"Dear me," thought Olive, "how did Auntie know so much about them? But I
do hope they won't ask me to stand on _my_ head."

Her fears were somewhat relieved when the dwarfs gave another spring and
came down this time in a respectable manner on their feet. Then, with a
good many bows and flourishes, they began a speech.

"We are afraid," said the first.

"That the fir-cones," said the second.

"Were rather underdone," finished up the first.

Olive really did not know what to say. She was dreadfully afraid that it
would seem so very rude of her not even to have _tasted_ the cones. But
naturally she had not had the slightest idea that they had been intended
for her to eat.

"I am very sorry," she said, "Mr. ----, sir! my lord! I beg your
pardon. I don't quite know what I should call you."

"With all respect," said the first.

"And considering the circumstances," went on the second.

Then, just as Olive supposed they were going to tell her their names,
they stopped short and looked at her.

"I beg your pardon," she began again, after waiting a minute or two to
see if they had nothing else to say; "I don't quite understand."

"Nor do we," they replied promptly, speaking for the first time both
together.

"Do you mean you don't know what _my_ name is?" said she. "It's Olive,
_Olive_!" for the dwarfs stood staring as if they had not heard her.
"OLIVE!" she repeated for the third time.

"Green?" asked the first.

"No!" said Olive. "Of course not! _Green_ is a very common name--at
least----"

"But you called us 'blue,'" said the second; and it really was a relief
to hear him finish a sentence comfortably by himself, only Olive felt
very puzzled by what he said.

"How do you know?" she said. "How could you tell I called you the blue
dwarfs?" and then another thought suddenly struck her. How very odd it
was that the dwarf spoke such good English! "I thought you were German,"
she said.

"How very amusing!" said the dwarfs, this time again speaking together.

Olive could not see that it was very amusing, but she was afraid of
saying so, for fear it should be rude.

"And about the fir-cones," went on the first dwarf. "It is distressing
to think they were so underdone. But we have come, all of us," waving
his hand in the direction of the others, "to invite you to supper in our
village. There you will find them done to perfection."

Olive felt more and more uncomfortable.

"You are very kind," she said. "I