“Every time I went out in the dark woods,” he said, “I was on the lookout for these funny little fairies of the underground world.  I wanted to see them, but at the same time I was afraid I should meet them.

“I remember one time that my mother sent me on an errand through the woods at twilight.  I was in the thickest part of the woods, when I heard a sound that sent a shiver down my back.

“‘It is a witch, or some other dreadful being,’ I said to myself.  ‘Nothing else could make a sound like that.’  My teeth chattered.  My legs shook so, I could hardly move.  Somehow or other, I managed to keep on.  It seemed as though hours passed before I saw the lights of the village.  Yet I suppose it was not more than fifteen minutes.

“When I was once more safe inside my own home, I told my father and mother about my fright.

“‘It was no witch, my child,’ said my father.  ’The sound you describe was probably the cry of a wildcat.  I thank Heaven that you are safe.  A wildcat is not a very pleasant creature to meet in a lonely place.’

“After that, I was never sent away from the village after dark.

“My boy friends and I often came across badgers and deer, and sometimes foxes made their way into the village in search of poultry, but I never came nearer to meeting a wildcat than the time of which I have just told you.”

“What work did you do out of school hours?” asked Hans.  The boy was thinking of the toys he had to carve.

“My mother raised canary-birds, and I used to help her a great deal.  Nearly every woman in the village was busy at the same work.  What concerts we did have in those days!  Mother tended every young bird she raised with the greatest care.  Would it become a good singer and bring a fair price?  We waited anxiously for the first notes, and then watched to see how the voices gained in strength and sweetness.

“It was a pleasant life, and I was very happy among the birds in our little village.  Would you like to hear a song I used to sing at that time?  It is all about the birds and bees and flowers.”

“Do sing it for us,” cried every one.

Herr Abel had a good voice and they listened with pleasure to his song.  This is the first stanza: 

  “I have been on the mountain
  That the song-birds love best. 
  They were sitting, were flitting,
  They were building their nest. 
  They were sitting, were flitting,
  They were building their nest.”

After he had finished, he told about the mines in which some of his friends worked.  It was a hard life, with no bright sunlight to cheer the men in those deep, dark caverns underground.

“Of course you all know that the deepest mine in the world is in the Hartz Mountains.”

His friends nodded their heads, while Hans whispered to Bertha, “I should like to go down in that mine just for the sake of saying I have been as far into the earth as any living person.”