she had intended to give Gretel, and into
the oven she popped, and bang went the oven door, while the children
stood looking at each other and shivering with fright.

"Oh, my suz! _Do_ you suppose we have her fast?"

"I guess we have," Haensel cried, grabbing Gretel about the waist and
dancing wildly in glee. Then they rushed into the house and began to
fill their pockets with good things. While they were at this, the oven
began to crack dreadfully. The noise was quite awful.

"Oh, mercy! What is happening?" Gretel cried. And at that moment the
awful oven fell apart, and out jumped a lot of little children with
the gingerbread all falling off them, while they sprang about Haensel
and Gretel in great joy. But all their eyes were shut.

They laughed and sang and hopped, crying that Haensel and Gretel had
saved them because by baking the old witch they had broken the oven's
charm.

"But why don't you open your eyes," Gretel asked.

"We shall not be entirely disenchanted till you touch us," they told
her, and then upon being touched by Gretel they opened their eyes like
ten-day-old kittens.

Then Haensel took a juniper branch and repeated what he had heard the
witch say:

Hocus pocus elder bush,
Rigid body loosen, hush!

and there came that gingerbread hedge, walking on legs,--the beautiful
gingerbread falling all over the place, and the whole fence turning
back into little children.

At that very moment came the broom-maker and his wife, who had sought
for the children till they had become nearly distracted. When the
children saw them they ran into their mother's arms. All the
gingerbread children were singing at the top of their voices and were
carrying on in the most joyous way.

Two boys had run to the broken oven, and had begun to drag out an
immense gingerbread--it was the old witch, turned into the finest cake
ever seen. It was well that she turned out to be good in the end, if
only good gingerbread. They dragged her out where everybody could see
her, and broke a piece of her off; and then they shoved her into the
cottage.

"Now, you see how good children are taken care of," the broom-maker
sang; while everybody danced about the disenchanted Ilsenstein, before
they went into the house for supper.

MASCAGNI

This composer is too contemporary to be discussed freely. He has done
no great amount of work, and fame came to him in his youth.
"Cavalleria Rusticana" is his supreme perfor