e
voice, and there was the oak-tree man sitting in his house smoking a
reed pipe. His arm was bound up with green fern leaves. "Yes, it was my
own fault; the wind excited me, and stirred my sap (that's my blood you
know)--I stretched out my arms towards her--one embrace--one blessed
moment in which to call her mine--and here you see me a cripple for
ever!"

"O _poor_ thing, we are so sorry for you," said the children.

"Never mind, it heals easily," said the oak man, "but, alas, my beauty
and my symmetry are gone for ever!"

"Your leaves are so nice and fresh; and your house is so pretty; why,
you have got furniture in it," said the children in astonishment.

"Such a pretty oak table and beautifully carved chairs; where did you
get them from?" asked Lottchen.

"I made them myself out of my own wood; it cheered me up a bit," said
the little man. "One must do something, you know; looks snug, doesn't
it? Ah, well--I have known love, that is something to be proud of; I have
experienced the most pleasing of human emotions. Have you ever been in
love?" he said inquisitively, looking at Trudel, who looked big enough
in his eyes.

"Why no, not exactly, we're only kiddies; but still we do love lots of
people, of course," said she.

"Your day will come, your day will come. Do not desire the unattainable,
but content yourself with the reachable," he said; "and yet ''Tis better
to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,' as the dear old
poem says."

"He's getting grand in his language again; he _is_ a funny little man,"
said Trudel in a whisper to Lottchen.

"Stay," said the tree man, "I have a good idea; I will give you a card
of introduction to _her_, my beloved Lady Larch-tree."

He gave them an oak leaf with the words: "Edle Eiche," printed on it,
which is in English Noble Oak.

"You need not say anything; she will know it comes from me," he said,
sighing sentimentally.

Full of curiosity, the children turned to go to the larch-tree, which
was only a few steps further down the green pathway. The ardent lover
watched the children from the window of his little house. They knocked
three times on the bark of the larch-tree; and they were very pleased
when a door opened in the tree, and a lovely lady was revealed to them.
Her dress was of green, looped up with tiny pink flowers such as grow on
the larches in early spring; her hair streamed down like a soft veil
about her. She hardly seemed to see the chi