because they loved each other dearly. Sometimes Gretchen would be left
alone all day long in the hut, because Granny would have some work to
do in the village after selling her bundle of sticks and twigs. It was
during these long days that little Gretchen had taught herself to sing
the song which the wind sang to the pine branches. In the summer time
she learned the chirp and twitter of the birds, until her voice might
almost be mistaken for a bird's voice, she learned to dance as the
swaying shadows did, and even to talk to the stars which shone through
the little square window when Granny came home late or too tired to
talk.

Sometimes, when the weather was fine, or her Granny had an extra
bundle of knitted stockings to take to the village, she would let
little Gretchen go along with her. It chanced that one of these trips
to the town came just the week before Christmas, and Gretchen's eyes
were delighted by the sight of the lovely Christmas trees which stood
in the window of the village store. It seemed to her that she would
never tire of looking at the knit dolls, the woolly lambs, the little
wooden shops with their queer, painted men and women in them, and all
the other fine things. She had never owned a plaything in her whole
life; therefore, toys which you and I would not think much of seemed
to her very beautiful.

That night, after their supper of baked potatoes was over, and little
Gretchen had cleared away the dishes and swept up the hearth, because
Granny dear was so tired, she brought her own little wooden stool and
placed it very near Granny's feet and sat down upon it, folding her
hands on her lap. Granny knew that this meant that she wanted to be
told about something, so she smilingly laid away the large Bible which
she had been reading, and took up her knitting, which was as much as