wo cosy
little white beds, and as Hansel and Gretel lay snugly tucked up in
them, they thought to themselves that surely they had now found the
most delightful place in the whole wide world.

But the old woman had only pretended to be friendly and kind, for she
was really a wicked old witch, who was always lying in wait to catch
little children, indeed, she had built the little house of bread and
cakes especially to entice them in. Whenever anyone came into her
power, she cooked and ate him, and thought what a fine feast she had
had.

Witches have red eyes and cannot see far, but they have keen scent,
like animals, and can tell at once when a human being is near to them.

As soon as Hansel and Gretel came into her neighborhood she laughed to
herself and said mockingly: "Ha, ha! they are mine already; they will
not easily escape me."

Early in the morning, before the children were awake, she stood beside
them and admired their rosy cheeks and soft round limbs.

"What nice tit-bits for me," murmured she. Then, seizing Hansel by the
hand, she led him to a little stable, and, in spite of his cries and
screams, shut him up and left him. Then she shook Gretel until she
was awake, and bade her get up at once and carry food and drink to her
brother, and it must be of the best too, for she wished to fatten him.

"When he is nice and plump, I shall eat him," said the cruel old
witch. Gretel wept bitterly, but it was quite in vain, for she was
obliged to do the witch's bidding; and every day she cooked the
choicest food for her brother, while she herself lived upon nothing
but oyster-shells.

Day by day the old woman visited the stable and called to Hansel to
put his finger through the window bars, that she might see if he were
getting fat; but the little fellow held out a bone instead, and as her
eyes were dim with age, she mistook the bone for the boy's finger,
and thought how thin and lean he was. When a whole month had passed
without Hansel becoming the least bit fatter, the old witch lost
patience and declared she would wait no longer. "Hurry, Gretel," she
said to the little girl, "fill the pot with water, for to-morrow, be
he lean or fat, Hansel shall be cooked for my dinner."

The tears chased each other down Gretel's cheeks as she carried in the
water, and she sobbed aloud in her grief. "Dear God," she cried, "we
have no one to help us but Thou. Alas! if only the wild beasts in the
wood had devoured us, at least