er child had entered the door--a girl not larger
than yourself, Lady Laura, about eleven or twelve years of age, thin and
poor-looking, but with the sweetest, tenderest of faces. Her hair was a
dark chestnut brown, brushed away from her temples and braided neatly,
her eyes were the same color, and her skin was very white, but the
expression of her face was its charm. She looked so calm, so resigned,
so willing, so free from pettishness--but, oh! so much older and calmer
than her years. Coming in quickly, she lifted the little one from the
bed and folded him in her arms, where he nestled as if he were a bird,
and her embrace his warm, soft nest.

"'Ah, my little Fritz,' she said, 'how tired you must be, how weary and
hungry! And does the little leg ache to-day? See, sister has a cake for
thee,' drawing from her pocket one poor little cake made of meal.

"Her gentleness was exquisite, but it made my heart ache. I knew this
was all the food she had, and I was puzzled to know what to do. While I
was pondering the girl hushed the little one to sleep, after she had
rubbed his legs with her poor thin little hands. Laying the child down,
she brought in a few fagots and made a little blaze on the hearth, and
with a handful of herbs brewed some sort of a tea from the water in the
pot which hung over the blaze. It was a sorry sight, this poverty and
wretchedness, but it was a beautiful sight also to behold this sisterly
care and affection. Evidently she had long nursed this poor little
cripple. How could I relieve her? was my perplexity. I had not seen any
houses near, no neighbors were at hand. I determined to try and enlist
the sympathy of the Chief Gardener Elf, and yet I also feared the
result. Just as I left the little hut I met a woodsman, and the happy
thought came to me to whisper my wish in his ear; that is to say, I
spoke in fairy fashion my plan of relief for these poor children,
abandoned as they seemed to be by all human beings. I was rewarded by
seeing the man enter the little abode. Resolving to return as soon as I
could, I was making my way through the forest when I fell, and was
obliged to despatch the first Herb Elf who came in my way to gain
assistance. To my great annoyance, the Chief Gardener Elf had gone to
South America for seeds. I could not follow him, and I would not intrust
the lesser elves with a message to him, lest I should do the children
more harm than good. Relying, therefore, upon the little assis