ed it to be gold.

The Kaboutermanneken was a peppery little fellow, and at the slightest
word his rage would fire up hotly. Since he was quite able, small as he
was, to thrash the strongest man, he was very generally avoided.

It is a well-assured fact that, as churches increase, dwarfs and
elfin-folk diminish; so, at last, when the town of Kaboutermannekensburg
was founded, and a church built, the Kaboutermanneken was fairly driven to
the wall, or, rather, into the ground, where he lived in the bowels of the
earth, and only appeared at intervals of a hundred years. But, upon the
last day that terminated each of these series of a hundred years, he would
re-appear in his old haunts, and, I believe, continues the practice to the
present day, in spite of railroads, steam-engines, and all the
paraphernalia of progress, so destructive to fairy lore.

I.--THE GOLDEN CUP.

Once upon a time, after the Kaboutermanneken's visits had become events of
such rarity, there lived a worthy wood-chopper, who had a daughter named
Catherine; a pretty little maiden of sixteen, and yet the wisest woman in
the kingdom of Kaboutermannekensburg. Shrewd as she was, she had yet the
best, the kindest, and the most guileless heart in the world; and many a
sick man, troubled woman, and grieved child had cause to bless her and her
wisdom. One winter, when labor was cheap and bread expensive, the
wood-chopper, whose name was Peter Kurtz, chopped his hand instead of the
stump he was aiming a blow at, and, in consequence, rendered himself unfit
for work for many a day. During his sickness, the whole care of the family
devolved upon Kate; for Peter's wife had died nearly two years before; so
it was Kate who tended the baby, dressed Johann, mended Wilhelm's
small-clothes, and attended to the wants of her father; for in those days
a sick man was more complaining than a child two years old. Beside these
acts of labor, she had to cook the meals, wash the dishes, sweep the
house, run of errands, chop the wood, make the fire, and many other little
odd duties of the kind; so that, upon the whole, her time was pretty well
occupied.

There seemed a probability now, however, that one of these duties would be
dispensed with, namely, cooking the meals; not that there was any
indolence upon Catherine's part, but because the necessary materials were
not forthcoming. Indeed, the extent of the larder at present consisted of
half a bowl of cold gravy, and about a