THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 31

remonstrances of his
sister, Fritz chose the
largest and hardest nuts
to cram into his mouth;
so that at the fifth or
sixth c-r-r-ack! and out
fell three ofthe poor little
fellow’s teeth. At the
2 same time his chin fell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

> like that of an old man.
!” ejaculated Mary, snatching
the little man from the hands of Fritz.
“What a stupid
fellow he is!” cried
the boy: ‘he pre-,
tends to be a nut-
cracker, and his
jaws are as brittle
as glass. He is a
false nut-cracker,
and does not un-
derstand his duty. Give him to me, Mary; I will make him
go on cracking my nuts, even if he loses all his teeth in doing
so, and his chin is dislocated entirely. But how you seem to
feel for the lazy fellow!”

** No—no—no!” cried aT
Mary, clasping the little (

 

  
   

man in her arms: ‘“ no—
you shall not have my Nut-
cracker! See how he looks
at me, as much as to tell
me that his poor jaw is
hurt. Fie, Fritz! youare
very ill-natured—you beat ~% , :

your horses; and the other day you shot one of your
soldiers.”