morning. So, away to your beds, every
one of you."

CHAPTER IV.

THE COFFEE-PARTY

"How would you like to be a wood-cutter, Hans?"

"I think it would be great sport. I like to hear the thud of the axe
as it comes down on the trunk. Then it is always an exciting time as
the tree begins to bend and fall to the ground. Somehow, it seems
like a person. I can't help pitying it, either."

Hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father.
A big sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the
men in the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the Black
Forest, or working in the sawmill.

After the logs had been cut the right length, they were bound into
rafts, and floated down the little stream to the Rhine.

"The rafts themselves seem alive," said Hans to his friend. "You men
know just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, so
they twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down the
stream."

"I have travelled on a raft all the way from here to Cologne,"
answered the wood-cutter. "The one who steers must be skilful, for
he needs to be very careful. You know the rafts grow larger all the
time, don't you, Hans?"

"Oh, yes. As the river becomes wider, the smaller ones are bound
together. But is it true that the men sometimes take their families
along with them?"

"Certainly. They set up tents, or little huts, on the rafts, so
their wives and children can have a comfortable place to eat and
sleep. Then, too, if it rains, they can be sheltered from the storm."

"I'd like to go with you sometime. You pass close to Strasburg, and
I could stop and visit Uncle Fritz. Wouldn't it be fun!"

"Hans! Hans!" called a girl's voice just then.

"I don't see her, but I know that's Bertha. She came over to the
village with me this afternoon. One of her friends has a
coffee-party and she invited us to it. So, good-bye."

"Good-bye, my lad. Come and see me again. Perhaps I can manage
sometime to take you with me on a trip down the river."

"Thank you ever so much."

Hans hurried away, and was soon entering the house of a little friend
who was celebrating her birthday with a coffee-party.

There were several other children there. They were all dressed in
their best clothes and looked very neat and nice. The boys wore long
trousers and straight jackets. They looked like little old men. The
girls had bright-coloured skirts and their whi