"by the Pond,"--and that it was a tree which
would have been marked for felling in two or three days by the
forester.

In consideration of these extenuating circumstances, Mat was fined ten
rix-dollars for having taken a tree out of his own wood before it was
marked.

Up at the stile where Mat had torn off a sprig the day before, he met
Eva and her father, who were coming up the hill-slope. He would have
passed on without a greeting; but Eva ran up to him and cried, huskily,
"Don't sulk, Mat: I'll give you my cross and my garnets if they make
you pay a fine. Thank the Lord, you're not locked up any more."

After some altercation, Mat gave in: hand in hand with Eva he walked
through the village, and received kind congratulations from all he met.

This is the story of the May-pole before Michael the wagoner's house:
on the wedding-day it was decked with red ribbons. The heavens and the
earth seemed to like it better than the good government or the vigilant
police, for it unaccountably took root and sent forth new branches. To
this day it graces the house of the happy couple as a living emblem of
their constant love.

2.

This story is connected with another, of more general interest. The
prevalence at this time of the wicked custom of putting up May-poles,
as well as other offences against the peace and dignity of the forests,
induced the judge to issue an ordinance which had long hovered at the
nib of his pen. From immemorial times it has been the custom of the
peasantry of the Black Forest to carry a little axe in their left hand
whenever they go abroad. Only the "men"--that is, the married men--do
so; and it is a badge which distinguishes them from the "boys," or
unmarried young fellows. It is said to be a remnant of the ancient time
when every one bore arms.

On Whitsunday the following ordinance was found on the blackboard
nailed in front of the town-house of every village in the presidency:--

"It having been found that many offences against the forest are
occasioned by the improper practice of carrying axes, the public are
hereby notified,--

"That from this day forth every person found upon the road or in the
woods with an axe shall be held to give the gamekeeper or ranger
accurate information of the purpose for which he has the axe with him;
and, if he fails to do so, he shall be punished by a fine of one
rix-dollar: upon a repetition of the offence he shall be