"Please tell us about the storks," said Bertha. "Are there great
numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on
the chimneys?"

"Yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come
back with me," said Uncle Fritz, laughingly. "They seem to know the
people love them. If a stork makes his home about any one's house,
it is a sign of good fortune to the people who live there.

"'It will surely come,' they say to themselves, 'and the storks will
bring it.' Do you wonder the people like the birds so much?"

"I read a story about a mother stork," said Bertha, thoughtfully.
"She had a family of baby birds. They were not big enough to leave
their nest, when a fire broke out in the chimney where it was built.
Poor mother bird! She could have saved herself. But she would not
leave her babies. So she stayed with them and they were all burned
to death together."

"I know the story. That happened right in Strasburg," said her uncle.

"Please tell us about the beautiful cathedral with its tall tower,"
said Hans. "Sometime, uncle, I am going to Strasburg, if I have to
walk there, and then I shall want to spend a whole day in front of
the wonderful clock."

"You'd better have a lunch with you, Hans, and then you will not get
hungry. But really, my dear little nephew, I hope the time will soon
come when you can pay me a long visit. As for the clock, you will