Harry's delight, and after climbing a long dusty hill we came upon the cleanest, prettiest little village in the world, all surrounded by corn and colza fields, and with a church in the midst exactly the shape of a pair of snuffers standing upright. Evidently the village was keeping holiday, for tables and benches were spread under the shade, girls and boys were dancing merrily to the sound of a violin and piano, and the old folks chatted in groups over glass mugs of apple wine and beer.

"We'll join in the frolicking," cries brother Harry; come Jack, come youngsters, follow me, and do as I tell you."

He approached one of the tables, sat down, and began knocking vigorously with his pen-knife against a glass mug. The sign was quickly understood. Up came the village landlord, a merry little man, with a bald head and twenty hairs by way of moustache, bowing and scraping and asking our wishes.

"You seem to be very lively here, to-day, my friend," said Harry; " bring us a couple of bottles of your best wine, anything good to eat that you may have in the house, and tell us all about it."

The landlord looked delighted.

"and

"Good wine and good apricot kuchen (tart)—the 'Wild Huntsman' was always celebrated for these," he said; moreover to-night; if your honour wishes it, you can taste a real Westphalian Pumpernickel !"

Pumpernickel!” cries little Jess, "what a funny name! Is it a fish, uncle ?"

"The fact is, ladies and gentlemen," continued the landlord of the Wild Huntsman, "to-day is quite a festival with us on account of one of our young men having just

returned with a prize from the Shooting Festival at Coburg Gotha. There he is, dancing with my Lischen; he is dressed in the Free-shooters' costume, grey and green, and wears a green peaked hat, decorated with a cockade and oak-leaves." We distinguished him at once, a handsome young fellow, with red cheeks and yellow beard. He was singing whilst he danced, and seemed the merriest of the merry, as well he might be, for he was the hero of the evening.

"But the Pumpernickel, where is it?-what is it?-how did it come here?" asked Mil.

You see, sir, when our Gustave returned with a dozen or two green cards stuck in his hat,* and a silver cup in his hand, everybody related to him made some little present or festivity in his honour, and the Pumpernickel came from his godmother in Westphalia, by way of congratulation. It weighs ninety pounds and is a complete beauty. We are now going to set out supper, and if you wait, ladies and gentlemen, you will hear the toasts and cheering."

By-and-bye out came two lads, drawing the Pumpernickel on a little barrow. It looked uncommonly like a hundred loaves of black bread kneaded into one, and had a shiny appearance, but nothing appetizing about it. With great ado it was placed in the centre of a large table; confectionery, fruit, sausage, cheeses as small as penny-pieces, and a great many glass mugs, were arranged around it, the silver cup being stuck on the top. When all was ready the landlord blew his horn, the music ceased, and the dancers and spectators grouped themselves round the lucky Free-shooter.

At first the goodies were too attractive to allow of much

* For every shot the shooter pays a small sum and receives a card, without which he is not allowed to enter the gallery.

speaking, but when the mass of them had disappeared and the girls handed round thin slices of Pumpernickel to everybody (ourselves included), and handsome Gustave stood up on a bench and made a speech with the silver cup in his hand-oh! what an uproar they made!

The first toast was, "Free-shooters and Fatherland!" and nothing would do but we must touch glasses with the hero and join in the Ho! ho! ho! which followed. The Germans, you know, say "Ho, ho!" instead of "Hip, hip, hurra!" This kind of thing delighted Harry the elder, as well as Harry the younger, beyond measure; the girls too grew quite excited; Mil threw up his hat and cheered with the noisiest of them, and I confess that I enjoyed it extremely. There was no coarseness, no tipsiness, no roughness. young shooter and his friends seemed to understand the difficult art of keeping pleasure and jollification within due bounds; the old folks looked on contentedly and quietly, as much as to say :

The

"The dear children! We had our day long long ago. Let them now have theirs and enjoy it."

Some of the women had bright-coloured handkerchiefs pinned under their chins, one end hanging down behind; others wore a curious stiff white head dress, shaped like the flower called granny's nightcap, or monkshood; a few wore black crowns, to which were appended two or three yards of wide black ribbon, forming pig-tails. All were neat, and excepting the young girls, all had knitting in their hands.

At last it was time to go. Jess looked almost inclined to cry, so happy did she feel amongst the simple villagers. Master Harry had made great friends with Gustave of the silver cup and Pumpernickel. He had gained information