cock's tail--the
green and blue one that eats so much corn--and I was as good a soldier
as I knew how to be!"

"Well, what was the matter?"

"Why, I had my dear Rosa in my arms, and Ludwig looked over the fence,
and laughed at Fritz for having a girl with a doll in his regiment, and
Fritz became very cross, and said he would not play. Then I put my Rosa
down, and went marching again; but that dreadful great cock came and
pecked at her eyes, and I _could_ not see her suffer; so I hid her in my
apron while Fritz was not looking, and we came into the house to fill
our knapsacks; then Fritz saw Rosa, and he said I was a disobedient
soldier, and he pulled her out of my arms, and tossed her down and broke
her, as you see--oh, my dear, my good Rosa!"

"But I think Fritz is sorry. See! he has been tied to the table a long
while for punishment. Can you not forgive him?"

Lucie did not answer; her little soul seemed much disturbed.

"Come, I will tell thee a story, my Lucie, of two other children, and
then, perhaps, thou wilt be more ready to let Fritz go free. Far away up
in the mountains where are the chamois, and where the rocks are rough
and the forests dark, lived Hans and Gretchen. They were wild as the
chamois themselves, and their old grandfather could scarcely keep them
by his side long enough to tell them the story of the Saviour's love, or
teach them even to read. They knew the haunt of every wild creature of
the woods, and many were their quarrels over a nest of young birds, or
the possession of the animals they trapped. They had no kind mother;
their words were often harsh, and sometimes hunger made them really
cruel to each other. They were much to be pitied, for their grandfather
was lame as well as old, and could do little for their support.

"One day, in an eager chase after a rabbit Gretchen gave Hans a great
push, which sent him down over a rocky ledge on to some stones. She was
frightened to see that he did not move, and still more frightened when
she found he was moaning with pain. She ran to get help, and the
neighbors came and lifted Hans and carried him home; but he never walked
again: his spine was hurt. Ah! what sorrow then was Gretchen's! How she
wished she had never been so unkind!

"How she missed her companion in her wild rambles, and in her search for
the Edelweiss flowers which she sold to travellers, and so gained a
little money! Lottie by little she learned how to be a better
girl--learn