s
meerschaum. Hans paused; then thought, and then concluded that having
found an appetite, he had repented of his boast at parting, and had called
for his teeth. Being a good-natured lad, Hans shuffled down stairs, and
opening the door, called him to come over. The stranger obeyed the
summons, but honourably refused to accept of his teeth, except on the
conditions of the wager. To Hans' great surprise he seemed perfectly
acquainted with the phenomenon of the past night, and good-naturedly
offered to go to Stitz, and inform him of the barber's dilemma. The
stranger departed, and in a few moments the tailor arrived, and having
ascertained by his inch measure the truth of Hans' conjectures, bade him
be of good cheer, as he had a suit of clothes which would exactly fit him.
They had been made for a travelling giant, who had either forgotten to
call for them, or suspected that Stitz would require the _gelt_ before he
gave up the broadcloth.

The tailor was right--they did fit--and in an hour afterwards Hans was on
his way to the _fete_. When he arrived there many of his old friends stood
agape for a few moments: but as stranger things had occurred in Germany
than a man growing two feet in one night, they soon ceased to notice the
alteration in Hans' appearance. Agnes was evidently struck with the
improvement of the barber's figure, and for two whole hours did he enjoy
the extreme felicity of making half-a-dozen other young gentlemen
miserable, by monopolising the arm and conversation of the beauty of
Stocksbawler. But pleasure, like fine weather, lasts not for ever; and, as
Hans and Agnes turned the corner of a path, his eye again encountered the
stranger. Whether it was from fear or dislike he knew not, but his heart
seemed to sink, and so did his body; for to his utter dismay, he found
that he had shrunk to his original proportions, and that the garment of
the giant hung about him in anything but graceful festoons. He felt that
he was a human telescope, that some infernal power could elongate or shut
up at pleasure.

The whole band of jealous rivals set up the "Laughing Chorus," and Agnes,
in the extremity of her disgust, turned up her nose till she nearly
fractured its bridge, whilst Hans rushed from the scene of his disgrace,
and never stopped running until he opened the door of his little shop,
threw himself into a chair, and laid his head down upon an old "family
Bible" which chanced to be upon the table. In this posi