew in the spirit of song with the air they breathe.  They
+sing with a love of what they are singing, they play as though the
+tune were a part of their very selves.  Some of the finest musicians
+have been Germans, and their gifts to the world have been bountiful.
+
+As for soldiers, we know that every man in Germany must stand ready
+to defend his country.  He must serve his time in drilling and
+training for war.  He is a necessary part of that Fatherland he loves
+so dearly.
+
+Our fair-haired German cousins are busy workers and hard students.
+They must learn quite early in life that they have duties as well as
+pleasures, and the duties cannot be set aside or forgotten.  But they
+love games and holidays as dearly as the children of our own land.
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. CHRISTMAS
+   II. TOY-MAKING
+  III. THE WICKED BISHOP
+   IV. THE COFFEE-PARTY
+    V. THE BEAUTIFUL CASTLE
+   VI. THE GREAT FREDERICK
+  VII. THE BRAVE PRINCESS
+ VIII. WHAT THE WAVES BRING
+   IX. THE MAGIC SWORD
+
+
+
+
+List of Illustrations
+
+  BERTHA
+  BERTHA'S FATHER AND MOTHER
+  THE RATS' TOWER
+  COURTYARD OF HEIDELBERG CASTLE
+  STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT
+  BERTHA'S HOME
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CHRISTMAS
+
+"Don't look!  There, now it's done!" cried Bertha.
+
+It was two nights before Christmas.  Bertha was in the big
+living-room with her mother and older sister.  Each sat as close as
+possible to the candle-light, and was busily working on something in
+her lap.
+
+But, strange to say, they did not face each other.  They were sitting
+back to back.
+
+"What an unsociable way to work," we think.  "Is that the way Germans
+spend the evenings together?"
+
+No, indeed.  But Christmas was near at hand, and the air was brimful
+of secrets.
+
+Bertha would not let her mother discover what she was working for
+her, for all the world.  And the little girl's mother was preparing
+surprises for each of the children.  All together, the greatest fun
+of the year was getting ready for Christmas.
+
+"Mother, you will make some of those lovely cakes this year, won't
+you?" asked Bertha's sister Gretchen.
+
+"Certainly, my child.  It would not be Christmas without them.  Early
+to-morrow morning, you and Bertha must shell and chop the nuts.  I
+will use the freshest eggs and will beat the dough as long as my arms
+will let me."
+
+"Did you always know how to make those cakes, mamma?" asked Bertha.
+
+"My good mother taught me when I was about your age, my dear.  You
+may watch me to-morrow, and perhaps you will learn how to make them.
+It is never too early to begin to learn to cook."
+
+"When the city girls get through school, they go away from home and
+study housekeeping, don't they?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Yes, and many girls who don't live in cities.  But I hardly think
+you will ever be sent away.  We are busy people here in our little
+village, and you will have to be contented with learning what your
+mother can teach you."
+
+"I shall be satisfied with that, I know.  But listen!  I can hear
+father and Hans coming."
+
+"Then put up your work, children, and set the supper-table."
+
+The girls jumped up and hurriedly put the presents away.  It did not
+take long to set the supper-table, for the meals in this little home
+were very simple, and supper was the simplest of all.  A large plate
+of black bread and a pitcher of sour milk were brought by the mother,
+and the family gathered around the table.
+
+The bread wasn't really black, of course.  It was dark brown and very
+coarse.  It was made of rye meal.  Bertha and Gretchen had never seen
+any white bread in their lives, for they had never yet been far away
+from their own little village.  Neither had their brother Hans.
+
+They were happy, healthy children.  They all had blue eyes, rosy
+cheeks, and fair hair, like their father and mother.
+
+"You don't know what I've got for you, Hans," said Bertha, laughing
+and showing a sweet little dimple in her chin.
+
+Hans bent down and kissed her.  He never could resist that dimple,
+and Bertha was his favourite sister.
+
+"I don't know what it is, but I do know that it must be something
+nice," said her brother.
+
+When the supper-table had been cleared, the mother and girls took out
+their sewing again, while Hans worked at some wood-carving.  The
+father took an old violin from its case and began to play some of the
+beautiful airs of Germany.
+
+When he came to the "Watch on the Rhine," the mother's work dropped
+from her hands as she and the children joined in the song that stirs
+every German heart.
+
+"Oh, dear! it seems as though Christmas Eve never would come," sighed
+Bertha, as she settled herself for sleep beside her sister.
+
+It was quite a cold night, but they were cosy and warm.  Why
+shouldn't they be?  They were covered with a down feather bed.  Their
+mother had the same kind of cover on her own bed, and so had Hans.
+
+But Christmas Eve did come at last, although it seemed so far off to
+Bertha the night before.  Hans and his father brought in the bough of
+a yew-tree, and it was set up in the living-room.
+
+The decorating came next.  Tiny candles were fastened on all the
+twigs.  Sweetmeats and nuts were hung from the branches.
+
+"How beautiful!  How beautiful!" exclaimed the children when it was
+all trimmed, and they walked around it with admiring eyes.
+
+None of the presents were placed on the tree, for that is not the
+fashion in Germany.  Each little gift had been tied up in paper and
+marked with the name of the one for whom it was intended.
+
+When everything was ready, there was a moment of quiet while the
+candles were being lighted.  Then Bertha's father began to give out
+the presents, and there was a great deal of laughing and joking as
+the bundles were opened.
+
+There was a new red skirt for Bertha.  Her mother had made it, for
+she knew the child was fond of pretty dresses.  Besides this, she had
+a pair of warm woollen mittens which Gretchen had knit for her.  Hans
+had made and carved a doll's cradle for each of the girls.
+
+Everybody was happy and contented.  They sang songs and cracked nuts
+and ate the Christmas cakes to their hearts' content.
+
+"I think I like the ones shaped like gnomes the best," said Hans.
+"They have such comical little faces.  Do you know, every time I go
+out in the forest, it seems as though I might meet a party of gnomes
+hunting for gold."
+
+"I like the animal cakes best," said Bertha.  "The deer are such
+graceful creatures, and I like to bite off the horns and legs, one at
+a time."
+
+"A long time ago," said their father, "they used to celebrate
+Christmas a little different from the way we now do.  The presents
+were all carried to a man in the village who dressed himself in a
+white robe, and a big wig made of flax.  He covered his face with a
+mask, and then went from house to house.  The grown people received
+him with great honours.  He called for the children and gave them the
+presents their parents had brought to him.
+
+"But these presents were all given according to the way the children
+had behaved during the year.  If they had been good and tried hard,
+they had the gifts they deserved.  But if they had been naughty and
+disobedient, it was not a happy time for them."
+
+"I don't believe the children were very fond of him," cried Hans.
+"They must have been too much afraid of him."
+
+"That is true," said his father.  "But now, let us play some games.
+Christmas comes but once a year, and you have all been good children."
+
+The room soon rang with the shouts of Hans and his sisters.  They
+played "Blind Man's Buff" and other games.  Their father took part in
+all of them as though he were a boy again.  The good mother looked on
+with pleasant smiles.
+
+Bedtime came only too soon.  But just before the children said good
+night, the father took Hans one side and talked seriously yet
+lovingly with him.  He told the boy of the faults he must still fight
+against.  He spoke also of the improvement he had made during the
+year.
+
+At the same time the mother gave words of kind advice to her little
+daughters.  She told them to keep up good courage; to be busy and
+patient in the year to come.
+
+"My dear little girls," she whispered, as she kissed them, "I love to
+see you happy in your play.  But the good Lord who cares for us has
+given us all some work to do in this world.  Be faithful in doing
+yours."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOY-MAKING
+
+"Wake up, Bertha.  Come, Gretchen.  You will have to hurry, for it is
+quite late," called their mother.  It was one morning about a week
+after Christmas.
+
+"Oh dear, I am so sleepy, and my bed is nice and warm," thought
+Bertha.
+
+[Illustration:  Bertha's Father and Mother.]
+
+But she jumped up and rubbed her eyes and began to dress, without
+waiting to be called a second time.  Her mother was kind and loving,
+but she had taught her children to obey without a question.
+
+Both little girls had long, thick hair.  It must be combed and
+brushed and braided with great care.  Each one helped the other.
+They were soon dressed, and ran down-stairs.
+
+As soon as the breakfast was over and the room made tidy, every one
+in the family sat down to work.  Bertha's father was a toy-maker.  He
+had made wooden images of Santa Claus all his life.  His wife and
+children helped him.
+
+When Bertha was only five years old, she began to carve the legs of
+these Santa Claus dolls.  It was a queer sight to see the little
+girl's chubby fingers at their work.  Now that she was nine years
+old, she still carved legs for Santa Claus in her spare moments.
+
+Gretchen always made arms, while Hans worked on a still different
+part of the bodies.  The father and mother carved the heads and
+finished the little images that afterward gave such delight to
+children in other lands.
+
+Bertha lives in the Black Forest.  That name makes you think at once
+of a dark and gloomy place.  The woods on the hills are dark, to be
+sure, but the valleys nestling between are bright and cheerful when
+the sun shines down and pours its light upon them.  Bertha's village
+is in just such a valley.  The church stands on the slope above the
+little homes.  It seems to say, "Look upward, my children, to the
+blue heavens, and do not fear, even when the mists fill the valley
+and the storm is raging over your heads."
+
+All the people in the village seem happy and contented.  They work
+hard, and their pay is small, but there are no beggars among them.
+
+Toys are made in almost every house.  Every one in a family works on
+the same kind of toy, just as it is in Bertha's home.
+
+The people think: "It would be foolish to spend one's time in
+learning new things.  The longer a person works at making one kind of
+toy, the faster he can make them, and he can earn more money."
+
+One of Bertha's neighbours makes nothing but Noah's Arks.  Another
+makes toy tables, and still another dolls' chairs.
+
+Bertha often visits a little friend who helps her father make
+cuckoo-clocks.  Did you ever see one of these curious clocks?  As
+each hour comes around, a little bird comes outside the case.  Then
+it flaps its wings and sings "cuckoo" in a soft, sweet voice as many
+times as there are strokes to the hour.  It is great fun to watch for
+the little bird and hear its soft notes.
+
+Perhaps you wonder what makes the bird come out at just the right
+time.  It is done by certain machinery inside the clock.  But,
+however it is, old people as well as children seem to enjoy the
+cuckoo-clocks of Germany.
+
+"Some day, when you are older, you shall go to the fair at Easter
+time," Bertha's father has promised her.
+
+"Is that at Leipsic, where our Santa Claus images go?" asked his
+little daughter.
+
+"Yes, my dear, and toys from many other parts of our country.  There
+you will see music-boxes and dolls' pianos and carts and trumpets and
+engines and ships.  These all come from the mining-towns.
+
+"But I know what my little Bertha would care for most.  She would
+best like to see the beautiful wax dolls that come from Sonneberg."
+
+"Yes, indeed," cried Bertha.  "The dear, lovely dollies with yellow
+hair like mine.  I would love every one of them.  I wish I could go
+to Sonneberg just to see the dolls."
+
+"I wonder what makes the wax stick on," said Gretchen, who came into
+the room while her father and Bertha were talking.
+
+"After the heads have been moulded into shape, they are dipped into
+pans of boiling wax," her father told her.  "The cheap dolls are
+dipped only once, but the expensive ones have several baths before
+they are finished.  The more wax that is put on, the handsomer the
+dolls are.
+
+"Then comes the painting.  One girl does nothing but paint the lips.
+Another one does the cheeks.  Still another, the eyebrows.  Even then
+Miss Dolly looks like a bald-headed baby till her wig is fastened in
+its place."
+
+"I like the yellow hair best," said Bertha.  "But it isn't real, is
+it, papa?"
+
+"I suppose you mean to ask, 'Did it ever grow on people's heads?' my
+dear.  No.  It is the wool of a kind of goat.  But the black hair is
+real hair.  Most dolls, however, wear light wigs.  People usually
+prefer them."
+
+"Do little girls in Sonneberg help make the dolls, just as Bertha and
+I help you on the Santa Claus images?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Certainly.  They fill the bodies with sawdust, and do other easy
+things.  But they go to school, too, just as you and Bertha do.
+Lessons must not be slighted."
+
+"If I had to help make dolls, just as I do these images," said
+Gretchen to her sister as their father went out and left the children
+together, "I don't believe I'd care for the handsomest one in the
+whole toy fair.  I'd be sick of the very sight of them."
+
+"Look at the time, Bertha.  See, we must stop our work and start for
+school," exclaimed Gretchen.
+
+It was only seven o'clock in the morning, but school would begin in
+half an hour.  These little German girls had to study longer and
+harder than their American cousins.  They spent at least an hour a
+day more in their schoolrooms.
+
+As they trudged along the road, they passed a little stream which
+came trickling down the hillside.
+
+"I wonder if there is any story about that brook," said Bertha.
+"There's a story about almost everything in our dear old country, I'm
+sure."
+
+"You have heard father tell about the stream flowing down the side of
+the Kandel, haven't you?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Yes, I think so.  But I don't remember it very well.  What is the
+story, Gretchen?"
+
+"You know the Kandel is one of the highest peaks in the Black Forest.
+You've seen it, Bertha."
+
+"Yes, of course, but tell the story, Gretchen."
+
+"Well, then, once upon a time there was a poor little boy who had no
+father or mother.  He had to tend cattle on the side of the Kandel.
+At that time there was a deep lake at the summit of the mountain.
+But the lake had no outlet.
+
+"The people who lived in the valley below often said, 'Dear me! how
+glad we should be if we could only have plenty of fresh water.  But
+no stream flows near us.  If we could only bring some of the water
+down from the lake!'
+
+"They were afraid, however, to make a channel out of the lake.  The
+water might rush down with such force as to destroy their village.
+They feared to disturb it.
+
+"Now, it came to pass that the Evil One had it in his heart to
+destroy these people.  He thought he could do it very easily if the
+rocky wall on the side of the lake could be broken down.  There was
+only one way in which this could be done.  An innocent boy must be
+found and got to do it.
+
+"It was a long time before such an one could be found.  But at last
+the Evil One came across an orphan boy who tended cattle on the
+mountainside.  The poor little fellow was on his way home.  He was
+feeling very sad, for he was thinking of his ragged clothes and his
+scant food.
+
+"'Ah ha!' cried the Evil One to himself, 'here is the very boy.'
+
+"He changed himself at once so he had the form and dress of a hunter,
+and stepped up to the lad with a pleasant smile.
+
+"'Poor little fellow!  What is the matter?  And what can I do for
+you?' he said, in his most winning manner.
+
+"The boy thought he had found a friend, and told his story.
+
+"'Do not grieve any longer.  There is plenty of gold and silver in
+these very mountains.  I will show you how to become rich,' said the
+Evil One.  'Meet me here early to-morrow morning and bring a good
+strong team with you.  I will help you get the gold.'
+
+"The boy went home with a glad heart.  You may be sure he did not
+oversleep the next morning.  Before it was light, he had harnessed
+four oxen belonging to his master, and started for the summit of the
+mountain.
+
+"The hunter, who was waiting for him, had already fastened a metal
+ring around the wall that held in the waters of the lake.
+
+"'Fasten the oxen to that ring,' commanded the hunter, 'and the rock
+will split open.'
+
+"Somehow or other, the boy did not feel pleased at what he was told
+to do.  Yet he obeyed, and started the oxen.  But as he did so, he
+cried, 'Do this in the name of God!'
+
+"At that very instant the sky grew black as night, the thunder rolled
+and the lightning flashed.  And not only this, for at the same time
+the mountain shook and rumbled as though a mighty force were tearing
+it apart."
+
+"What became of the poor boy?" asked Bertha.
+
+"He fell senseless to the ground, while the oxen in their fright
+rushed headlong down the mountainside.  But you needn't get excited,
+Bertha, no harm was done.  The boy was saved as well as the village,
+because he had pulled in the name of God.
+
+"The rock did not split entirely.  It broke apart just enough to let
+out a tiny stream of water, which began to flow down the mountainside.
+
+"When the boy came to his senses, the sky was clear and beautiful
+once more.  The sun was shining brightly, and the hunter was nowhere
+to be seen.  But the stream of water was running down the
+mountainside.
+
+"A few minutes afterward, the boy's master came hurrying up the
+slope.  He was frightened by the dreadful sounds he had heard.  But
+when he saw the waterfall, he was filled with delight.
+
+"'Every one in the village will rejoice,' he exclaimed, 'for now we
+shall never want for water.'
+
+"Then the little boy took courage and told the story of his meeting
+the hunter and what he had done.
+
+"'It is well you did it in the name of the Lord,' cried his master.
+'If you had not, our village would have been destroyed, and every one
+of us would have been drowned.'"
+
+"See! the children are going into the schoolhouse, Gretchen.  We must
+not be late.  Let's run," said Bertha.
+
+The two little girls stopped talking, and hurried so fast that they
+entered the schoolhouse and were sitting in their seats in good order
+before the schoolmaster struck his bell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE WICKED BISHOP
+
+"The Rhine is the loveliest river in the world.  I know it must be,"
+said Bertha.
+
+"Of course it is," answered her brother.  "I've seen it, and I ought
+to know.  And father thinks so, too.  He says it is not only
+beautiful, but it is also bound into the whole history of our
+country.  Think of the battles that have been fought on its shores,
+and the great generals who have crossed it!"
+
+"Yes, and the castles, Hans!  Think of the legends father and mother
+have told us about the beautiful princesses who have lived in the
+castles, and the brave knights who have fought for them!  I shall be
+perfectly happy if I can ever sail down the Rhine and see the noted
+places on its shores."
+
+"The schoolmaster has taught you all about the war with France,
+hasn't he, Bertha?"
+
+"Of course.  And it really seemed at one time as if France would make
+us Germans agree to have the Rhine divide the two countries.  Just as
+if we would be willing to let the French own one shore of our
+beautiful river.  I should say not!"
+
+Bertha's cheeks grew rosier than usual at the thought of such a
+thing.  She talked faster than German children usually do, for they
+are rather slow in their speech.
+
+"We do not own all of the river, little sister, as it is.  The baby
+Rhine sleeps in an icy cradle in the mountains of Switzerland.  Then
+it makes its way through our country, but before it reaches the sea
+it flows through the low lands of Holland."
+
+"I know all that, Hans.  But we own the best of the Rhine, anyway.  I
+am perfectly satisfied."
+
+"I wish I knew all the legends about the river.  There are enough of
+them to fill many books.  Did you ever hear about the Rats' Tower
+opposite the town of Bingen, Bertha?"
+
+[Illustration:  The Rats' Tower.]
+
+"What a funny name for a tower!  No.  Is there a story about it,
+Hans?"
+
+"Yes, one of the boys was telling it to me yesterday while we were
+getting wood in the forest.  It is a good story, although my friend
+said he wasn't sure it is true."
+
+"What is the story?"
+
+"It is about a very wicked bishop who was a miser.  It happened one
+time that the harvests were poor and grain was scarce.  The cruel
+bishop bought all the grain he could get and locked it up.  He
+intended to sell it for a high price, and in this way to become very
+rich.
+
+"As the days went by, the food became scarcer and scarcer.  The
+people began to sicken and die of hunger.  They had but one thought:
+they must get something to eat for their children and themselves.
+
+"They knew of the stores of grain held by the bishop.  They went to
+him and begged for some of it, but he paid no attention to their
+prayers.  Then they demanded that he open the doors of the storehouse
+and let them have the grain.  It was of no use.
+
+"At last, they gathered together, and said:
+
+"'We will break down the door if you do not give it to us.'
+
+"'Come to-morrow,' answered the bishop.  'Bring your friends with
+you.  You shall have all the grain you desire.'
+
+"The morrow came.  Crowds gathered in front of the granary.  The
+bishop unlocked the door, saying:
+
+"'Go inside and help yourselves freely.'
+
+"The people rushed in.  Then what do you think the cruel bishop did?
+He ordered his servants to lock the door and set the place on fire!
+
+"The air was soon filled with the screams of the burning people.  But
+the bishop only laughed and danced.  He said to his servants:
+
+"'Do you hear the rats squeaking inside the granary?'
+
+"The next day came.  There were only ashes in place of the great
+storehouse.  There seemed to be no life about the town, for the
+people were all dead.
+
+"Suddenly there was a great scurrying, as a tremendous swarm of rats
+came rushing out of the ashes.  On they came, more and more of them.
+They filled the streets, and even made their way into the palace.
+
+"The wicked bishop was filled with fear.  He fled from the place and
+hurried away over the fields.  But, the swarm of rats came rushing
+after him.  He came to Bingen, where he hoped to be safe within its
+walls.  Somehow or other, the rats made their way inside.
+
+"There was now only one hope of safety.  The bishop fled to a tower
+standing in the middle of the Rhine.  But it was of no use!  The rats
+swam the river and made their way up the sides of the tower.  Their
+sharp teeth gnawed holes through the doors and windows.  They entered
+in and came to the room where the bishop was hiding."
+
+"Wicked fellow!  They killed and ate him as he deserved, didn't
+they?" asked Bertha.
+
+"There wasn't much left of him in a few minutes.  But the tower still
+stands, and you can see it if you ever go to Bingen, although it is a
+crumbling old pile now."
+
+"Rats' Tower is a good name for it.  But I would rather hear about
+enchanted princesses and brave knights than wicked old bishops.  Tell
+me another story, Hans."
+
+"Oh, I can't.  Listen!  I hear some one coming.  Who can it be?"
+
+Hans jumped up and ran to the door, just in time to meet his Uncle
+Fritz, who lived in Strasburg.
+
+The children loved him dearly.  He was a young man about twenty-one
+years old.  He came home to this little village in the Black Forest
+only about once a year.  He had so much to tell and was so kind and
+cheerful, every one was glad to see him.
+
+"Uncle Fritz!  Uncle Fritz!  We are so glad you've come," exclaimed
+Bertha, putting her arms around his neck.  "And we are going to have
+something that you like for dinner."
+
+"I can guess what it is.  Sauerkraut and boiled pork.  There is no
+other sauerkraut in Germany as good as that your mother makes, I do
+believe.  I'm hungry enough to eat the whole dishful and not leave
+any for you children.  Now what do you say to my coming?  Don't you
+wish I had stayed in Strasburg?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, Uncle Fritz.  We would rather see you than anybody
+else," cried Hans.  "And here comes mother.  She will be just as glad
+as we are."
+
+That evening, after Hans had shown his uncle around the village, and
+he had called on his old friends, he settled himself in the
+chimney-corner with the children about him.
+
+"Talk to us about Strasburg, Uncle Fritz," begged Gretchen.
+
+"Please tell us about the storks," said Bertha.  "Are there great
+numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on
+the chimneys?"
+
+"Yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come
+back with me," said Uncle Fritz, laughingly.  "They seem to know the
+people love them.  If a stork makes his home about any one's house,
+it is a sign of good fortune to the people who live there.
+
+"'It will surely come,' they say to themselves, 'and the storks will
+bring it.'  Do you wonder the people like the birds so much?"
+
+"I read a story about a mother stork," said Bertha, thoughtfully.
+"She had a family of baby birds.  They were not big enough to leave
+their nest, when a fire broke out in the chimney where it was built.
+Poor mother bird!  She could have saved herself.  But she would not
+leave her babies.  So she stayed with them and they were all burned
+to death together."
+
+"I know the story.  That happened right in Strasburg," said her uncle.
+
+"Please tell us about the beautiful cathedral with its tall tower,"
+said Hans.  "Sometime, uncle, I am going to Strasburg, if I have to
+walk there, and then I shall want to spend a whole day in front of
+the wonderful clock."
+
+"You'd better have a lunch with you, Hans, and then you will not get
+hungry.  But really, my dear little nephew, I hope the time will soon
+come when you can pay me a long visit.  As for the clock, you will
+have to stay in front of it all night as well as all day, if you are
+to see all it can show you."
+
+"I know about cuckoo-clocks, of course," said Gretchen, "but the
+little bird is the only figure that comes out on those.  There are
+ever so many different figures on the Strasburg clock, aren't there,
+Uncle Fritz?"
+
+"A great, great many.  Angels strike the hours.  A different god or
+goddess appears for each day in the week.  Then, at noon and at
+midnight, Jesus and his twelve apostles come out through a door and
+march about on a platform.
+
+"You can imagine what the size of the clock must be when I tell you
+that the figures are as large as people.  When the procession of the
+apostles appears, a gilded cock on the top of the tower flaps its
+wings and crows.
+
+"I cannot begin to tell you all about it.  It is as good as a play,
+and, as I told Hans, he would have to stay many hours near it to see
+all the sights."
+
+"I should think a strong man would be needed to wind it up," said his
+nephew.
+
+"The best part of it is that it does not need to be wound every day,"
+replied Uncle Fritz.  "They say it will run for years without being
+touched.  Of course, travellers are coming to Strasburg all the time.
+They wish to see the clock, but they also come to see the cathedral
+itself.  It is a very grand building, and, as you know, the spire is
+the tallest one in all Europe.
+
+"Then there is so much beautiful carving!  And there are such fine
+statues.  Oh, children, you must certainly come to Strasburg before
+long and see the cathedral of which all Germany is so proud."
+
+"Strasburg was for a time the home of our greatest poet," said
+Bertha.  "I want to go there to see where he lived."
+
+The child was very fond of poetry, even though she was a little
+country girl.  Her father had a book containing some of Goethe's
+ballads, and she loved to lie under the trees in the pleasant
+summer-time and repeat some of these poems.
+
+"They are just like music," she would say to herself.
+
+"A marble slab has been set up in the old Fish Market to mark the
+spot where Goethe lived," said Uncle Fritz.  "They say he loved the
+grand cathedral of the city, and it helped him to become a great
+writer when he was a young student there.  I suppose its beauty
+awakened his own beautiful thoughts."
+
+The children became quiet as they thought of their country and the
+men who had made her so strong and great,--the poets, and the
+musicians, and the brave soldiers who had defended her from her
+enemies.
+
+Uncle Fritz was the first one to speak.
+
+"I will tell you a story of Strasburg," he said.  "It is about
+something that happened there a long time ago.  You know, the city
+isn't on the Rhine itself, but it is on a little stream flowing into
+the greater river.
+
+"Well, once upon a time the people of Zurich, in Switzerland, asked
+the people of Strasburg to join with them in a bond of friendship.
+Each should help the other in times of danger.  The people of
+Strasburg did not think much of the idea.  They said among
+themselves: 'What good can the little town of Zurich do us?  And,
+besides, it is too far away.'  So they sent back word that they did
+not care to make such a bond.  They were scarcely polite in their
+message, either.
+
+"When they heard the reply, the men of Zurich were quite angry.  They
+were almost ready to fight.  But the youngest one of their
+councillors said:
+
+"'We will force them to eat their own words.  Indeed, they shall be
+made to give us a different answer.  And it will come soon, too, if
+you will only leave the matter with me.'
+
+"'Do as you please,' said the other councillors.  They went back to
+their own houses, while the young man hurried home, rushed out into
+the kitchen and picked out the largest kettle there.
+
+"'Wife, cook as much oatmeal as this pot will hold,' he commanded.
+
+"The woman wondered what in the world her husband could be thinking
+of.  But she lost no time in guessing.  She ordered her servants to
+make a big fire, while she herself stirred and cooked the great
+kettleful of oatmeal.
+
+"In the meanwhile, her husband hurried down to the pier, and got his
+swiftest boat ready for a trip down the river.  Then he gathered the
+best rowers in the town.
+
+"'Come with me,' he said to two of them, when everything had been
+made ready for a trip.  They hastened home with him, as he commanded.
+
+"'Is the oatmeal ready?' he cried, rushing breathless into the
+kitchen,
+
+"His wife had just finished her work.  The men lifted the kettle from
+the fire and ran with it to the waiting boat.  It was placed in the
+stern and the oarsmen sprang to their places.
+
+"'Pull, men!  Pull with all the strength you have, and we will go to
+Strasburg in time to show those stupid people that, if it should be
+necessary, we live near enough to them to give them a hot supper.'
+
+"How the men worked!  They rowed as they had never rowed before.
+
+"They passed one village after another.  Still they moved onward
+without stopping, till they found themselves at the pier of Strasburg.
+
+"The councillor jumped out of the boat, telling two of his men to
+follow with the great pot of oatmeal.  He led the way to the
+council-house, where he burst in with his strange present.
+
+"'I bring you a warm answer to your cold words,' he told the
+surprised councillors.  He spoke truly, for the pot was still
+steaming.  How amused they all were!
+
+"'What a clever fellow he is,' they said among themselves.  'Surely
+we will agree to make the bond with Zurich, if it holds many men like
+him.'
+
+"The bond was quickly signed and then, with laughter and good-will,
+the councillors gathered around the kettle with spoons and ate every
+bit of the oatmeal.
+
+"'It is excellent,' they all cried.  And indeed it was still hot
+enough to burn the mouths of those who were not careful."
+
+"Good!  Good!" cried the children, and they laughed heartily, even
+though it was a joke against their own people.
+
+Their father and mother had also listened to the story and enjoyed it
+as much as the children.
+
+"Another story, please, dear Uncle Fritz," they begged.
+
+But their father pointed to the clock.  "Too late, too late, my
+dears," he said.  "If you sit up any longer, your mother will have to
+call you more than once in the morning.  So, away to your beds, every
+one of you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE COFFEE-PARTY
+
+"How would you like to be a wood-cutter, Hans?"
+
+"I think it would be great sport.  I like to hear the thud of the axe
+as it comes down on the trunk.  Then it is always an exciting time as
+the tree begins to bend and fall to the ground.  Somehow, it seems
+like a person.  I can't help pitying it, either."
+
+Hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father.
+A big sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the
+men in the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the Black
+Forest, or working in the sawmill.
+
+After the logs had been cut the right length, they were bound into
+rafts, and floated down the little stream to the Rhine.
+
+"The rafts themselves seem alive," said Hans to his friend.  "You men
+know just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, so
+they twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down the
+stream."
+
+"I have travelled on a raft all the way from here to Cologne,"
+answered the wood-cutter.  "The one who steers must be skilful, for
+he needs to be very careful.  You know the rafts grow larger all the
+time, don't you, Hans?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  As the river becomes wider, the smaller ones are bound
+together.  But is it true that the men sometimes take their families
+along with them?"
+
+"Certainly.  They set up tents, or little huts, on the rafts, so
+their wives and children can have a comfortable place to eat and
+sleep.  Then, too, if it rains, they can be sheltered from the storm."
+
+"I'd like to go with you sometime.  You pass close to Strasburg, and
+I could stop and visit Uncle Fritz.  Wouldn't it be fun!"
+
+"Hans!  Hans!" called a girl's voice just then.
+
+"I don't see her, but I know that's Bertha.  She came over to the
+village with me this afternoon.  One of her friends has a
+coffee-party and she invited us to it.  So, good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye, my lad.  Come and see me again.  Perhaps I can manage
+sometime to take you with me on a trip down the river."
+
+"Thank you ever so much."
+
+Hans hurried away, and was soon entering the house of a little friend
+who was celebrating her birthday with a coffee-party.
+
+There were several other children there.  They were all dressed in
+their best clothes and looked very neat and nice.  The boys wore long
+trousers and straight jackets.  They looked like little old men.  The
+girls had bright-coloured skirts and their white waists were fresh
+and stiff.
+
+Their shoes were coarse and heavy, and made a good deal of noise as
+the children played the different games.  But they were all so plump
+and rosy, it was good to look at them.
+
+"They are a pretty sight," said one of the neighbours, as she poured
+out the coffee.
+
+"They deserve to have a good time," said another woman with a kind,
+motherly face.  "They will soon grow up, and then they will have to
+work hard to get a living."
+
+The coffee and cakes were a great treat to these village children.
+They did not get such a feast every day in the year.  Their mothers
+made cakes only for festivals and holidays, and coffee was seldom
+seen on their tables oftener than once a week.
+
+In the great cities and fine castles, where the rich people of
+Germany had their homes, they could eat sweet dainties and drink
+coffee as often as they liked.  But in the villages of the Black
+Forest, it was quite different.
+
+"Good night, good night," said Hans and Bertha, as they left their
+friends and trudged off on a path through the woods.  It was the
+shortest way home, and they knew their mother must be looking for
+them by this time.
+
+It was just sunset, but the children could not see the beautiful
+colours of the evening sky, after they had gone a short distance into
+the thick woods.
+
+"Do you suppose there are any bears around?" whispered Bertha.
+
+The trees looked very black.  It seemed to the little girl as though
+she kept seeing the shadow of some big animal hiding behind them.
+
+"No, indeed," answered Hans, quite scornfully.  "Too many people go
+along this path for bears to be willing to stay around here.  You
+would have to go farther up into the forest to find them.  But look
+quickly, Bertha.  Do you see that rabbit jumping along?  Isn't he a
+big fellow?"
+
+"See!  Hans, he has noticed us.  There he goes as fast as his legs
+can carry him."
+
+By this time, the children had reached the top of a hill.  The trees
+grew very thick and close.  On one side a torrent came rushing down
+over the rocks and stones.  It seemed to say:
+
+"I cannot stop for any one.  But come with me, come with me, and I
+will take you to the beautiful Rhine.  I will show you the way to
+pretty bridges, and great stone castles, and rare old cities.  Oh,
+this is a wonderful world, and you children of the Black Forest have
+a great deal to see yet."
+
+"I love to listen to running water," said Bertha.  "It always has a
+story to tell us."
+
+"Do you see that light over there, away off in the distance?" asked
+Hans.  "It comes from a charcoal-pit.  I can hear the voices of the
+men at their work."
+
+"I shouldn't like to stay out in the dark woods all the time and make
+charcoal," answered his sister.  "I should get lonesome and long for
+the sunlight."
+
+"It isn't very easy work, either," said Hans.  "After the trees have
+been cut down, the pits have to be made with the greatest care, and
+the wood must be burned just so slowly to change it into charcoal.  I
+once spent a day in the forest with some charcoal-burners.  They told
+such good stories that night came before I had thought of it."
+
+"I can see the village ahead of us," said Bertha, joyfully.
+
+A few minutes afterward, the children were running up the stone steps
+of their own home.
+
+"We had such a good time," Hans told his mother, while Bertha went to
+Gretchen and gave her some cakes she had brought her from the
+coffee-party.
+
+"I'm so sorry you couldn't go," she told her sister.
+
+"Perhaps I can next time," answered Gretchen.  "But, of course, we
+could not all leave mother when she had so much work to do.  So I
+just kept busy and tried to forget all about it."
+
+"You dear, good Gretchen!  I'm going to try to be as patient and
+helpful as you are," said Bertha, kissing her sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL CASTLE
+
+"Father's coming, father's coming," cried Bertha, as she ran down the
+steps and out into the street.
+
+Her father had been away for two days, and Hans had gone with him.
+They had been to Heidelberg.  Bertha and Gretchen had never yet
+visited that city, although it was not more than twenty miles away.
+
+"Oh, dear, I don't know where to begin," Hans told the girls that
+evening.
+
+"Of course, I liked to watch the students better than anything else.
+The town seems full of them.  They all study in the university, of
+course, but they are on the streets a good deal.  They seem to have a
+fine time of it.  Every one carries a small cane with a button on the
+end of it.  They wear their little caps down over their foreheads on
+one side."
+
+"What colour do they have for their caps, Hans?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"All colours, I believe.  Some are red, some blue, some yellow, some
+green.  Oh, I can't tell you how many different kinds there are.  But
+they were bright and pretty, and made the streets look as though it
+must be a festival day."
+
+"I have heard that the students fight a good many duels.  Is that so,
+Hans?"
+
+"If you should see them, you would certainly think so.  Many of the
+fellows are real handsome, but their faces are scarred more often
+than not.
+
+"'The more scars I can show, the braver people will think I am.' That
+is what the students seem to think.  They get up duels with each
+other on the smallest excuse.  When they fight, they always try to
+strike the face.  Father says their duelling is good practice.  It
+really helps to make them brave.   If I were a student, I should want
+to fight duels, too."
+
+Bertha shuddered.  Duelling was quite the fashion in German
+universities, but the little girl was very tender-hearted.  She could
+not bear to think of her brother having his face cut up by the sword
+of any one in the world.
+
+"What do you think, girls?" Hans went on.  "Father had to go to the
+part of the town nearest the castle.  He said he should be busy for
+several hours, and I could do what I liked.  So I climbed up the hill
+to the castle, and wandered all around it.  I saw a number of English
+and American people there.  I suppose they had come to Heidelberg on
+purpose to see those buildings.
+
+"'Isn't it beautiful!' I heard them exclaim again and again.  And I
+saw a boy about my own age writing things about it in a note-book.
+He told his mother he was going to say it was the most beautiful ruin
+in Germany.  He was an American boy, but he spoke our language.  I
+suppose he was just learning it, for he made ever so many mistakes.
+I could hardly tell what he was trying to say."
+
+"What did his mother answer?" asked Bertha.
+
+"She nodded her head, and then pointed out some of the finest
+carvings and statues.  But she and her son moved away from me before
+long, and then I found myself near some children of our country.
+They must have been rich, for they were dressed quite grandly.  Their
+governess was with them.  She told them to notice how many different
+kinds of buildings there were, some of them richly carved, and some
+quite plain.  'You will find here palaces, towers, and fortresses,
+all together,' she said.  'For, in the old days, it was not only a
+grand home, but it was also a strong fortress.'"
+
+[Illustration:  Courtyard of Heidelberg Castle.]
+
+"You know father told us it was not built all at once," said
+Gretchen.  "Different parts were added during four hundred years."
+
+"Yes, and he said it had been stormed by the enemy, and burned and
+plundered," added Bertha.  "It has been in the hands of those horrid
+Frenchmen several different times.  Did you see the blown-up tower,
+Hans?"
+
+"Of course I did.  Half of it, you know, fell into the moat during
+one of the sieges, but linden-trees have grown about it, and it makes
+a shady nook in which to rest one's self."
+
+"You did not go inside of the castle, did you, Hans?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"No.  It looked so big and gloomy, I stayed outside in the pretty
+gardens.  I climbed over some of the moss-grown stairs, though, and I
+kept discovering something I hadn't seen before.  Here and there were
+old fountains and marble statues, all gray with age."
+
+"They say that under the castle are great, dark dungeons," said
+Bertha, shivering at the thought.
+
+"What would a castle be without dungeons?" replied her brother.  "Of
+course there are dungeons.  And there are also hidden, underground
+passages through which the people inside could escape in times of war
+and siege."
+
+"Oh, Hans! did you see the Heidelberg Tun?" asked Gretchen.
+
+Now, the Heidelberg Tun is the largest wine-cask in, the whole world.
+People say that it holds forty-nine thousand gallons.  Just think of
+it!  But it has not been filled for more than a hundred years.
+
+"No, I didn't see it," replied Hans.  "It is down in the cellar, and
+I didn't want to go there without father.  I heard some of the
+visitors telling about the marks of the Frenchmen's hatchets on its
+sides.  One of the times they captured the castle, they tried to
+break open the tun.  They thought it was full of wine.  But they did
+not succeed in hacking through its tough sides."
+
+"Good!  Good!" cried his sisters.  They had little love for France
+and her people.
+
+That evening, after Hans had finished telling the girls about his
+visit, their father told them the legend of Count Frederick, a brave
+and daring man who once lived in Heidelberg Castle.
+
+Count Frederick was so brave and successful that he was called
+"Frederick the Victorious."
+
+Once upon a time he was attacked by the knights and bishops of the
+Rhine, who had banded together against him.  When he found what great
+numbers of soldiers were attacking his castle, Count Frederick was
+not frightened in the least.  He armed his men with sharp daggers,
+and marched boldly out against his foes.
+
+They attacked the horses first of all.  The daggers made short work,
+and the knights were soon brought to the ground.  Their armour was so
+heavy that it was an easy matter then to make them prisoners and take
+them into the castle.
+
+But Frederick treated them most kindly.  He ordered a great banquet
+to be prepared, and invited his prisoners to gather around the board,
+where all sorts of good things were served.
+
+One thing only was lacking.  There was no bread.  The guests thought
+it was because the servants had forgotten it, and one of them dared
+to ask for a piece.  Count Frederick at once turned toward his
+steward and ordered the bread to be brought.  Now his master had
+privately talked with the steward and had told him what words to use
+at this time.
+
+"I am very sorry," said the steward, "but there is no bread."
+
+"You must bake some at once," ordered his master.
+
+"But we have no flour," was the answer.
+
+"You must grind some, then," was the command.
+
+"We cannot do so, for we have no grain."
+
+"Then see that some is threshed immediately."
+
+"That is impossible, for the harvests have been burned down," replied
+the steward.
+
+"You can at least sow grain, that we may have new harvests as soon as
+possible."
+
+"We cannot even do that, for our enemies have burned down all the
+buildings where the grain was stored for seed-time."
+
+Frederick now turned to his visitors, and told them they must eat
+their meat without bread.  But that was not all.  He told them they
+must give him enough money to build new houses and barns to take the
+places of those they had destroyed, and also to buy new seed for
+grain.
+
+"It is wrong," he said, sternly, "to carry on war against those who
+are helpless, and to take away their seeds and tools from the poor
+peasants."
+
+It was a sensible speech.  It made the knights ashamed of the way
+they had been carrying on war in the country, and they left the
+castle wiser and better men.
+
+All this happened long, long ago, before Germany could be called one
+country, for the different parts of the land were ruled over by
+different people and in different ways.
+
+This same Count Frederick, their father told them, had great love for
+the poor.  When he was still quite young, he made a vow.  He said, "I
+will never marry a woman of noble family."
+
+Not long after this, he fell in love with a princess.  But he could
+not ask her to marry him on account of the vow he had made.
+
+He was so unhappy that he went into the army.  He did not wish to
+live, and hoped he would soon meet death.
+
+But the fair princess loved Frederick as deeply as he loved her, and
+as soon as she learned of the vow he had made, she made up her mind
+what to do.
+
+She put on the dress of a poor singing-girl, and left her grand home.
+She followed Frederick from place to place.  They met face to face
+one beautiful evening.  Then it was that the princess told her lover
+she had given up her rank and title for his sake.
+
+How joyful she made him as he listened to her story!  You may be sure
+they were soon married, and the young couple went to live in
+Heidelberg Castle, where they were as happy and as merry as the day
+is long.
+
+
+
+
+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
+was playing it was a baby.
+
+Hans had just come home after an afternoon of sport with his boy
+friends.  But all they had done, Bertha declared, was to play war and
+soldiers.  She had watched them from her own yard.
+
+"Tired of it!  What a silly idea, Bertha.  It won't be many years
+before I shall be a real soldier.  Just picture me then!  I shall
+have a uniform, and march to music.  I don't know where I may go,
+either.  Who knows to what part of the world the emperor will send
+his soldiers at that 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
+been there.  Our schoolmaster was there while he served his time as a
+soldier.  At this very moment, it almost seems as though I could hear
+the jingling of the officers' swords as they move along the streets.
+The regiments are drilled every day, and I don't know how often the
+soldiers have sham battles."
+
+Hans jumped up from his seat under the tree and began to march up and
+down as though he were a soldier already.
+
+"Attention, battalion!  Forward, march!" Bertha called after him.
+But she was laughing as she spoke.  She could not help it, Hans
+looked so serious.  At the same time she couldn't help envying her
+brother a little, and wishing she were a boy, too.  It must be so
+grand to be a soldier and be ready to fight for the emperor who ruled
+over her country.
+
+"The schoolmaster told us boys yesterday about the grand palace at
+Berlin.  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,
+"for the 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 that
+2,400,000 marks were spent on it.  You can't imagine it, Bertha, of
+course.  I can't, either."
+
+A German mark is worth about twenty-four cents of American money, so
+the 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 hardly imagine so much money.
+
+"There are hundreds of halls in the palace," Hans went on.  "Some of
+their walls are painted and others are hung with elegant silk
+draperies.  The floors are polished so they shine like mirrors.  Then
+the pictures and the armour, Bertha!  It almost seemed as though I
+were there while the schoolmaster was describing them."
+
+"I never expect to see such lovely things," said his sober little
+sister.  "But perhaps I shall go to Berlin some day, Hans.  Then I
+can see the statue of Frederick the Great, at any rate."
+
+"It stands opposite the palace," said her brother, "and cost more
+than any 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
+the blood of every true German to look at it.  There the great
+Frederick sits on horseback, wearing the robe in which he was
+crowned, and looking out from under his cocked hat with his bright,
+sharp eyes.  That statue alone is enough to make the soldiers who
+march past it ready to give their lives for their country."
+
+[Illustration:  Statue of Frederick the Great.]
+
+"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' War
+with France and came out victorious.  Hardly any one thought he could
+succeed, for there was so much against him.  But he was brave and
+determined.  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
+he was unhappy when he was young?  His father was so strict that he
+tried to run away from Germany with two of his friends.  The king
+found out what they meant to do.  One of the friends was put to
+death, and the other managed to escape."
+
+"What did his father do to Frederick?" Bertha's eyes were full of
+pity for 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 was
+angry at the time, for he changed his mind before the sentence was
+carried out, and forgave him."
+
+"I wonder how kings and emperors live," said Bertha, slowly.  It
+seemed as though everything must be different with them from what it
+was with other 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, even
+if he was a king and was born in the grand palace at Berlin.  His
+coat was often very shabby.
+
+"In the next place, he slept only about four hours out of the whole
+twenty-four for a good many years.  He got up at three o'clock on
+summer mornings, and in the winter-time he was always dressed by
+five, at the very latest.
+
+"While his hair-dresser was at work, he opened his most important
+letters.  After that, he attended to other business affairs of the
+country.  These things were done before eating or drinking.  But when
+they had been attended to, the king went into his writing-room and
+drank a number of glasses of cold water.  As he wrote, he sipped
+coffee and ate a little fruit from time to time.
+
+"He loved music very dearly, and sometimes rested from his work and
+played on his flute.
+
+"Dinner was the only regular meal of the day.  It was served at
+twelve o'clock, and lasted three or four hours.  There was a bill of
+fare, and the 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 with
+their cooking?" asked Bertha.
+
+"Yes.  He marked the dishes he liked best with a cross.  He enjoyed
+his dinner, and generally had a number of friends to eat with him.
+There was much joking, and there were many clever speeches.
+
+"When the meal was over, the king played on his flute a short time,
+and then attended to more business."
+
+"Did he work till bedtime, Hans?"
+
+"Oh, no.  In the evening there was a concert or lecture, or something
+like that.  But, all the same, the king was a hard-working man, even
+in times of peace."
+
+"He loved his people dearly, father once told me," said Bertha.  "He
+said he understood his subjects and they understood him."
+
+"Yes, and that reminds me of a story the schoolmaster told.  King
+Frederick was once riding through the street when he saw a crowd of
+people gathered together.  He said to his groom, 'Go and see what is
+the matter.'  The man came back and told the king that the people
+were all looking 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 to stretch their necks to see it.'
+
+"The crowd heard the words.  'Hurrah for the king!' they cried.  At
+the same time, they began to tear the picture into pieces."
+
+"Frederick the Great could appreciate a joke," said Bertha.  "I
+should think the people must have loved him."
+
+"He had some fine buildings put up in his lifetime," Hans went on.
+"A new palace was built in Berlin, besides another one the king
+called 'Sans Souci.'  Those are French words meaning, 'Without a
+Care.'  He called the place by that name because he said he was
+free-hearted and untroubled while he stayed there.
+
+"I've told you these things because you are a girl.  But I'll tell
+you what I like to think of best of all.  It's the stories of the
+wars in which 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 great
+king.  Then he started for the wood-pile, where he was soon sawing
+logs with as much energy as if he were fighting against the enemies
+of his country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BRAVE PRINCESS
+
+"Listen, children!  That must be the song of a nightingale.  How
+sweet it is!"
+
+It was a lovely Sunday afternoon.  Every one in the family had been
+to church in the morning, and come home to a good dinner of bean soup
+and potato salad.  Then the father had said:
+
+"Let us take a long walk over the fields and through the woods.  The
+world is beautiful to-day.  We can enjoy it best by leaving the house
+behind us."
+
+Some of the neighbours joined the merry party.  The men smoked their
+pipes, while the women chatted together and the children frolicked
+about them and picked wild flowers.
+
+How many sweet smells there were in the fields!  How gaily the birds
+sang!  The air seemed full of peace and joy.
+
+They all wandered on till they came to a cascade flowing down over
+some high rocks.  Trees grew close to the waterfall, and bent over it
+as though to hide it from curious eyes.
+
+It was a pretty spot.
+
+"Let us sit down at the foot of this cascade," said Bertha's father,
+"It is a pleasant place to rest."
+
+Every one liked the plan.  Bertha nestled close to her father's side.
+
+"Tell us a story.  Please do," she said.
+
+"Ask neighbour Abel.  He knows many a legend of just such places as
+this.  He has lived in the Hartz Mountains, and they are filled with
+fairy stories."
+
+The rest of the party heard what was said.
+
+"Neighbour Abel!  A story, a story," they cried.
+
+Of course the kind-hearted German could not refuse such a general
+request.  Besides, he liked to tell stories.  Taking his long pipe
+out of his mouth, he laid it down on the ground beside him.  Then he
+cleared his throat and began to speak.
+
+"Look above you, friends.  Do you see that mark on the rocky platform
+overhead?  I noticed it as soon as I got here.  It made me think of a
+wild spot in the Hartz Mountains where there is just such a mark.
+The people call it 'The Horse's Hoof-print.'  I will tell you how
+they explain its coming there.
+
+"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was
+Brunhilda, and she lived in Bohemia.  She lived a gay and happy life,
+like most young princesses, till one day a handsome prince arrived at
+her father's palace.  He was the son of the king of the Hartz country.
+
+"Of course, you can all guess what happened.  The prince fell in love
+with the princess, and she returned his love.  The day was set for
+the wedding, and the young prince went home to prepare for the great
+event.
+
+"But he had been gone only a short time when a powerful giant arrived
+at Brunhilda's home.  He came from the far north.  His name was Bodo.
+
+"He asked for the princess in marriage, but her heart had already
+been given away.  She did not care for the giant, even though he gave
+her the most elegant presents,--a beautiful white horse, jewels set
+in gold, and chains of amber.
+
+"'I dare not refuse the giant,' said Brunhilda's father.  'He is very
+powerful, and we must not make him angry.  You must marry him, my
+daughter, in three days.'
+
+"The poor maiden wept bitterly.  It seemed as though her heart would
+break.  But she was a clever girl, and she soon dried her tears and
+began to think of some plan by which she might yet be free.  She
+began to smile upon the giant and treat him with great kindness.
+
+"'I should like to try the beautiful horse you brought me,' she said
+to him.  He was much pleased.  The horse was brought to the door.
+The princess mounted him and rode for a time up and down in front of
+the palace.
+
+"The very next day was that set apart for the wedding.  The castle
+was filled with guests who feasted and made merry.  The giant entered
+into everything with a will.  He laughed till the floors and walls
+shook.  Little did he think what was taking place.  For the princess
+slipped out of the castle when no one was watching, hurried into the
+stable, and leaped upon the back of her swift white horse.
+
+"'Lower the drawbridge instantly,' she called to the guard.  She
+passed over it, and away she flew like the wind.
+
+"You were too late, too late, O giant, when you discovered that
+Brunhilda was missing.
+
+"He flew out of the castle, and on the back of his own fiery black
+horse he dashed after the runaway princess.
+
+"On they went!  On, on, without stopping.  Over the plains, up and
+down the hillsides, through the villages.  The sun set and darkness
+fell upon the world, but there was never a moment's rest for the
+maiden on the white horse or the giant lover on his black steed.
+
+"Sometimes in the darkness sparks were struck off from the horses'
+hoofs as they passed over rough and rocky places.  These sparks
+always showed the princess ahead and slowly increasing the distance
+between herself and her pursuer.
+
+"When the morning light first appeared, the maiden could see the
+summit of the Brocken ahead of her.  It was the home of her lover.
+Her heart leaped within her.  If she could only reach it she would be
+safe.
+
+"But alas! her horse suddenly stood still.  He would not move.  He
+had reached the edge of a precipice.  There it lay, separating the
+princess from love and safety.
+
+"The brave girl had not a moment to lose.  The giant was fast drawing
+near.  She wheeled her horse around; then, striking his sides a sharp
+blow with her whip, she urged him to leap across the precipice.
+
+"The spring must be strong and sure.  It was a matter of life and
+death.  The chasm was deep.  If the horse should fail to strike the
+other side securely, it meant a horrible end to beast and rider.
+
+"But he did not fail.  The feet of the brave steed came firmly down
+upon the rocky platform.  So heavily did they fall that the imprint
+of a hoof was left upon the rock.
+
+"The princess was now safe.  It would be an easy matter for her to
+reach her lover's side.
+
+"As for the giant, he tried to follow Brunhilda across the chasm.
+But he was too heavy and his horse failed to reach the mark.  The two
+sank together to the bottom of the precipice."
+
+Every one thanked the story-teller, and begged him to tell more of
+the Hartz Mountains, where he had spent his boyhood days.  The
+children were delighted when he spoke of the gnomes, in whom he
+believed when he was a child.
+
+"Every time I went out in the dark woods," he said, "I was on the
+lookout for these funny little fairies of the underground world.  I
+wanted to see them, but at the same time I was afraid I should meet
+them.
+
+"I remember one time that my mother sent me on an errand through the
+woods at twilight.  I was in the thickest part of the woods, when I
+heard a sound that sent a shiver down my back.
+
+"'It is a witch, or some other dreadful being,' I said to myself.
+'Nothing else could make a sound like that.'  My teeth chattered.  My
+legs shook so, I could hardly move.  Somehow or other, I managed to
+keep on.  It seemed as though hours passed before I saw the lights of
+the village.  Yet I suppose it was not more than fifteen minutes.
+
+"When I was once more safe inside my own home, I told my father and
+mother about my fright.
+
+"'It was no witch, my child,' said my father.  'The sound you
+describe was probably the cry of a wildcat.  I thank Heaven that you
+are safe.  A wildcat is not a very pleasant creature to meet in a
+lonely place.'
+
+"After that, I was never sent away from the village after dark.
+
+"My boy friends and I often came across badgers and deer, and
+sometimes foxes made their way into the village in search of poultry,
+but I never came nearer to meeting a wildcat than the time of which I
+have just told you."
+
+"What work did you do out of school hours?" asked Hans.  The boy was
+thinking of the toys he had to carve.
+
+"My mother raised canary-birds, and I used to help her a great deal.
+Nearly every woman in the village was busy at the same work.  What
+concerts we did have in those days!  Mother tended every young bird
+she raised with the greatest care.  Would it become a good singer and
+bring a fair price?  We waited anxiously for the first notes, and
+then watched to see how the voices gained in strength and sweetness.
+
+"It was a pleasant life, and I was very happy among the birds in our
+little village.  Would you like to hear a song I used to sing at that
+time?  It is all about the birds and bees and flowers."
+
+"Do sing it for us," cried every one.
+
+Herr Abel had a good voice and they listened with pleasure to his
+song.  This is the first stanza:
+
+  "I have been on the mountain
+  That the song-birds love best.
+  They were sitting, were flitting,
+  They were building their nest.
+  They were sitting, were flitting,
+  They were building their nest."
+
+After he had finished, he told about the mines in which some of his
+friends worked.  It was a hard life, with no bright sunlight to cheer
+the men in those deep, dark caverns underground.
+
+"Of course you all know that the deepest mine in the world is in the
+Hartz Mountains."
+
+His friends nodded their heads, while Hans whispered to Bertha, "I
+should like to go down in that mine just for the sake of saying I
+have been as far into the earth as any living person."
+
+"The sun is setting, and there is a chill in the air," said Bertha's
+father.  "Let us go home."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+WHAT THE WAVES BRING
+
+Bertha's mother had just come in from a hard morning's work in the
+fields.  She had been helping her husband weed the garden.
+
+She spent a great deal of time outdoors in the summer-time, as many
+German peasant women do.  They do a large share of the work in
+ploughing the grain-fields and harvesting the crops.  They are much
+stronger than their American cousins.
+
+"Supper is all ready and waiting for you," said Bertha.
+
+The little girl had prepared a dish of sweet fruit soup which her
+mother had taught her to make.
+
+[Illustration:  Bertha's Home.]
+
+"It is very good," said her father when he had tasted it.  "My little
+Bertha is getting to be quite a housekeeper."
+
+"Indeed, it is very good," said her mother.  "You learned your lesson
+well, my child."
+
+Bertha was quite abashed by so much praise.  She looked down upon her
+plate and did not lift her eyes again till Gretchen began to tell of
+a new amber bracelet which had just been given to one of the
+neighbours.
+
+"It is beautiful," said Gretchen, quite excitedly.  "The beads are
+such a clear, lovely yellow.  They look so pretty on Frau Braun's
+neck, I don't wonder she is greatly pleased with her present."
+
+"Who sent it to her?" asked her mother.
+
+"Her brother in Cologne.  He is doing well at his trade, and so he
+bought this necklace at a fair and sent it to his sister as a
+remembrance.  He wrote her a letter all about the sights in Cologne,
+and asked Frau Braun to come and visit him and his wife.
+
+"He promised her in the letter that if she would come, he would take
+her to see the grand Cologne cathedral.  He said thousands of
+strangers visit it every year, because every one knows it is one of
+the most beautiful buildings in all Europe.
+
+"Then he said she should also see the Church of Saint Ursula, where
+the bones of the eleven thousand maidens can still be seen in their
+glass cases."
+
+"Do you know the story of St. Ursula, Gretchen?" asked her father.
+
+"Yes, indeed, sir.  Ursula was the daughter of an English king.  She
+was about to be married, but she said that before the wedding she
+would go to Rome on a pilgrimage.
+
+"Eleven thousand young girls went with the princess.  On her way home
+she was married, but when the wedding party had got as far as
+Cologne, they were attacked by the savage Huns.  Every one was
+killed,--Ursula, her husband, and the eleven thousand maidens.  The
+church was afterward built in her memory.  Ursula was made a saint by
+the Pope, and the bones of the young girls were preserved in glass
+cases in the church."
+
+"Did Frau Braun tell of anything else her brother wrote?" asked her
+mother.
+
+"He spoke of the bridge of boats across the river, and said she would
+enjoy watching it open and shut to let the steamers and big rafts
+pass through.  And he told of the Cologne water that is sold in so
+many of the shops.  It is hard to tell which makes the town most
+famous, the great cathedral or the Cologne water."
+
+"Father, how was the bridge of boats made?" asked Bertha.
+
+"The boats were moored in a line across the river.  Planks were then
+laid across the tops and fastened upon them.  Vessels cannot pass
+under a bridge of this kind, so it has to be opened from time to
+time.  They say it is always interesting to see this done."
+
+"Yes, Frau Braun said she would rather see the bridge of boats than
+anything else in the city.  She has already begun to plan how she can
+save up enough money to make the trip."
+
+"I will go over there to-morrow to see her new necklace," said
+Bertha.  "But what is amber, father?"
+
+"If you should go to the northern part of Germany, Bertha, you would
+see great numbers of men, women, and children, busy on the shores of
+the ocean.  The work is greatest in the rough days of autumn, when a
+strong wind is blowing from the northeast.
+
+"Then the men dress themselves as though they were going out into a
+storm.  They arm themselves with nets and plunge into the waves,
+which are bringing treasure to the shore.  It is the beautiful amber
+we admire so much.
+
+"The women and children are waiting on the sands, and as the men
+bring in their nets, the contents are given into their hands.  They
+separate the precious lumps of amber from the weeds to which they are
+clinging."
+
+Their father stopped to fill his pipe, and the children thought he
+had come to the end of the story.
+
+"But you haven't told us yet what amber is," said Bertha.
+
+"Be patient, my little one, and you shall hear," replied her father,
+patting her head.  "As yet, I have not half told the story.  But I
+will answer your question at once.
+
+"A long time ago, longer than you can imagine, Bertha, forests were
+growing along the shores of the Baltic Sea.  There was a great deal
+of gum in the trees of these forests.  It oozed out of the trees in
+the same manner as gum from the spruce-tree and resin from the pine.
+
+"Storms arose, and beds of sand and clay drifted over the forests.
+They were buried away for thousands of years, it may be.  But the
+motion of the sea washes up pieces of the gum, which is of light
+weight.
+
+"The gum has become changed while buried in the earth such a long,
+long time.  Wise men use the word 'fossilized' when they speak of
+what has happened to it.   The now beautiful, changed gum is called
+amber.
+
+"There are different ways of getting it.  I told you how it comes
+drifting in on the waves when the winds are high and the water is
+rough.  But on the pleasant summer days, when the sea is smooth and
+calm, the men go out a little way from the shore in boats.  They
+float about, looking earnestly over the sides of the boats to the
+bottom of the sea.
+
+"All at once, they see something.  Down go their long hooks through
+the water.  A moment afterward, they begin to tow a tangle of stones
+and seaweed to the shore.  As soon as they land, they begin to sort
+out the great mass.  Perhaps they will rejoice in finding large
+pieces of amber in the collection.
+
+"There is still another way of getting amber.  I know Hans will be
+most interested in what I am going to say now.  It has more of danger
+in it, and boys like to hear anything in the way of adventure."
+
+Hans looked up and smiled.  His father knew him well.  He was a
+daring lad.  He was always longing for the time when he should grow
+up and be a soldier, and possibly take part in some war.
+
+"Children," their father went on, "you have all heard of divers and
+of their dangerous work under the sea.  Gretchen was telling me the
+other day about her geography lesson, and of the pearl-divers along
+the shores of India.  I did not tell her then that some men spend
+their lives diving for amber on the shores of our own country.
+
+"They wear rubber suits and helmets and air-chests of sheet iron."
+
+"How can they see where they are going?" asked Bertha.
+
+"There are glass openings in their helmets, and they can look through
+these.  They go out in boats.  The crew generally consists of six
+men.  Two of them are divers, and four men have charge of the
+air-pumps.  These pumps force fresh air down through tubes fastened
+to the helmet of each diver.  Besides these men there is an overseer
+who has charge of everything.
+
+"Sometimes the divers stay for hours on the bed of the sea, and work
+away at the amber tangles."
+
+"But suppose anything happens to the air-tubes and the men fail to
+get as much air as they need?" said Hans.  "Is there any way of
+letting those in the boat know they are in trouble?  And, besides
+that, how do the others know when it is time to raise the divers with
+their precious loads?"
+
+"There is a safety-rope reaching from the boat to the men.  When they
+pull this rope it is a sign that they wish to be drawn up.  But I
+have told you as much about amber now as you will be able to
+remember."
+
+"Are you very tired, father dear?" said Bertha, in her most coaxing
+tone.
+
+"Why should I be tired?  What do you wish to ask me?  Come, speak out
+plainly, little one."
+
+"You tell such lovely fairy-tales, papa, I was just wishing for one.
+See!  The moon is just rising above the tree-tops.  It is the very
+time for stories of the wonderful beings."
+
+Her father smiled.  "It shall be as you wish, Bertha.  It is hard to
+refuse you when you look at me that way.  Come, children, let us sit
+in the doorway.  Goodwife, put down your work and join us while I
+tell the story of Siegfried, the old hero of Germany."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE MAGIC SWORD
+
+Far away in the long ago there lived a mighty king with his goodwife
+and his brave son, Siegfried.  Their home was at Xanten, where the
+river Rhine flows lazily along.
+
+The young prince was carefully taught.  But when his education was
+nearly finished, his father said:
+
+"Siegfried, there is a mighty smith named Mimer.  It will be well for
+you to learn all you can of him in regard to the making of arms."
+
+So Siegfried went to work at the trade of a smith.  It was not long
+before he excelled his teacher.  This pleased Mimer, who spent many
+spare hours with his pupil, telling him stories of the olden times.
+
+After awhile, he took Siegfried into his confidence.  He said:
+
+"There is a powerful knight in Burgundy who has challenged every
+smith of my country to make a weapon strong enough to pierce his coat
+of mail.
+
+"I long to try," Mimer went on, "but I am now old and have not
+strength enough to use the heavy hammer."
+
+At these words Siegfried jumped up in great excitement.
+
+"I will make the sword, dear master," he cried.  "Be of good cheer.
+It shall be strong enough to cut the knight's armour in two."
+
+Early the next morning, Siegfried began his work.  For seven days and
+seven nights the constant ringing of his hammer could be heard.  At
+the end of that time Siegfried came to his master with a sword of the
+finest steel in his right hand.
+
+Mimer looked it all over.  He then held it in a stream of running
+water in which he had thrown a fine thread.  The water carried the
+thread against the edge of the sword, where it was cut in two.
+
+"It is without a fault," cried Mimer with delight.
+
+"I can do better than that," answered Siegfried, and he took the
+sword and broke it into pieces.
+
+Again he set to work.   For seven more days and seven more nights he
+was busy at his forge.  At the end of that time he brought a polished
+sword to his master.
+
+Mimer looked it over with the greatest care and made ready to test it.
+
+He threw the fleeces of twelve sheep into the stream.  The current
+carried them on its bosom to Siegfried's sword.  Instantly, each
+piece was divided as it met the blade.  Mimer shouted aloud in his
+Joy.
+
+"Balmung" (for that was the name Siegfried gave the sword) "is the
+finest weapon man ever made," he cried.
+
+Siegfried was now prepared to meet the proud knight of Burgundy.
+
+The very first thrust of the sword, Balmung, did the work.  The head
+and shoulders of the giant were severed from the rest of the body.
+They rolled down the hillside and fell into the Rhine, where they can
+be seen even now, when the water is clear.  At least, so runs the
+story.  The trunk remained on the hilltop and was turned to stone.
+
+Soon after this Mimer found that Siegfried longed to see the world
+and make himself famous.  So he bound the sword Balmung to the young
+prince's side, and told him to seek a certain person, who would give
+him a fine war-horse.
+
+Siegfried went to this man, from whom he obtained a matchless steed.
+In fact it had descended from the great god Odin's magic horse.
+Siegfried, you can see, must have lived in a time when men believed
+in gods and other wonderful beings.
+
+He was now all ready for his adventures, but before starting out,
+Mimer told him of a great treasure of gold guarded by a fearful
+serpent.  This treasure was spread out over a plain called the
+Glittering Heath.  No man had yet been able to take it, because of
+its terrible guardian.
+
+Siegfried was not in the least frightened by the stories he heard of
+the monster.  He started out on his dangerous errand with a heart
+full of courage.
+
+At last, he drew near the plain.  He could see it on the other side
+of the Rhine, from the hilltop where he was standing.  With no one to
+help him, not even taking his magic horse with him, he hurried down
+the hillside and sprang into a boat on the shore.
+
+An old man had charge of the boat, and as he rowed Siegfried across,
+he gave him good advice.  This old man, as it happened, was the god
+Odin, who loved Siegfried and wished to see him succeed.
+
+"Dig a deep trench along the path the serpent has worn on his way to
+the river when in search of water," said the old boatman.  "Hide
+yourself in the trench, and, as the serpent passes along, you must
+thrust your sword deep into his body."
+
+It was good advice.  Siegfried did as Odin directed him.  He went to
+work on the trench at once.  It was soon finished, and then the young
+prince, sword in hand, was lying in watch for the dread monster.
+
+He did not have long to wait.  He soon heard the sound of rolling
+stones.  Then came a loud hiss, and immediately afterward he felt the
+serpent's fiery breath on his cheek.
+
+And now the serpent rolled over into the ditch, and Siegfried was
+covered by the folds of his huge body.  He did not fear or falter.
+He thrust Balmung, his wonderful sword, deep into the monster's body.
+The blood poured forth in such torrents that the ditch began to fill
+fast.
+
+It was a time of great danger for Siegfried.  He would have been
+drowned if the serpent in his death-agony had not rolled over on one
+side and given him a chance to free himself.
+
+In a moment more he was standing, safe and sound, by the side of the
+ditch.  His bath in the serpent's blood had given him a great
+blessing.  Hereafter it would be impossible for any one to wound him
+except in one tiny place on his shoulder.  A leaf had fallen on this
+spot, and the blood had not touched it.
+
+"What did Siegfried do with the golden treasure?" asked Hans, when
+his father had reached this point in the story.
+
+"He had not sought it for himself, but for Mimer's sake.  All he
+cared for was the power of killing the serpent."
+
+As soon as this was done, Mimer drew near and showed himself
+ungrateful and untrue.  He was so afraid Siegfried would claim some
+of the treasure that he secretly drew Balmung from out the serpent's
+body, and made ready to thrust it into Siegfried.
+
+But at that very moment his foot slipped in the monster's blood, and
+he fell upon the sword and was instantly killed.
+
+Siegfried was filled with horror when he saw what had happened.  He
+sprang upon his horse's back and fled as fast as possible from the
+dreadful scene.
+
+"What happened to Siegfried after that?  Did he have any more
+adventures?" asked Bertha.
+
+"Yes, indeed.  There were enough to fill a book.  But there is one in
+particular you girls would like to hear.  It is about a beautiful
+princess whom he freed from a spell which had been cast upon her."
+
+"What was her name, papa?" asked Gretchen.
+
+"Brunhild, the Queen of Isenland.  She had been stung by the thorn of
+sleep."
+
+Odin, the great god, had said, "Brunhild shall not awake till some
+hero is brave enough to fight his way through the flames which shall
+constantly surround the palace.  He must then go to the side of the
+sleeping maiden and break the charm by a kiss upon her forehead."
+
+When Siegfried, in his wanderings, heard the story of Brunhild, he
+said, "I will make my way through the flames and will myself rescue
+the fair princess."
+
+He leaped upon the back of his magic steed, and together they fought
+their way through the fire that surrounded the palace of the sleeping
+beauty.  He reached the gates in safety.  There was no sign of life
+about the place.  Every one was wrapped in a deep sleep.
+
+Siegfried made his way to the room of the enchanted princess.  Ah!
+there she lay, still and beautiful, with no knowledge of what was
+going on around her.
+
+The young knight knelt by her side.  Leaning over her, he pressed a
+kiss upon her forehead.  She moved slightly; then, opening her blue
+eyes, she smiled sweetly upon her deliverer.
+
+At the same moment every one else in the palace woke up and went on
+with whatever had been interrupted when sleep overcame them.
+
+Siegfried remained for six months with the fair Brunhild and her
+court.  Every day was given up to music and feasting, games and
+songs.  Time passed like a beautiful dream.  No one knows how long
+the young knight might have enjoyed this happy life if Odin had not
+sent two birds.  Thought and Memory, to remind him there were other
+things for him yet to do.
+
+He did not stop to bid Brunhild farewell, but leaped upon his horse's
+back and rode away in search of new adventures.
+
+"Dear me, children," exclaimed their father, looking at the clock,
+"it is long past the time you should be in your soft, warm beds."
+
+"Papa, do you know what day to-morrow is?" whispered Bertha, as she
+kissed him good night.
+
+"My darling child's birthday.  It is ten years to-morrow since your
+eyes first looked upon the sunlight.  They have been ten happy years
+to us all, though our lives are full of work.  What do you say to
+that, my little one?"
+
+"Very happy, papa dear.  You and mother are so kind!  I ought to be
+good as well as happy."
+
+"She is a faithful child," said her mother, after Bertha had left the
+room.  "That is why I have a little surprise ready for to-morrow.  I
+have baked a large birthday cake and shall ask her little friends to
+share it with her.
+
+"Her aunt has finished the new dress I bought for her, and I have
+made two white aprons, besides.  She will be a happy child when she
+sees her presents."
+
+The mother closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to the All-Father
+that Bertha's life should be as joyful as her tenth birthday gave
+promise of being.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA***
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