itters,
roasted grouse, frosted apples, and buttered crabs. As the old servants
came shivering along the passages, they said, "It is a good thing that
children are not late with their suppers; if the confects had been kept
long in the larder they would have frozen on the dishes."

Nobody wished to wait at all; so, as soon as the supper was ready, they
all sat down, more wood was heaped on to the fire, and when the moon
shone in at the deep casements, and glittered on the dropping snowflakes
outside, it only served to make the children more merry over their
supper to think how bright and warm everything was inside.

This cake was a real treasure, such as in the days of the fairies, who
still lived in certain parts of Norway, was known to be of the kind they
loved. A piece of it was always cut and laid outside in the snow, in
case they should wish to taste it. Hulda's grandmother had also dropped
a ring into this cake before it was put into the oven, and it is well
known that whoever gets such a ring in his or her slice of cake has only
to wish for something directly, and the fairies are bound to give it,
_if they possibly can_. There have been cases known when the fairies
could not give it, and then, of course, they were not to blame.

On this occasion the children said: "Let us all be ready with our
wishes, because sometimes people have been known to lose them from being
so long making up their minds when the ring has come to them."

"Yes," cried the eldest boy. "It does not seem fair that only one should
wish. I am the eldest. I begin. I shall wish that Twelfth-night would
come twice a year."

"They cannot give you that, I am sure," said Friedrich, his brother, who
sat by him.

"Then," said the boy, "I wish father may take me with him the next time
he goes out bear-shooting."

"I wish for a white kitten with blue eyes," said a little girl whose
name was Therese.

"I shall wish to find an amber necklace that does not belong to any
one," said another little girl.

"I wish to be a king," said a boy whose name was Karl. "No, I think I
shall wish to be the burgomaster, that I may go on board the ships in
the harbor, and make their captains show me what is in them. I shall see
how the sailors make their sails go up."

"I shall wish to marry Hulda," said another boy; "when I am a man I
mean. And besides that, I wish I may find a black puppy in my room at
home, for I love dogs."

"But that is not fair," said the