e people spoke of gipsies, some of deep holes or pools in the woods;
others did not say much, but they thought of the wood-spirits and
fairies and shook their heads. Hugo had many a time played with pretty
baby Elsa; her father and the forester were friends, and she had spent
the day sometimes in the forestry on the Kueppel. You may imagine that
the children were more strictly watched over than usual. Hugo's mother
kept a sharp eye on him; for she knew that his little head was full of
all sorts of queer notions.

It happened that, about a fortnight after these events, Hugo's father
went out for a night's hunting. His mother had been busy all the
afternoon; the weather was hot and sultry. At last drowsiness overcame
her and she fell asleep with her head on the kitchen table. Now she was
certainly not given to falling asleep in the afternoon, she was
generally much too busy for that; so I really think she must have been
bewitched. The fairies sometimes put sleeping draughts into people's
coffee; then it is all up with them.

Now was Hugo's opportunity. He hastily took up the brown (or grey as it
is called in Germany) rye-bread and sausage that stood ready for his
supper, packed it into a beautiful green case, with two May-bugs painted
on it, snatched up his toy gun in case of accidents, and set out with a
brave heart to look for little Elsa.

I must tell you that he had dreamt of her repeatedly since her
disappearance. She seemed to look at him with her wistful blue eyes, and
to implore his help. A rhyme rang constantly in his head that seemed to
have reference to her; but he could not quite make out what it meant:

"King Reinhold found a little maid
Alone within the forest glade;
She wept and cried in sore distress,
All torn and tattered was her dress;
He set her on a golden throne,
He gave her playthings for her own.
But still she wept the livelong day,
She would not laugh, and would not play.
'This is most tiresome to behold;
What shall I do?' said King Reinhold."

The little maid was probably Elsa; but where was she? Who was King
Reinhold? How could Hugo deliver her? He could not answer these
questions. "I must trust to luck, and hope that the fairies will help
me. Heigho for adventures!"

It was the twilight hour; the sky was of a delicate grey-green tint, the
birds called to their roving mates to come home to bed, a few faint
stars appeared in the sky; mystery hung in the air.

On Hugo