Hansel and Grethel seated themselves by the fire, and when noon arrived they each ate the piece of bread which their stepmother had given them for their dinner; and as long as they heard the strokes of the axe they felt safe, for they believed that their father was working near them.  But it was not an axe they heard—­only a branch which still hung on a withered tree, and was moved up and down by the wind.  At last, when they had been sitting there a long time, the children’s eyes became heavy with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep.  When they awoke it was dark night, and poor Grethel began to cry, and said, “Oh, how shall we get out of the wood?”

But Hansel comforted her.  “Don’t fear,” he said; “let us wait a little while till the moon rises, and then we shall easily find our way home.”

Very soon the full moon rose, and then Hansel took his little sister by the hand, and the white pebble stones, which glittered like newly-coined money in the moonlight, and which Hansel had dropped as he walked, pointed out the way.  They walked all the night through, and did not reach their father’s house till break of day.

They knocked at the door, and when their stepmother opened it, she exclaimed:  “You naughty children, why have you been staying so long in the forest? we thought you were never coming back,” But their father was overjoyed to see them, for it grieved him to the heart to think that they had been left alone in the wood.

Not long after this there came another time of scarcity and want in every house, and the children heard their stepmother talking after they were in bed.  “The times are as bad as ever,” she said; “we have just half a loaf left, and when that is gone all love will be at an end.  The children must go away; we will take them deeper into the forest this time, and they will not be able to find their way home as they did before; it is the only plan to save ourselves from starvation.”  But the husband felt heavy at heart, for he thought it was better to share the last morsel with his children.

His wife would listen to nothing he said, but continued to reproach him, and as he had given way to her the first time, he could not refuse to do so now.  The children were awake, and heard all the conversation; so, as soon as their parents slept, Hansel got up, intending to go out and gather some more of the bright pebbles to let fall as he walked, that they might point out the way home; but his stepmother had locked the door, and he could not open it.  When he went back to his bed he told his little sister not to fret, but to go to sleep in peace, for he was sure they would be taken care of.

Early the next morning the stepmother came and pulled the children out of bed, and, when they were dressed, gave them each a piece of bread for their dinners, smaller than they had had before, and then they started on their way to the wood.

As they walked, Hansel, who had the bread in his pocket, broke off little crumbs, and stopped every now and then to drop one, turning round as if he was looking back at his home.