couldst tell me no more stories; for they told me that uncle
Frederick could not speak because he was dead."

"Then listen, Pauline," said Otto; "if I go not away from here I
shall surely die. Every day I grow more sick and the leech
cannot cure me." Here he broke down and, turning his face upon
the couch, began crying, while little Pauline sat looking
seriously at him.

"Why dost thou cry, Otto?" said she, after a while.

"Because," said he, "I am so sick, and I want my father to come
and take me away from here."

"But why dost thou want to go away?" said Pauline. "If thy
father takes thee away, thou canst not tell me any more
stories."

"Yes, I can," said Otto, "for when I grow to be a man I will
come again and marry thee, and when thou art my wife I can tell
thee all the stories that I know. Dear Pauline, canst thou not
tell my father where I am, that he may come here and take me
away before I die?"

"Mayhap I could do so," said Pauline, after a little while, "for
sometimes I go with Casper Max to see his mother, who nursed me
when I was a baby. She is the wife of Fritz, the swineherd, and
she will make him tell thy father; for she will do whatever I
ask of her, and Fritz will do whatever she bids him do."