hat neither orders nor threats would drive anybody to the enchanted
moor.

A few miles from the Tontlawald was a large village, where dwelt a
peasant who had recently married a young wife. As not uncommonly happens
in such cases, she turned the whole house upside down, and the two
quarrelled and fought all day long.

By his first wife the peasant had a daughter called Elsa, a good quiet
girl, who only wanted to live in peace, but this her stepmother would
not allow. She beat and cuffed the poor child from morning till night,
but as the stepmother had the whip-hand of her husband there was no
remedy.

For two years Elsa suffered all this ill-treatment, when one day
she went out with the other village children to pluck strawberries.
Carelessly they wandered on, till at last they reached the edge of the
Tontlawald, where the finest strawberries grew, making the grass red
with their colour. The children flung themselves down on the ground,
and, after eating as many as they wanted, began to pile up their
baskets, when suddenly a cry arose from one of the older boys:

'Run, run as fast as you can! We are in the Tontlawald!'

Quicker than lightning they sprang to their feet, and rushed madly away,
all except Elsa, who had strayed farther than the rest, and had found a
bed of the finest strawberries right under the trees. Like the others,
she heard the boy's cry, but could not make up her mind to leave the
strawberries.

'After all, what does it matter?' thought she. 'The dwellers in the
Tontlawald cannot be worse than my stepmother'; and looking up she saw
a little black dog with a silver bell on its neck come barking towards
her, followed by a maiden clad all in silk.

'Be quiet,' said she; then turning to Elsa she added: 'I am so glad you
did not run away with the other children. Stay here with me and be my
friend, and we will play delightful games together, and every day we
will go and gather strawberries. Nobody will dare to beat you if I tell
them not. Come, let us go to my mother'; and taking Elsa's hand she led
her deeper into the wood, the little black dog jumping up beside them
and barking with pleasure.

Oh! what wonders and splendours unfolded themselves before Elsa's
astonished eyes! She thought she really must be in Heaven. Fruit trees
and bushes loaded with fruit stood before them, while birds gayer than
the brightest butterfly sat in their branches and filled the air with
their song. And the birds were