The Blue-Haired Ogre 65

mother, folding him in her arms contentedly,
and though the father sighed he uttered no
reproach.

“ Did you hear anything of the ogre?” he
asked. Karl looked down shamefacedly.

“They said he might be found at the edge
of the wood. But—it was so far, and I was
so hungry!”

“What are you thinking about!” cried
the mother angrily. “ Peter, get the soup,
and let Karl have my share. I can eat
nothing to-night for joy. When one is
very glad it is impossible to eat.”

So the children rejoiced, all but Peter, and
Peter was disposed to be scornful. Karl was
the strongest and the biggest, so that when
they quarrelled he always got the better, but
Peter was the cleverer, and had a shrewd
tongue. Now while the others listened
open-mouthed, he kept on thinking, “ Karl
is a dolt; if I had had his chances I should
have done very differently ;” and this, per-
haps, more than any real desire to go, was
the reason why he stood up that night, when

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