THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. ‘11

deception, after all; and perhaps it can scarcely be called a
deception, because all the good things of this world are sent
to us by heaven.

I need scarcely tell you that amongst those children of
Nuremberg who received most
presents were the son and daugh-
ter of Judge Silberhaus ; ‘for
besides their father and mother,
who doated on them, they also
) had a godfather who loved them

dearly, and whose name was

> Drosselmayer.

I must describe in a few words the portrait of this illus-
trious - person, who
occupied in the town
of Nuremberg a posi-
tion almost as high
as that of Judge Sil-
berhaus himself.

Godfather Dros-
selmayer, who was a
great physician and
doctor of medicine,
was by no means a
very good-looking
person. He wasa tall
thin. man, about six
feet high, but who
stooped very much,
so that, in spite of
the length of his legs,
he could almost pick
up his handkerchief,
if it fell, without
stooping any lower.”
His face was as wrin-