rom ear
to ear.

"'And how have you been all the winter?' said the Miller.

"'Well, really,' cried Hans, 'it is very good of you to ask, very good
indeed. I am afraid I had rather a hard time of it, but now the spring
has come, and I am quite happy, and all my flowers are doing well.'

"'We often talked of you during the winter, Hans,' said the Miller, 'and
wondered how you were getting on.'

"'That was kind of you,' said Hans; 'I was half afraid you had
forgotten me.'

"'Hans, I am surprised at you,' said the Miller; 'friendship never
forgets. That is the wonderful thing about it, but I am afraid you don't
understand the poetry of life. How lovely your primroses are looking,
by-the-bye!'

"'They are certainly very lovely,' said Hans, 'and it is a most lucky
thing for me that I have so many. I am going to bring them into the
market and sell them to the Burgomaster's daughter, and buy back my
wheelbarrow with the money.'

"'Buy back your wheelbarrow? You don't mean to say you have sold it?
What a very stupid thing to do!'

"'Well, the fact is,' said Hans, 'that I was obliged to. You see the
winter was a very bad time for me, and I really had no money at all to
buy bread with. So I first sold the silver buttons off my Sunday coat,
and then I sold my silver chain, and then I sold my big pipe, and at
last I sold my wheelbarrow. But I am going to buy them all back again
now.'

"'Hans,' said the Miller, 'I will give you my wheelbarrow. It is not in
very good repair; indeed, one side is gone, and there is something wrong
with the wheel-spokes; but in spite of that I will give it to you.
I know it is very generous of me, and a great many people would think me
extremely foolish for parting with it, but I am not like the rest of the
world. I think that generosity is the essence of friendship, and,
besides, I have got a new wheelbarrow for myself. Yes, you may set your
mind at ease, I will give you my wheelbarrow.'

"'Well, really, that is generous of you,' said little Hans, and his
funny round face glowed all over with pleasure. 'I can easily put it in
repair, as I have a plank of wood in the house.'

"'A plank of wood!' said the Miller; 'why, that is just what I want for
the roof of my barn. There is a very large hole in it, and the corn will
all get damp if I don't stop it up. How lucky you mentioned it! It is
quite remarkable how one good action always breeds another. I have given
you my wheelbarrow, and now you