Story Hour Readers — Book Three

								

"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 you
wish to eat!"
Hansel and Gretel were frightened. They started to run away, but the old
witch waved her Elder Bush above her head. It cast a spell over the
children. They could not move.