Yes; that was what Jacob wanted.

"And is he a practical huntsman?" said the Herr Mayor.

Oh yes, he was that.

"So good," said the Herr Mayor. "Then tell Jacob that when he is such a
clever huntsman as to be able to shoot the whiskers off from a running
hare without touching the skin, then he can have Gretchen."

[Illustration: JACOB'S MOTHER & THE HERR MAYOR]

Then Jacob's mother went back home again. "Now," said she, "Jacob will,
at least, be satisfied."

"Yes," said Jacob, when she had told him all that the Herr Mayor had
said to her, "that is a hard thing to do; but what one man has done,
another man can." So he shouldered his gun, and started away into the
world to learn to be as clever a huntsman as the Herr Mayor had said.

He plodded on and on until at last he fell in with a tall stranger
dressed all in red.

"Where are you going, Jacob?" said the tall stranger, calling him by his
name, just as if he had eaten pottage out of the same dish with him.

"I am going," said Jacob, "to learn to be so clever a huntsman that I
can shoot the whiskers off from a running hare without touching the
skin."