62 Fairy Tales

good-bye, mother; good-bye, little sisters.
This is splendid! Hurrah!”

“Take care!” cried his father; but Karl
only waved his hand.

The mother had the door posted open so
that from her bed she could watch the sturdy
figure plodding away over the snow, and
smiled and sighed to notice that before he
was out of sight he had begun to munch
the black bread; yet when. Peter, who was
next in age, burst into a laugh, and pointed,
she scolded him well.

“Nobody will mind when your turn
comes, good - for- nothing!” she cried
angrily. ‘‘ There isn’t one of you that can
hold a candle to Karl. See how he helped:
your father, and you, though you think
yourself so clever, coming home yesterday
without so much as a squirrel to put in
the pot! Oh, go along with you all; I’ve
no patience with you!” And then she
caught her baby to her heart and cried
over it.

The removal of Karl’s appetite made