k and limbs
were sore and aching. But the ache in her heart made the biggest
trouble. The last straw had been added to the burden upon her small
shoulders. They had taken away Grimm. Always at night, however tired
she might be, she had turned to Grimm for comfort and hope. Each time
had Grimm whispered to her that the prince or the fairy would come and
deliver her out of the wicked enchantment. Every night she had taken
fresh courage and strength from Grimm.

To whatever tale she read she found an analogy in her own condition.
The woodcutter's lost child, the unhappy goose girl, the persecuted
stepdaughter, the little maiden imprisoned in the witch's hut--all
these were but transparent disguises for Lena, the overworked
kitchenmaid in the Quarrymen's Hotel. And always when the extremity
was direst came the good fairy or the gallant prince to the rescue.

So, here in the ogre's castle, enslaved by a wicked spell, Lena had
leaned upon Grimm and waited, longing for the powers of goodness to
prevail. But on the day before Mrs. Maloney had found the book in her
room and had carried it away, declaring sharply that it would not
do for servants to read at night; they lost sleep and did not work
briskly the next day. Can one only eleven years old, living away from
one's mamma, and never having any time to play, live entirely deprived
of Grimm? Just try it once and you will see what a difficult thing it
is.

Lena's home was in Texas, away up among the little mountains on the
Pedernales River, in a little town called Fredericksburg [108]. They
are all German people who live in Fredericksburg. Of evenings they sit
at little tables along the sidewalk and drink beer and play pinochle
and scat [109]. They are very thrifty people.

[FOOTNOTE 108: Fredericksburg is in the Hill Country west of
Austin and north of San Antonio. It is near but not
"on" the Pedernales. Fredericksburg was settled
largely by Germans (as was most of Central Texas),
and as recently as the 1940's German was commonly
spoken in its cafes. Even today (2004) the main
street (named Der Hauptstrasse) boasts an array of
German restaurants. Austin had a large German
population when O. Henry lived there in the 1890's,
and when he was publishing a weekly humorous
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