Story Hour Readers, book 3 | Page 2

him, the mother upset a jug of milk. It was all the food there was in the house.
"Oh, mother!" cried Gretel. "You have spilled the milk, and we shall have nothing to eat."
"Go out into the woods and gather some strawberries. Do not return until you have filled the basket to the brim," commanded the mother. "Hansel, help your sister pick the berries, and hurry back, both of you, for there is nothing else for supper."
Towards evening the father returned from the village.
"Ho, ho, good wife!" called Peter. "I have had great luck to-day, and have sold all my brooms. Now for a good supper! See here--bread and butter, some potatoes, ham and eggs. But where are the children?"
"They have gone to the woods to gather strawberries," replied Gertrude.
"It is growing dark. Hansel and Gretel should have been here long ago," said Peter anxiously.
The wife began to prepare supper. The husband went to the door of the cottage and looked out into the darkness.
"Alas, my children!" cried Peter. "I fear that the terrible Witch of the Forest may find them, and that we shall never see them again!"
Meanwhile Hansel and Gretel had filled the basket with strawberries, and then had wandered into the forest. They sat down upon a mossy bank under a fir tree, to rest.
"Here is a fine strawberry! Taste it," said Gretel.
She put a berry into Hansel's mouth and took one for herself.
"I am so hungry! Give me another berry," said Hansel.
The children tasted another and another of the strawberries, until all were gone.
"Oh, Hansel! We have eaten all of the strawberries," cried Gretel. "We must fill the basket again."
The children began to hunt for more berries, but it was now growing dark, and they could find none. To make matters worse, they had lost their way.
Gretel began to cry, but Hansel tried to be very brave.
"I will take care of you, sister," said he.
"Hark!" said Gretel.
They could hear soft voices among the trees. The children became more frightened than before.
"What is that, near the dark bushes?" whispered Gretel.
"It is only the stump of a tree," replied Hansel.
"It is making faces at me!" said Gretel.
Hansel made faces back again, trying to drive the strange form away.
Suddenly a light came toward them.
"Oh, here are father and mother looking for us!" cried Gretel.
But no, it was only the light of the will-o'-the-wisp.
Hansel called, "Who is there?"
Echo answered, "Who is there?"
Poor Babes in the Wood! They fled in terror, back to the mossy bank under the fir tree. There they huddled close together.
Presently a little man with a long white beard stood before them. He was dressed in gray clothes, and he carried a gray sack upon his back.
Hansel and Gretel were not afraid of the little man, for he seemed very friendly.
The little man sang softly,
"Golden slumbers close your eyes, Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep, pretty darlings, do not cry, And I will sing a lullaby. Lullaby, lullaby, the Sandman am I."
Then the Sandman threw into their tired eyes the sand of sleep. Soon the children had gone safely to Slumberland.
At midnight a little elf, whose home was deep in the heart of an oak tree, came forth and rang a fairy bell. He sang,
"Twelve small strokes on my tinkling bell-- 'Twas made of the white snail's pearly shell;-- Midnight comes, and all is well! Hither, hither, wing your way, 'Tis the dawn of the fairy day!"
At the last stroke of twelve, a troop of fairies and wood nymphs appeared. They danced merrily to the tune of the flower bells, forming a ring around the children.
When the sun's rays began to shine through the branches of the trees, the fairies tripped away. Only the Dew Fairy remained. She sprinkled dew upon the children's faces with her magic wand.
The Dew Fairy sang,
"Awake you, O children dear, Wake you and rise! The sun glowing brightly, peeps Into your eyes!"
Then the Dew Fairy departed.
"O Hansel! Hear the birds singing! Where are we?" exclaimed Gretel. "Come, Hansel, wake up!"
The children looked about them in wonder. The giant trees had disappeared, and near them stood a little house.
"What a pretty cottage!" said Hansel. "Why, it is a candy house! The roof is chocolate, and the windows are sugar plums. What a queer fence! It is gingerbread!"
Soon they heard some one say, in a squeaky voice,
"Nibble, nibble, little mouse, Who is nibbling my sweet house?"
The children only ate and sang and laughed.
Suddenly the door of the house flew open. An old witch came out. On her head she wore a pointed hat, and in her hand she carried a stick.
The candy cottage belonged to the Witch of the Forest.
"Oh, ho!" cried the witch. "You dear children, who led you here? Come in, and I will give you candies, cakes, apples, and nuts--all that