which they never expected. This gave them new life, for the poor people
were almost famished. The fagot-maker sent his wife immediately to the
butcher's. As it was a long while since they had eaten a bit, she bought
thrice as much meat as would sup two people. When they had eaten, the
woman said:

"Alas! where are now our poor children? they would make a good feast of
what we have left here; but it was you, William, who had a mind to lose
them: I told you we should repent of it. What are they now doing in the
forest? Alas! dear God, the wolves have perhaps already eaten them up;
thou art very inhuman thus to have lost thy children."

The fagot-maker grew at last quite out of patience, for she repeated it
above twenty times, that they should repent of it, and that she was in
the right of it for so saying. He threatened to beat her if she did not
hold her tongue. It was not that the fagot-maker was not, perhaps, more
vexed than his wife, but that she teased him, and that he was of the
humor of a great many others, who love wives to speak well, but
think those very importunate who are continually doing so. She was
half-drowned in tears, crying out:

"Alas! where are now my children, my poor children?"

She spoke this so very loud that the children, who were at the gate,
began to cry out all together:

"Here we are! Here we are!"

She ran immediately to open the door, and said, hugging them:

"I am glad to see you, my dear children; you are very hungry and weary;
and my poor Peter, thou art horribly bemired; come in and let me clean
thee."

Now, you must know that Peter was her eldest son, whom she loved above
all the rest, because he was somewhat carroty, as she herself was. They
sat down to supper, and ate with such a good appetite as pleased both
father and mother, whom they acquainted how frightened they were in
the forest, speaking almost always all together. The good folks were
extremely glad to see their children once more at home, and this joy
continued while the ten crowns lasted; but, when the money was all gone,
they fell again into their former uneasiness, and resolved to lose them
again; and, that they might be the surer of doing it, to carry them to a
much greater distance than before.

They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by
Little Thumb, who made account to get out of this difficulty as well as
the former; but, though he got up very early in the morning to go and
pick up