THE THREE LITTLE GNOMES


A silvery thread of smoke curled up over the trunk of the old tree and
floated away through the forest, and tiny voices came from beneath the
trunk of the old tree.

Long, long ago, the tree had stood strong and upright and its top
branches reached far above any of the other trees in the forest, but the
tree had grown so old it began to shiver when the storms howled through
the branches. And as each storm came the old tree shook more and more,
until finally in one of the fiercest storms it tumbled to the earth with
a great crash.

There it lay for centuries, and vines and bushes grew about in a tangled
mass until it was almost hidden from view.

Now down beneath the trunk of the fallen tree lived three little gnomes,
and it was the smoke from their fire which curled up over the trunk of
the old tree and floated away through the forest.

They were preparing dinner and laughing and talking together when they
heard the sound of a horn.

"What can it be?" one asked.

"It sounds like the horn of a huntsman!" another cried.

As the sound came nearer, the three little gnomes stamped upon their
fire and put it out so that no one would discover their home. Then they