er sister, or at all events her
brother, what had happened. But she thought, 'of course none of them
would believe me. They would only laugh at me.'

"But she saw well enough that to succour Nutcracker she would have to
sacrifice all her sweet things; so she laid out all she had of them at
the bottom of the cupboard next evening.

"'I can't make out how the mice have got into the sitting-room,' said
her mother. 'This is something quite new. There never were any there
before. See, Marie, they've eaten up all your sweetmeats.'

"And so it was: the epicure mouse king hadn't found the marchpane
altogether to his taste, but had gnawed all round the edges of it, so
that what he had left of it had to be thrown into the ash-pit. Marie
never minded about her sweetmeats, being delighted to think that she
had saved Nutcracker by means of them. But what were her feelings when
next night there came a queaking again close by her ear. Alas! The king
of the mice was there again, with his eyes glaring worse than the night
before.

"Give me your sugar toys,' he cried; give them you must, or else I'll
chew Nutcracker up into dust!'

"Then he was gone again.

"Marie was very sorry. She had as beautiful a collection of sugar-toys
as ever a little girl could boast of. Not only had she a charming
little shepherd, with his shepherd looking after a flock of milk-white
sheep, with a nice dog jumping about them, but two postmen with letters
in their hands, and four couples of prettily dressed young gentlemen
and most beautifully dressed young ladies, swinging in a Russian swing.
Then there were two or three dancers, and behind them Farmer
Feldkuemmel and the Maid of Orleans. Marie didn't much care about
_them_; but back in the corner there was a little baby with red cheeks,
and this was Marie's darling. The tears came to her eyes.

"'Ah!' she cried, turning to Nutcracker, 'I really will do all I can to
help you. But it's very hard.'

"Nutcracker looked at her so piteously that she determined to sacrifice
everything--for she remembered the mouse king with all his seven mouths
wide open to swallow the poor young fellow; so that night she set down
all her sugar figures in front of the cupboard, as she had the
sweetmeats the night before. She kissed the shepherd, the shepherdess,
and the lambs; and at last she brought her best beloved of all, the
little red-cheeked baby from its corner, but did put it a little
further back than the rest. Fa