up,
where it broadened into a lake; and played on their rude pipes as they
rested in the flickering gloom of the water-weeds and rushes.

"Everyone has seen the River-Gods but me!" said the white flower. "The
wind brings me the floating sound of their piping--I can even hear
their laughter, and the echo of their voices. Yet they do not come,
and I may wither, and never have the happiness I long for!"

But one day, the river-side thrilled, with a strange, new feeling of
hope and expectation. The sun shone, a faint breeze stirred the trees;
and down the stream waded a beautiful youth, carrying his pipes in his
hand, blowing a few notes mournfully, at long intervals. His hair,
crowned with an ivy wreath, hung down, curled and tangled; his
hoof-feet splashed in the shallows of the water, and he cried--

"Nadiae! Nadiae! Where are you hiding--Why do you not come to me?"

The white flower remained, enchanted and motionless, upon its stem,
bending its yellow eye upon the stranger.

"Nadiae! Nadiae!" the voice wailed, "Do not hide from me any more!--Come
to me!"

The bushes rustled and parted; a delicate girl's face looked out, and
a wood nymph in floating garments, slid to the side of the stream, and
dabbled her white feet in the water.

The youth gave a cry of joy; "I have found you, Nadiae! I have piped to
you, and called to you till I was weary; but I loved you, and at last
I have found you!"

The wood nymph smiled as she sat in the flickering shadows--and the
River-God bending down, gathered the Grass of Parnassus, and placed it
timidly in her shining tresses.

The wish of the white flower had been fulfilled; but the end of its
life's longing was--Death.

THE HEDGEHOGS' COFFEE PARTY.

A STORY OF THURINGIA.

CHAPTER I.

It was winter time, and the Thuringia-Wald lay still and white under
its snowy covering.

The fir trees waved their branches in the frosty air, and a clear moon
had risen over the mountains.

All was quiet and deserted, except that a faint sound of music and
singing floated on the wind, coming undoubtedly from the comfortable
burrow of the Hedgehog family, who lived under one of the largest pine
stumps.

Councillor Igel--for the father was a member of the Hedgehog
Government--had consented to allow the young people to have one or two
friends to coffee, and they had been dancing with the greatest spirit
for the last half hour.

By the porcelain stove stood the Councillor's only