8 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Fritz was a fine stout boy,
with ruddy cheeks and roguish
looks. He was very impatient,
and stamped on the floor when-
ever he was contradicted ; for
he thought that everything in
the wend had been made for
his amusement, or to-suit his
fancy. In this humour he
would remain until the judge,
annoyed by his cries and
screams, or by his stamping,
came out of his study, and,
raising his fore-finger, said with
a frown, ‘“ Master Fritz.!”

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

    
  

2 py

These two words
were quite sufficient to
make Master Fritz wish
that the earth would
open and swallow him
up.

As for his mother,
it was no matter how
much or how often she
raised her fore-finger ;
for Fritz. did not mind
her at all.

His sister Mary was,
on the contrary, a deli-
cate and pale child, with
long hair curling natur-
ally, and flowing over
her little white shoulders