as you know, the spire is
the tallest one in all Europe.

"Then there is so much beautiful carving! And there are such fine
statues. Oh, children, you must certainly come to Strasburg before
long and see the cathedral of which all Germany is so proud."

"Strasburg was for a time the home of our greatest poet," said
Bertha. "I want to go there to see where he lived."

The child was very fond of poetry, even though she was a little
country girl. Her father had a book containing some of Goethe's
ballads, and she loved to lie under the trees in the pleasant
summer-time and repeat some of these poems.

"They are just like music," she would say to herself.

"A marble slab has been set up in the old Fish Market to mark the
spot where Goethe lived," said Uncle Fritz. "They say he loved the
grand cathedral of the city, and it helped him to become a great
writer when he was a young student there. I suppose its beauty
awakened his own beautiful thoughts."

The children became quiet as they thought of their country and the
men who had made her so strong and great,--the poets, and the
musicians, and the brave soldiers who had defended her from her
enemies.

Uncle Fritz was the first one to speak.

"I will tell you a story of Strasburg," he said. "It is about
something that happened there a long time ago. You know, the city
isn't on the Rhine itself, but it is on a little stream flowing into
the greater river.

"Well, once upon a time the people of Zurich, in Switzerland, asked
the people of Strasburg to join with them in a bond of friendship.
Each should help the other in times of danger. The people of
Strasburg did not think much of the idea. They said among
themselves: 'What good can the little town of Zurich do us? And,
besides, it is too far away.' So they sent back word that they did
not care to make such a bond. They were scarcely polite in their
message, either.

"When they heard the reply, the men of Zurich were quite angry. They
were almost ready to fight. But the youngest one of their
councillors said:

"'We will force them to eat their own words. Indeed, they shall be
made to give us a different answer. And it will come soon, too, if
you will only leave the matter with me.'

"'Do as you please,' said the other councillors. They went back to
their own houses, while the young man hurried home, rushed out into
the kitchen and picked out the largest kettle there.

"'Wife, cook as much oatm