CHAPTER IV.
THE COFFEE-PARTY
"HOW would you like to be a wood-cutter, Hans?"
"I think it would be great sport. I like to hear the thud of the axe asit comes down on the trunk. Then it is always an exciting time as thetree begins to bend and fall to the ground. Somehow, it seems like aperson. I can't help pitying it, either."
Hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father. Abig sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the menin the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the Black Forest, orworking in the sawmill.
After the logs had been cut the right length, they were bound intorafts, and floated down the little stream to the Rhine.
"The rafts themselves seem alive," said Hans to his friend. "You menknow just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, sothey twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down thestream."
"I have travelled on a raft all the way from here to Cologne," answeredthe wood-cutter. "The one who steers must be skilful, for he needs tobe very careful. You know the rafts grow larger all the time, don'tyou, Hans?"
"Oh, yes. As the river becomes wider, the smaller ones are boundtogether. But is it true that the men sometimes take their familiesalong with them?"
"Certainly. They set up tents, or little huts, on the rafts, so theirwives and children can have a comfortable place to eat and sleep. Then,too, if it rains, they can be sheltered from the storm."
"I'd like to go with you sometime. You pass close to Strasburg, and Icould stop and visit Uncle Fritz. Wouldn't it be fun!"
"Hans! Hans!" called a girl's voice just then.
"I don't see her, but I know that's Bertha. She came over to thevillage with me this afternoon. One of her friends has a coffee-partyand she invited us to it. So, good-bye."
"Good-bye, my lad. Come and see me again. Perhaps I can manage sometimeto take you with me on a trip down the river."
"Thank you ever so much."
Hans hurried away, and was soon entering the house of a little friendwho was celebrating her birthday with a coffee-party.
There were several other children there. They were all dressed in theirbest clothes and looked very neat and nice. The boys wore long trousersand straight jackets. They looked like little old men. The girls hadbright-coloured skirts and their white waists were fresh and stiff.
Their shoes were coarse and heavy, and made a good deal of noise as thechildren played the different games. But they were all so plump androsy, it was good to look at them.
"They are a pretty sight," said one of the neighbours, as she pouredout the coffee.
"They deserve to have a good time," said another woman with a kind,motherly face. "They will soon grow up, and then they will have to workhard to get a living."
The coffee and cakes were a great treat to these village children. Theydid not get such a feast every day in the year. Their mothers madecakes only for festivals and holidays, and coffee was seldom seen ontheir tables oftener than once a week.
In the great cities and fine castles, where the rich people of Germanyhad their homes, they could eat sweet dainties and drink coffee asoften as they liked. But in the villages of the Black Forest, it wasquite different.
"Good night, good night," said Hans and Bertha, as they left theirfriends and trudged off on a path through the woods. It was theshortest way home, and they knew their mother must be looking for themby this time.
It was just sunset, but the children could not see the beautifulcolours of the evening sky, after they had gone a short distance intothe thick woods.
"Do you suppose there are any bears around?" whispered Bertha.
The trees looked very black. It seemed to the little girl as though shekept seeing the shadow of some big animal hiding behind them.
"No, indeed," answered Hans, quite scornfully. "Too many people goalong this path for bears to be willing to stay around here. You wouldhave to go farther up into the forest to find them. But look quickly,Bertha. Do you see that rabbit jumping along? Isn't he a big fellow?"
"See! Hans, he has noticed us. There he goes as fast as his legs cancarry him."
By this time, the children had reached the top of a hill. The treesgrew very thick and close. On one side a torrent came rushing down overthe rocks and stones. It seemed to say:
"I cannot stop for any one. But come with me, come with me, and I willtake you to the beautiful Rhine. I will show you the way to prettybridges, and great stone castles, and rare old cities. Oh, this is awonderful world, and you children of the Black Forest have a great dealto see yet."
"I love to listen to running water," said Bertha. "It always has astory to tell us."
"Do you see that light over there, away off in the distance?" askedHans. "It comes from a charcoal-pit. I can hear the voices of the menat their work."
"I shouldn't like to stay out in the dark woods all the time and makecharcoal," answered his sister. "I should get lonesome and long for thesunlight."
"It isn't very easy work, either," said Hans. "After the trees havebeen cut down, the pits have to be made with the greatest care, and thewood must be burned just so slowly to change it into charcoal. I oncespent a day in the forest with some charcoal-burners. They told suchgood stories that night came before I had thought of it."
"I can see the village ahead of us," said Bertha, joyfully.
A few minutes afterward, the children were running up the stone stepsof their own home.
"We had such a good time," Hans told his mother, while Bertha wentto Gretchen and gave her some cakes she had brought her from thecoffee-party.
"I'm so sorry you couldn't go," she told her sister.
"Perhaps I can next time," answered Gretchen. "But, of course, we couldnot all leave mother when she had so much work to do. So I just keptbusy and tried to forget all about it."
"You dear, good Gretchen! I'm going to try to be as patient and helpfulas you are," said Bertha, kissing her sister.